Holland - Thomas Colley Grattan
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CHAPTER XVI
TO THE SYNOD AT DORT AND THE EXECUTION OF BARNEVELDT
A.D. 1606--1619
The states-general now resolved to confine their military operations
to a war merely defensive. Spinola had, by his conduct during the
late campaign, completely revived the spirits of the Spanish
troops, and excited at least the caution of the Dutch. He now
threatened the United Provinces with invasion; and he exerted his
utmost efforts to raise the supplies necessary for the execution
of his plan. He not only exhausted the resources of the king
of Spain and the archduke, but obtained money on his private
account from all those usurers who were tempted by his confident
anticipations of conquest. He soon equipped two armies of about
twelve thousand men each. At the head of one of those he took
the field; the other, commanded by the count of Bucquoi, was
destined to join him in the neighborhood of Utrecht; and he was
then resolved to push forward with the whole united force into
the very heart of the republic.
Prince Maurice in the meantime concentrated his army, amounting
to twelve thousand men, and prepared to make head against his
formidable opponents. By a succession of the most prudent manoeuvres
he contrived to keep Spinola in check, disconcerted all his projects,
and forced him to content himself with the capture of two or
three towns--a comparatively insignificant conquest. Desiring
to wipe away the disgrace of this discomfiture, and to risk
everything for the accomplishment of his grand design, Spinola
used every method to provoke the prince to a battle, even though a
serious mutiny among his troops, and the impossibility of forming a
junction with Bucquoi, had reduced his force below that of Maurice;
but the latter, to the surprise of all who expected a decisive
blow, retreated from before the Italian general--abandoning the
town of Groll, which immediately fell into Spinola's power, and
giving rise to manifold conjectures and infinite discontent at
conduct so little in unison with his wonted enterprise and skill.
Even Henry IV. acknowledged it did not answer the expectation he
had formed from Maurice's splendid talents for war. The fact
seems to be that the prince, much as he valued victory, dreaded
peace more; and that he was resolved to avoid a decisive blow,
which, in putting an end to the contest, would at the same time
have decreased the individual influence in the state which his
ambition now urged him to augment by every possible means.
The Dutch naval expeditions this year were not more brilliant than
those on land. Admiral Hautain, with twenty ships, was surprised
off Cape St. Vincent by the Spanish fleet. The formidable appearance
of their galleons inspired on this occasion a perfect panic among
the Dutch sailors. They hoisted their sails and fled, with the
exception of one ship, commanded by Vice-Admiral Klaazoon, whose
desperate conduct saved the national honor. Having held out until
his vessel was quite unmanageable, and almost his whole crew
killed or wounded, he prevailed on the rest to agree to the
resolution he had formed, knelt down on the deck, and putting up
a brief prayer for pardon for the act, thrust a light into the
powder-magazine, and was instantly blown up with his companions.
Only two men were snatched from the sea by the Spaniards; and
even these, dreadfully burned and mangled, died in the utterance
of curses on the enemy.
This disastrous occurrence was soon, however, forgotten in the
rejoicings for a brilliant victory gained the following year by
Heemskirk, so celebrated for his voyage to Nova Zembla, and by
his conduct in the East. He set sail from the ports of Holland
in the month of March, determined to signalize himself by some
great exploit, now necessary to redeem the disgrace which had
begun to sully the reputation of the Dutch navy. He soon got
intelligence that the Spanish fleet lay at anchor in the bay
of Gibraltar, and he speedily prepared to offer them battle.
Before the combat began he held a council of war, and addressed
the officers in an energetic speech, in which he displayed the
imperative call on their valor to conquer or die in the approaching
conflict. He led on to the action in his own ship; and, to the
astonishment of both fleets, he bore right down against the enormous
galleon in which the flag of the Spanish admiral-in-chief was
hoisted. D'Avila could scarcely believe the evidence of his eyes
at this audacity: he at first burst into laughter at the notion;
but as Heemskirk approached, he cut his cables and attempted
to escape under the shelter of the town. The heroic Dutchman
pursued him through the whole of the Spanish fleet, and soon
forced him to action. At the second broadside Heemskirk had his
left leg carried off by a cannon-ball, and he almost instantly
died, exhorting his crew to seek for consolation in the defeat
of the enemy. Verhoef, the captain of the ship, concealed the
admiral's death; and the whole fleet continued the action with
a valor worthy the spirit in which it was commenced. The victory
was soon decided: four of the Spanish galleons were sunk or burned,
the remainder fled; and the citizens of Cadiz trembled with the
apprehension of sack and pillage. But the death of Heemskirk,
when made known to the surviving victors, seemed completely to
paralyze them. They attempted nothing further; but sailing back
to Holland with the body of their lamented chief, thus paid a
greater tribute to his importance than was to be found in the
mausoleum erected to his memory in the city of Amsterdam.
[Illustration: WILLIAM THE SILENT OF ORANGE.]
The news of this battle reaching Brussels before it was known
in Holland, contributed not a little to quicken the anxiety of
the archdukes for peace. The king of Spain, worn out by the war
which drained his treasury, had for some time ardently desired it.
The Portuguese made loud complaints of the ruin that threatened
their trade and their East Indian colonies. The Spanish ministers
were fatigued with the apparently interminable contest which
baffled all their calculations. Spinola, even, in the midst of
his brilliant career, found himself so overwhelmed with debts
and so oppressed by the reproaches of the numerous creditors
who were ruined by his default of payment, that he joined in the
general demand for repose. In the month of May, 1607, proposals
were made by the archdukes, in compliance with the general desire;
and their two plenipotentiaries, Van Wittenhorst and Gevaerts,
repaired to The Hague.
Public opinion in the United Provinces was divided on this important
question. An instinctive hatred against the Spaniards, and long
habits of warfare, influenced the great mass of the people to
consider any overture for peace as some wily artifice aimed at
their religion and liberty. War seemed to open inexhaustible
sources of wealth; while peace seemed to threaten the extinction
of the courage which was now as much a habit as war appeared to
be a want. This reasoning was particularly convincing to Prince
Maurice, whose fame, with a large portion of his authority and
revenues, depended on the continuance of hostilities: it was
also strongly relished and supported in Zealand generally, and
in the chief towns, which dreaded the rivalry of Antwerp. But
those who bore the burden of the war saw the subject under a
different aspect. They feared that the present state of things
would lead to their conquest by the enemy, or to the ruin of
their liberty by the growing power of Maurice. They hoped that
peace would consolidate the republic and cause the reduction
of the debt, which now amounted to twenty-six million florins.
At the head of the party who so reasoned was De Barneveldt; and
his name is a guarantee with posterity for the wisdom of the
opinion.
To allow the violent opposition to subside, and to prevent any
explosion of party feuds, the prudent Barneveldt suggested a
mere suspension of arms, during which the permanent interests
of both states might be calmly discussed. He even undertook to
obtain Maurice's consent to the armistice. The prince listened
to his arguments, and was apparently convinced by them. He, at
any rate, sanctioned the proposal; but he afterward complained
that Barneveldt had deceived him, in representing the negotiation
as a feint for the purpose of persuading the kings of France and
England to give greater aid to the republic. It is more than
likely that Maurice reckoned on the improbability of Spain's
consenting to the terms of the proposed treaty; and, on that
chance, withdrew an opposition which could scarcely be ascribed
to any but motives of personal ambition. It is, however, certain
that his discontent at this transaction, either with himself
or Barneveldt, laid the foundation of that bitter enmity which
proved fatal to the life of the latter, and covered his own name,
otherwise glorious, with undying reproach.
The United Provinces positively refused to admit even the
commencement of a negotiation without the absolute recognition
of their independence by the archdukes. A new ambassador was
accordingly chosen on the part of these sovereigns, and empowered
to concede this important admission. This person attracted
considerable attention, from his well-known qualities as an able
diplomatist. He was a monk of the order of St. Francis, named
John de Neyen, a native of Antwerp, and a person as well versed
in court intrigue as in the studies of the cloister. He, in the
first instance, repaired secretly to The Hague; and had several
private interviews with Prince Maurice and Barneveldt, before he
was regularly introduced to the states-general in his official
character. Two different journeys were undertaken by this agent
between The Hague and Brussels, before he could succeed in obtaining
a perfect understanding as to the specific views of the archdukes.
The suspicions of the states-general seem fully justified by
the dubious tone of the various communications, which avoided
the direct admission of the required preliminary as to the
independence of the United Provinces. It was at length concluded
in explicit terms; and a suspension of arms for eight months
was the immediate consequence.
But the negotiation for peace was on the point of being completely
broken, in consequence of the conduct of Neyen, who justified
every doubt of his sincerity by an attempt to corrupt Aarsens
the greffier of the states-general, or at least to influence
his conduct in the progress of the treaty. Neyen presented him,
in the name of the archdukes, and as a token of his esteem, with
a diamond of great value and a bond for fifty thousand crowns.
Aarsens accepted these presents with the approbation of Prince
Maurice, to whom he had confided the circumstance, and who was no
doubt delighted at what promised a rupture to the negotiations.
Verreiken, a councillor of state, who assisted Neyen in his
diplomatic labors, was formally summoned before the assembled
states-general, and there Barneveldt handed to him the diamond
and the bond; and at the same time read him a lecture of true
republican severity on the subject. Verreiken was overwhelmed
by the violent attack: he denied the authority of Neyen for the
measure he had taken; and remarked, "that it was not surprising
that monks, naturally interested and avaricious, judged others
by themselves." This repudiation of Neyen's suspicious conduct
seems to have satisfied the stern resentment of Barneveldt; and
the party which so earnestly labored for peace. In spite of all
the opposition of Maurice and his partisans, the negotiation
went on.
In the month of January, 1608, the various ambassadors were assembled
at The Hague. Spinola was the chief of the plenipotentiaries
appointed by the king of Spain; and Jeannin, president of the
parliament of Dijon, a man of rare endowments, represented France.
Prince Maurice, accompanied by his brother Frederick Henry, the
various counts of Nassau his cousins, and a numerous escort,
advanced some distance to meet Spinola, conveyed him to The Hague
in his own carriage, and lavished on him all the attentions
reciprocally due between two such renowned captains during the
suspension of their rivalry. The president Richardst was, with
Neyen and Verreiken, ambassador from the archdukes; but Barneveldt
and Jeannin appear to have played the chief parts in the important
transaction which now filled all Europe with anxiety. Every state
was more or less concerned in the result; and the three great
monarchies of England, France, and Spain, had all a vital interest
at stake. The conferences were therefore frequent; and the debates
assumed a great variety of aspects, which long kept the civilized
world in suspense.
King James was extremely jealous of the more prominent part taken
by the French ambassadors, and of the sub-altern consideration
held by his own envoys, Winwood and Spencer, in consequence of
the disfavor in which he himself was held by the Dutch people.
It appears evident that, whether deservedly or the contrary,
England was at this period unpopular in the United Provinces,
while France was looked up to with the greatest enthusiasm. This
is not surprising, when we compare the characters of Henry IV.
and James I., bearing in mind how much of national reputation
at the time depended on the personal conduct of kings; and how
political situations influence, if they do not create, the virtues
and vices of a people. Independent of the suspicions of his being
altogether unfavorable to the declaration required by the United
Provinces from Spain, to which James's conduct had given rise, he
had established some exactions which greatly embarrassed their
fishing expeditions on the coasts of England.
The main points for discussion, and on which depended the decision
for peace or war, were those which concerned religion; and the
demand, on the part of Spain, that the United Provinces should
renounce all claims to the navigation of the Indian seas. Philip
required for the Catholics of the United Provinces the free exercise
of their religion; this was opposed by the states-general: and
the archduke Albert, seeing the impossibility of carrying that
point, despatched his confessor, Fra Inigo de Briznella, to Spain.
This Dominican was furnished with the written opinion of several
theologians, that the king might conscientiously slur over the
article of religion; and he was the more successful with Philip, as
the duke of Lerma, his prime minister, was resolved to accomplish
the peace at any price. The conferences at The Hague were therefore
not interrupted on this question; but they went on slowly, months
being consumed in discussions on articles of trifling importance.
They were, however, resumed in the month of August with greater
vigor. It was announced that the king of Spain abandoned the
question respecting religion; but that it was in the certainty
that his moderation would be recompensed by ample concessions
on that of the Indian trade, on which he was inexorable. This
article became the rock on which the whole negotiation eventually
split. The court of Spain on the one hand, and the states-general
on the other, inflexibly maintained their opposing claims. It
was in vain that the ambassadors turned and twisted the subject
with all the subtleties of diplomacy. Every possible expedient was
used to shake the determination of the Dutch. But the influence
of the East India Company, the islands of Zealand, and the city
of Amsterdam, prevailed over all. Reports of the avowal on the
part of the king of Spain, that he would never renounce his title
to the sovereignty of the United Provinces, unless they abandoned
the Indian navigation and granted the free exercise of religion,
threw the whole diplomatic corps into confusion; and, on the
25th of August, the states-general announced to the marquis of
Spinola and the other ambassadors that the congress was dissolved,
and that all hopes of peace were abandoned.
Nothing seemed now likely to prevent the immediate renewal of
hostilities, when the ambassadors of France and England proposed
the mediation of their respective masters for the conclusion of
a truce for several years. The king of Spain and the archdukes
were well satisfied to obtain even this temporary cessation of
the war; but Prince Maurice and a portion of the Provinces
strenuously opposed the proposition. The French and English
ambassadors, however, in concert with Barneveldt, who steadily
maintained his influence, labored incessantly to overcome those
difficulties; and finally succeeded in overpowering all opposition
to the truce. A new congress was agreed on, to assemble at Antwerp
for the consideration of the conditions; and the states-general
agreed to remove from The Hague to Berg-or-Zoom, to be more within
reach, and ready to co-operate in the negotiation.
But, before matters assumed this favorable turn, discussions and
disputes had intervened on several occasions to render fruitless
every effort of those who so incessantly labored for the great causes
of humanity and the general good. On one occasion, Barneveldt,
disgusted with the opposition of Prince Maurice and his partisans,
had actually resigned his employments; but brought back by the
solicitations of the states-general, and reconciled to Maurice by
the intervention of Jeannin, the negotiations for the truce were
resumed; and, under the auspices of the ambassadors, they were
happily terminated. After two years' delay, this long-wished-for
truce was concluded, and signed on the 9th of April, 1609, to
continue for the space of twelve years.
This celebrated treaty contained thirty-two articles; and its
fulfilment on either side was guaranteed by the kings of France
and England. Notwithstanding the time taken up in previous
discussions, the treaty is one of the most vague and unspecific
state papers that exists. The archdukes, in their own names and
in that of the king of Spain, declared the United Provinces to
be free and independent states, on which they renounced all claim
whatever. By the third article each party was to hold respectively
the places which they possessed at the commencement of the armistice.
The fourth and fifth articles grant to the republic, but in a
phraseology obscure and even doubtful, the right of navigation
and free trade to the Indies. The eighth contains all that regards
the exercise of religion; and the remaining clauses are wholly
relative to points of internal trade, custom-house regulations,
and matters of private interest.
Ephemeral and temporary as this peace appeared, it was received
with almost universal demonstrations of joy by the population of
the Netherlands in their two grand divisions. Everyone seemed
to turn toward the enjoyment of tranquillity with the animated
composure of tired laborers looking forward to a day of rest and
sunshine. This truce brought a calm of comparative happiness upon
the country, which an almost unremitting tempest had desolated for
nearly half a century; and, after so long a series of calamity,
all the national advantages of social life seemed about to settle
on the land. The attitude which the United Provinces assumed at
this period was indeed a proud one. They were not now compelled
to look abroad and solicit other states to become their masters.
They had forced their old tyrants to acknowledge their independence;
to come and ask for peace on their own ground; and to treat with
them on terms of no doubtful equality. They had already become
so flourishing, so powerful, and so envied, that they who had
so lately excited but compassion from the neighboring states
were now regarded with such jealousy as rivals, unequivocally
equal, may justly inspire in each other.
The ten southern provinces, now confirmed under the sovereignty of
the House of Austria, and from this period generally distinguished
by the name of Belgium, immediately began, like the northern division
of the country, to labor for the great object of repairing the
dreadful sufferings caused by their long and cruel war. Their
success was considerable. Albert and Isabella, their sovereigns,
joined, to considerable probity of character and talents for
government, a fund of humanity which led them to unceasing acts of
benevolence. The whole of their dominions quickly began to recover
from the ravages of war. Agriculture and the minor operations of
trade resumed all their wonted activity. But the manufactures
of Flanders were no more; and the grander exercise of commerce
seemed finally removed to Amsterdam and the other chief towns
of Holland.
This tranquil course of prosperity in the Belgian provinces was
only once interrupted during the whole continuance of the twelve
years' truce, and that was in the year following its commencement.
The death of the duke of Cleves and Juliers, in this year, gave
rise to serious disputes for the succession to his states, which
was claimed by several of the princes of Germany. The elector
of Brandenburg and the duke of Neuburg were seconded both by
France and the United Provinces; and a joint army of both nations,
commanded by Prince Maurice and the marshal de la Chatre, was
marched into the county of Cleves. After taking possession of the
town of Juliers, the allies retired, leaving the two princes above
mentioned in a partnership possession of the disputed states. But
this joint sovereignty did not satisfy the ambition of either,
and serious divisions arose between them, each endeavoring to
strengthen himself by foreign alliances. The archdukes Albert
and Isabella were drawn into the quarrel; and they despatched
Spinola at the head of twenty thousand men to support the duke
of Neuburg, whose pretensions they countenanced. Prince Maurice,
with a Dutch army, advanced on the other hand to uphold the claims
of the elector of Brandenburg. Both generals took possession of
several towns; and this double expedition offered the singular
spectacle of two opposing armies, acting in different interests,
making conquests, and dividing an important inheritance, without
the occurrence of one act of hostility to each other. But the
interference of the court of Madrid had nearly been the cause
of a new rupture. The greatest alarm was excited in the Belgic
provinces; and nothing but the prudence of the archdukes and
the forbearance of the states-general could have succeeded in
averting the threatened evil.
With the exception of this bloodless mimicry of war, the United
Provinces presented for the space of twelve years a long-continued
picture of peace, as the term is generally received; but a peace
so disfigured by intestine troubles, and so stained by actions
of despotic cruelty, that the period which should have been that
of its greatest happiness becomes but an example of its worst
disgrace.
The assassination of Henry IV., in the year 1609, was a new instance
of the bigoted atrocity which reigned paramount in Europe at the
time; and while robbing France of one of its best monarchs, it
deprived the United Provinces of their truest and most powerful
friend. Henry has, from his own days to the present, found a
ready eulogy in all who value kings in proportion as they are
distinguished by heroism, without ceasing to evince the feelings
of humanity. Henry seems to have gone as far as man can go, to
combine wisdom, dignity and courage with all those endearing
qualities of private life which alone give men a prominent hold
upon the sympathies of their kind. We acknowledge his errors,
his faults, his follies, only to love him the better. We admire
his valor and generosity, without being shocked by cruelty or
disgusted by profusion. We look on his greatness without envy;
and in tracing his whole career we seem to walk hand in hand
beside a dear companion, rather than to follow the footsteps of
a mighty monarch.
But the death of this powerful supporter of their efforts for
freedom, and the chief guarantee for its continuance, was a trifling
calamity to the United Provinces, in comparison with the rapid
fall from the true point of glory so painfully exhibited in the
conduct of their own domestic champion. It had been well for
Prince Maurice of Nassau that the last shot fired by the defeated
Spaniards in the battle of Nieuport had struck him dead in the
moment of his greatest victory and on the summit of his fame.
From that celebrated day he had performed no deed of war that
could raise his reputation as a soldier, and all his acts as
stadtholder were calculated to sink him below the level of civil
virtue and just government. His two campaigns against Spinola
had redounded more to the credit of his rival than to his own;
and his whole conduct during the negotiation for the truce too
plainly betrayed the unworthy nature of his ambition, founded on
despotic principles. It was his misfortune to have been completely
thrown out of the career for which he had been designed by nature
and education. War was his element. By his genius, he improved
it as a science: by his valor, he was one of those who raised
it from the degradation of a trade to the dignity of a passion.
But when removed from the camp to the council room, he became all
at once a common man. His frankness degenerated into roughness;
his decision into despotism; his courage into cruelty. He gave a
new proof of the melancholy fact that circumstances may transform
the most apparent qualities of virtue into those opposite vices
between which human wisdom is baffled when it attempts to draw
a decided and invariable line.