History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain Part 78 (2/2)

[1087] ”Valde optaremus tandem aliquam funesti hujus temporis, criminaliumque processuum finem, qui non populum tantum nostrum, sed vicinos omnes exasperant.” Viglii, Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 482.

[1088] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 15.

[1089] ”Y quando por esta causa se aventura.s.sen los Estados, y me viniesse a caer el mundo encima.” Ibid., p. 27.

Philip seems to have put himself in the att.i.tude of the ”justum et tenacem” of Horace. His concluding hyperbole is almost a literal version of the Roman bard:--

”Si fractus illabatur orbis, Impavidum ferient ruinae.”

[1090] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Na.s.sau, Supplement, p. 87.

[1091] ”Il n'est pas seulement content de s'employer a la necessite presente par le moyen par eulx propose touchant sa va.s.selle, ains de sa propre personne, et de tout ce que reste en son pouvoir.” Ibid., p. 88.

[1092] Ibid., ubi supra.

[1093] The funds were chiefly furnished, as it would seem, by Antwerp, and the great towns of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Groningen, the quarter of the country where the spirit of independence was always high.

The n.o.ble exiles with William contributed half the amount raised. This information was given to Alva by Villers, one of the banished lords, after he had fallen into the duke's hands in a disastrous affair, of which some account will be given in the present chapter. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 27.

[1094] ”Ipse Arausionensis monilia, vasa algentea, tapetes, caetera supellectilis divendit, digna regio palatio ornamenta, sed exigui ad bellum momenti.” Reida.n.u.s, Annales, p. 6.

[1095] The ”Justification” has been very commonly attributed to the pen of the learned Languet, who was much in William's confidence, and is known to have been with him at this time. But William was too practised a writer, as Groen well suggests, to make it probable that he would trust the composition of a paper of such moment to any hand but his own.

It is very likely that he submitted his own draft to the revision of Languet, whose political sagacity he well understood. And this is the most that can be fairly inferred from Languet's own account of the matter: ”Fui Dillemburgi per duodecim et tredecim dies, ubi Princeps Orangiae mihi et aliquot aliis curavit prolixe explicari causas et initia tumultuum in inferiore Germania et suam responsionem ad accusationes Albani.” It fared with the prince's ”Justification” as it did with the famous ”Farewell Address” of Was.h.i.+ngton, so often attributed to another pen than his, but which, however much it may have been benefited by the counsels and corrections of others, bears on every page unequivocal marks of its genuineness.

The ”Justification” called out several answers from the opposite party.

Among them were two by Vargas and Del Rio. But in the judgment of Viglius--whose bias certainly did not lie on William's side--these answers were a failure. See his letter to Hopper (Epist. ad Hopperum, p.

458). The reader will find a full discussion of the matter by Groen, in the Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Na.s.sau, tom. III. p. 187.

[1096] ”En quoy ne gist pas seulement le bien de ce faict, mais aussi mon honeur et reputation, pour avoir promis aus gens de guerre leur paier le dict mois, et que j'aymerois mieulx morir que les faillir a ma promesse.” Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Na.s.sau, Supplement, p. 89.

[1097] Mendoza, Comentarios, p. 42 et seq.--Cornejo, Disension de Flandres, p. 63.

[1098] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 56.--De Thou, Hist.

Universelle, tom. V. p. 443.

[1099] ”Ains, comme gens predestinez a leur malheur et de leur general, crierent plus que devant contre luy jusques a l'appeller traistre, et qu'il s'entendoit avec les ennemis. Luy, qui estoit tout n.o.ble et courageux, leur dit: 'Ouy, je vous monstreray si je le suis.'” Brantome, uvres, tom. I. p. 382.

[1100] Brantome has given us the portrait of this Flemish n.o.bleman, with whom he became acquainted on his visit to Paris, when sent thither by Alva to relieve the French monarch. The chivalrous old writer dwells on the personal appearance of Aremberg, his n.o.ble mien and high-bred courtesy, which made him a favorite with the dames of the royal circle.

”Un tres beau et tres agreable seigneur, surtout de fort grande et haute taille et de tres belle apparence.” (uvres, tom. I. p. 383.) Nor does he omit to mention, among other accomplishments, the fluency with which he could speak French and several other languages. Ibid., p. 384.

[1101] See a letter written, as seems probable, by a councillor of William to the elector of Saxony, the week after the battle. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Na.s.sau, tom. III. p. 221.

[1102] It is a common report of historians, that Adolphus and Aremberg met in single combat in the thick of the fight, and fell by each other's hands. See Cornejo, Disension de Flandes, fol. 63; Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 282, _et al._ An incident so romantic found easy credit in a romantic age.

[1103] The accounts of the battle of Heyligerlee, given somewhat confusedly, may be found in Herrera, Hist. del Mundo, tom. I. p. 688 et seq.; Campana, Guerra di Fiandra, (Vicenza, 1602,) p. 42 et seq.; Mendoza, Comentarios, (Madrid, 1592,) p. 43 et seq.; Cornejo, Disension de Flandes, fol. 66 et seq.; Carnero, Guerras de Flandes, (Brusselas, 1625,) p. 24 et seq.; Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 382 et seq.; Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 192 et seq.

The last writer tells us he had heard the story more than once from the son and heir of the deceased Count Aremberg, who sorely lamented that his gallant father should have thrown away his life for a mistaken point of honor.

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