Part 107 (1/2)
At a little later period, at the time of certain informal and secret conferences at Gertruydenberg, the queen threatened the envoy with her severest displeasure, should the States dare to treat with Spain without her permission. ”Her Majesty called out to me,” said Caron, ”as soon as I entered the room, that I had always a.s.sured her that the States neither would nor could make peace with the enemy. Yet it was now looking very differently, she continued, swearing with a mighty oath that if the States should cheat her in that way she meant to revenge herself in such a fas.h.i.+on that men would talk of it through all eternity.”
The French Government was in a similar state of alarm in consequence of the Gertruydenberg conferences.
The envoy of the archdukes, Marquis d'Havre, reported on the other hand that all attempts to negotiate had proved fruitless, that Olden-Barneveld, who spoke for all his colleagues, was swollen with pride, and made it but too manifest that the States had no intention to submit to any foreign jurisdiction, but were resolved to maintain themselves in the form of a republic.
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
Children who had never set foot on the sh.o.r.e Done nothing so long as aught remained to do Fed on bear's liver, were nearly poisoned to death Inhabited by the savage tribes called Samoyedes
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS, ENTIRE 1590-99 UNITED NETHERLANDS:
A pusillanimous peace, always possible at any period A despot really keeps no accounts, nor need to do so Accustomed to the faded gallantries Alexander's exuberant discretion All Italy was in his hands All fellow-worms together Allow her to seek a profit from his misfortune Anatomical study of what has ceased to exist Artillery At length the twig was becoming the tree Auction sales of judicial ermine Being the true religion, proved by so many testimonies Beneficent and charitable purposes (War) Bomb-sh.e.l.ls were not often used although known for a century Burning of Servetus at Geneva Certainly it was worth an eighty years' war Chief seafaring nations of the world were already protestant Children who had never set foot on the sh.o.r.e Chronicle of events must not be antic.i.p.ated Conceding it subsequently, after much contestation Conformity of Governments to the principles of justice Considerable reason, even if there were but little justice Constant vigilance is the price of liberty Continuing to believe himself invincible and infallible Court fatigue, to scorn pleasure Deal with his enemy as if sure to become his friend Decline a bribe or interfere with the private sale of places Disciple of Simon Stevinus Divine right of kings Done nothing so long as aught remained to do Eat their own children than to forego one high ma.s.s Ever met disaster with so cheerful a smile Every one sees what you seem, few perceive what you are Evil has the advantage of rapidly a.s.suming many shapes Famous fowl in every pot Fed on bear's liver, were nearly poisoned to death Fellow worms had been writhing for half a century in the dust Fled from the land of oppression to the land of liberty For his humanity towards the conquered garrisons (censured) For us, looking back upon the Past, which was then the Future French seem madmen, and are wise Future world as laid down by rival priesthoods German Highland and the German Netherland G.o.d of wrath who had decreed the extermination of all unbeliever Had industry been honoured instead of being despised Hanging of Mary Dyer at Boston Hardly an inch of French soil that had not two possessors He spent more time at table than the Bearnese in sleep Henry the Huguenot as the champion of the Council of Trent Highest were not necessarily the least slimy His invectives were, however, much stronger than his arguments Historical scepticism may shut its eyes to evidence History is but made up of a few scattered fragments History is a continuous whole of which we see only fragments Holy inst.i.tution called the Inquisition Hugo Grotius Humanizing effect of science upon the barbarism of war Idle, listless, dice-playing, begging, filching vagabonds Ignorance is the real enslaver of mankind Imagining that they held the world's destiny in their hands Imposed upon the mult.i.tudes, with whom words were things Impossible it was to invent terms of adulation too gross In times of civil war, to be neutral is to be nothing Inevitable fate of talking castles and listening ladies Infinite capacity for pecuniary absorption Inhabited by the savage tribes called Samoyedes Innocent generation, to atone for the sins of their forefathers Intelligence, science, and industry were accounted degrading Invaluable gift which no human being can acquire, authority King was often to be something much less or much worse King had issued a general repudiation of his debts Labour was esteemed dishonourable Leading motive with all was supposed to be religion Life of nations and which we call the Past Little army of Maurice was becoming the model for Europe Loud, nasal, dictatorial tone, not at all agreeable Luxury had blunted the fine instincts of patriotism Magnificent hopefulness Man had no rights at all He was property Maritime heretics Matters little by what name a government is called Meet around a green table except as fencers in the field Mondragon was now ninety-two years old Moral nature, undergoes less change than might be hoped More catholic than the pope Myself seeing of it methinketh that I dream Names history has often found it convenient to mark its epochs National character, not the work of a few individuals Nothing cheap, said a citizen bitterly, but sermons Obscure were thought capable of dying natural deaths Octogenarian was past work and past mischief Often necessary to be blind and deaf One-third of Philip's effective navy was thus destroyed Past was once the Present, and once the Future Patriotism seemed an unimaginable idea Peace would be destruction Philip II. gave the world work enough Picturesqueness of crime Placid unconsciousness on his part of defeat Plea of infallibility and of authority soon becomes ridiculous Portion of these revenues savoured much of black-mail Proceeds of his permission to eat meat on Fridays Rarely able to command, having never learned to obey Religion was rapidly ceasing to be the line of demarcation Repudiation of national debts was never heard of before Rich enough to be worth robbing Righteous to kill their own children Road to Paris lay through the gates of Rome Royal plans should be enforced adequately or abandoned entirely Sacked and drowned ten infant princes Sages of every generation, read the future like a printed scroll Seems but a change of masks, of costume, of phraseology Self-a.s.sertion--the healthful but not engaging attribute Selling the privilege of eating eggs upon fast-days Sentiment of Christian self-complacency Sewers which have ever run beneath decorous Christendom s.h.i.+ft the mantle of religion from one shoulder to the other Slain four hundred and ten men with his own hand So often degenerated into tyranny (Calvinism) Some rude lessons from that vigorous little commonwealth Spain was governed by an established terrorism Spaniards seem wise, and are madmen Strangled his nineteen brothers on his accession Such a crime as this had never been conceived (bankruptcy) That unholy trinity--Force; Dogma, and Ignorance The history of the Netherlands is history of liberty The great ocean was but a Spanish lake The divine speciality of a few transitory mortals The Alcoran was less cruel than the Inquisition The nation which deliberately carves itself in pieces The most thriving branch of national industry (Smuggler) The record of our race is essentially unwritten There are few inventions in morals They liked not such divine right nor such gentle-mindedness They had come to disbelieve in the mystery of kingcraft Thirty thousand ma.s.ses should be said for his soul Thirty-three per cent. interest was paid (per month) Those who argue against a foregone conclusion Three or four hundred petty sovereigns (of Germany) To attack England it was necessary to take the road of Ireland Toil and sacrifices of those who have preceded us Tranquil insolence Under the name of religion (so many crimes) Unproductive consumption was alarmingly increasing Upon their knees, served the queen with wine Use of the spade Utter want of adaptation of his means to his ends Utter disproportions between the king's means and aims Valour on the one side and discretion on the other Walk up and down the earth and destroy his fellow-creatures We have the reputation of being a good housewife Weapons Whether murders or stratagems, as if they were acts of virtue While one's friends urge moderation Whole revenue was pledged to pay the interest, on his debts Wish to sell us the bear-skin before they have killed the bear Worn nor caused to be worn the collar of the serf Wrath of that injured personage as he read such libellous truths
HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609
By John Lothrop Motley
Volume IV.
MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 84
History of the United Netherlands, 1600-1609, Complete
CHAPTER, x.x.xVIII.
Military events--Aggressive movement of the Netherlanders--State of the Archdukes provinces--Mutiny of the Spanish forces--Proposed invasion of Flanders by the States-General--Disembarkation of the troops on the Spanish coasts--Capture of Oudenburg and other places --Surprise of Nieuport--Conduct of the Archduke--Oudenburg and the other forts re-taken--Dilemma of the States' army--Attack of the Archduke on Count Ernest's cavalry--Panic and total overthrow of the advance-guard of the States' army--Battle of Nieuport--Details of the action--Defeat of the Spanish army--Results of the whole expedition.
The effect produced in the republic by the defensive and uneventful campaigning of the year 1599 had naturally been depressing. There was murmuring at the vast amount of taxation, especially at the new imposition of one-half per cent. upon all property, and two-and-a-half per cent. on all sales, which seemed to produce so few results. The successful protection of the Isle of Bommel and the judicious purchase of the two forts of Crevecoeur and St. Andrew; early in the following year, together with their garrisons, were not military events of the first magnitude, and were hardly enough to efface the mortification felt at the fact that the enemy had been able so lately to construct one of those strongholds within the territory of the commonwealth.
It was now secretly determined to attempt an aggressive movement on a considerable scale, and to carry the war once for all into the heart of the obedient provinces. It was from Flanders that the Spanish armies drew a great portion of their supplies. It was by the forts erected on the coast of Flanders in the neighbourhood of Ostend that this important possession of the States was rendered nearly valueless. It was by privateers swarming from the ports of Flanders, especially from Nieuport and Dunkirk, that the foreign trade of the republic was crippled, and its intercommunications by river and estuary rendered unsafe. Dunkirk was simply a robbers' cave, a station from which an annual tax was levied upon the commerce of the Netherlands, almost sufficient, had it been paid to the national treasury instead of to the foreign freebooters, to support the expenses of a considerable army.
On the other hand the condition of the archdukes seemed deplorable. Never had mutiny existed before in so well-organised and definite a form even in the Spanish Netherlands.
Besides those branches of the ”Italian republic,” which had been established in the two fortresses of Crevecoeur and St. Andrew, and which had already sold themselves to the States, other organisations quite as formidable existed in various other portions of the obedient provinces.
Especially at Diest and Thionville the rebellious Spaniards and Italians were numbered by thousands, all veterans, well armed, fortified in strong cities; and supplying themselves with perfect regularity by contributions levied upon the peasantry, obeying their Eletto and other officers with exemplary promptness; and paying no more heed to the edicts or the solicitations of the archduke than if he had been the Duke of Muscovy.
The opportunity seemed tempting to strike a great blow. How could Albert and Isabella, with an empty exchequer and a mutinous army, hope either to defend their soil from attack or to aim a counter blow at the republic, even if, the republic for a season should be deprived of a portion of its defenders?
The reasoning was plausible, the prize tempting. The States-General, who habitually discountenanced rashness, and were wont to impose superfluous restraints upon the valiant but discreet Lewis William, and upon the deeply pondering but energetic Maurice, were now grown as ardent as they had hitherto been hesitating. In the early days of June it was determined in secret session to organize a great force in Holland and Zeeland, and to embark suddenly for Nieuport, to carry that important position by surprise or a.s.sault, and from that basis to redeem Dunkirk. The possession of these two cities, besides that of Ostend, which had always been retained by the Republic, would ensure the complete subjugation of Flanders. The trifling force of two thousand men under Rivas--all that the archduke then had in that province--and the sconces and earthworks which had been constructed around Ostend to impede the movements and obstruct the supplies of the garrison, would be utterly powerless to prevent the consummation of the plan. Flanders once subjugated, it would not be long before the Spaniards were swept from the obedient Netherlands as thoroughly as they had been from the domains of the commonwealth, and all the seventeen provinces, trampling out every vestige of a hated foreign tyranny, would soon take their natural place as states of a free; prosperous, and powerful union.
But Maurice of Na.s.sau did not share the convictions of the States-General. The unwonted ardour of Barneveld did not inflame his imagination. He urged that the enterprise was inexcusably rash; that its execution would require the whole army of the States, except the slender garrisons absolutely necessary to protect important places from surprise; that a defeat would not be simply disaster, but annihilation; that retreat without absolute triumph would be impossible, and that amid such circ.u.mstances the archduke, in spite of his poverty and the rebellious condition of his troops, would doubtless a.s.semble a sufficient force to dispute with reasonable prospects of victory, this invasion of his territory.
Sir Francis Vere, too, was most decidedly opposed to the plan. He pointed out with great clearness its dangerous and possibly fatal character; a.s.suring the Staten that, within a fortnight after the expedition had begun, the archduke would follow upon their heels with an army fully able to cope with the best which they could put into the field. But besides this experienced and able campaigner, who so thoroughly shared the opinions of Prince Maurice, every military man in the provinces of any consideration, was opposed to, the scheme. Especially Lewis William--than whom no more sagacious military critic or accomplished strategist existed in Europe, denounced it with energy and even with indignation. It was, in the opinion of the young stadholder of Friesland, to suspend the existence of the whole commonwealth upon a silken thread. Even success, he prophesied, would bring no permanent, fruits, while the consequences of an overthrow, were fearful to contemplate. The immediate adherents and most trusted counsellors of William Lewis were even more unmeasured in their denunciations than he was himself. ”'Tis all the work of Barneveld and the long-gowns,” cried Everard van Reyd. ”We are led into a sack from which there is no extrication. We are marching to the Caudine Forks.”
Certainly it is no small indication of the vast influence and the indomitable resolution of Barneveld that he never faltered in this storm of indignation. The Advocate had made up his mind to invade Flanders and to capture Nieuport; and the decree accordingly went forth, despite all opposition. The States-General were sovereign, and the Advocate and the States-General were one.
It was also entirely characteristic of Maurice that he should submit his judgment on this great emergency to that of Olden-Barneveld. It was difficult for him to resist the influence of the great intellect to which he had always willingly deferred in affairs of state, and from which; even in military matters, it was hardly possible for him to escape. Yet in military matters Maurice was a consummate professor, and the Advocate in comparison but a school-boy.