[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 19. THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC By John Lothrop Motley 1855 1572 [CHAPTER VII. ] Municipal revolution throughout Holland and Zealand--Characteristics of the movement in various places--Sonoy commissioned by Orange as governor of North Holland--Theory of the provisional government-- Instructions of the Prince to his officers--Oath prescribed--Clause of toleration--Surprise of Mons by Count Louis--Exertions of Antony Oliver--Details of the capture--Assembly of the citizens--Speeches of Genlis and of Count Louis--Effect of the various movements upon Alva--Don Frederic ordered to invest Mons--The Duke's impatience to retire--Arrival of Medina Coeli--His narrow escape--Capture of the Lisbon fleet--Affectation of cordiality between Alva and Medina-- Concessions by King and Viceroy on the subject of the tenth penny-- Estates of Holland assembled, by summons of Orange, at Dort--Appeals from the Prince to this congress for funds to pay his newly levied army--Theory of the provisional States' assembly--Source and nature of its authority--Speech of St. Aldegonde--Liberality of the estates and the provinces--Pledges exchanged between the Prince's representative and the Congress--Commission to De la Marck ratified --Virtual dictatorship of Orange--Limitation of his power by his own act--Count Louis at Mons--Reinforcements led from France by Genlis-- Rashness of that officer--His total defeat--Orange again in the field--Rocrmond taken--Excesses of the patriot army--Proclamation of Orange, commanding respect to all personal and religious rights--His reply to the Emperor's summons--His progress in the Netherlands-- Hopes entertained from France--Reinforcements under Coligny promised to Orange by Charles IX. --The Massacre of St. Bartholomew--The event characterized--Effect in England, in Rome, and in other parts of Europe--Excessive hilarity of Philip--Extravagant encomium bestowed by him upon Charles IX. --Order sent by Philip to put all French prisoners in the Netherlands to Death--Secret correspondence of Charles IX. With his envoy in the Netherlands--Exultation of the Spaniards before Mons--Alva urged by the French envoy, according to his master's commands, to put all the Frenchmen in Mons, and those already captured, to death--Effect of the massacre upon the Prince of Orange--Alva and Medina in the camp before Mons--Hopelessness of the Prince's scheme to obtain battle from Alva--Romero's encamisada --Narrow escape of the prince--Mutiny and dissolution of his army-- His return to Holland--His steadfastness--Desperate position of Count Louis in Mons--Sentiments of Alva--Capitulation of Mons-- Courteous reception of Count Louis by the Spanish generals-- Hypocrisy of these demonstrations--Nature of the Mons capitulation-- Horrible violation of its terms--Noircarmes at Mons--Establishment of a Blood Council in the city--Wholesale executions--Cruelty and cupidity of Noircarmes--Late discovery of the archives of these crimes--Return of the revolted cities of Brabant and Flanders to obedience--Sack of Mechlin by the Spaniards--Details of that event. The example thus set by Brill and Flushing was rapidly followed. Thefirst half of the year 1572 was distinguished by a series of triumphsrendered still more remarkable by the reverses which followed at itsclose. Of a sudden, almost as it were by accident, a small but importantsea-port, the object for which the Prince had so long been hoping, wassecured. Instantly afterward, half the island of Walcheren renounced theyoke of Alva, Next, Enkbuizen, the key to the Zuyder Zee, the principalarsenal, and one of the first commercial cities in the Netherlands, roseagainst the Spanish Admiral, and hung out the banner of Orange on itsramparts. The revolution effected here was purely the work of thepeople--of the mariners and burghers of the city. Moreover, themagistracy was set aside and the government of Alva repudiated withoutshedding one drop of blood, without a single wrong to person or property. By the same spontaneous movement, nearly all the important cities ofHolland and Zealand raised the standard of him in whom they recognizedtheir deliverer. The revolution was accomplished under nearly similarcircumstances everywhere. With one fierce bound of enthusiasm the nationshook off its chain. Oudewater, Dort, Harlem, Leyden, Gorcum, Loewenstein, Gouda, Medenblik, Horn, Alkmaar, Edam, Monnikendam, Purmerende, as well as Flushing, Veer, and Enkbuizen, all rangedthemselves under the government of Orange, as lawful stadholder for theKing. Nor was it in Holland and Zealand alone that the beacon fires of freedomwere lighted. City after city in Gelderland, Overyssel, and the See ofUtrecht; all the important towns of Friesland, some sooner, some later, some without a struggle, some after a short siege, some with resistanceby the functionaries of government, some by amicable compromise, acceptedthe garrisons of the Prince, and formally recognized his authority. Outof the chaos which a long and preternatural tyranny had produced, thefirst struggling elements of a new and a better world began to appear. It were superfluous to narrate the details which marked the suddenrestoration of liberty in these various groups of cities. Traits ofgenerosity marked the change of government in some, circumstances offerocity, disfigured the revolution in others. The island of Walcheren, equally divided as it was between the two parties, was the scene of muchtruculent and diabolical warfare. It is difficult to say whether themutual hatred of race or the animosity of religious difference proved thedeadlier venom. The combats were perpetual and sanguinary, the prisonerson both sides instantly executed. On more than one occasion; men wereseen assisting to hang with their own hands and in cold blood their ownbrothers, who had been taken prisoners in the enemy's ranks. When thecaptives were too many to be hanged, they were tied back to back, two andtwo, and thus hurled into the sea. The islanders found a fierce pleasurein these acts of cruelty. A Spaniard had ceased to be human in theireyes. On one occasion, a surgeon at Veer cut the heart from a Spanishprisoner, nailed it on a vessel's prow; and invited the townsmen to comeand fasten their teeth in it, which many did with savage satisfaction. In other parts of the country the revolution was, on the whole, accomplished with comparative calmness. Even traits of generosity werenot uncommon. The burgomaster of Gonda, long the supple slave of Alvaand the Blood Council, fled for his life as the revolt broke forth inthat city. He took refuge in the house of a certain widow, and beggedfor a place of concealment. The widow led him to a secret closet whichserved as a pantry. "Shall I be secure there?" asked the fugitivefunctionary. "O yes, sir Burgomaster, " replied the widow, "'t was inthat very place that my husband lay concealed when you, accompanied bythe officers of justice, were searching the house, that you might bringhim to the scaffold for his religion. Enter the pantry, your worship; Iwill be responsible for your safety. " Thus faithfully did the humblewidow of a hunted and murdered Calvinist protect the life of themagistrate who had brought desolation to her hearth. Not all the conquests thus rapidly achieved in the cause of liberty weredestined to endure, nor were any to be, retained without a struggle. Thelittle northern cluster of republics which had now restored its honor tothe ancient Batavian name was destined, however, for a long and vigorouslife. From that bleak isthmus the light of freedom was to stream throughmany years upon struggling humanity in Europe; a guiding pharos across astormy sea; and Harlem, Leyden, Alkmaar--names hallowed by deeds ofheroism such as have not often illustrated human annals, still breathe astrumpet-tongued and perpetual a defiance to despotism as Marathon, Thermopylae, or Salamis. A new board of magistrates had been chosen in all the redeemed cities, bypopular election. They were required to take an oath of fidelity to theKing of Spain, and to the Prince of Orange as his stadholder; to promiseresistance to the Duke of Alva, the tenth penny, and the inquisition;to support every man's freedom and the welfare of the country; to protectwidows, orphans, and miserable persons, and to maintain justice andtruth. Diedrich Sonoy arrived on the 2nd June at Enkbuizen. He was provided bythe Prince with a commission, appointing him Lieutenant-Governor of NorthHolland or Waterland. Thus, to combat the authority of Alva was set upthe authority of the King. The stadholderate over Holland and Zealand, to which the Prince had been appointed in 1559, he now reassumed. Uponthis fiction reposed the whole provisional polity of the revoltedNetherlands. The government, as it gradually unfolded itself, from thisepoch forward until the declaration of independence and the absoluterenunciation of the Spanish sovereign power, will be sketched in a futurechapter. The people at first claimed not an iota more of freedom thanwas secured by Philip's coronation oath. There was no pretence thatPhilip was not sovereign, but there was a pretence and a determination toworship God according to conscience, and to reclaim the ancient political"liberties" of the land. So long as Alva reigned, the Blood Council, theinquisition, and martial law, were the only codes or courts, and everycharter slept. To recover this practical liberty and these historicalrights, and to shake from their shoulders a most sanguinary government, was the purpose of William and of the people. No revolutionary standardwas displayed. The written instructions given by the Prince to his Lieutenant Sonoy wereto "see that the Word of God was preached, without, however, sufferingany hindrance to the Roman Church in the exercise of its religion; torestore fugitives and the banished for conscience sake, and to require ofall magistrates and officers of guilds and brotherhoods an oath offidelity. " The Prince likewise prescribed the form of that oath, repeating therein, to his eternal honor, the same strict prohibitionof intolerance. "Likewise, " said the formula, "shall those of 'thereligion' offer no let or hindrance to the Roman churches. " The Prince was still in Germany, engaged in raising troops and providingfunds. He directed; however, the affairs of the insurgent provinces intheir minutest details, by virtue of the dictatorship inevitably forcedupon him both by circumstances and by the people. In the meantime; Louisof Nassau, the Bayard of the Netherlands, performed a most unexpected andbrilliant exploit. He had been long in France, negotiating with theleaders of the Huguenots, and, more secretly, with the court. He wassupposed by all the world to be still in that kingdom, when the startlingintelligence arrived that he had surprised and captured the importantcity of Mons. This town, the capital of Hainault, situate in a fertile, undulating, and beautiful country, protected by lofty walls, a triplemoat, and a strong citadel, was one of the most flourishing and elegantplaces in the Netherlands. It was, moreover, from its vicinity to thefrontiers of France; a most important acquisition to the insurgent party. The capture was thus accomplished. A native of Mons, one Antony Oliver, a geographical painter, had insinuated himself into the confidence ofAlva, for whom he had prepared at different times some remarkably well-executed maps of the country. Having occasion to visit France, he wasemployed by the Duke to keep a watch upon the movements of Louis ofNassau, and to make a report as to the progress of his intrigues with thecourt of France. The painter, however, was only a spy in disguise, beingin reality devoted to the cause of freedom, and a correspondent of Orangeand his family. His communications with Louis, in Paris, had therefore afar different result from the one anticipated by Alva. A large number ofadherents within the city of Mons had already been secured, and a planwas now arranged between Count Louis, Genlis, De la Noue, and otherdistinguished Huguenot chiefs, to be carried out with the assistance ofthe brave and energetic artist. On the 23rd of May, Oliver appeared at the gates of Mons, accompanied bythree wagons, ostensibly containing merchandise, but in reality ladenwith arquebusses. These were secretly distributed among his confederatesin the city. In the course of the day Count Louis arrived in theneighbourhood, accompanied by five hundred horsemen and a thousand footsoldiers. This force he stationed in close concealment within the thickforests between Maubeuge and Mons. Towards evening he sent twelve of themost trusty and daring of his followers, disguised as wine merchants, into the city. These individuals proceeded boldly to a public house, ordered their supper, and while conversing with the landlord, carelesslyinquired at what hour next morning the city gates would be opened. Theywere informed that the usual hour was four in the morning, but that atrifling present to the porter would ensure admission, if they desiredit, at an earlier hour. They explained their inquiries by a statementthat they had some casks of wine which they wished to introduce into thecity before sunrise. Having obtained all the information which theyneeded, they soon afterwards left the tavern. The next day theypresented themselves very early at the gate, which the porter, on promiseof a handsome "drink-penny, " agreed to unlock. No sooner were the boltswithdrawn, however, than he was struck dead, while about fifty dragoonsrode through the gate. The Count and his followers now galloped over thecity in the morning twilight, shouting "France! liberty! the town isours!" "The Prince is coming!" "Down with the tenth penny; down withthe murderous Alva!" So soon as a burgher showed his wondering face atthe window, they shot at him with their carbines. They made as muchnoise, and conducted themselves as boldly as if they had been at least athousand strong. Meantime, however, the streets remained empty; not one of their secretconfederates showing himself. Fifty men could surprise, but were too fewto keep possession of the city. The Count began to suspect a trap. Asdaylight approached the alarm spread; the position of the little band wascritical. In his impetuosity, Louis had far outstripped his army, butthey had been directed to follow hard upon his footsteps, and he wasastonished that their arrival was so long delayed. The suspense becomingintolerable, he rode out of the city in quest of his adherents, and foundthem wandering in the woods, where they had completely lost their way. Ordering each horseman to take a foot soldier on the crupper behind him, he led them rapidly back to Mons. On the way they were encountered by LaNoue, "with the iron arm, " and Genlis, who, meantime, had made anunsuccessful attack to recover Valenciennes, which within a few hours hadbeen won and lost again. As they reached the gates of Mons, they foundthemselves within a hair's breadth of being too late; their adherentshad not come forth; the citizens had been aroused; the gates were allfast but one--and there the porter was quarrelling with a French soldierabout an arquebuss. The drawbridge across the moat was at the momentrising; the last entrance was closing, when Guitoy de Chaumont, a Frenchofficer, mounted on a light Spanish barb, sprang upon the bridge as itrose. His weight caused it to sink again, the gate was forced, and Louiswith all his men rode triumphantly into the town. The citizens were forthwith assembled by sound of bell in the market-place. The clergy, the magistracy, and the general council were allpresent. Genlis made the first speech, in which he disclaimed allintention of making conquests in the interest of France. This pledgehaving been given, Louis of Nassau next addressed the assembly: "Themagistrates, " said he, "have not understoood my intentions. I protestthat I am no rebel to the King; I prove it by asking no new oathsfrom any man. Remain bound by your old oaths of allegiance; let themagistrates continue to exercise their functions--to administer justice. I imagine that no person will suspect a brother of the Prince of Orangecapable of any design against the liberties of the country. As to theCatholic religion, I take it under my very particular protection. Youwill ask why I am in Mons at the head of an armed force: are any of youignorant of Alva's cruelties? The overthrow of this tyrant is as muchthe interest of the King as of the people, therefore there is nothing inmy present conduct inconsistent with fidelity to his Majesty. AgainstAlva alone I have taken up arms; 'tis to protect you against his furythat I am here. It is to prevent the continuance of a general rebellionthat I make war upon him. The only proposition which I have to make toyou is this--I demand that you declare Alva de Toledo a traitor to theKing, the executioner of the people, an enemy to the country, unworthy ofthe government, and hereby deprived of his authority. " The magistracy did not dare to accept so bold a proposition; the generalcouncil, composing the more popular branch of the municipal government, were comparatively inclined to favor Nassau, and many of its membersvoted for the downfall of the tyrant. Nevertheless the demands of CountLouis were rejected. His position thus became critical. The civicauthorities refused to, pay for his troops, who were, moreover, too few, in number to resist the inevitable siege. The patriotism of the citizenswas not to be repressed, however, by the authority, of the magistrates;many rich proprietors of the great cloth and silk manufactories, forwhich Mons was famous, raised, and armed companies at their own expense;many volunteer troops were also speedily organized and drilled, and thefortifications were put in order. No attempt was made to force thereformed religion upon the inhabitants, and even Catholics who werediscovered in secret correspondence with the enemy were treated with suchextreme gentleness by Nassau as to bring upon him severe reproaches frommany of his own party. A large collection of ecclesiastical plate, jewellery, money, and othervaluables, which had been sent to the city for safe keeping from thechurches and convents of the provinces, was seized, and thus, with littlebloodshed and no violence; was the important city secured for theinsurgents. Three days afterwards, two thousand infantry, chieflyFrench, arrived in the place. In the early part of the following monthLouis was still further strengthened by the arrival of thirteen hundredfoot and twelve hundred horsemen, under command of Count Montgomery, thecelebrated officer, whose spear at the tournament had proved fatal toHenry the Second. Thus the Duke of Alva suddenly found himself exposedto a tempest of revolution. One thunderbolt after another seemeddescending around him in breathless succession. Brill and Flushing hadbeen already lost; Middelburg was so closely invested that its fallseemed imminent, and with it would go the whole island of Walcheren, thekey to all the Netherlands. In one morning he had heard of the revolt ofEnkbuizen and of the whole Waterland; two hours later came the news ofthe Valenciennes rebellion, and next day the astonishing capture of Mons. One disaster followed hard upon another. He could have sworn that thedetested Louis of Nassau, who had dealt this last and most fatal stroke, was at that moment in Paris, safely watched by government emissaries; andnow he had, as it were, suddenly started out of the earth, to deprive himof this important city, and to lay bare the whole frontier to thetreacherous attacks of faithless France. He refused to believe theintelligence when it was first announced to him, and swore that he hadcertain information that Count Louis had been seen playing in the tennis-court at Paris, within so short a period as to make his presence inHainault at that moment impossible. Forced, at last, to admit the truthof the disastrous news, he dashed his hat upon the ground in a fury, uttering imprecations upon the Queen Dowager of France, to whoseperfidious intrigues he ascribed the success of the enterprise, andpledging himself to send her Spanish thistles, enough in return for theFlorentine lilies which she had thus bestowed upon him. In the midst of the perplexities thus thickening around him, the Dukepreserved his courage, if not his temper. Blinded, for a brief season, by the rapid attacks made upon him, he had been uncertain whither todirect his vengeance. This last blow in so vital a quarter determinedhim at once. He forthwith despatched Don Frederic to undertake the siegeof Mons, and earnestly set about raising large reinforcements to hisarmy. Don Frederic took possession, without much opposition, of theBethlehem cloister in the immediate vicinity of the city, and with fourthousand troops began the investment in due form. Alva had, for a long time, been most impatient to retire from theprovinces. Even he was capable of human emotions. Through the sevenfoldpanoply of his pride he had been pierced by the sharpness of a nation'scurse. He was wearied with the unceasing execrations which assailed hisears. "The hatred which the people bear me, " said he, in a letter toPhilip, "because of the chastisement which it has been necessary for meto inflict, although with all the moderation in the world, make all myefforts vain. A successor will meet more sympathy and prove moreuseful. " On the 10th June, the Duke of Medina Coeli; with a fleet ofmore than forty sail, arrived off Blankenburg, intending to enter theScheld. Julian Romero, with two thousand Spaniards, was also on boardthe fleet. Nothing, of course, was known to the new comers of thealtered condition of affairs in the Netherlands, nor of the unwelcomereception which they were like to meet in Flushing. A few of the lightercraft having been taken by the patriot cruisers, the alarm was spreadthrough all the fleet. Medina Coeli, with a few transports, was enabledto effect his escape to Sluys, whence he hastened to Brussels in a muchless ceremonious manner than he had originally contemplated. TwelveBiscayan ships stood out to sea, descried a large Lisbon fleet, by asingular coincidence, suddenly heaving in sight, changed their courseagain, and with a favoring breeze bore boldly up the Hond; passedFlushing in spite of a severe cannonade from the forts, and eventuallymade good their entrance into Rammekens, whence the soldiery, about one-half of whom had thus been saved, were transferred at a very criticalmoment to Middelburg. The great Lisbon fleet followed in the wake of the Biscayans, with muchinferior success. Totally ignorant of the revolution which had occurredin the Ise of Walclieren, it obeyed the summons of the rebel fort to cometo anchor, and, with the exception of three or four, the vessels were alltaken. It was the richest booty which the insurgents had yet acquired bysea or land. The fleet was laden with spices, money, jewellery, and therichest merchandize. Five hundred thousand crowns of gold were taken, and it was calculated that the plunder altogether would suffice tomaintain the war for two years at least. One thousand Spanish soldiers, and a good amount of ammunition, were also captured. The unexpectedcondition of affairs made a pause natural and almost necessary, beforethe government could be decorously transferred. Medina Coeli withSpanish grandiloquence, avowed his willingness to serve as a soldier, under a general whom he so much venerated, while Alva ordered that, inall respects, the same outward marks of respect should be paid to hisappointed successor as to himself. Beneath all this external ceremony, however, much mutual malice was concealed. Meantime, the Duke, who was literally "without a single real, " was forcedat last to smother his pride in the matter of the tenth penny. On the24th June, he summoned the estates of Holland to assemble on the 15th ofthe ensuing month. In the missive issued for this purpose, he formallyagreed to abolish the whole tax, on condition that the estates-general ofthe Netherlands would furnish him with a yearly supply of two millions offlorins. Almost at the same moment the King had dismissed the deputiesof the estates from Madrid, with the public assurance that the tax was tobe suspended, and a private intimation that it was not abolished interms, only in order to save the dignity of the Duke. These healing measures came entirely too late. The estates of Hollandmet, indeed, on the appointed day of July; but they assembled not inobedience to Alva, but in consequence of a summons from William ofOrange. They met, too, not at the Hague, but at Dort, to take formalmeasures for renouncing the authority of the Duke. The first congress ofthe Netherland commonwealth still professed loyalty to the Crown, but wasdetermined to accept the policy of Orange without a question. The Prince had again assembled an army in Germany, consisting offifteen thousand foot and seven thousand horse, besides a number ofNetherlanders, mostly Walloons, amounting to nearly three thousand more. Before taking the field, however, it was necessary that he shouldguarantee at least three months' pay to his troops. This he could nolonger do, except by giving bonds endorsed by certain cities of Hollandas his securities. He had accordingly addressed letters in his own nameto all the principal cities, fervently adjuring them to remember, atlast, what was due to him, to the fatherland, and to their own character. "Let not a sum of gold, " said he in one of these letters, "be so dear toyou, that for its sake you will sacrifice your lives, your wives, yourchildren, and all your descendants, to the latest generations; that youwill bring sin and shame upon yourselves, and destruction upon us whohave so heartily striven to assist you. Think what scorn you will incurfrom foreign nations, what a crime you will commit against the. LordGod, what a bloody yoke ye will impose forever upon yourselves and yourchildren, if you now seek for subterfuges; if you now prevent us fromtaking the field with the troops which we have enlisted. On the otherhand, what inexpressible benefits you will confer on your country, if younow help us to rescue that fatherland from the power of Spanish vulturesand wolves. " This and similar missives, circulated throughout the province of Holland, produced a deep impression. In accordance with his suggestions, thedeputies from the nobility and from twelve cities of that provinceassembled on the 15th July, at Dort. Strictly speaking, the estates orgovernment of Holland, the body which represented the whole people, consisted of the nobler and six great cities. On this occasion, however, Amsterdam being still in the power of the King, could send no deputies, while, on the other hand, all the small towns were invited to send uptheir representatives to the Congress. Eight accepted the proposal; therest declined to appoint delegates, partly from motives of economy, partly from timidity. ' These estates were the legitimate representatives of the people, butthey had no legislative powers. The people had never pretended tosovereignty, nor did they claim it now. The source from which thegovernment of the Netherlands was supposed to proceed was still thedivine mandate. Even now the estates silently conceded, as they had everdone, the supreme legislative and executive functions to the land'smaster. Upon Philip of Spain, as representative of Count Dirk the Firstof Holland, had descended, through many tortuous channels, the divineeffluence originally supplied by Charles the Simple of France. Thatsupernatural power was not contested, but it was now ingeniously turnedagainst the sovereign. The King's authority was invoked against himselfin the person of the Prince of Orange, to whom, thirteen years before, a portion of that divine right had been delegated. The estates ofHolland met at Dort on the 15th July, as representatives of the people;but they were summoned by Orange, royally commissioned in 1559 asstadholder, and therefore the supreme legislative and executive officerof certain provinces. This was the theory of the provisional government. The Prince represented the royal authority, the nobles represented boththemselves and the people of the open country, while the twelve citiesrepresented the whole body of burghers. Together, they were supposed toembody all authority, both divine and human, which a congress couldexercise. Thus the whole movement was directed against Alva and againstCount Bossu, appointed stadholder by Alva in the place of Orange. Philip's name was destined to figure for a long time, at the headof documents by which monies were raised, troops levied, and taxescollected, all to be used in deadly war against himself. The estates were convened on the 15th July, when Paul Buys, pensionary ofLeyden, the tried and confidential friend of Orange, was elected Advocateof Holland. The convention was then adjourned till the 18th, when SaintAldegonde made his appearance, with full powers to act provisionally inbehalf of his Highness. The distinguished plenipotentiary delivered before the congress a longand very effective harangue. He recalled the sacrifices and efforts ofthe Prince during previous years. He adverted to the disastrous campaignof 1568, in which the Prince had appeared full of high hope, at the headof a gallant army, but had been obliged, after a short period, to retire, because not a city had opened its gates nor a Netherlander lifted hisfinger in the cause. Nevertheless, he had not lost courage nor closedhis heart; and now that, through the blessing of God, the eyes of men hadbeen opened, and so many cities had declared against the tyrant, thePrince had found himself exposed to a bitter struggle. Although his ownfortunes had been ruined in the cause, he had been unable to resist thedaily flood of petitions which called upon him to come forward once more. He had again importuned his relations and powerful friends; he had atlast set on foot a new and well-appointed army. The day of payment hadarrived. Over his own head impended perpetual shame, over the fatherlandperpetual woe, if the congress should now refuse the necessary supplies. "Arouse ye, then, " cried the orator, with fervor, "awaken your own zealand that of your sister cities. Seize Opportunity by the locks, whonever appeared fairer than she does to-day. " The impassioned eloquence of St. Aldegonde produced a profoundimpression. The men who had obstinately refused the demands of Alva, now unanimously resolved to pour forth their gold and their blood atthe call of Orange. "Truly, " wrote the Duke, a little later, "it almostdrives me mad to see the difficulty with which your Majesty's suppliesare furnished, and the liberality with which the people place their livesand fortunes at the disposal of this rebel. " It seemed strange to theloyal governor that men should support their liberator with greateralacrity than that with which they served their destroyer! It wasresolved that the requisite amount should be at once raised, partlyfrom the regular imposts and current "requests, " partly by loans fromthe rich, from the clergy, from the guilds and brotherhoods, partly fromsuperfluous church ornaments and other costly luxuries. It was directedthat subscriptions should be immediately opened throughout the land, thatgold and silver plate, furniture, jewellery, and other expensive articlesshould be received by voluntary contributions, for which inventories andreceipts should be given by the magistrates of each city, and that uponthese money should be raised, either by loan or sale. An enthusiasticand liberal spirit prevailed. All seemed determined rather than pay thetenth to Alva to pay the whole to the Prince. The estates, furthermore, by unanimous resolution, declared that theyrecognized the Prince as the King's lawful stadholder over Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Utrecht, and that they would use their influencewith the other provinces to procure his appointment as Protector of allthe Netherlands during the King's absence. His Highness was requested toappoint an Admiral, on whom, with certain deputies from the Water-cities, the conduct of the maritime war should devolve. The conduct of the military operations by land was to be directed byDort, Leyden, and Enkbuizen, in conjunction with the Count de la Marck. A pledge was likewise exchanged between the estates and the pleni-potentiary, that neither party should enter into any treaty with theKing, except by full consent and co-operation of the other. With regardto religion, it was firmly established, that the public exercises ofdivine worship should be permitted not only to the Reformed Church, butto the Roman Catholic--the clergy of both being protected from allmolestation. After these proceedings, Count de la Marck made his appearance before theassembly. His commission from Orange was read to the deputies, and bythem ratified. The Prince, in that document, authorized "his dearcousin" to enlist troops, to accept the fealty of cities, to furnish themwith garrisons, to re-establish all the local laws, municipal rights, andancient privileges which had been suppressed. He was to maintain freedomof religion, under penalty of death to those who infringed it; he was torestore all confiscated property; he was, with advice of his council, tocontinue in office such city magistrates as were favorable, and to removethose adverse to the cause. The Prince was, in reality, clothed with dictatorial and even regalpowers. This authority had been forced upon him by the prayers of thepeople, but he manifested no eagerness as he partly accepted the onerousstation. He was provisionally the depositary of the whole sovereignty ofthe northern provinces, but ho cared much less for theories of governmentthan for ways and means. It was his object to release the country fromthe tyrant who, five years long, had been burning and butchering thepeople. It was his determination to drive out the foreign soldiery. Todo this, he must meet his enemy in the field. So little was he disposedto strengthen his own individual power, that he voluntarily imposedlimits on himself, by an act, supplemental to the proceedings of theCongress of Dort. In this important ordinance made by the Prince ofOrange, as a provisional form of government, he publicly announced "thathe would do and ordain nothing except by the advice of the estates, byreason that they were best acquainted with the circumstances and thehumours of the inhabitants. " He directed the estates to appointreceivers for all public taxes, and ordained that all military officersshould make oath of fidelity to him, as stadholder, and to the estates ofHolland, to be true and obedient, in order to liberate the land from theAlbanian and Spanish tyranny, for the service of his royal Majesty asCount of Holland. The provisional constitution, thus made by a sovereignprince and actual dictator, was certainly as disinterested as it wassagacious. Meanwhile the war had opened vigorously in Hainault. Louis of Nassauhad no sooner found himself in possession of Mons than he had despatchedGenlis to France, for those reinforcements which had been promised byroyal lips. On the other hand, Don Frederic held the city closelybeleaguered; sharp combats before the walls were of almost dailyoccurrence, but it was obvious that Louis would be unable to maintain theposition into which he had so chivalrously thrown himself unless heshould soon receive important succor. The necessary reinforcements weresoon upon the way. Genlis had made good speed with his levy, and it wassoon announced that he was advancing into Hainault, with a force ofHuguenots, whose numbers report magnified to ten thousand veterans. Louis despatched an earnest message to his confederate, to use extremecaution in his approach. Above all things, he urged him, beforeattempting to throw reinforcements into the city, to effect a junctionwith the Prince of Orange, who had already crossed the Rhine with his newarmy. Genlis, full of overweening confidence, and desirous of acquiring singlythe whole glory of relieving the city, disregarded this advice. Hisrashness proved his ruin, and the temporary prostration of the cause offreedom. Pushing rapidly forward across the French frontier, he arrived, towards the middle of July, within two leagues of Mons. The Spaniardswere aware of his approach, and well prepared to frustrate his project. On the 19th, he found himself upon a circular plain of about a league'sextent, surrounded with coppices and forests, and dotted with farm-housesand kitchen gardens. Here he paused to send out a reconnoitring party. The little detachment was, however, soon driven in, with the informationthat Don Frederic of Toledo, with ten thousand men, was coming instantlyupon them. The Spanish force, in reality, numbered four thousandinfantry, and fifteen hundred cavalry; but three thousand half-armedboors had been engaged by Don Frederic, to swell his apparent force. Thedemonstration produced its effect, and no sooner had the first panic ofthe intelligence been spread, than Noircarmes came charging upon them atthe head of his cavalry. The infantry arrived directly afterwards, andthe Huguenots were routed almost as soon as seen. It was a meetingrather than a battle. The slaughter of the French was very great, whilebut an insignificant number of the Spaniards fell. Chiappin Vitelli wasthe hero of the day. It was to his masterly arrangements before thecombat, and to his animated exertions upon the field, that the victorywas owing. Having been severely wounded in the thigh but a few dayspreviously, he caused himself to be carried upon a litter in a recumbentposition in front of his troops, and was everywhere seen, encouragingtheir exertions, and exposing himself, crippled as he was, to the wholebrunt of the battle. To him the victory nearly proved fatal; to DonFrederic it brought increased renown. Vitelli's exertions, in hisprecarious condition, brought on severe inflammation, under which henearly succumbed, while the son of Alva reaped extensive fame from thetotal overthrow of the veteran Huguenots, due rather to his lieutenantand to Julian Romero. The number of dead left by the French upon the plain amounted to at leasttwelve hundred, but a much larger number was butchered in detail by thepeasantry, among whom they attempted to take refuge, and who had not yetforgotten the barbarities inflicted by their countrymen in the previouswar. Many officers were taken prisoners, among whom was the Commander-in-chief, Genlis. That unfortunate gentleman was destined to atone for his rashness andobstinacy with his life. He was carried to the castle of Antwerp, where, sixteen months afterwards, he was secretly strangled by command of Alva, who caused the report to be circulated that he had died a natural death. About one hundred foot soldiers succeeded in making their entrance intoMona, and this was all the succor which Count Louis was destined toreceive from France, upon which country he had built such lofty and suchreasonable hopes. While this unfortunate event was occurring, the Prince had already puthis army in motion. On the 7th of July he had crossed the Rhine atDuisburg, with fourteen thousand foot, seven thousand horse, enlisted inGermany, besides a force of three thousand Walloons. On the 23rd ofJuly, he took the city of Roermond, after a sharp cannonade, at whichplace his troops already began to disgrace the honorable cause in whichthey were engaged, by imitating the cruelties and barbarities of theirantagonists. The persons and property of the burghers were, with a veryfew exceptions, respected; but many priests and monks were put to deathby the soldiery under circumstances of great barbarity. The Prince, incensed at such conduct, but being unable to exercise very stringentauthority over troops whose wages he was not yet able to pay in full, issued a proclamation, denouncing such excesses, and commanding hisfollowers, upon pain of death, to respect the rights of all individuals, whether Papist or Protestant, and to protect religious exercises both inCatholic and Reformed churches. It was hardly to be expected that the troops enlisted by the Prince inthe same great magazine of hireling soldiers, Germany, from whence theDuke also derived his annual supplies, would be likely to differ verymuch in their propensities from those enrolled under Spanish banners; yetthere was a vast contrast between the characters of the two commanders. One leader inculcated the practice of robbery, rape, and murder, as aduty, and issued distinct orders to butcher every mother's son in thecities which he captured; the other restrained every excess to, theutmost of his ability, protecting not only life and property, but eventhe ancient religion. The Emperor Maximilian had again issued his injunctions against themilitary operations of Orange. Bound to the monarch of Spain by so manyfamily ties, being at once cousin, brother-in-law, and father-in-law ofPhilip, it was difficult for him to maintain the attitude which becamehim, as chief of that Empire to which the peace of Passau had assuredreligious freedom. It had, however, been sufficiently proved thatremonstrances and intercessions addressed to Philip were but idle breath. It had therefore become an insult to require pacific conduct from thePrince on the ground of any past or future mediation. It was a stillgrosser mockery to call upon him to discontinue hostilities because theNetherlands were included in the Empire, and therefore protected by thetreaties of Passau and Augsburg. Well did the Prince reply to hisImperial Majesty's summons in a temperate but cogent letter, in which headdressed to him from his camp, that all intercessions had provedfruitless, and that the only help for the Netherlands was the sword. The Prince had been delayed for a month at Roermonde, because, as heexpressed it; "he had not a single sou, " and because, in consequence, the troops refused to advance into the Netherlands. Having at last beenfurnished with the requisite guarantees from the Holland cities for threemonths' pay, on the 27th of August, the day of the publication of hisletter to the Emperor, he crossed the Meuse and took his circuitous waythrough Diest, Tirlemont, Sichem, Louvain, Mechlin, Termonde, Oudenarde, Nivelles. Many cities and villages accepted his authority and admittedhis garrisons. Of these Mechlin was the most considerable, in which hestationed a detachment of his troops. Its doom was sealed in thatmoment. Alva could not forgive this act of patriotism on the part of atown which had so recently excluded his own troops. "This is a directpermission of God, " he wrote, in the spirit of dire and revengefulprophecy, "for us to punish her as she deserves, for the image-breakingand other misdeeds done there in the time of Madame de Parma, which ourLord was not willing to pass over without chastisement. " Meantime the Prince continued his advance. Louvain purchased itsneutrality for the time with sixteen thousand ducats; Brusselsobstinately refused to listen to him, and was too powerful to be forciblyattacked at that juncture; other important cities, convinced by thearguments and won by the eloquence of the various proclamations which hescattered as he advanced, ranged themselves spontaneously and evenenthusiastically upon his side. How different world have been the resultof his campaign but for the unexpected earthquake which at that instantwas to appal Christendom, and to scatter all his well-matured plans andlegitimate hopes. His chief reliance, under Providence and his ownstrong heart, had been upon French assistance. Although Genlis, by hismisconduct, had sacrificed his army and himself, yet the Prince as stilljustly sanguine as to the policy of the French court. The papers whichhad been found in the possession of Genlis by his conquerors all spokeone language. "You would be struck with stupor, " wrote Alva's secretary, "could you see a letter which is now in my power, addressed by the Kingof France to Louis of Nassau. " In that letter the King had declared hisdetermination to employ all the forces which God had placed in his handsto rescue the Netherlands from the oppression under which they weregroaning. In accordance with the whole spirit and language of the Frenchgovernment, was the tone of Coligny in his correspondence with Orange. The Admiral assured the Prince that there was no doubt as to theearnestness of the royal intentions in behalf of the Netherlands, andrecommending extreme caution, announced his hope within a few days toeffect a junction with him at the head of twelve thousand Frencharquebusiers, and at least three thousand cavalry. Well might thePrince of Orange, strong, and soon to be strengthened, boast that theNetherlands were free, and that Alva was in his power. He had a rightto be sanguine, for nothing less than a miracle could now destroy hisgenerous hopes--and, alas! the miracle took place; a miracle of perfidyand bloodshed such as the world, familiar as it had ever been and wasstill to be with massacre, had not yet witnessed. On the 11th of August, Coligny had written thus hopefully of his movements towards theNetherlands, sanctioned and aided by his King. A fortnight from thatday occurred the "Paris-wedding;" and the Admiral, with thousands of hisreligious confederates, invited to confidence by superhuman treachery, and lulled into security by the music of august marriage bells, wassuddenly butchered in the streets of Paris by royal and noble hands. The Prince proceeded on his march, during which the heavy news had beenbrought to him, but he felt convinced that, with the very arrival of theawful tidings, the fate of that campaign was sealed, and the fall of Monsinevitable. In his own language, he had been struck to the earth "withthe blow of a sledge-hammer, "--nor did the enemy draw a different auguryfrom the great event. The crime was not committed with the connivance of the Spanishgovernment. On the contrary, the two courts were at the moment bitterlyhostile to each other. In the beginning of the summer, Charles IX. Andhis advisers were as false to Philip, as at the end of it they weretreacherous to Coligny and Orange. The massacre of the Huguenots hadnot even the merit of being a well-contrived and intelligently executedscheme. We have seen how steadily, seven years before, Catharine deMedici had rejected the advances of Alva towards the arrangement of ageneral plan for the extermination of all heretics within France and theNetherlands at the same moment. We have seen the disgust with which Alvaturned from the wretched young King at Bayonne, when he expressed theopinion that to take arms against his own subjects was wholly out of thequestion, and could only be followed by general ruin. "'Tis easy to seethat he has been tutored, " wrote Alva to his master. Unfortunately, the same mother; who had then instilled those lessons of hypocriticalbenevolence, had now wrought upon her son's cowardly but ferocious naturewith a far different intent. The incomplete assassination of Coligny, the dread of signal vengeance at the hands of the Huguenots, thenecessity of taking the lead in the internecine snuggle; were employedwith Medicean art, and with entire success. The King was lashed into afrenzy. Starting to his feet, with a howl of rage and terror, "I agreeto the scheme, " he cried, "provided not one Huguenot be left alive inFrance to reproach me with the deed. " That night the slaughter commenced. The long premeditated crime wasexecuted in a panic, but the work was thoroughly done. The King, who a few days before had written with his own hand to Louis of Nassau, expressing his firm determination to sustain the Protestant cause both inFrance and the Netherlands, who had employed the counsels of Coligny inthe arrangement, of his plans, and who had sent French troops, underGenlis and La None, to assist their Calvinist brethren in Flanders, nowgave the signal for the general massacre of the Protestants, and with hisown hands, from his own palace windows, shot his subjects with hisarquebuss as if they had been wild beasts. Between Sunday and Tuesday, according to one of the most moderatecalculations, five thousand Parisians of all ranks were murdered. Withinthe whole kingdom, the number of victims was variously estimated at fromtwenty-five thousand to one hundred thousand. The heart of ProtestantEurope, for an instant, stood still with horror. The Queen of Englandput on mourning weeds, and spurned the apologies of the French envoy withcontempt. At Rome, on the contrary, the news of the massacre created ajoy beyond description. The Pope, accompanied by his cardinals, wentsolemnly to the church of Saint Mark to render thanks to God for thegrace thus singularly vouchsafed to the Holy See and to all Christendom;and a Te Deum was performed in presence of the same august assemblage. But nothing could exceed the satisfaction which the event occasioned inthe mind of Philip the Second. There was an end now of all assistancefrom the French government to the Netherland Protestants. "The news ofthe events upon Saint Bartholomew's day, " wrote the French envoy atMadrid, Saint Goard, to Charles IX. , "arrived on the 7th September. TheKing, on receiving the intelligence, showed, contrary to his naturalcustom, so much gaiety, that he seemed more delighted than with all thegood fortune or happy incidents which had ever before occurred to him. He called all his familiars about him in order to assure them that yourMajesty was his good brother, and that no one else deserved the title ofMost Christian. He sent his secretary Cayas to me with his felicitationsupon the event, and with the information that he was just going to SaintJerome to render thanks to God, and to offer his prayers that yourMajesty might receive Divine support in this great affair. I went tosee him next morning, and as soon as I came into his presence he beganto laugh, and with demonstrations of extreme contentment, to praise yourMajesty as deserving your title of Most Christian, telling me there wasno King worthy to be your Majesty's companion, either for valor orprudence. He praised the steadfast resolution and the long dissimulationof so great an enterprise, which all the world would not be able tocomprehend. " "I thanked him, " continued the embassador, "and I said that I thankedGod for enabling your Majesty to prove to his Master that his apprenticehad learned his trade, and deserved his title of most Christian King. I added, that he ought to confess that he owed the preservation of theNetherlands to your Majesty. " Nothing certainly could, in Philip's apprehension, be more delightfulthan this most unexpected and most opportune intelligence. Charles IX. , whose intrigues in the Netherlands he had long known, had now beensuddenly converted by this stupendous crime into his most powerful ally, while at the same time the Protestants of Europe would learn that therewas still another crowned head in Christendom more deserving ofabhorrence than himself. He wrote immediately to Alva, expressing hissatisfaction that the King of France had disembarrassed himself of suchpernicious men, because he would now be obliged to cultivate thefriendship of Spain, neither the English Queen nor the German Protestantsbeing thenceforth capable of trusting him. He informed the Duke, moreover, that the French envoy, Saint Goard, had been urging him tocommand the immediate execution of Genlis and his companions, who hadbeen made prisoners, as well as all the Frenchmen who would be capturedin Mons; and that he fully concurred in the propriety of the measure. "The sooner, " said Philip, "these noxious plants are extirpated from theearth, the less fear there is that a fresh crop will spring up. " Themonarch therefore added, with his own hand, to the letter, "I desire thatif you have not already disembarrassed the world of them, you will do itimmediately, and inform me thereof, for I see no reason why it should bedeferred. " This is the demoniacal picture painted by the French ambassador, and byPhilip's own hand, of the Spanish monarch's joy that his "Most Christian"brother had just murdered twenty-five thousand of his own subjects. Inthis cold-blooded way, too, did his Catholic Majesty order the executionof some thousand Huguenots additionally, in order more fully to carry outhis royal brother's plans; yet Philip could write of himself, "that allthe world recognized the gentleness of his nature and the mildness of hisintentions. " In truth, the advice thus given by Saint Goard on the subject of theFrench prisoners in Alva's possessions, was a natural result of the SaintBartholomew. Here were officers and soldiers whom Charles IX. Hadhimself sent into the Netherlands to fight for the Protestant causeagainst Philip and Alva. Already, the papers found upon them had placedhim in some embarrassment, and exposed his duplicity to the Spanishgovernment, before the great massacre had made such signal reparation forhis delinquency. He had ordered Mondoucet, his envoy in the Netherlands, to use dissimulation to an unstinted amount, to continue his intrigueswith the Protestants, and to deny stoutly all proofs of such connivance. "I see that the papers found upon Genlis;" he wrote twelve days beforethe massacre, "have been put into the hands of Assonleville, and thatthey know everything done by Genlis to have been committed with myconsent. " [These remarkable letters exchanged between Charles IX. And Mondoucet have recently been published by M. Emile Gachet (chef du bureau paleographique aux Archives de Belgique) from a manuscript discovered by him in the library at Rheims. --Compte Rendu de la Com. Roy. D'Hist. , iv. 340, sqq. ] "Nevertheless, you will tell the Duke of Alva that these are lies inventedto excite suspicion against me. You will also give him occasionalinformation of the enemy's affairs, in order to make him believe in yourintegrity. Even if he does not believe you, my purpose will be answered, provided you do it dexterously. At the same time you must keep up aconstant communication with the Prince of Orange, taking great care toprevent discovery of your intelligence with King. " Were not these masterstrokes of diplomacy worthy of a King whom hismother, from boyhood upwards, had caused to study Macchiavelli's"Prince, " and who had thoroughly taken to heart the maxim, often repeatedin those days, that the "Science of reigning was the science of lying"? The joy in the Spanish camp before Mons was unbounded. It was as if theonly bulwark between the Netherland rebels and total destruction had beensuddenly withdrawn. With anthems in Saint Gudule, with bonfires, festiveilluminations, roaring artillery, with trumpets also, and with shawms, was the glorious holiday celebrated in court and camp, in honor of thevast murder committed by the Most Christian King upon his Christiansubjects; nor was a moment lost in apprising the Huguenot soldiers shutup with Louis of Nassau in the beleaguered city of the great catastrophewhich was to render all their valor fruitless. "'T was a punishment, "said a Spanish soldier, who fought most courageously before Mons, and whoelaborately described the siege afterwards, "well worthy of a king whosetitle is 'The Most Christian, ' and it was still more honorable to inflictit with his own hands as he did. " Nor was the observation a pithysarcasm, but a frank expression of opinion, from a man celebrated alikefor the skill with which he handled both his sword and his pen. The, French envoy in the Netherlands was, of course, immediately informedby his sovereign of the great event: Charles IX. Gave a very pithyaccount of the transaction. "To prevent the success of the enterpriseplanned by the Admiral, " wrote the King on the 26th of August, with handsyet reeking, and while the havoc throughout France was at its height, "I have been obliged to permit the said Guises to rush upon the saidAdmiral, --which they have done, the said Admiral having been killed andall his adherents. A very great number of those belonging to the newreligion have also been massacred and cut to pieces. It is probable thatthe fire thus kindled will spread through all the cities of my kingdom, and that all those of the said religion will be made sure of. " Notoften, certainly, in history, has a Christian king spoken thus calmlyof butchering his subjects while the work was proceeding all aroundhim. It is to be observed, moreover, that the usual excuse for suchenormities, religious fanaticism, can not be even suggested on thisoccasion. Catharine, in times past had favored Huguenots as much asCatholics, while Charles had been, up to the very moment of the crime, in strict alliance with the heretics of both France and Flanders, andfurthering the schemes of Orange and Nassau. Nay, even at this verymoment, and in this very letter in which he gave the news of themassacre, he charged his envoy still to maintain the closest but mostsecret intelligence with the Prince of Orange; taking great care thatthe Duke of Alva should not discover these relations. His motives were, of course, to prevent the Prince from abandoning his designs, and fromcoming to make a disturbance in France. The King, now that the deed wasdone, was most anxious to reap all the fruits of his crime. "Now, M. DeMondoucet, it is necessary in such affairs, " he continued, "to have aneye to every possible contingency. I know that this news will be mostagreeable to the Duke of Alva, for it is most favorable to his designs. At the same time, I don't desire that he alone should gather the fruit. I don't choose that he should, according to his excellent custom, conducthis affairs in such wise as to throw the Prince of Orange upon my hands, besides sending back to France Genlis and the other prisoners, as wellas the French now shut up in Mons. " This was a sufficiently plain hint, which Mondoucet could not wellmisunderstand. "Observe the Duke's countenance carefully when yougive him this message, " added the King, "and let me know his reply. "In order, however, that there might be no mistake about the matter, Charles wrote again to his ambassador, five days afterwards, distinctlystating the regret which he should feel if Alva should not take the cityof Mons, or if he should take it by composition. "Tell the Duke, " saidhe, "that it is most important for the service of his master and of Godthat those Frenchmen and others in Mons should be cut in pieces. " Hewrote another letter upon the name day, such was his anxiety upon thesubject, instructing the envoy to urge upon Alva the necessity ofchastising those rebels to the French crown. "If he tells you, "continued Charles, "that this is tacitly requiring him to put to deathall the French prisoners now in hand as well to cut in pieces every manin Mons, you will say to him that this is exactly what he ought to do, and that he will be guilty of a great wrong to Christianity if he doesotherwise. " Certainly, the Duke, having been thus distinctly ordered, both by his own master and by his Christian Majesty, to put everyone of these Frenchmen to death, had a sufficiency of royal warrant. Nevertheless, he was not able to execute entirely these ferociousinstructions. The prisoners already in his power were not destined toescape, but the city of Mons, in his own language, "proved to havesharper teeth than he supposed. " Mondoucet lost no time in placing before Alva the urgent necessity ofaccomplishing the extensive and cold-blooded massacre thus proposed. "The Duke has replied, " wrote the envoy to his sovereign, "that he isexecuting his prisoners every day, and that he has but a few left. Nevertheless, for some reason which he does not mention, he is reservingthe principal noblemen and chiefs. " He afterwards informed his masterthat Genlis, Jumelles, and the other leaders, had engaged, if Alva wouldgrant them a reasonable ransom, to induce the French in Mons to leavethe city, but that the Duke, although his language was growing lessconfident, still hoped to take the town by assault. "I have urged him, "he added, "to put them all to death, assuring him that he would beresponsible for the consequences of a contrary course. "--"Why does notyour Most Christian master, " asked Alva, "order these Frenchmen in Monsto come to him under oath to make no disturbance? Then my prisoners willbe at my discretion and I shall get my city. "--"Because, " answered theenvoy, "they will not trust his Most Christian Majesty, and will preferto die in Mons. "--[Mondoucet to Charles IX. , 15th September, 1572. ] This certainly was a most sensible reply, but it is instructive towitness the cynicism with which the envoy accepts this position for hismaster, while coldly recording the results of all these sanguinaryconversations. Such was the condition of affairs when the Prince of Orange arrived atPeronne, between Binche and the Duke of Alva's entrenchments. Thebesieging army was rich in notabilities of elevated rank. Don Fredericof Toledo had hitherto commanded, but on the 27th of August, the Dukes ofMedina Coeli and of Alva had arrived in the camp. Directly afterwardscame the warlike Archbishop of Cologne, at the head of two thousandcavalry. There was but one chance for the Prince of Orange, andexperience had taught him, four years before, its slenderness. He mightstill provoke his adversary into a pitched battle, and he relied upon Godfor the result. In his own words, "he trusted ever that the great God ofarmies was with him, and would fight in the midst of his forces. " If solong as Alva remained in his impregnable camp, it was impossible toattack him, or to throw reinforcements into Mons. The Prince soon found, too, that Alva was far too wise to hazard his position by a superfluouscombat. The Duke knew that the cavalry of the Prince was superior to hisown. He expressed himself entirely unwilling to play into the Prince'shands, instead of winning the game which was no longer doubtful. TheHuguenot soldiers within Mons were in despair and mutiny; Louis of Nassaulay in his bed consuming with a dangerous fever; Genlis was a prisoner, and his army cut to pieces; Coligny was murdered, and Protestant Franceparalyzed; the troops of Orange, enlisted but for three months, werealready rebellious, and sure to break into open insubordination when theconsequences of the Paris massacre should become entirely clear to them;and there were, therefore, even more cogent reasons than in 1568, whyAlva should remain perfectly still, and see his enemy's cause founderbefore his eyes. The valiant Archbishop of Cologne was most eager forthe fray. He rode daily at the Duke's side, with harness on his back andpistols in his holsters, armed and attired like one of his own troopers, and urging the Duke, with vehemence, to a pitched battle with the Prince. The Duke commended, but did not yield to, the prelate's enthusiasm. "'Tis a fine figure of a man, with his corslet and pistols, " he wrote toPhilip, "and he shows great affection for your Majesty's service. " The issue of the campaign was inevitable. On the 11th September, DonFrederic, with a force of four thousand picked men, established himselfat Saint Florian, a village near the Havre gate of the city, while thePrince had encamped at Hermigny, within half a league of the same place, whence he attempted to introduce reinforcements into the town. On thenight of the 11th and 12th, Don Frederic hazarded an encamisada upon theenemy's camp, which proved eminently successful, and had nearly resultedin the capture of the Prince himself. A chosen band of six hundredarquebussers, attired, as was customary in these nocturnal expeditions, with their shirts outside their armor, that they might recognize eachother in the darkness, were led by Julian Romero, within the lines of theenemy. The sentinels were cut down, the whole army surprised, and for amoment powerless, while, for two hours long, from one o'clock in themorning until three, the Spaniards butchered their foes, hardly arousedfrom their sleep, ignorant by how small a force they had been thussuddenly surprised, and unable in the confusion to distinguish betweenfriend and foe. The boldest, led by Julian in person, made at once forthe Prince's tent. His guards and himself were in profound sleep, but asmall spaniel, who always passed the night upon his bed, was a morefaithful sentinel. The creature sprang forward, barking furiously at thesound of hostile footsteps, and scratching his master's face with hispaws. --There was but just time for the Prince to mount a horse which wasready saddled, and to effect his escape through the darkness, before hisenemies sprang into the tent. His servants were cut down, his master ofthe horse and two of his secretaries, who gained their saddles a momentlater, all lost their lives, and but for the little dog's watchfulness, William of Orange, upon whose shoulders the whole weight of his country'sfortunes depended, would have been led within a week to an ignominiousdeath. To his dying day, the Prince ever afterwards kept a spaniel ofthe same race in his bed-chamber. The midnight slaughter stillcontinued, but the Spaniards in their fury, set fire to the tents. Theglare of the conflagration showed the Orangists by how paltry a forcethey had been surprised. Before they could rally, however, Romero ledoff his arquebusiers, every one of whom had at least killed his man. Six hundred of the Prince's troops had been put to the sword, while manyothers were burned in their beds, or drowned in the little rivulet whichflowed outside their camp. Only sixty Spaniards lost their lives. This disaster did not alter the plans of the Prince, for those plans hadalready been frustrated. The whole marrow of his enterprise had beendestroyed in an instant by the massacre of Saint Bartholomew. Heretreated to Wronne and Nivelles, an assassin, named Heist, a German, by birth, but a French chevalier, following him secretly in his camp, pledged to take his life for a large reward promised by Alva--anenterprise not destined, however, to be successful. The soldiers flatlyrefused to remain an hour longer in the field, or even to furnish anescort for Count Louis, if, by chance, he could be brought out of thetown. The Prince was obliged to inform his brother of the desperatestate of his affairs, and to advise him to capitulate on the best termswhich he could make. With a heavy heart, he left the chivalrous Louisbesieged in the city which he had so gallantly captured, and took his wayacross the Meuse towards the Rhine. A furious mutiny broke out among histroops. His life was, with difficulty, saved from the brutal soldiery--infuriated at his inability to pay them, except in the over-duesecurities of the Holland cities--by the exertions of the officers whostill regarded him with veneration and affection. Crossing the Rhine atOrsoy, he disbanded his army and betook himself, almost alone, toHolland. Yet even in this hour of distress and defeat, the Prince seemed moreheroic than many a conqueror in his day of triumph. With all his hopesblasted, with the whole fabric of his country's fortunes shattered by thecolossal crime of his royal ally, he never lost his confidence in himselfnor his unfaltering trust in God. All the cities which, but a few weeksbefore, had so eagerly raised his standard, now fell off at once. Hewent to Holland, the only province which remained true, and which stilllooked up to him as its saviour, but he went thither expecting andprepared to perish. "There I will make my sepulchre, " was his simple andsublime expression in a private letter to his brother. He had advanced to the rescue of Louis, with city after city opening itsarms to receive him. He had expected to be joined on the march byColigny, at the head of a chosen army, and he was now obliged to leavehis brother to his fate, having the massacre of the Admiral and hisconfederates substituted for their expected army of assistance, and withevery city and every province forsaking his cause as eagerly as they hadso lately embraced it. "It has pleased God, " he said, "to take awayevery hope which we could have founded upon man; the King has publishedthat the massacre was by his orders, and has forbidden all his subjects, upon pain of death, to assist me; he has, moreover, sent succor to Alva. Had it not been for this, we had been masters of the Duke, and shouldhave made him capitulate at our pleasure. " Yet even then he was not castdown. Nor was his political sagacity liable to impeachment by the extent towhich he had been thus deceived by the French court. "So far from beingreprehensible that I did not suspect such a crime, " he said, "I shouldrather be chargeable with malignity had I been capable of so sinister asuspicion. 'Tis not an ordinary thing to conceal such enormousdeliberations under the plausible cover of a marriage festival. " Meanwhile, Count Louis lay confined to his couch with a burning fever. His soldiers refused any longer to hold the city, now that the alteredintentions of Charles IX. Were known and the forces of Orange withdrawn. Alva offered the most honorable conditions, and it was thereforeimpossible for the Count to make longer resistance. The city was soimportant, and time was at that moment so valuable that the Duke waswilling to forego his vengeance upon the rebel whom he so cordiallydetested, and to be satisfied with depriving, him of the prize which hehad seized with such audacity. "It would have afforded me sincerepleasure, " wrote the Duke, "over and above the benefit to God and yourMajesty, to have had the Count of Nassau in my power. I would overleapevery obstacle to seize him, such is the particular hatred which I bearthe man. " Under, the circumstances, however, he acknowledged that theresult of the council of war could only be to grant liberal terms. On the 19th September, accordingly, articles of capitulation were signedbetween the distinguished De la None with three others on the one part, and the Seigneur de Noircarmes and three others on the side of Spain. The town was given over to Alva, but all the soldiers were to go out withtheir weapons and property. Those of the townspeople who had borne armsagainst his Majesty, and all who still held to the Reformed religion, were to retire with the soldiery. The troops were to pledge themselvesnot to serve in future against the Kings of France or Spain, but fromthis provision Louis, with his English and German soldiers, was expresslyexcepted, the Count indignantly repudiating the idea of such a pledge, orof discontinuing his hostilities for an instant. It was also agreed thatconvoys should be furnished, and hostages exchanged, for the dueobservance of the terms of the treaty. The preliminaries having beenthus settled, the patriot forces abandoned the town. Count Louis, rising from his sick bed, paid his respects in person to thevictorious generals, at their request. He was received in Alva's campwith an extraordinary show of admiration and esteem. The Duke of MedinaCoeli overwhelmed him with courtesies and "basolomanos, " while DonFrederic assured him, in the high-flown language of Spanish compliment, that there was nothing which he would not do to serve him, and that hewould take a greater pleasure in executing his slightest wish than if hehad been his next of kin. As the Count next day, still suffering with fever, and attired in hislong dressing-gown, was taking his departure from the city, he orderedhis carriage to stop at the entrance to Don Frederic's quarters. Thatgeneral, who had been standing incognito near the door, gazing withhonest admiration at the hero of so many a hard-fought field, withdrewas he approached, that he might not give the invalid the trouble ofalighting. Louis, however, recognising him, addressed him with theSpanish salutation, "Perdone vuestra Senoria la pesedumbre, " and pausedat the gate. Don Frederic, from politeness to his condition, did notpresent himself, but sent an aid-de-camp to express his compliments andgood wishes. Having exchanged these courtesies, Louis left the city, conveyed, as had been agreed upon, by a guard of Spanish troops. Therewas a deep meaning in the respect with which the Spanish generals hadtreated the rebel chieftain. Although the massacre of Saint Bartholomewmet with Alva's entire approbation, yet it was his cue to affect a holyhorror at the event, and he avowed that he would "rather cut off both hishands than be guilty of such a deed"--as if those hangman's hands had theright to protest against any murder, however wholesale. Count Louissuspected at once, and soon afterwards thoroughly understood; the realmotives of the chivalrous treatment which he had received. He well knewthat these very men would have sent him to the scaffold; had he falleninto their power, and he therefore estimated their courtesy at its propervalue. It was distinctly stated, in the capitulation of the city, that all thesoldiers, as well as such of the inhabitants as had borne arms, should beallowed to leave the city, with all their property. The rest of thepeople, it was agreed, might remain without molestation to their personsor estates. It has been the general opinion of historians that thearticles of this convention were maintained by the conquerors in goodfaith. Never was a more signal error. The capitulation was made lateat night, on the 20th September, without the provision which Charles IX. Had hoped for: the massacre, namely, of De la None and his companions. As for Genlis and those who had been taken prisoners at his defeat, their doom had already been sealed. The city was evacuated on the 21stSeptember: Alva entered it upon the 24th. Most of the volunteersdeparted with the garrison, but many who had, most unfortunately, prolonged their farewells to their families, trusting to the word of theSpanish Captain Molinos, were thrown into prison. Noircarmes the butcherof Valenciennes, now made his appearance in Mons. As grand bailiff ofHainault, he came to the place as one in authority, and his deeds werenow to complete the infamy which must for ever surround his name. In brutal violation of the terms upon which the town had surrendered, he now set about the work of massacre and pillage. A Commission ofTroubles, in close imitation of the famous Blood Council at Brussels, wasestablished, the members of the tribunal being appointed by Noircarmes, and all being inhabitants of the town. The council commenced proceedingsby condemning all the volunteers, although expressly included . In thecapitulation. Their wives and children were all banished; their propertyall confiscated. On the 15th December, the executions commenced. Theintrepid De Leste, silk manufacturer, who had commanded a band ofvolunteers, and sustained during the siege the assaults of Alva's troopswith remarkable courage at a very critical moment, was one of theearliest victims. In consideration "that he was a gentleman, and notamong the most malicious, " he was executed by sword. "In respect that heheard the mass, and made a sweet and Catholic end, " it was allowed thathe should be "buried in consecrated earth. " Many others followed inquick succession. Some were beheaded, some were hanged, some were burnedalive. All who had borne arms or worked at the fortifications were, of course, put to death. Such as refused to confess and receive theCatholic sacraments perished by fire. A poor wretch, accused of havingridiculed these mysteries, had his tongue torn out before being beheaded. A cobbler, named Blaise Bouzet, was hanged for having eaten meat-soupupon Friday. He was also accused of going to the Protestant preachingsfor the sake of participating in the alms distributed an these occasions, a crime for which many other paupers were executed. An old man of sixty-two was sent to the scaffold for having permitted his son to bear armsamong the volunteers. At last, when all pretexts were wanting to justifyexecutions; the council assigned as motives for its decrees an adhesionof heart on the part of the victims to the cause of the insurgents, or to the doctrines of the Reformed Church. Ten, twelve, twenty persons, were often hanged, burned, or beheaded in a single day. Gibbets ladenwith mutilated bodies lined the public highways, --while Noircarmes, byfrightful expressions of approbation, excited without ceasing the fury ofhis satellites. This monster would perhaps, be less worthy of execrationhad he been governed in these foul proceedings by fanatical bigotry or bypolitical hatred; but his motives were of the most sordid description. It was mainly to acquire gold for himself that he ordained all thiscarnage. With the same pen which signed the death-sentences of therichest victims, he drew orders to his own benefit on their confiscatedproperty. The lion's share of the plunder was appropriated by himself. He desired the estate; of Francois de Glarges, Seigneur d'Eslesmes. Thegentleman had committed no offence of any kind, and, moreover, lived. Beyond the French frontier. Nevertheless, in contempt of internationallaw, the neighbouring territory was invaded, and d'Eslesmes draggedbefore the blood tribunal of Mons. Noircarmes had drawn up beforehand, in his own handwriting, both the terms of the accusation and of thesentence. The victim was innocent and a Catholic, but he was rich. He confessed to have been twice at the preaching, from curiosity, andto have omitted taking the sacrament at the previous Easter. For theseoffences he was beheaded, and his confiscated estate adjudged at analmost nominal price to the secretary of Noircarmes, bidding for hismaster. "You can do me no greater pleasure, " wrote Noircarmes to thecouncil, "than to make quick work with all these rebels, and to proceedwith the confiscation of their estates, real and personal. Don't fail toput all those to the torture out of whom anything can be got. " Notwithstanding the unexampled docility of the commissioners, they foundit difficult to extract from their redoubted chief a reasonable share inthe wages of blood. They did not scruple, therefore, to display their, own infamy, and to enumerate their own crimes, in order to justify theirdemand for higher salaries. "Consider, " they said, in a petition to thisend, "consider closely, all that is odious in our office, and the greatnumber of banishments and of executions which we have pronounced amongall our own relations and friends. " It may be added, moreover, as a slight palliation for the enormous crimescommitted by these men, that, becoming at last weary of their business, they urged Noircarmes to desist from the work of proscription. Longehaye, one of the commissioners, even waited upon him personally, with a plea for mercy in favor of "the poor people, even beggars, who, although having borne arms during the siege, might then be pardoned. "Noircarmes, in a rage at the proposition, said that "if he did not knowthe commissioners to be honest men, he should believe that their palmshad been oiled, " and forbade any farther words on the subject. WhenLongehaye still ventured to speak in favor of certain persons "who werevery poor and simple, not charged with duplicity, and good Catholicsbesides, " he fared no better. "Away with you!" cried Noircarmes in agreat fury, adding that he had already written to have execution doneupon the whole of them. "Whereupon, " said poor blood-councillorLongehaye, in his letter to his colleagues, "I retired, I leave you toguess how. " Thus the work went on day after day, month after month. Till the 27thAugust of the following year (1573) the executioner never rested, andwhen Requesens, successor to Alva, caused the prisons of Mons to beopened, there were found still seventy-five individuals condemned to theblock, and awaiting their fate. It is the most dreadful commentary upon the times in which thesetransactions occurred, that they could sink so soon into oblivion. The culprits took care to hide the records of their guilt, whilesucceeding horrors, on a more extensive scale, at other places, effacedthe memory of all these comparatively obscure murders and spoliations. The prosperity of Mons, one of the most flourishing and wealthymanufacturing towns in the Netherlands, was annihilated, but there wereso many cities in the same condition that its misery was hardlyremarkable. Nevertheless, in our own days, the fall of a moulderingtower in the ruined Chateau de Naast at last revealed the archives of allthese crimes. How the documents came to be placed there remains amystery, but they have at last been brought to light. The Spaniards had thus recovered Mons, by which event the temporaryrevolution throughout the whole Southern Netherlands was at an end. The keys of that city unlocked the gates of every other in Brabant andFlanders. The towns which had so lately embraced the authority of Orangenow hastened to disavow the Prince, and to return to their ancient, hypocritical, and cowardly allegiance. The new oaths of fidelity werein general accepted by Alva, but the beautiful archiepiscopal city ofMechlin was selected for an example and a sacrifice. There were heavy arrears due to the Spanish troops. To indemnify them, and to make good his blasphemous prophecy of Divine chastisement forits past misdeeds, Alva now abandoned this town to the licence of hissoldiery. By his command Don Frederic advanced to the gates and demandedits surrender. He was answered by a few shots from the garrison. Thosecowardly troops, however, having thus plunged the city still more deeplyinto the disgrace which, in Alva's eyes, they had incurred by receivingrebels within their walls after having but just before refused admittanceto the Spanish forces, decamped during the night, and left the placedefenceless. Early next morning there issued from the gates a solemn procession ofpriests, with banner and crozier, followed by a long and suppliant throngof citizens, who attempted by this demonstration to avert the wrath ofthe victor. While the penitent psalms were resounding, the soldiers werebusily engaged in heaping dried branches and rubbish into the moat. Before the religious exercises were concluded, thousands had forced thegates or climbed the walls; and entered the city with a celerity whichonly the hope of rapine could inspire. The sack instantly commenced. The property of friend and foe, of Papist and Calvinist, wasindiscriminately rifled. Everything was dismantled and destroyed. "Hardly a nail, " said a Spaniard, writing soon afterwards from Brussels, "was left standing in the walls. " The troops seemed to imaginethemselves in a Turkish town, and wreaked the Divine vengeance whichAlva had denounced upon the city with an energy which met with hisfervent applause. Three days long the horrible scene continued, one day for the benefit ofthe Spaniards, two more for that of the Walloons and Germans. All thechurches, monasteries, religious houses of every kind, were completelysacked. Every valuable article which they contained, the ornaments ofaltars, the reliquaries, chalices, embroidered curtains, and carpets ofvelvet or damask, the golden robes of the priests, the repositories ofthe host, the precious vessels of chrism and extreme unction, the richclothing and jewellery adorning the effigies of the Holy Virgin, all wereindiscriminately rifled by the Spanish soldiers. The holy wafers weretrampled underfoot, the sacramental wine was poured upon the ground, and, in brief, all the horrors which had been committed by the iconoclasts intheir wildest moments, and for a thousandth part of which enormitiesheretics had been burned in droves, were now repeated in Mechlin by theespecial soldiers of Christ, by Roman Catholics who had been sent to theNetherlands to avenge the insults offered to the Roman Catholic faith. The motive, too, which inspired the sacrilegious crew was not fanaticism, but the, desire of plunder. The property of Romanists was taken asfreely as that of Calvinists, of which sect there were; indeed, but fewin the archiepiscopal city. Cardinal Granvelle's house was rifled. Thepauper funds deposited in the convents were not respected. The beds weretaken from beneath sick and dying women, whether lady abbess or hospitalpatient, that the sacking might be torn to pieces in search of hiddentreasure. The iconoclasts of 1566 had destroyed millions of property for the sakeof an idea, but they had appropriated nothing. Moreover, they hadscarcely injured a human being; confining their wrath to graven images. The Spaniards at Mechlin spared neither man nor woman. The murders andoutrages would be incredible, were they not attested by most respectableCatholic witnesses. Men were butchered in their houses, in the streets, at the altars. Women were violated by hundreds in churches and in grave-yards. Moreover, the deed had been as deliberately arranged as it wasthoroughly performed. It was sanctioned by the highest authority. DonFrederic, Son of Alva, and General Noircarmes were both present at thescene, and applications were in vain made to them that the havoc might bestayed. "They were seen whispering to each other in the ear on theirarrival, " says an eye-witness and a Catholic, "and it is well known thatthe affair had been resolved upon the preceding day. The two continuedtogether as long as they remained in the city. " The work was, in truth, fully accomplished. The ultra-Catholic, Jean Richardot, member of theGrand Council, and nephew of the Bishop of Arras, informed the StateCouncil that the sack of Mechlin had been so horrible that the poor andunfortunate mothers had not a single morsel of bread to put in the mouthsof their children, who were dying before their eyes--so insane and cruelhad been the avarice of the plunderers. "He could say more, " he added, "if his hair did not stand on end, not only at recounting, but even atremembering the scene. " Three days long the city was abandoned to that trinity of furies whichever wait upon War's footsteps--Murder, Lust, and Rapine--under whosepromptings human beings become so much more terrible than the mostferocious beasts. In his letter to his master, the Duke congratulatedhim upon these foul proceedings as upon a pious deed well accomplished. He thought it necessary, however; to excuse himself before the public ina document, which justified the sack of Mechlin by its refusal to accepthis garrison a few months before, and by the shots which had beendischarged at his troops as they approached the city. For theseoffences, and by his express order, the deed was done. Upon hishead must the guilt for ever rest. ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: Hanged for having eaten meat-soup upon FridayProvided not one Huguenot be left alive in FrancePut all those to the torture out of whom anything can be gotSaint Bartholomew's dayScience of reigning was the science of lying