Chapter VIII · (continued 2)

One month after the death of Anjou, William of Orange was assassinated. The ban had been his death-warrant. No less than five attempts had been made,Assassination of William of Orange. July 10, 1584. of which one had been nearly fatal to the Prince, and by the anxiety it caused, contributed at least to the death of his wife, Charlotte of Bourbon. Finally, on the 10th of July, 1584, when fifty-one years of age, he was shot at Delft by Balthazar Gérard, a fanatic of Franche-Comté, who had long looked upon himself as predestinated to do the deed.

The great man, who thus passed away, is a good example of the chastening influence of a life of responsibility and danger. The troubles of his country, and the anxieties they brought upon him, had weaned him from the extravagance and dissipation of his youth and had deepened his character. A Catholic by birth rather than conviction, his adoption of Lutheranism, and subsequently of Calvinism, were probably in part due to political interest; and although there is no reason to doubt the sincerity of his ultimate beliefs, his past experience led him to realise, as few of his contemporaries did, the value of toleration—a belief which cost him the support of some of his more fanatical followers. Few would deny that he was ambitious, but his repeated refusal to accept the sovereignty offered to him—a refusal which some think mistaken—proves at least that he knew how to keep his personal interest in control. That he was no great general, and that he was deficient in military courage, may be true; yet, if it be remembered that he commanded mercenaries who were not to be trusted, or civil levies which could indeed defend a town, but were scarcely fitted to meet the veterans of Spain in the open field, we shall probably applaud his wisdom in avoiding pitched battles. It is, however, as a statesman and a diplomatist that he excelled. Absolute straightforwardness is difficult in diplomacy, but William was infinitely more straightforward than the shifty Elizabeth, the Machiavellian Catherine, or the treacherous Philip; while his constancy under reverse, in spite of a constitutional tendency to depression, justly entitles him to his motto, ‘Je maintiendrai.’ The extravagant denunciations of the Prince by his enemies may be taken as a measure of his ability; the number of his devoted followers, of his personal fascination; the future glories of the ‘United Netherlands,’ as an incontestable proof of the greatness of the man who is justly called their ‘Father.’ Nevertheless it is improbable that William, had he lived, would have won back the south-western provinces. The cleavage, as we have seen, had already begun—a cleavage which future history has proved to be deep and permanent—and the success of Parma in the south-west seemed already pretty well assured. No doubt William hoped for an alliance with the Huguenots and with Henry of Navarre, who, by the death of Anjou, had become the heir to the French crown, an idea which explains his marriage with Coligny’s daughter.72 He seems even to have looked for a coalition of all Protestant powers. But Henry had enough to do at home, and Elizabeth was a broken reed; while the quarrels between the Lutherans and Calvinists, and the advance of the Catholic Reaction, would probably have prevented effective help from Germany. William had laid the foundation of the independence of the Seven United Provinces, and had he lived he would not in all probability have done more than antedate by a few years the recognition of that independence.

‘Had William been murdered two years earlier,’ said Philip, ‘much trouble might have been spared me; but it is better late than never.’Maurice elected Captain-General of Holland and Zealand. His second son, Maurice, who was elected Captain-General of Holland and Zealand, and head of the Council of State, which was appointed provisionally, was only seventeen; Hohenlo, the son-in-law of William, who was appointed commander-in-chief, was a drunkard; while Treslong, the admiral, quarrelled with the Estates, and was superseded by Justin, an illegitimate son of William, a man of no experience. Of the confusion which naturally ensued, Parma made good use. The most important towns in the South, which remained unsubdued, were Dendermonde, Ghent, Brussels, Mechlin, and Antwerp,Success of Parma. all of them lying on the Scheldt or its tributary the Senne. Alexander offered good terms; he promised to respect their privileges, to make no inquiry into conscience, and to free them from foreign garrisons. Many of the old adherents of Orange deserted the cause in despair, and by the end of July, 1585, all these towns had surrendered or had been taken, with the exception of Antwerp. Against that important place, Parma now concentrated all his efforts.The siege of Antwerp. Aug. 17, 1585. The enterprise was a difficult one; Parma had no fleet; Philip, at this moment occupied with the affairs of the League in France (cf. p. 428), gave him scant assistance; and, had the citizens of Antwerp followed the example of those of Leyden in the year 1574, and completely flooded the country, he could scarce have approached the city. For this sacrifice, however, they were not prepared, and the half-measures which they adopted did more harm than good. Parma accordingly was able to reach the Scheldt to the seaward of the town, and began a bridge which should cut off all communication with the sea. The besieged, when too late, made energetic attempts to defeat his purpose, and once, by means of the dread fire-ships, nearly succeeded in breaking through the barrier. But Parma was not to be baulked. In spite of all their efforts, the bridge was completed, and, after a six months’ siege, St. Aldegonde the Burgomaster, surrendered (August 17). The victory was not tarnished by any outrages. An amnesty was proclaimed, though the city had to pay a fine; all religions except the Catholic were proscribed, but those who would not conform were allowed two years’ grace. But if the capitulation of Antwerp raised the military fame of Parma to the highest pitch, and practically secured Brabant to the Spaniards, the actual gain was not very great. Ostend and Sluys still held out, and although they were subsequently won (Sluys in August 1587), the Dutch succeeded in permanently holding Flushing and the entrance to the Scheldt. By so doing, they not only destroyed the commercial importance of Antwerp, which depended on her communication with the sea, but contributed to the decline of the industries of the other great Flemish cities. Amsterdam now took the place of Antwerp; the Scheldt was closed to Flemish commerce, and never till our day, when that river was finally declared open, did Antwerp become again that entrepot for trade, for which her geographical position so well fits her.

While this memorable siege had been progressing, the sovereignty over the Netherlands was going a-begging. Two parties had now arisen there: those who based their hopes on French assistance,Sovereignty refused by Henry III., Oct. 1584, is offered to Elizabeth. and those who looked to England. The French party were at first successful. Undismayed by the treachery of Anjou, and in spite of the opposition of the Province of Holland, they offered the sovereignty to Henry III., ‘upon conditions which should hereafter be settled,’ October, 1584. So brilliant an offer was indeed tempting, and, had the hands of Henry been free, he probably would have accepted it. But the last of the Valois was in the toils of the Catholic League. After much hesitation he had, in July, 1585, submitted to its dictation (cf. p. 429), and accordingly he declined the proferred dignity.

Disappointed in their hopes of French assistance, the Netherlanders turned to England. Elizabeth had received with satisfaction the news of the refusal of the sovereignty by the French King. Well aware of the designs of Philip on England, she was anxious to save the United Provinces from reconquest by Parma, and was willing to aid them with men and money. Nevertheless, with her usual parsimony, she was determined to obtain good security for repayment, which should take the form of cautionary towns, while she feared to accept the sovereignty lest such a step might pledge her too deeply to a definite anti-Spanish policy. This was, however, just what the Netherlanders most desired. The negotiations therefore, which had begun before the fall of Antwerp, were long protracted, and it was not until November, 1585, that the Netherlanders finally consented to her terms. The Queen engaged herself to maintain a permanent force of 5000 foot and 1000 horse in the provinces at her own charges;Elizabeth declines the sovereignty, but despatches the Earl of Leicester. Dec. 9, 1585. for the repayment of the expense thus incurred, Brille and Flushing were to be placed in her hands, to be garrisoned by an additional contingent; she was also to have the right of nominating two members of the Council of State of eighteen, to which the administration of affairs had been intrusted after the death of William the Silent. The Earl of Leicester, the favourite of the Queen, was appointed commander of the forces; the governorship of Flushing was intrusted to his nephew, Sir Philip Sidney, and that of Brille to Sir Thomas Cecil, son of Lord Burleigh.

On the 9th of December, the expedition sailed. The Netherlanders were not, however, yet satisfied. Anxious apparently to compromise the Queen still further in their cause, they offered the post of Governor-General of the United Provinces to Leicester,Leicester accepts the office of Governor-General. with supreme military command by land and sea, and supreme authority in matters civil and political. He was to swear to maintain the ancient laws and privileges of the country, and to govern with the assistance of the Council of State; he might, however, summon the States-General at his will, and was to enjoy the right of appointing to all offices, civil and legal, out of a list presented to him by the states of the province where the vacancy should occur. The Earl not only accepted the brilliant offer, but, elated by the magnificent reception he received, was even heard to say that his family had been wrongly deprived of the crown of England.73 By this conduct the susceptibilities of Elizabeth were aroused.Indignation of Elizabeth. As a Queen, she was angered at ‘the great and strange contempt’ of her subject who had dared accept the ‘absolute’ government without her leave; as a woman, she was jealous of her favourite who looked for honours from other hands than hers; as a diplomatist, she feared that this rash act of Leicester would destroy her game, and that Philip would strike at England. She therefore peremptorily commanded him to make ‘public and open resignation’ of his office. For two months the Queen was implacable. At last, however, a most secret letter from her ‘sweet Robin’ salved her woman’s pride. Burleigh and Walsingham warned her of the fatal results of her capricious conduct; and she consented that the Earl should, provisionally at least, retain the authority of ‘absolute governor’ (April 10). We even find her subsequently declaring ‘that she misliked not so much the title, as the lack of performance’ of their promises by the Dutch.

The quarrel between the Queen and her favourite was at an end; not so its consequences. The authority of the Earl had been discredited by the humiliating position in which he had been placed by his own vanity and rashness, and by the pique of his mistress.Leicester loses the support of the ‘States’ Party. The suspicion and disgust thus engendered among the Netherlanders were increased by the reports of negotiations between Elizabeth and Parma—reports which were but too well founded; for as the projected invasion of England became more certain, the efforts of the Queen to avert the blow by peaceful negotiations increased. Nothing could have been more unfortunate than the policy thus adopted. Philip’s object was simply to gain time until he should be ready for his great stroke; and, although Elizabeth hoped to include the Netherlands in any peace she might make, her previous conduct certainly gave no security that she would refuse to sacrifice their interests if necessary. These apprehensions were naturally most acutely felt by the ‘States Party,’—that is, by the governing classes, who were represented in the Provincial Estates, and in the States-General—men like Paul Buys, the ex-advocate, and John Van Olden Barneveld, the advocate of Holland. This party had hitherto taken the lead in the struggle against Spain, and, although still in favour of the English alliance, were unwilling to see their country made the victim of a woman’s pique, or of a faithless Queen’s diplomacy.Leicester leans on the democratic party. Leicester, stung by their reproaches, with that vanity and love of flattery which were his chief faults, accordingly turned to the people and adopted a democratic policy which was still more distasteful to the official classes, and to the patrician burgher families. In violation of the law that no person should hold office in any province of which he was not a native, he raised three creatures of his own to power: Deventer, a native of Brabant, was appointed burgomaster of Utrecht; Daniel de Burgrave, a Fleming, was made his private secretary; and Regnault, another Fleming, a renegade who had once taken service under Granvella and Alva, was placed at the head of the new Finance Chamber—a chamber which Leicester erected with the hope of putting a stop to frauds on the revenue, and of finding ‘mountains of gold.’ The merchants were further irritated by the refusal of Elizabeth to remove the staple for English cloth from Embden, in East Friesland, to Amsterdam or Delft, and by the prohibition of all exports to Spanish territories—a measure which did far more harm to Dutch trade than it did to that of Spain, and which was so unpopular that it had shortly to be rescinded. A Calvinist himself, the Earl gladly adopted the views of the democratic party in religious matters. Declaring that the Papists were favourers of Spain, he banished seventy from the town of Utrecht and maltreated them elsewhere; while with the object of declaring Calvinism the state religion, he summoned a religious synod at the Hague. By this conduct he abandoned the principle of toleration which William the Silent had ever advocated; he threatened the compromise laid down at the Union of Utrecht (cf. p. 358) whereby each province had been allowed to settle the religious question for itself, and he alienated the best statesmen of the day, men who objected to Church influence in secular affairs, who feared the intemperate zeal of the Calvinist ministers, and wished to avoid the establishment of a theocracy after the fashion of Geneva. The adherents of the Earl did not stop there; they denied the authority of the States-General and of the Provincial Estates, and declared that sovereignty resided in the people. In pursuance of these theories the government of Utrecht, where Leicester generally resided, was revolutionised, and Paul Buys, one of the most prominent of the burgher party—seized with the tacit acquiescence, at least, of Leicester—was kept six months in prison without trial. Thus the Earl, instead of uniting all parties in common opposition to the Spaniard, had become a partisan, had made enemies of those who had been the most strenuous advocates of the English alliance, and deepened those provincial, class, and religious differences which henceforth were to be the chief bane of Holland. Nor was Leicester more fortunate in his relations with his own subordinates;Leicester quarrels with his subordinates. he quarrelled with Sir John Norris, who had been in command of the English contingent before his arrival, with the knight’s brother Edward, and his uncle the treasurer, and with Wilkes, one of the English members of the Council of State. Although Leicester was not altogether responsible for these dissensions, they did not improve the Dutch opinion of him, and, added to the niggardliness of Elizabeth’s supplies, seriously crippled his efforts in the field. It was fortunate, under these circumstances, that Philip was too intent on securing the victory of the League in France, and on his preparations for the Armada, to send efficient help to Parma. As it was, the year 1586 was one of disaster for the patriots.Disasters of the year 1586. On June 7, Grave was treacherously surrendered to Alexander by its governor. On the 28th, Venloo capitulated, and Parma became master of the Meuse almost to its mouth. Finally, the attempt of Leicester to take the town of Zutphen on the Yssel, which was still held by Parma, led to the death of Sir Philip Sidney, the brilliant nephew of the Earl, who was mortally wounded as he took part in an heroic, though unsuccessful effort to intercept a convoy of provisions thrown into the town by Parma (October 2). The only successes on the English side were the surprise of Axel on July 17, the reduction of Doesburg, September 12, and the taking of some of the outlying forts of the town of Zutphen.

The only remedy for the ill that had been done was that Elizabeth should accept the sovereignty, and send a good army into the field. This Leicester earnestly pressed on the Queen, and the proposal met with the support of Burleigh. Elizabeth, however, objected to the one, ‘because it bred a doubt of perpetual war’; to the other, ‘because it required an increase of charges’; and the departure of Leicester on a visit to England at the end of November only added to the confusion and disagreements in the Netherlands. The government during his absence was nominally left to the Council of State. To Sir John Norris was given command of the English forces, to Hohenlo that over the Dutch and German troops.Leicester temporarily leaves the Netherlands. Nov. 24, 1586. The discontent increases. Leicester, however, knowing that the majority in the Council were against him, and that these two officers were his deadly enemies, had left a secret paper by which he forbade the Council to set aside any appointments to the command of forts and towns without his consent. Unfortunately, two of his last nominees turned traitors. Sir William Stanley surrendered the town of Deventer, near Zutphen, and Rowland York betrayed Fort Zutphen to Tassis, the Spanish commander of the town (January 29). These acts of treachery on the part of Leicester’s own nominees, added to the negotiations of Elizabeth with Parma, which were now well known, roused the indignation of the States Party in Holland to boiling pitch. Barneveld declared ‘that the country had never been so cheated by the French as it was now by the English, and that the government had become insupportable.’ Envoys bearing a bitter remonstrance were despatched to Elizabeth, and Maurice was again provisionally appointed Governor-general, with Hohenlo for his lieutenant-general. The visit of the envoys was most inopportune. At the moment of their arrival the question of the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been convicted of complicity in the Babington Plot, was agitating the English Queen. Four days after their arrival, Elizabeth at last consented to sign the death-warrant (February 11), and on the 17th, Mary’s head fell on the scaffold. It was now thought imperatively necessary to conciliate Philip, or to husband all the resources of England for defence against the invasion which was otherwise inevitable. Under these circumstances, Elizabeth was in no mood to listen either to the remonstrances of the Dutch against the conduct of her favourite, or to their demands for increased help and money. ‘No reason that breedeth charges,’ said Walsingham, ‘can in any sort be digested.’ In March, indeed, Lord Buckhurst was despatched to Holland, and by his wise and conciliatory policy did much to heal the breach.Leicester returns. July, 1587. The discontent increases. But with the return of Leicester in July, the quarrels again broke out. His attempt to relieve the town of Sluys, which he found invested by the Duke of Parma74 on his return, failed, and on August 4, that important basis for an attack on England was in Parma’s hands. The fall of Sluys led to recriminations between Leicester, Maurice, and Hohenlo. Meanwhile, the altercations with the States Party continued, while the continued negotiations between Elizabeth and Parma deepened the suspicions against the English. The Dutch even declared that Elizabeth’s aim was to secure possession of more towns, that she might thereby make a better bargain for herself, while she sacrificed her allies. That the Queen herself entertained so base an idea is not proved; yet we have Leicester’s own words to show that he at least did not shrink from such a course ‘if the worst came to the worst.’ When, therefore, in the autumn of 1587, Leicester made a vain attempt to revolutionise the governments of Amsterdam and Leyden (October, 1587), as he had previously done in the case of Utrecht, a cry was raised that he was playing again the game of the false Anjou (cf. p. 361), and there was no alternative for him but to retire.Leicester finally recalled. Dec. 1587. He was accordingly recalled by his mistress in December to bask in her royal smile, although he did not actually resign his authority till the following March 31. Elizabeth would not hear a word against her favourite. In her letter of recall she threw the blame entirely on her allies; she upbraided them for their ingratitude, their breach of faith, their false and malicious slanders against the Earl, and concluded this marvellous epistle with a gracious promise that ‘out of compassion for their pitiful condition, she would continue her subsidies for the present, and that if she concluded a peace with Spain, she would take the same care for their country as for her own.’

It would be unfair to hold Leicester altogether responsible for the failure of this ill-starred expedition. Some of the leading men, like Hohenlo, were violent men,Review of his administration. especially when in their cups; the parties and factions which divided the Netherlanders were not of Leicester’s making; the complicated and loose character of the government, and the religious difficulties, were sure to lead to trouble; except in the provinces of Holland and Zealand, little zeal was at this time shown in the cause, and Stanley and York were not the only traitors. But if the task imposed on Leicester had been a delicate one, certainly no person was less fitted than he to carry it through. His arrogance, his imperiousness, and his implacable temper made him many personal enemies, and led him to chafe against any control or contradiction; his vanity caused him to listen to the flattery of his creatures, and to break with the leading statesmen of the time, because they dared criticise his conduct; his strong Calvinistic prejudices ill fitted him to hold the balance amid the religious parties of the Netherlands; and if he was courageous and open-handed, he was certainly neither a capable statesman nor a good general. Yet, after all, the chief fault lay in the policy of the Queen herself. Her refusal to accept the sovereignty and throw herself heartily into the cause of the Netherlands, the niggardliness of her supplies, and the harshness of her terms—above all, her suspicious negotiations with Parma—these were the chief causes of complaint. Nor was this conduct the result of mere caprice. Well aware of the preparations of Philip against England, she still vainly hoped that, if she refrained from the irretrievable step of assuming the sovereignty, she might make use of her position in the Netherlands to secure a lasting and honourable peace for herself and them. She accordingly allowed herself to be deluded by the comedy of negotiation, which Alexander was playing, at his master’s orders, with the sole intention of deceiving her till the time for action was ripe. With the same idle hope, she had disavowed the action of Sir Francis Drake, who, in the preceding April, had ‘singed Philip’s beard’ by entering the ports of Cadiz and of Lisbon, and destroying some two hundred and fifty vessels. Her conduct was in keeping with her policy to the Protestants in Scotland and in France—a policy which has been generally praised, if not for its honesty, at least for its cleverness. It has been asserted that by this trimming attitude she prevented a coalition of the united forces of Catholicism, before which England must have succumbed; however true that may have been in the earlier years of her reign, it was certainly so no longer, for Philip was now determined on his invasion of England. Once, indeed, he had feared the designs of the Guises;Philip determines to invade England. but the Duke of Guise was now in his pay. In January, 1584, Mendoza, Philip’s ambassador, who had been summarily dismissed from England on account of his known connection with Throgmorton’s plot, informed Elizabeth ‘that as he had failed to please the Queen as a minister of peace, she would in future force him to try and satisfy her in war,’ and he had been true to his word. Removing to France, he became thenceforth Philip’s most active agent in making preparations. In May, 1586, the Queen of Scots had ceded to Philip all her claims on the crown of England, unless James accepted Catholicism before her death, and her execution finally removed all his scruples. Under these circumstances, Philip was determined to endure the ill-disguised acts of enmity on the part of the English Queen no longer. She had aided the rebels in the Netherlands; she had supported the Pretender to the crown of Portugal; above all, the piratical attacks of the English sea-dogs were bleeding Spain to death. England must be conquered. If that could be effected, the Netherlands would be soon subdued; and, since the victory of the League seemed assured in France, Philip might well hope soon to be master in London, Amsterdam, and Paris. Had Elizabeth at the time of Leicester’s expedition cast all fears to the winds and thrown her energies once for all on the side of Henry of Navarre, and on that of the Netherlands, Philip would have had his hands too full to strike. Even as it was, Alexander was prevented from co-operating in the attack on England by those very Netherlanders whose sympathy Elizabeth had done her best to alienate.

Five months after the departure of the Earl, the Armada, under the Duke of Medina Sidonia, sailed. The scheme for invading England had been elaborately planned between Philip and Parma.The Armada sails. May 30, 1588. The Armada was to proceed from Lisbon to the throat of the English Channel, off Calais. There it was to wait for Alexander, who was to come forth with his army, numbering some 17,000 men, shipped on the flat-bottomed boats he had prepared, and assume the command of the whole expedition. The Channel was then to be crossed. The Duke of Parma was to land and march on London, while Medina Sidonia was to guard the harbours from the Dutch and English fleets. The first experiences of the Spanish fleet were not encouraging. Many of the ships proved unseaworthy, Medina was forced to put into Corunna to refit, and it was not until the 28th of July, that the Armada sighted the Lizard.The Armada sights the Lizard. July 28. The delay had been of value. Elizabeth, although she had continued her negotiations with Parma to the very last, had made some preparations. On land, indeed, little had been done; but when the Spaniards appeared off Plymouth a motley fleet of some one hundred and ninety-seven ships had been collected. Of these only thirty-four belonged to the government; the rest had been provided by the merchants of London and other towns, or by private individuals.

It appears, however, that the strength of the Armada has been exaggerated. Although it is impossible to speak with absolute accuracy, it would appear that the number of the Spanish vessels actually engaged was some one hundred and twenty, while that of the English was about one hundred and seventy. The tonnage of the individual Spanish ships was greater, but in everything else the advantage was on the English side. They had more guns—a weapon which the Spaniards, depending as they did on boarding their adversary, despised. The number of effective fighting men was probably greater than that of the Spaniards, if we omit the galley slaves; certainly the proportion of sailors to the soldiers was greater in the English fleet; the sailors were far better seamen than those on the Spanish ships, and they had amongst their captains such men as Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, who had spent their lives at sea. The Spanish ships, if higher and of greater size, and therefore dangerous at close quarters, were unwieldy and undermanned. In a word, as Drake well said, if the English could ‘fight loose and at large,’ their victory was assured; and this they succeeded in doing.Running engagement up the Channel. July 30–Aug. 6. In a running engagement up the Channel, which lasted eight days, the English hung round the Spanish fleet, generally to windward of them, poured their shot into the hulls of the Spanish ships, and were away again before they had suffered much punishment. The English fired low; the Spaniards, anxious to disable their enemies preparatory to boarding, fired at the masts and rigging, and often missed their aim. When, therefore, the Armada at last reached the Calais roads,Armada in Calais roads. Aug. 6–7. The fire-ships. the absurdity of the idea that they could drive the English fleet from the sea was already palpable; and unless that could be done, it would have been madness for the Duke of Parma to venture out to sea in his flat-bottomed boats, encumbered as they would be by troops. This he himself had foreseen; but in any case, the swarm of Dutch craft which lined the coast prevented him from the attempt. Nothing clearly could be done unless the Armada could command the sea, and this it completely failed to do. On the night of August 7, the English sent six fire-ships against their enemies as they lay at anchor. The fire-ships might easily have been towed aside by boats, for they had no explosives on board. But the Spaniards remembered the fire-ships of Antwerp; a shameful panic seized the men; the great hulks slipped their anchors; two were set on fire, others became entangled with each other, and the rest of the fleet were driven seaward by awkward squalls which sprang up from west-south-west. On the following morning, the English pursued; and in the engagement which ensued, while the English lost not a single vessel and scarce a hundred men,Final engagement. August 8. the Spaniards had sixteen of their ships disabled and lost four to five thousand men. Unfortunately the English were now short of powder and of shot and of provisions.75 The Lord-Admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham, however, ‘put on a brag countenance and gave them chase, as though they wanted nothing,’ and the Spaniards, afraid to face the English ships again, were fain to drop before the wind which soon began to freshen into half a gale from the west, and threatened to drive the fleet upon the Zealand sands. A sudden shifting of the wind to the south-west saved them from this disaster; but the change was only the prelude to a violent gale, which, finally bursting upon the half-disabled ships on August 14, scattered them far and wide. Of the one hundred and thirty-four sail which left Corunna in July, some fifty-three alone, painfully and one by one, found their way back to Spain, and even these were so damaged as to be useless.

The great enterprise of Philip had been ruined by the combined action of the English and the Dutch. Yet, unfortunately, the disagreements caused by the expedition of Leicester were long in disappearing. On the retirement of the Earl, Maurice of Nassau, who was already Stattholder of Holland and Zealand, had been appointed Captain-general of those provinces;76 but his authority was disputed by Leicester’s party, more especially in the provinces of Utrecht, Friesland, and in North Holland.Troubles in Holland after departure of Leicester. They declared that the Earl had only temporarily retired, and refused obedience to Maurice and the States-General. The difficulties were further increased by quarrels with Lord Willoughby, who had been left in command of the English forces, and was himself an adherent of the Earl. Under these circumstances, Alexander had easily reduced most of the contumacious cities; and, on April 10, a quarrel between Maurice and the English officer, Sir Robert Wingfield, enabled him to secure the important city of Gertruydenberg.Dutch and English expedition to Portugal. April–July, 1589. In the same month, however, a joint Dutch and English expedition was made against Portugal, which, although it failed in its immediate object—the restoration of the pretender Don Antonio to the crown—did some damage to Spanish shipping, and gave earnest of a better feeling between those two countries, whose interests were so closely knit together.Breda secured by a stratagem. Feb. 28, 1590. In the following February, a clever stratagem, heroically carried out, won Breda for the patriots, and during the following summer, Maurice began to display his military powers by the reduction of several places of importance. Nevertheless, the dissensions still continued. The two English councillors, and the commander of the English auxiliary forces, who, according to the original treaty, still retained a seat in the Council of State, were ever quarrelling with the Hollanders. The province of Holland, which contributed at least a half to the expenses of the war, did not consider its representation on the State Council an adequate one; the States-General, in which the influence of the delegates of Holland was predominant, began to disregard the authority of the Council, while its authority in turn was often disputed by the other Provincial Councils. It was fortunate, under these circumstances, that the attention of Philip was at this time directed elsewhere. In France alone his fortunes seemed prospering. If the victory of the League in that country could be secured, England and the Netherlands might yet be conquered. Besides, Philip was becoming jealous of the Duke of Parma. No one could serve Philip long without arousing his suspicions; and Alexander had no lack of enemies who spread rumours of his intention to make himself independent in the Netherlands.77 He was therefore neglected, and with troops mutinous for want of pay, operations on a large scale were impossible.Farnese marches into France. Aug. 3, 1590. Finally, in spite of his remonstrances, Farnese was ordered to ‘talk no more of difficulties’ but to march into France to the assistance of the Duke of Mayenne, August 3, 1590 (cf. p. 434), and although on December 3, Parma returned from his French expedition, it was with enfeebled health, exhausted funds, and an army seriously reduced in numbers.

Maurice at last had his opportunity. This second78 son of William the Silent, and, through his mother, the grandson of Maurice of Saxony, whom he resembled in feature and in character,Early life of Maurice. had not as yet attracted much attention. Some indeed thought him nothing more than a petulant and unmannerly schoolboy; shrewder observers, however, admitted that he was a man of ‘deep if sullen’ wit, and that as he grew up to manhood he did not indulge in the vice of deep drinking so prevalent among Dutchmen of that day. With politics he had hitherto concerned himself but little, and had been content to follow the lead of Barneveld. Meanwhile he had devoted himself to mathematics, the science of fortification, and to tactics, and subsequently, assisted by his cousin, Lewis William, Stattholder of Friesland—an odd little man with bullet head, bright eyes,His military reforms. and shaggy brown beard—had turned to military reform. A more elaborate system of drill was introduced, which might give greater elasticity to the army in the field; appreciating the value of fire-arms, he increased the proportion of musketeers to pikemen in the infantry, and armed the cavalry with carbines. To this he added the use of the spade, which had hitherto been despised as beneath the dignity of the soldier, and formed a school of engineers. In his anxiety to put an end to the system of pillage which disgraced the armies of the day, and which had made the Spaniards a terror, he severely punished such offences; while, to remove all pretext for such conduct, he was careful to prevent the peculation which had been rife among the officers, and insisted on the soldiers being punctually paid. By these means he had succeeded, in spite of much hostile criticism and ridicule, in making the small army of the Hollanders a thoroughly effective one; while he himself at the age of twenty-three had become a master of scientific fortification and siege operations. The moment had now come to use his remodelled forces.Exploits of Maurice. May–July, 1591. On May 24, 1591, he laid siege to Zutphen on the Yssel, and in six days reduced that town, which had hitherto proved impregnable. The reduction of Deventer, on the same river, followed on June 10. Sixteen days later, he appeared before the walls of Groningen, and reduced several places in the neighbourhood. Farnese, aroused by the news of his exploits,Continued success of Maurice. Sept.–Oct., 1591. attempted in July, to make a diversion by attacking the fort of Knodsenburg on the Waal, but was outmanœuvred by his young antagonist, and was forced to retreat, and in August was compelled by illness to retire to Spa. Maurice now took the town of Hulst on September 24, and on October 21, Nymwegen, at the frontier of the Netherlands, on the Waal.

In January, 1592, the Duke of Parma was peremptorily ordered by Philip to advance once more into France, Maurice, thus free from all apprehension, again took the field.Alexander’s second expedition into France. Further conquests of Maurice. After a siege of forty-four days, the town of Steenwyck fell (July 3), on the 26th, the fortress of Coeworden capitulated, and thus the keys to the districts of Friesland, Groningen, and Drenthe were in his hands. Thus in two summers, Maurice had not only secured once more the control of the Waal, but had driven the Spaniards from most of the strongholds they had hitherto held in the northern provinces of Guelderland, Overyssel, and Drenthe; Groningen alone remained, and this was to be reduced in the following year.

In the winter of 1592, Alexander, Duke of Parma, the only man whose military genius Maurice had need to fear, passed away. He had returned from his second French expedition at the end of May,Death of Alexander of Parma. Dec. 3, 1592. a dying man, but even if he had been himself, the suspicions of Philip would have effectually paralysed his efforts; for that jealous King, persuaded by enemies of the Duke that he had designs on the sovereignty of the Southern Netherlands, had already appointed his successor, and had intended to remove him by force if necessary. Never were suspicions more unjust; and Farnese, in obedience to his master’s orders, was preparing a third expedition into France, when he was suddenly struck down at Arras (December 3). Thus, at the age of forty-seven, passed away the first soldier of his age, and one of the most devoted servants Philip ever had. The only blot on his political career is to be found in the unscrupulous character of his diplomacy. But even here, he was at least faithful in his baseness; if he deceived others, it was in obedience to his master’s orders, and the suspicion with which Philip treated him in his later moments was as cruel as it was unjust. The fourteen years of Parma’s governorship may be looked upon as the critical period in Philip’s reign; they witnessed the final move in the political game which the King of Spain was playing for the mastery of Western Europe, and when Parma died the game was nearly lost. Yet such success as Philip had, was largely due to Alexander. Although the Duke had failed in the impossible task of subduing the northern provinces, he had at least secured the southern and western ones for Spain, and postponed the triumph of Henry of Navarre. Had Philip had more such servants, he might have succeeded better.

On the death of Parma, the government had been provisionally placed in the hands of Count Peter Ernest Mansfeld, a veteran now in his dotage.Archduke Ernest appointed Governor. Jan. 1594. The real successor was to be the Archduke Ernest, brother of the Emperor Rudolf. The Archduke was Philip’s nephew. He proposed to marry him to the Infanta and to gain for him the crown of France (cf. p. 435). Thus, Philip hoped that the Spanish Netherlands might be united to France, and ruled by a submissive relation. At least, Philip seemed determined that the new Governor-general should not be a man to excite his fears. The Archduke was thoroughly incapable, very indolent, very fat, fond of drinking and of gambling; withal a melancholy man, a victim to gout, and one who wept when complaints were made to him. It was not until January, 1594, that the Archduke arrived in Brussels. By that time his chances of the French throne seemed remote, and his arrival with no troops and no money,Maurice reduces Gertruydenberg, June 24, 1593; and Groningen, July 22, 1594. but ‘with 670 gentlemen, pages, and cooks, and 534 horses to draw his coaches,’ did not augur very well. A jealous scramble for places ensued; the proud Spanish and Flemish nobles were insulted by his want of courtesy, and the soldiery mutinied for want of pay. Under these circumstances Maurice was able to reduce the only two important places which were held by the Spaniards in the northern provinces. On June 24, 1593, the successful siege of Gertruydenberg gave him the command of the Meuse. On the 22nd July of the following year (1594), the taking of the town of Gröningen, after sixty-five days’ siege, practically secured that province.

After the death of the Archduke Ernest, which occurred on February 20, 1595, the attention of Philip was once more concentrated on France.Death of Archduke Ernest, Feb. 20, 1595. Succeeded by the Archduke Cardinal Albert, Jan. 1596. In January, Henry IV. had at last declared open war against Spain, and the army of the Netherlands was required for service against him. Fuentes, therefore, who held the post of Governor provisionally, and the Cardinal Archduke Albert, brother of Ernest, who was appointed in January 1596, both took part in the campaigns in the east of France (cf. p. 440), and had but little time to give to the Netherlands. The Dutch,Dutch and English expedition to Cadiz. July, 1596. free from immediate apprehension, were therefore enabled to share in the brilliant English expedition to Cadiz, which ended in the destruction of a Spanish fleet and in the sack of the city (July 2, 1596). In August, indeed, the Archduke Albert succeeded in wresting the town of Hulst from Maurice; but in October, Holland joined the League which Henry IV. and Elizabeth had made against Spain in the previous August,Triple league against Spain. Aug.–Oct., 1596. and on the 24th of the following January (1597), Maurice decisively defeated the Archduke at Turnhout near Gertruydenberg. This important victory was followed by a three months’ campaign, from August to October 1597,Successful campaign of Maurice. Jan.–Oct., 1597. on the frontiers of the duchy of Cleves—which was being used by the Spaniards as a basis of operations against the disobedient provinces—a campaign in which, by the reduction of nine cities and five castles, Maurice materially strengthened his eastern frontier on the Rhine.

The Dutch had entered the League with France and England in the hope that they might by such help finally secure the recognition of their independence. But Henry was now weary of war, and had already opened those negotiations which, in spite of the remonstrances of the Dutch,Dutch not included in the Peace of Vervins. May 2, 1598. ended in the Peace of Vervins (May 2, 1598, cf. p. 444). As the recognition of their independence was denied them, the Dutch declined to take part in the treaty. Nevertheless, the Peace was accompanied by some change in the position of the obedient provinces; for as Henry would no longer brook the presence of the Spanish King on his eastern frontier,Settlement of government of the obedient provinces. Philip consented to renounce his claim to them, as well as to Franche-Comté, on condition that the sovereignty should be conferred on the Archduke Albert, who was to marry the Infanta Clara Eugenia Isabella (May, 1598). It was, however, stipulated that these provinces should fall again to Spain in the event of there being no issue of the marriage; Philip had reason to believe that the Archduke could have no children, and by a secret treaty, his nephew acknowledged the suzerainty of Spain, and promised to allow Spanish garrisons to hold the cities of Antwerp, Ghent, and Cambray. A desultory war, which did not materially affect the issue, continued between the Spanish and disobedient provinces till 1609.1609. Twelve years’ truce. A truce of twelve years then virtually recognised the independence of the United Netherlands—an independence which was not, however, formally acknowledged till the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

The seven United Provinces which thus broke away from Spain were Guelderland, Utrecht, Friesland, Overyssel, Gröningen, Zealand, and Holland.The limits of the seven United Provinces. These occupied a stretch of country on the shores of the German Ocean, running from the duchy of East Friesland to the estuary of the Scheldt, both sides of which they held. They thus completely commanded the various mouths of the Rhine, as well as those of the Meuse and the Scheldt. On the east and the south their boundaries were East Friesland, the territories of the bishopric of Münster, the duchy of Cleves, the bishopric of Liège, and South Brabant. Of the United Provinces, the sea was at once the enemy and the friend; a large proportion of their territory had been reclaimed from its embrace, and it was only kept back by expensive dykes. Some of the water of the Rhine had even to be conveyed to the sea in canals above the level of the fields (poulders), yet so much below the level of high tide that this had to be kept back by gates, which opened and shut as it ebbed and flowed. Yet it was this very sea which they had so often called to their assistance against their human foes, and which gave them the trade upon which their prosperity depended. The condition of these provinces, compared with that of the obedient provinces, had undergone a marvellous change since the accession of Philip.Contrast in condition of the United Netherlands and the Spanish Netherlands. At the commencement of his reign, Flanders and Brabant were by far the most wealthy districts; Antwerp was one of the great entrepots for the trade of Europe, and their other great towns were the centres of busy industries; while their contributions to the royal exchequer equalled those of all the other provinces together. At the close of the struggle these provinces were a desert; the wolves, we are told, roamed over the vacant fields; the looms were silent, and whole streets in the towns were empty; trade had shifted to the north, and Amsterdam had usurped the place of Antwerp. Already the Dutch were becoming the carriers of Europe, and taking the lead in colonisation to the east. Yet the young State was threatened by many dangers.The constitutional and other difficulties. The jealousy of England for her trade was likely to prove formidable, and the internal dangers were many. The government was a loose federation of provinces of very unequal size and wealth, and each province a federation of municipal councils, which, with the exception of those in Overyssel and Groningen, were filled up by co-optation, or by election on a very narrow franchise. The authority of the States-General, therefore, which was the legislative assembly of the federation, and that of the States Council which formed the Executive, was continually being disputed by the Provincial Councils; while the burgher aristocracy which ruled the towns was disliked by the nobles in the country, and looked upon with jealousy by the unenfranchised. The predominant power of the province of Holland, which contributed more than half of the annual budget, and the existence of the Stattholder and Captain-general,79 who held the supreme military and executive power, no doubt gave a practical unity to the government. But there was ever a tendency on the part of the Stadtholder to break away from the burgher aristocracy, and to base a more extended sovereignty and a more united kingdom on the support of the unprivileged classes. Religious differences embittered these dissensions; the burghers generally supported the new Arminian views, the Stadtholder those of the more extreme Calvinists; and thus there arose two parties whose quarrels were often in the future to shake the federation to its base.