1. 1 :
ill,''
^illiiiilll'
,.,., i-.'-.'i)) Sii
•;)i';' •I'lil'l'O.'l '..!!! I
Ijjjiiiiiiiiiilliilliiiilliiliil
ii!!i:iliili!i!!!:
c^ D
CORNELL
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
FROM
Dudl^ Fey
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
088 466 242
THE HISTORIANS'
HISTORY
OF THE WORLD
Cornell University
Library
The original of this bool< is in
the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924088466242
CARTA'LE
liitnaMtiiifiittSmsf
iiriiroflDpiamtofttatniis as ^mh
eft opettiDO tdottsauli oftlif prat
Mfffsofallaflf8:riiiRii,iPitirtt|f
assilance of aDistinjnfePToarir
ittHtmrn auD ronMbutoB
jtimiioti anojigflpttft^t
rm\)s
DOCENOgM
'T
TlTLE-PAOE OESieNEO AND ENORAVEO
COPTRIGHT, 1904, 1907
Bt HENBT smith WILLIAMS
All RIGHTS BESEBVEB
VOLUME XIII
FRANCE SINCE 1815; NETHERLANDS
Contributors, and Editorial Revisers
Prof. Adolf Erman, University of Berlin.
Prof. Joseph Halevy, College of France.
Prof. Thomas K. Cheyne, Oxford tTniversity.
Prof. Andrew 0. McLaughlin, University of Chicago.
Prof. David H. Miiller, University of Vienna.
Prof. Alfred Eambaud, University of Paris.
Capt. F. Brjnkley, Tokio.
Prof. Ednard Meyer, University of Berlin.
Dr. James T, Shotwell, Columbia University.
Prof. Theodor Noldeke, University of Strasbnrg.
Prof. Albert B. Hart, Harvard University.
Dr. Paul Bronnle, Eoyal Asiatic Society.
Dr. James Gairdner, G.B., London.
Prof. Ulrich von Wilamowitz Mollendorff, University of Berlin.
Prof. H. Marczali, University of Budapest.
Dr. G. W. Botsford, Columbia University.
Prof. Julius Wellhausen, University of Gottingen.
Prof. Franz E. von Krones, University of Graz.
Prof. Wilhelm Soltau, Zabem University.
Prof. E. W. Eogers, Drew Theological Seminary.
Prof. A. VambSry, University of Budapest,
Prof. Otto Hirschfeld, University of Berlin.
Dr. Frederick Eobertson Jones, Bryn Mawr College.
Baron Bernardo di San Severino Quaranta, London.
Dr. John P. Peters, New York-
Prof. Adolph Harnack, University of Berlin.
Dr. A. S. Eappoport, School of Oriental Languages, Paris.
Prof. Hermann Diels, University of Berlin.
Prof. C. W. C. Oman, Oxford University,
Prof. W. L. Fleming, Louisiana State University.
Prof. I. Goldziher, University of Budapest.
Printed in the United States. Prof. E. Koser, University of Berlin.
Tift
CONTENTS
VOLUME XIII
BOOK III. FRA]S"OE AFTER 1815
THE POLITICAL EVOLUTION OF FRANCE AFTER 1815
A Prefatory Characterisation by Alfred Rambatjd 1
CHAPTER I
The Bourbon Restoration (1815-1834 a.d.) .... 9
Lamartine's view of the restoration, 9. Excess of the royalists and the invaders,
11. The "White Terror "of 1815, 12. Richelieu the new minister, 14. Treaty of
1815,15. Execution of Marshal Ney and others, 16. Death of Murat, 18. La Cham-
bre Introuvable, 18. The division of parties, 19. The coup d'etat of Septemher 5th,
1816, 20. The new chamher, 32. The ministry of Decazes, 23. Assassination of the
duke de Berri and its results, 24. Events in Europe, 25. The Congregation and the
Jesuits, 25. The Carhonari, 26. The ministry of Villele and the Spanish Crusade,
38. The ministry of Villele, 30. Alison on the last days of Louis XVIII, 31. La-
martine's estimate of Louis XVIII, 33.
CHAPTER II
Charles X and the July Revolution op 1830 . . .34
First mistakes of the new government, 36. Growing discontent, 38. The min-
istry of Martignac, 39. The ministry of Polignac, 41. War with Algeria, 42. The
ordinances of Polignac and war with the Press, 44. Pelletan's account of the three
days of July, 45. Charles X deposed, 47. The duke of Orleans made lieutenant-
general of the kingdom, 49. Hillehrand's parallel between the revolution of 1688 and
1830, 50. Martin on the July revolution, 53.
CHAPTER III
Louis Philippe and the Revolution of 1848 (1830-1848 a.d.) . . 54
State of the country and first acts of the reign, 55. Socialistic movements, 56.
Laffitte's ministry, 57. Casimir-Perier and foreign affairs, 59. Lomenie's estimate
of Casimir-Perier, 61. Succeeding ministries, 63. Fieschi's Infernal Machine and
viii CONTENTS
PAGK
the " September Laws," 63. The rise of Thiers and Guizot, 65. War with Abdul-
Kadir, 67. Ministerial crises, 69. The Strasburg Bonapartist plot, 70. The Soult
ministry, 71. The return of Napoleon's remains, 73. The eastern question, 73.
Louis Napoleon's second attempt at a coup d'etat, 73. Events from 1840-1843, 75.
War with Abdul-Kadir, 76. The Spanish marriages, 77. Rising discontent, 79. The
banquet of 1848, 79. The revolution of 1848, 81. The king abdicates and takes flight,
83. Alison's estimate of Louis Philippe, 83.
CHAPTER IV
The Republic of 1848 85
The provisional government, 85. The first problems of the provisional govern-
ment, 89. The national workshops and other expedients, 91. The republic estab-
lished, 94. The insurrection of May 15th, 1848, 96. Civil war in Paris, 99. The
"days of June," 100. The dictatorship of Cavaignac, 103. The new constitution
and the plebiscite, 103. The candidacy of Louis Napoleon, 105. The elections of
December, 1848, 105. Victor Hugo's portrait of "Napoleon the Little," 107.
CHAPTER V
Louis Napoleon as President and Empbeor (1849-1870 a.d.) . . 110
End of the constituent assembly, 1849, 111. Siege of Rome, 113. Struggle
between the president and the legislative assembly, 113. The coup cPitat of Decem-
ber 3nd, 1851, 116. Victor Hugo's account of the Boulevard Massacre, 117. Severities
of the government, 130. The appeal to the people, 133. Exile by wholesale, 134.
The constitution of 1853, 135. Napoleon's address at Bordeaux, 1853, 126. The ac
cession of Napoleon IH, 137. Napoleon's marriage, 128. Erskine May on the court
life, 138. The Crimean War, 129. The congress of Paris, 130. Internal affairs, 131.
Orsini's attempt to kill the emperor, 133. The " new terror" of 1858, 133. War in
Italy: Solferino, 135. Expeditions and wars in Syria, China, Cochin China, and
Mexico, 137. The rise of Prussia, 139. Fyffe on Napoleon's new policy, 139.
French and Prussian dispute over Luxemburg, 140. New friction with Prussia, 144.
The ministry of OUivier, 144. Cause of the Franco-Prussian War, 146.
CHAPTER VI
The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871 a.d.) . . .147
The preparedness of France, 148. Opening of the war, 149. The battles of
Worth and Spicheren, 150. Bazaine at Metz, 153. Battle of Mars-La-Tour, 154. Bat-
tle of St. Privat, 155. Confusion at Paris, 156. Battle of Sedan, 157. The surrender
of Napoleon III and the army, 160. The third republic proclaimed, 163. The siege
of Paris, 163. (3^irard's account of Chateaudun, 165. Continued German successes,
167. Martin on the surrender of Metz, 174. The uprising of Paris, 175. Paris suf-
fers from cold, hunger, and bombardment, 176. The last sortie, 177. The end of the
war, 179,
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER VII
PAGE
The Third Republic (1871-1908 a.d.) . . . .180
The central committee, 182. The commune of 1871 organized, 183. The recap-
ture of Paris, 184. The administration of Thiers, 185. MacMahon becomes president,
188. Martin on the constitution of 1875, 188. Simon's ministry, 189. The coup
d^itat of May 16th, 190. Grrevy becomes president, 191. The last days of Gambetta ;
ascendency of Ferry, 192. The presidency of Carnot, 194. The presidencies of Casi-
mir-Perier and Faure, 196. The Dreyfus trial, 196. Colonial wars, 197. Sepa-
ration of church and state, 198. The entente cordiale and the Moroccan question, 199.
Relations with Japan and Germany, 199b. Sequel to the Dreyfus case, 199b. M.
Fallieres chosen president, 199b. Wine-growers and the Adulteration Law, 199c.
Further troubles in Morocco, 199c.
CHAPTER VIII
The Social Evolution of France since 1815, by Alfred Rambaud . 200
The labour question, 200. Sad state of the working classes, 202. Early strikes
and revolts, 203. Utopian philosophies, 204. The national workshops and their con-
sequences, 206. The working classes under Louis Napoleon, 209. The commune of
1871, 211. Recent legislation for the betterment of labour, 314. Present-day doc-
trines, 216.
Brief Reference-List of Authorities by Chapters 219
A General Bibliography of French History 221
A Chronological Summary of the History of France, from the Treaty
OF Verdun 235
PART XYII. THE HISTORY OF THE
ITETHERLAIsTDS
Historical Introduction to the History of the Netherlands, by John
Lothrop Motley 267
The land, 267. The early peoples, 268. Early forms of government and religion,
270. Relations with Rome, 272. The Batavian hero Civilis, 273. Fall of Rome and
rise of the Frankish Empire, 275. Government and civilization of feudal times, 279.
CHAPTER I
The First Counts of Holland (843-1299 a.d.) , . . 283
The periods of Dutch history, 284. Holland as a German fief, 285. The first
Dirks,. I-IV, 286. Wars with Utrecht, Flanders, and the empire, 287. Floris I to
IV, 288. An early charter, 292. Count William II, emperor of Germany, 293. The
constitution of Holland, 294. Constitution of the guilds, 295. The nobility, 296.
The estates, 298. Taxation, 298. Floris V, 300. The great flood, 301. The kidnap-
ping of Floris, 302. John I, the last of the counts, 304.
X CONTENTS
CHAPTER II
PAGE
Early History of Belgium and Flanders (51 B.C.-1384 a.d.) . . 306
Theodore Juste on Belgium's place in history, 306. Primitive history, 308. Under
the Romans, 308. Under the Franks and the dukes, 309. Brabant, 309. Luxem-
burg and Liege, 310. Flanders : its early history, 310. Rise of the Belgium com-
munes, 311. Flanders versus France, 314. The "Bruges Matins," 316. Battle of
the Spurs, 317. Last years of Guy's reign, 318. Robert of Bethune, 319. Louis of
Nevers at war with the people, 320. The communes defeated at Cassel, 320. Van
Artevelde appears, 322. Froissart's account of Artevelde and his death, 324. Kervijn
de Lettenhove's estimate of Van Artevelde, 326. The reign of Louis of Male, 327.
Philip Van Artevelde chosen as leader, 328. Battle of Roosebeke, and fall of the
guilds, 329.
CHAPTER III
Holland under the Houses of Hainault and Bavaria (1299-1436 a.d.) 331
The sway of Hainault, 332. William III, 334. William IV, 334. Margaret and
the disputed claim, 335. Wars of the "cods" and " hooks," 336. Wenzelburger on
the wars of the " cods " and "hooks ", 337. The Bavarian house in power, 339. Wil-
liam VI, 341. The romantic story of Jacqueline, 342. Jacqueline's letter to her hus-
band, 344. Last days of Jacqueline, 345.
CHAPTER IV
The Netherlands under Burgundy and the Empire (1436-1555 a.d.) . 350
The rise of Burgundy, 350. Philip the Bold, 351. Philip at war with England,
353. Art and culture of the period, 357. Charles the Bold, 358. Motley's estimate
of Charles the Bold, 361. Mary and the Great Privilege, 362. Maximilian, 364.
Philip the Handsome, 366. Margaret, governess for Charles V, 367. Charles V, 368.
The Reformation, 368. Motley's estimate of Charles V, 370. Prosperous condition
of the country, 372.
CHAPTER V
Phiup II and Spanish Oppression (1555-1567 a-.d.) . . .375
Early Netherland heresy, 376. Severe punishment of heresy : the anabaptists,
377. A backward glance, 379. The accession of Philip II, 380. First deeds of Philip,
381. Schiller's portrait of William of Orange, 384. Count Egmont, 386. Margaret
of Parma, regent of the Netherlands, 387. Granvella and the regency, 389. The
Inquisition, 392. The compromise of February, 395. The "request" of the "beg-
gars," 397. The Calvinist outbreak, 400. Strada's account of the image-breaking
frenzy, 402. The sack of the Antwerp cathedral, 403. Results of the outbreak ; the
accord, 405. A brief respite, 407. Early failures of the rebels, 409. William of
Orange withdraws, 410.
CONTENTS xi
CHAPTER VI
PAGE
Alva (1567-1573 a.d.) 412
The arrival of Alva, 414. The bloody council of Troubles, 416. Departure of the
regent, 419. Trial and fate of Egmont and Horn, 421. The first campaign, 434.
Oppressive taxation; the amnesty, 425. The "sea beggars" take Briel, 427. The
revolt of the towns, 430. The states-general at Dort, 431. First successes, 433. Col-
lapse of William's plans, 435. Spanish atrocities, 435. The siege of Haarlem, 438.
Revival of Dutch efforts, 438. The recall of Alva, 440. Motley's estimate of Alva,
441.
CHAPTER VII
Progress towards Union (1573-1579 a.d.) .... 444
Cost of the war, 445. Military affairs, 445. The siege of Leyden, 447. The stad-
holder's powers enlarged, 452. A Spanish exploit, 455. Independence declared, 456.
Death of Bequesens, 457. The rise of Flanders and Brabant, 457. The Spanish fury
at Antwerp, 459. The pacification of Ghent, 462. Don John of Austria, 464. Con-
ciliatory policy of Don John, 465. Orange made ruward ; Matthias governor, 467.
Outbreak of war, 469. The disaster of Gembloux, 470. Administration of the duke
of Parma, 471. The union of Utrecht, 472.
CHAPTER VIII
The Last Years op William the Silent (1579-1584 a.d.) . . 476
Parma besieges Maestricht, 477. Subterranean fighting, 477. Orange becomes
stadholder of Flanders, 479. Further secession from the cause, 480. The " ban "
against William, 483. The ' ' apology " of William, 483. Allegiance to Philip formally
renounced, 485. William becomes sovereign of Holland, 487. The sovereignty of
Anjou, 490. Attempts to assassinate William, 491. The constitution of 1582, 494.
Anjou's plot and the "French fury," 496. Further attempts on William's life, 498.
Motley's estimate of William the Silent, 501.
CHAPTER IX
Leicester in the Low Countries . . . .506
The situation after the death of Prince William, 508. The activity of Parma,
509. Antwerp besieged, 1584, 511. Motley's portrait of Olden-Barneveld, 515. The
embassy to Elizabeth, 516. The English under Leicester in Holland, 517. Death of
Sir Philip Sidney, 521. The failure of Leicester, 522. The Spanish Armada, 524.
The military genius of Maurice, 527. The death of Parma : his successor, 528. The
archduke Albert, 530. The provinces ceded to Albert and Isabella, 531. The death
of Philip II, 532.
xii CONTEJ^TS
CHAPTER X
PAGE
The Sway of Olden-Barneveld (1598-1605 a. d.) . . . 533
Battle of Nieuport, 535. The siege of Ostend, 538. The campaigns of 1605-1606,
540. Heemskerk at Gibraltar, 543. The Twelve Years' Truce, 547. Dutch commerce
and explorations, 547. Arctic exploration, 548. The Dutch East India Company, 550-
CHAPTEE XI
Prince Maurice in Power (1609-1635 a.d.) . . . .553
The Arminian controversy, 554. Barneveld outwits King James, 555. Maurice
versus Barneveld, or Autocracy versus Aristocracy, 557. The arrest of Barneveld,
561. The synod of Dort (or Dordrecht), 562. The trial of Barneveld, 564. The exe-
cution of Barneveld, 566. Religious persecutions, 567. The escape of Grotius, 569.
End of the truce, 570. The plot of Barneveld's sons, 571. The last acts of Maurice,
572. Prosperity of the period, 573.
CHAPTER XII
Conclusion of the Eighty Years' War (1625-1648 a.d.) . . 576
Alliance with France : Belgian efTorts for freedom, 579. Marriage of William
and Mary, 581. Death of Frederick Henry ; Ascension of William II, 582. Treaties
of Miinster and Westphalia, 583. Da vies' review of the war and the Dutch charac-
ter, 585.
CHAPTER XIII
Science, Literature, and Art in the Netherlands . . 590
Spinoza, 591. Golden Age of Dutch Literature, 593. The Visscher Family, 593.
Hooft and Vondel, 594. Cats and Huygens, 595. Hugo Grotius, 596. Taine on
Flemish art, 598. Peter Paul Rubens, 599. Fromentin's estimate of Vandyke, 601.
David Teniers, 603. Dutch art, 603. Taine's estimate of Rembrandt, 603. Fromen-
tin's estimate of Frans Hals, 605. Public paintings, 606. Terburg and other painters
of the Dutch school, 606. Terburg, Van Ostade, and Steen, 607. Landscape, still
life, and animal painters, 607. Decline of Dutch art, 608.
CHAPTER XIV
The De Witts and the War with England (1648-1672 a.d.). . 610
The ambitions of William II, 611. Foreign relations, 613. Losses of the war
with England, 613. The act of navigation, 1651, 616. First naval engagement, 617.
War openly declared, 617. Death of Tromp, 620. Jan de Witt, 622. Peace with
England, 623. War with Sweden, 623. England declares war, 624. Eicher's ac-
count of the great Four Days' Battle, 625. The English win a victory, 629. The
Peace of Breda, 630. War with Louis XIV, 632. Guizot's account of the fate of the
brothers De Witt, 634.
CONTENTS xiii
CHAPTER XV
PAQK
William III and the War with France (1672 a.d.) . . 636
England withdraws from the war, 637. The last battle of De Euyter, 637. Wil-
liam marries Princess Mary of England, 640. The Peace of Nimeguen and the Augs-
burg League, 640. William becomes king of England, 642. War with France, 643.
Peace of Ryswick, 644. Death of William III, 645. Davies' estimate of William III,
645. The stadholderate abolished, 648. The triumvirate against France, 649. Trouble
with England, 651. The Treaty of Utrecht and the Barrier Treaty, 652. The decline
of Holland, 653.
BOOK III
FKANCE AFTEE 1815
THE POLITICAL EVOLUTION OF FRANCE AFTER 1815
WRiTTfiN Specially fob the Pkesent Work
By ALFRED EAMBAUD
Member of the Institute
PROBLEMS OF THE RESTORATION ^
The problem which none of the revolutionary assemblies and forms of
government — the constituent and legislative assemblies, the convention,
directory, consulate, or empire — had been able to solve, and which consisted
in providing France with an adequate and solid constitution, confronted the
governments that immediately followed the Revolution.
Louis XVIII " conceded " the charter of 1814, which was an offshoot of
the British constitution. This charter gave the executive power into the
hands of a king declared non-responsible, who was to be assisted by respon-
sible ministers ; the legislative power was to be divided between the king
and two chambers composed — one of hereditary peers, the other of deputies
paying one thousand francs of direct taxes and chosen by electors who paid
five hundred francs.
Louis XVIII had merely to " lie down in the bed of Napoleon," to find
himself invested with all the prerogatives necessary to a king, and to come
into possession of such a police and administrative system as the world had
never seen before. The latent despotism, however, was held in check by
the ministerial responsibility, by the rights of the chambers, by the very
rudimentary liberties of the people, and finally by the king's own strong
common sense. Under such a rule France might have enjoyed the period
of peace needed after twenty -five years of turmoil and upheaval, had the
passions of the different parties — the royalists, the liberals, the Bonapartists
who later coalesced with the earlier republicans — permitted such repose.
1 Histories of the Restoration have been written by de Vaulabelle, Lamartine, Viel-Castel,
Nettement, Hamel ; of the monarchy of July, by Louis Blanc, Elias Regnault, de Nouvion,
Thureau Dangin, with the Memoires of Guizot, duke de Broglie, Doctor V^ron, Victor Hugo
(Ghoses Vues); of the revolution of 1848, by Daniel Stern, A. Delvau, Normanby, E. Spnller,
H. Castille, Victor Pierre, P. de la Gorce ; of the Second Empire, by Taxile Delord, P. de la
-* Gorce ; of the third republic, by E. Zevort, 6. Hanotaux. Eaustin Hfilie, Les Constitutions de la
J'rance ; Duvergier de Hauranne, Histoire de gouvernement parlimentaire.
H. W, — VOL, XIII. B 1
2 THE HISTOKY OF FEANCE
[1814-1835 A.D.]
The experiment was furthermore disturbed by Napoleon's return from
Elba and the consequent defection of almost all of his former troops, and by
the " Hundred Days " of Waterloo with their disastrous consequences. Na-
poleon, running his last adventure as a despot, at least paid homage to the
new ideas, all strange to him, which had arisen, and gave the state a consti-
tution bearing the name of Additional Act that, like the charter of Louis
XVIII, might have been thought a copy of the constitution of Great Britain.
In this act he promised to the people freedom of the press as well as all other
liberties.
Napoleon was no sooner embarked for St. Helena than legitimate royalty
returned and with it the charter of 1814. Under its provisions France
might at last have grown accustomed to the use of liberty, had not
Charles X conceived the idea of searching out, in Article 14, which charged
him to enforce the laws, a clause which gave him the right to violate them.
The revolution of 1830. ensued.
THE MEASURES OF LOUIS PHILIPPE
The sovereignty which issued from this struggle was a compromise be-
tween the monarchic and the republican ideas; Louis Philippe, though a
descendant of St. Louis, and even of Hugh Capet, was the son of a regicide
and member of the convention, and had himself fought at Valmy, Jemmapes,
and Neerwinden under the folds of the tricolour. Thereby, he offered guar-
antees to the men of 1789. On the other hand, the legitimists reproached
him with his father's regicidal vote and with his own usurpation, the repub-
licans utterly refused to see in his reign the " best of republics " as La
Fayette desired, and the Bonapartists held themselves in reserve fcr Napo-
leon II.
Here again the violence of political passions made a liberal form of gov-
ernment very difficult to maintain. Plots and insurrections followed fast
upon each other. The king was made the object of twenty-three murderous
attempts, the most terrible being that of Fieschi and the infernal machine,
which wounded or killed forty-two persons, among whom was the marechal
Mortier.i Louis Philippe used to say of himself that he was the '-'only game
that could be hunted at every season of the year."
The charter was amended in a somewhat more democratic sense, and
Article 14, which had been so unfortunately construed by Charles X, was
annulled. The office of peer was henceforth to be held for life and not to
be hereditary^ The electoral qualification or fee was reduced from three
hundred to two hundred francs (to one hundred in the case of officers and
members of the institute) ; and the qualification of eligibility was reduced
from one thousand to five hundred. The number of electors was increased
from 90,000 to 200,000 ; later, in 1847, to 240,000 — a small enough number
for a nation of thirty-five million souls !
The charter formally abolished "preliminary authorisation" and press
censure, and referred to a jury all offences of the press. Even after various
organs had been guilty of excess, and had instigated regicide and insurrec-
tions, these provisions were steadfastly observed. The only extra stringency
to be adopted was the enactment of September 9th, 1835, which gave a
clearer definition of press misdemeanors and imposed new penalties.
It was in the matter of meetings and associations, however, that this
government, otherwise so liberal, displayed the most timidity, and not with-
<■ Frince de Joinville (who assisted at this terrible scene), Vieux Souvenirs, Chap. XIL
FRANCE AFTER 1815 3
[1830-1834 A.D.]
out reason. The law of the 10th of April, 1834, was intended to supply any
deficiencies that might have escaped the discerning eye of Napoleon : for
example, in his Penal Code, he had in view only meetings and associations
of over twenty persons ; the law of 1834 reached those which were subdivided
into fractions of less than twenty members. Napoleon had aimed exclusively
at " chiefs, administrators, or directors " ; the law of 1834 fell upon simple
members. The penalty named by Napoleon had been a fine of from sixteen
to two hundred francs ; this fine was henceforth to be five times greater, and
there was a risk attached of from two months' to a year's imprisonment, etc.
We must not overlook the fact that neither Napoleon's life nor his throne
had ever been endangered by associations, whereas certain powerful societies,
either open or secret, had been at work undermining the sovereignty of
Louis Philippe and instigating attempts on his life. It was no small honour
that this king should have bestowed upon France the maximum of liberties
it had ever enjoyed while he himself was being made each year the object of
one or more murderous attempts.
The monarchy of July rested upon three institutions :
(1) Qualified suffrage. In 1830 the modification of the electoral quali-
fication and that of eligibility had, in effect, caused the preponderance to pass
from rural to urban electors, and from social forces pertaining to agriculture
to industrial and commercial forces.
(2) A qualified national guard. The national guard had been suppressed
under the Restoration because of its turbulent demonstrations against the
prime minister of Charles X, M. de VillSle. To be revenged it fought
against the royal troops on the barricades of July, 1830. From this moment,
however, it became the prop of order, the defender of the charter and of the
citizen-king ; and upon it devolved the duty of carrying the barricades.
This band of merchants, of licensed traders, of Parisian shop-keepers, many
of whom had taken part in the previous wars and who wore the great shako
with all the ease of Napoleon's seasoned "grumblers," fought valiantly
against the rioters, whose bravery equalled their own. More than two thou-
sand members of the national guard, most of whom were heads of families,
fell in the street combats, shedding their blood freely for the dynasty they
themselves had raised up. Louis XVIII and Charles X had each had a
special royal guard partly composed of Swiss ; Louis Philippe would have
about him no other body than the national guard, knowing well how much
he owed each individual member. Thus at every review held by him crosses
of the Legion of Honour were freely distributed among them. The national
guard elected its own non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers
below the rank of captain ; appointments to all the higher grades were made
by the king from a list of ten names proposed by the battalion. In order
to preserve to the organisation its bourgeois character and to prevent any
admixture of the popular element, it was simply necessary to exact the wear-
ing of a uniform. The national guard was both a militia and an opinion ;
at the king's reviews it manifested by its silence or by its acclamations what
it thought of politics. Hence it was called "the intelligent bayonets."
(3) The same class from which were recruited electors and members of
the national guard also furnished members of the jury before whom were
arraigned all the enemies of the government, whether accused of conspiracy
and attempt at assassination or of some misdemeanor of the press.
Thus it was the same men who sustained the monarchy of July by their
votes, their bayonets, and their decisions. They constituted what was then
the " legal nation." The rest of the people were forbidden all share in public-
4 . THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1848 A.D.]
affairs. When therefore these electors, national guardsmen, and jurors began
to show hostility or even simple indifference towards the government they
had helped to found, that government fell of itself. When, on the 28th
of February, 1848, Louis Philippe saw himself abandoned by his faithful
national guard, he refused to sanction further bloodshed ; his power, based
on the favour of public opinion, could not stand once that support had been
■withdrawn. Hitherto his reign had had to do chiefly with the "legal nation";
over the true nation he did not feel himself competent to rule.
The government of Louis Philippe had shown itself as liberal as the ideas
of the times would permit ; it had assured to France, to all Europe in fact,
despite certain provocations from the old " Holy Alliance," eighteen years of
honourable and profound peace; it had endowed France with its richest
colony, Algeria, and under it the country's agriculture, industry, commerce,
and all the branches of public prosperity had attained enormous development.
THE MISTAKES OF 1848
The misunderstanding which finally led to rupture between the nation,
even the " legal nation " and the monarchy, arose out of a question relating
to the extension of suffrage. The revolution of the 24th of February, 1848,
was unquestionably the least justified and least justifiable in the history of
France. Its consequences were even more disastrous to the country in
general than to the reigning dynasty. Those who advocated extension of the
right of suffrage were soon to experience sharply what evils an electoral
body — suddenly increased, vnthout preparation or gradation, from 241,000
voters to ten millions — could inflict upon the land ; and those who accused
the well-disposed king of illiberalism were shortly to taste the joys of a
revival of Csesarism.
The personages whom the revolution of the 24th of February bombarded
into power as the " provisory government " were men of high intelligence,
giving evidence of the very best intentions but totally devoid of political
experience. They exhausted their eloquence and talents in criticising and
reviling power, without in the least knowing what were its essential attributes.
One of their first acts was to proclaim universal suffrage, being forced thereto
possibly by the circumstance that the revolution had removed all restrictions
standing in its way, and that new ones could not be invented by any small
body of men had they the wish. The provisory government, at the same
time that it accorded to all the right to vote, opened the way to wider mem-
bership in the national guard by abolishing the uniform. Later tbe second
constituent assembly, by a decree issued the 27th of August, 1848, admitted
nearly the whole number of electors to jury rights ; thus the pillars of the
monarchy of July were employed to strengthen and consolidate the demo-
cratic power. The provisory government also annulled all laws restricting
freedom of the press and the right to form unions and associations, and
abolished titles of nobility as well as capital punishment for political offences.
By the transformation of the national guard, all the opinions of the
different political parties into which the country was divided took the form
of armed opinion, of opinion bloodthirsty and crossbelted, with gun in hand
and cartridge box on back. Political feeling was indeed everywhere excited
to excess, owing to the hatching of innumerable revolutionary newspapers,
and the opening of the clubs (" red " clubs, be it understood) all over Paris.
When the provisory government shortly after retired to give place to a
constituent assembly, the latter — first-fruit as it was of universal suffrage
FEANCE AFTER 1815 5
[1848-1852 A.D.]
and composed of members far too numerous (about nine hundred), wbo
were scarcely known to each other and were seated for the first time in an
assembly — gave proof of inexperience equal to that of the provisory govern-
ment ; or rather it professed deep contempt for any political experience that
had ever been gained.
The constitution this body voted contained two noteworthy provisions,
either of which would have been sufficient to destroy it: (1) Opposite
the president of the republic was to be a single chamber called legislative,
with no intermediary power between it and the president. This arrangement
had already been tried by the provisions of the constitution of 1791. One
single assembly had then destroyed the king ; this time it was the president
who was to destroy the single assembly. (2) The election of the president
of the republic was to be effected by universal suffrage ; what power was it
possible for any assembly to possess in face of a president who held his office
by virtue of a veritable plebiscite ?
There remained one last folly to be committed, and that by the agency of
universal suffrage. On the 10th of December, 1848, it elected as president
Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte.
What happened had to happen — ; it was decreed on the 10th of December,
1848. In just what manner it happened it is needless to detail. The coup
d'itat of the 2nd of December, 1851, made the president who had been faith-
less to his vow master of France. At first the nation had no other constitu-
tion than the terror diffused by the Paris massacres and the bloody acts of'
repression that took place throughout the provinces.^ When Louis Napoleon
finally bethought himself of the necessity of providing a constitution (that
of the 14th of January, 1852), he had but to seek inspiration in the example
of his uncle. Just as under the first empire, there was appointed for leading
f unctiojas a council of state ; next, ranking sufficiently rhigh, a senate ; and
lastly a corps Ugislatif, which seemed to exist solely for show, composed as it
was of members elected under pressure of the prefects, having no initiative
in matters of law or of state finance and sitting under a president elected
by the prince and ministers not responsible to it. All civil and military
officials were obliged under pain of revocation to take an oath to the man
who had violated his. Ten months had not elapsed after the proclamation
of that constitution, before the senatus consult^ of the 7th of November, 1852,
made the prince-president emperor of the French, a dignity which was con-
firmed by the plebiscite of the 20th-21st of November.
NAPOLEON III IS ELECTED EMPEROR
Naturally all liberties were suppressed. In the inatter of meetings and
associations, Article 291 and the law of 1834 reappeared in vigour, and the
press was subjected to the harshest rule it had known since the first empire.
All rigours, fiscal, preventive, and repressive, were brought to bear upon it;
a security of from 15,000 to 50,000 francs was demanded, and a stamp-tax of
six centimes for Paris and three centimes for the provinces on every number
of a newspaper. No orgaai could exist without " preliminary authorisation "
by the government. Jurisdiction in press misdemeanors was withdrawn
from the jury and given to criminal judges who held their office from the
sovereign. Administrative repression was added to or supplemented judi-
cial repression ; every newspaper that received two notices from the police
1 T6not, Paris en Decembre 1851 et la province en Decembre 1851 / Victor Hugo, Histoire
(fun Crime.
6 THE HISTOEY OF FEANOE
[1863-1875 A.D.]
within two years was immediately suppressed. Even books were made the
subject of exceptional rules, L'histoire des princes de CondS, by the duke
d'Aumale, being seized without process of law (1863).
Such was the " authoritative empire " ; it subsisted until 1867. It would
be idle and tedious to relate by what successive concessions on the part of
the imperial power, made under pressure of political opinion that took its
colour from the blunders of Mexico, Sadowa, etc., the "authoritative empire"
was gradually transmuted to the liberal empire, that restored to the legisla-
tive body many of its legitimate prerogatives ; softened the rule that bore so
heavily on the press; took the risk even of authorising (by the enactment of
June 6th, 1868) meetings that were non-political in character, and also of
public meetings held in view of legislative elections.
The, empire had been able to exist at all only on condition that the
particulars concerning its origin should be kept from view ; the publication
of the books by Tenot describing the violences that attended the coup d'Stat
both in Paris and the provinces, and the wide diffusion of Victor Hugo's
Napoleon le petit, together with his mighty poetical pamphlet, Les Ohdtiments,
recalled to the old and revealed to the young in what waves of blood had
been effaced the oath sworn to the republic by the president, Louis Napoleon.
Thereafter every new form of liberty bestowed on the nation by the emperor
awoke — not gratitude, but the determination to use it as an arm against
him. Still it is probable that the second empire would have prolonged its
existence by yet a few more years had it not ventured, by the declaration of
war against Germany, to face a violent death.
THE THIRD REPUBLIC
The trials that France underwent during the " terrible year " are too well
known to need narration; no horrors were spared her, neither those of civil
nor of foreign war. Borne down by disaster and by the weight of financial
ruin precipitated by the demand of the invaders for five thousand millions of
francs, the most diiBcult and complicated of all problems was the reorganisa-
tion of the government. How the national assembly, elected on February
8th, 1871, composed two-thirds of royalists, was ever brought to consent first
to a "head of the executive power of the French Republic," then to a
" president of the French Republic," and finally, even after the overthrow of
M. Thiers, even under the presidency of Marshal MacMahon, to vote the
republican constitution of February 25th, 1875, is a mystery that can be
explained only by the force of circumstances. Certainly the royalists had
the majority in the assembly ; but they were divided into two nearly equal
camps, legitimists and Orleanists, who could never bring about a fusion
between the two branches of the house of Bourbon. Henceforth the republic
which, contrary to expectations, had offered for five months a resolute
resistance to invasion, which had showed itself sufficiently powerful to quell
an insurrection twenty times more redoubtable than those to which the
monarchies had succumbed — the republic which had inspired Europe, the
whole world in fact, with confidence sufficient to obtain for it the prodigious
loans it needed for the liberation of its territories — the republic, we say, was
looked on as the form of government most natural to the land, the one already
firmly established there, antedating the national assembly itself. The
complementary elections of July, 1871, and all the partial elections which
followed, testified to the obstinate, unalterable attachment of the French
people to the republican idea. Even the rash act of the assembly on the
FRANCE AFTER 1815 7
[1875 A.D.]
24th of May, and later that of Marshal MacMahon, which seemed to place
the question of a republic once more in the balance, served but to exalt the
passion of democracy and galvanise republican energies.
The constitution of 1875, gift of the national assembly to the republic, is,
all things considered, the best that France has ever had. The country seems
to have profited by the experience, favourable or the reverse, of the past, to
steer safely past the reefs that wrecked the constitutions of 1791 and 1848.
Like the constitutions of all the free peoples of Europe, this creation of the
national assembly was plainly inspired by the old constitution of Great
Britain; it also recalls the charter of 1830, but with an added democratic-
republican character. Certain it is that the president of the republic, like
Louis Philippe, " reigns but does not govern," and that like him also he has
ministers who are responsible to the chambers. Of these chambers one is the
product of universal suffrage and furnishes the motive power for the entire
machinery of state, president and senate being but wheels to regulate the
action. The senate is elected by a special body composed mainly of delegates
from the different communes, which is why Gambetta called it the " grand
council of the communes of France." Since the reforms effected in 1884
there are no longer any life-senators, all being appointed for a term of nine
years. No one of the great powers of the state can encroach upon the others.
If a president violates his oath of office he can, by vote of the chamber, be
impeached before the senate ; if the chamber shows a disposition to exceed
its proper authority it can be dissolved by the president, with the affirmative
vote of the senate. The senate enjoys the advantage of having its member-
ship renewed only to the extent of one-third every third year, and con-
sequently may be said to be a permanent assembly, whereas the oifice of
president receives a new incumbent everj^ scA^en and the chamber entire new
membership every, four y ears. Nevertheless this triennial change of personnel
is quite sufficient to keep the senate within the bounds of its legitimate
authority.
Such was at least the theory of the French constitution of 1875 ; but no
constitution is worth more than the men who put it into practice. It is plain
that if the chamber of deputies were made up from elections falsified under
official pressure, by fraud at the ballot-boxes, or by general corruption; or if
the senate, instead of being composed of picked men, as should be the case
with any assembly of high functions, recruited its senators from among the
miscellaneous candidates presented by universal suffrage or the ranks of
village notabilities ; if on the occasion of a presidential election all candidates
possessing high character or intelligence were carefully rejected — that
constitution would be thrown out of gear in every cog. Not upon its authors
could the blame be made to fall, but upon those who strove to disfigure and
pervert the original conception.
One reproach can be raised against the constitution of 1875 — it is based
upon an English instead of an American prototype. Has not a great and
prosperous republic like the United States offered the best model for the
constitution of the most powerful democracy of the Old World ? Has not
its type been adopted by all the republics, even the Latin, of the New World?
This thesis has been sustained in France, particularly by M. Andrieux, former
deputy from Lyons and prefect of police, who made it the object, in 1884,
of a proposed law. The chief drawback to its adoption, however, seemed to
be that France occupied a territory of only 525,000 square kilometres, while
that covered by the United States is 9,354,000. Hence the France of to-day,
product as it is of a thousand years of history, of the old regime, of the
8 THE HISTOEY GF FEANCE
[1881-1901 A.D.]
Revolution, of the Napoleonic empires, is a highly concentrated state, essen-
tially a unit. It has reached this condition of unity by reason of its situa-
tion in the midst of powerful neighbours, who all, at one time or another,
have had to be resisted ; the United States, on the other hand, has no anxiety
of war. From these observations certain consequences undeniably follow.
We can still, however, envy the United States its Supreme Court, which
guarantees to every citizen his essential rights in the face of any possible
arbitrariness on the part of Congress or executive power. In the matter of
our essential rights the law of July 29th, 1881, is all that can be desired as
regards the press ; moreover, the law of June 30th, 1881, authorised all public
meetings on presentation of a simple declaration signed by two citizens.
Associations in the interests of public charities, commerce, or the sciences
had long been allowed to form with perfect freedom, and the law of March
21st, 1884, completely broke down all previous legislation in favour of asso-
ciations having the character of syndics. Also the law of the 2nd of July,
1901, would certainly have endowed France with the greatest possible liberty
of association,^ if it had not borne so arbitrarily upon congregations.
Save on this latter point it can be affirmed that French democracy, if by
that term is understood the nation in its entirety and not a few detached
revolutionary groups, has evolved in our more recent laws and constitution
the most perfect of all political formulas. It seems indeed that the end of
the mighty struggle begun in 1789 has been reached. A social system such
as ours could hardly attain to a greater degree of liberty and equality ; it
is rather in the matter of fraternity that there still remains something to
accomplish.
Having set forth the political evolution that has taken place in France
since 1815, 1 shall later show how society has become transformed during the
same period.
1 The law of the 2nd of July, 1901, abrogates not only articles 291 and following of the
Penal Code and the law of 1834, but it repeals the act of March 14th, 1872, proscribing the
Workers' International Union, Article 7 of the law of the 30th of June, 1881, forbidding dubs,
the law of the 28th of July, 1848, prohibiting secret societies, etc.
CHAPTER I
THE BOURBON RESTORATION
[1815-1824 A.D.]
France had now struggled, suffered, and bled for five-and-twenty
years, through a fearful revolution and ruinous wars ; and what were
the results 1 Her enemies were in possession of her capital : all her
conquests were surrendered ; and the Bourbons were restored to the
throne of their ancestors. But these were not tlie only consequences of
the late convulsions, to France or to Europe. France,, indeed, was
governed by, another Bourbon king; but the ancien regime was no
more : the oppressive privileges of feudalism had been abolished ; and
a constitutional charter was granted by Louis XVIII. But all these
benefits had been secured in the first two years of the Revolution,
before the monarchy had been destroyed, without a reign of terror,
and without desolating wars. She had gained nothing by her crimes,
her madness, her sacrifices, and her sufferings, since the constitution
of the 14th September, 1791. Upon Europe, the effects of the Revo-
lution were conspicuous. The old regime of France was subverted ;
and in most European states, where a similar system had been main-
tained, since the Middle Ages, its foundations were shaken. The prin-
ciples of the Revolution awakened the minds of men to political
thought ; and the power of absolute governments was controlled by
the force of public opinion. — Sib Thomas Ekskine Mat.*
LAMARTINE S VIEW OF THE RESTORATION
Nations are like men ; they have the same passions, vicissitudes, exagger-
ations, indecisions, and uncertainties. That which is called public opinion
in free governments is only the movable needle of the dial plate which marks
by turns the variations in this atmosphere of human affairs. This instability
is still more sudden and prodigious in France than in the other nations of
the world, if we except the ancient Athenian race. It has become a proverb
of Europe.
The French historian ought to acknowledge this vice of the nation, whose
vicissitudes he recounts, as he ought to point out its virtues. Even this
instability belongs to a quality of the gr«at French race — imagination ; it
forms part of its destiny. In its wars it is called impulse; in its arts,
genius; in its reverses, despondency; in its despondency, inconsistency; and
9
10 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1789-1815 A.D J
in its patriotism, enthusiasm. It is the modern nation which has the most
fire in its soul; and this fire is fanned by the wind of its mobility. We can-
not explain, except by this character of the French race, those frenzies —
which simultaneously seem to seize upon the whole nation after the lapse of
some months — for principles, for men, and for governments the most opposed
to each other.
We are on the eve of one of those astonishing inconstancies of public
opinion in France. Let us explain its causes : The gleam of those philo-
sophical principles, the whole of which constitute what is called the. Revolu-
tion, had nowhere, so much as in France, dazzled and warmed the souls of
the people, at the end of the eighteenth century. At the voice of her writers,
her orators, her tribunes, and her warriors, France took the initiative in the
work of reformation, without considering what it would cost in fatigues,
treasure, and blood, to renew her institutions, vitiated by the rust of ages,
in religion, legislation, civilisation, and government. The throne had crum-
bled amidst the tumult, pulled down like a counter-revolutionary flag raised
in the midst of the Revolution. The country, however, was beginning to
know itself, to purify itself, to constitute itself into a tolerant democracy
under the republican government of the Directory, when Bonaparte, personi-
fying at once in himself the usurpation of the army over the laws and the
counter-revolution, violently interrupted, on the 18th Brumaire (November
9th), the silent work of the new civilisation, which was elaborating and culling
out the elements of the new order of things. To divert the nation's thoughts
from its revolution he launched it and led it on to the conquest of Europe.
He exhausted it of its blood and population, to prevent it from thinking and
agitating under him. He had made it apostatise by his publicists, by his
silent system, and by his police, from all the principles of its regeneration of
1789. While he was hurling kings from their thrones, he declared himself
the avenger and restorer of priesthoods and royalties.
France had begun to breathe after his first fall in 1814. The charter
had resumed the work of Louis XVI, and promulgated the principles of the
constituent assembly. The Revolution had gone back to its first glorious
days. It had no longer to apprehend either the intoxication of illusions, or
the resistance of the church, of the court, of the nobility, or the crimes of
the demagogues.
The return of Bonaparte, thanks to the complicity of the army,^ had
again interrupted this era of renovation, of peace, and of hope. This
violence to the nation and to Europe had been punished by a second
invasion, which humbled, ruined, and decimated France ; and even threat-
ened to partition it into fragments. Bonaparte, in quitting his army after
his defeat at Waterloo, and in abdicating, had carried away with him the
responsibility of this disaster ; but he had left behind him the resentment of
the nation against the army, against his party, his accomplices, and against
his name. Everybody had a grievance, a resentment, a mourning, or a ruin
to avenge upon this name of one man. The paroxysm of anger compressed
by tlie presence of the army, by dread of the imperial police, and by the hope
of a repetition of that glory with which he had for a moment fascinated
France before Waterloo, burst forth from every heart, except those of his
soldiers, immediately after his fall. Public opinion threw itself, without
[1 Seignobos" speaks of "the Episode of the Hundred Days" which compassed Napoleon's
return from Elba and his fall at Waterloo, as "nothing but a military revolt, a pronunciamento
of the army of Napoleon." It must be remembered, however, that a very large part of the
army did not respond to this call or take part in the last disaster.]
THE BOUEBON EESTOEATION 11
[1815 A.D.]
reflection, without foresight, and without discretion, into the opposite party
in the elections. Public opinion in France, when irritated, listens neither
to middle courses, nor to intrigues, nor to prudence ; it goes direct from
one side to the other, like the ocean in its ebb and flow. This is the whole
explanation of the elections of 1815, which sent up to the crown a chamber
more counter-revolutionary than all Europe, and more royalist than the
king.<?
EXCESSES OP THE KOYALISTS AND THE INVADERS
Louis XVIII, being too indifferent and too fond of repose to be vindictive,
had re-entered the city with the disposition to be moderate ; that was also
the attitude of the ministry which he had given himself. It was for the
interest of Talleyrand and Fouche that there should be no reaction and
the other ministers. Baron Louis, Pasquier, Marshal Gouvion-Saint-Cyr who
had been chosen by the king because he had not rallied to Napoleon during
the Hundred Days, were by character and reason opposed to all excess.
But it soon became evident that the king would be powerless to keep the
royalists within bounds and that the ministers would be left behind and
disregarded. The new emigration was returning from Ghent eager for
vengeance, and its friends in the interior had awaited no signal to let loose
their rage against everything which in any way held to the Revolution or
the empire. The ultras made Paris resound with their outbursts of shameful
joy and insulted those in the street who would not join them, while the
capital was at the same time brutally trodden under foot by foreigners.
The royalist journals heaped abuse on the French army and spoke only of
punishment and proscription.
If the king and his ministers were unable to restrain the royalists, with
still greater reason they were not in a condition to protect the city and
country from the allied armies. The foreign occupation offered a sinister
contrast to what it had been in 1814. It was Bliicher, the fiercest enemy of
France, who with his Prussians occupied the interior of Paris, while the
English were encamped in the Bois de Boulogne. The very evening of his
re-entry Louis XVIII was warned that the Prussians were preparing to
blow up the bridge of Jena, the name of which recalled their great disaster
in 1806. In vain did the king have recourse to Wellington. The fierce
Bliicher listened to no one. Fortunately the first explosion of the mines
was not sufficient to overthrow the piles, and the arrival of the Russian and
Austrian emperors with the king of Prussia on July 10th prevented Bliicher
from recommencing. Emperor Alexander intervened ; the bridge was saved
and the one hundred million francs which Bliicher proposed to demand of
Paris, regardless of the capitulation, were reduced to eight.
The presence of foreign rulers, while it encumbered Paris with new
masses of troops, at least diminished somewhat the disorder caused by the
occupation within the capital ; but without, the invaded departments were
everywhere exposed to pillage. Never had the abuse of victory, with which
the French had been accused in Germanj^ approached what took place in
France. In the wars beyond the Rhine, Napoleon's severe character imposed
a certain order even on the requisitions ; here the military chiefs, great and
small, acted, each on his own account, like leaders of the old bands of invad-
ing barbarians ; they plundered their hosts, despoiled cities and villages, laid
hands on the public treasuries, and when the officials of the royal govern-
ment tried to hinder their pillaging, they arrested them and sent them as
prisoners across the Rhine. The Prussians put a feeling of implacable
13 THE HISTORY OF FEANCE
[1815 A.D.J
vengeance into their excesses. But the violence and depredations of the
Prussians were at least equalled by those who had nothing to avenge, by
those Germans of the south, the Swabians (the inhabitants of Baden and
Wiirtemberg) and Bavarians, who were now pillaging France in the name of
the coalition as they had shortly before, in the name of France, pillaged
Russia, Austria, and Prussia, much more violently than the French. Popular
Russian tales of 1812 show what a diiference Russian peasants made between.
French soldiers and the German allies of PVance. French peasants in de-
spair responded here and there, as those of Russia had done, by sanguinary
acts of retaliation and resorted to the woods to carry on a guerilla warfare.
The numbers of the invaders increased daily. All the reserves of every
country arrived on the scene. Germany especially passed over the Rhine as
a whole to come and live at the expense of France. At one time there were
as many as 1,240,000 soldiers on French territory.
Emperor Alexander and the duke of Wellington, the one out of humanity,
the other out of a spirit of discipline and fear of provoking a general uprising
of the French people, tried to put an end to this immense disorder and, acting
on their propositiom, the four great powers attempted to regulate the occu-
pation by a convention agreed upon on the 24th of July. The danger of pro-
voking France to desperation was very real. Besides the army of the Loire,
the French had still several corps under arms, under Marshal Suchet and
other generals. Free companies in the departments of the east were ener-
getically harassing the enemy, and. most of the strongholds were still intact
and maintained a threatening attitude. The defence of Hiiningen has
become celebrated: General Barbanegre sustained a long siege in this little
place with one hundred and thirty-five soldiers against twenty-five thousand
Austrians.
The French army at'jthat.timc had been disbanded for fifteen days. The
troops separated in a spirit of sad resignation, without attempting a resistance
which would only have aggravated the misfortunes of their country. Thus
came to an end the most illustrious army the modern world has ever seen.
The royal ordinance which had dissolved the army had fixed the basis upon
which a new army was to be organised.
THE "WHITE terror" OF 1815
In the meantime two-thirds of France was occupied by strangers and
the part which was exempt from invasion was afllicted by another scourge,
by a violent reaction. The triumphal return of the " usurper," the enforced
submission to the restored empire, which had undergone feeble attempts at
resistance, had aroused an ill^contained rage in the heart of the royalists of
the south ; it broke out at the news of Waterloo. At Marseilles, beginning
with the 25th of June, furious bands had pillaged several houses and massa-
cred the owners who were partisans of tlie emperor. Others had thrown
themselves on the poor quarter where lived a certain number of mamelukes,
brought back from Egypt by Napoleon. These unfortunates were butch-
ered together with their wives and children.
From Marseilles the murders and conflagrations spread to Avignon, Car-
pentras, Nimes, and Uzes. The 17th of July at Nimes a small garrison of
200 men, very much hated by the ultras because they had kept up the tricol-
oured flag until the 15th of July, capitulated before an urban and rural mob.
Scarcely had the soldiers surrendered their arms, when the " royal volun-
teers " shot them down at the end of the muzzle. Crowds of fanatics and
THE BOURBON EESTOEATION 13
[1816 A.D.]
marauders overran the city during several days, plundering the houses of
rich Protestants ; several were assassinated.
Murder, devastation, and conflagration overflowed into the country;
houses were burned, the olive trees and grape-vines of the " wrong think-
ers " were cut down. The royal authorities were powerless or else in league
with the movement. Hundre'ds of persons were arrested on all sides arbi-
trarily by the marauding bands. The military commander and the under
prefect at Uzes disgraced themselves by delivering up eight of their prison-
ers to the chief of the assassins at Uzes, called Graffan, who had them shot
without the form of a trial, after having massacred a certain number of the
inhabitants in their homes.
The reaction reunited all kinds of infamy; obscenity was joined to rapac-
ity and ferocity. On the 15th of August, the day of the fSte of the Virgin,
at Nimes the wives of the brigands who ruled in the department of the
Gard dragged in the streets the Protestant women they could get hold of,
subjecting them to the most dishonourable insults.
The " White Terror " of 1815 exceeded in ignominy the reaction in
Thermidor of the year III. It was not, as in the latter, crime against crime,
terror after terror. The Hundred Days had seen neither bloodshed nor
proscriptions, and the reactionary party of 1815 had nothing to avenge.
The worst days of the League were recalled by the alliance of the ultra-aris-
tocracy with the depraved, lazy, and sanguinary populace, which ferments
under the feet of the real people, and which statisticians speak of as " the
dangerous classes."
Judiciary persecution was soon added to the massacres. The victims
who had escaped the knife of the assassin were now to be confronted with
the judges of the reaction. The king and the ministers were innocent of the
riots and brigandage of the south, which they had not been able to prevent
and which they had not the strength to chastise. They seem on the other
hand to be responsible before history for the terrible succession of political
trials which they ordained. There again, however, they endured rather
than inspired to action ; not only the whole court, the whole royalist party, but
even the foreign powers demanded imperiously that those who were called
the " conspirators of March 20th " should be pursued to the utmost. An
erroneous appreciation of the facts connected with the " return from the
island of Elba " contributed much to incite the second restoration to those
deeds of implacable vengeance which gave it such a sanguinary character.
The foreigners, like the royalists, imagined that the 20th of March had been
the result of an immense conspiracy embracing the whole army and most of
the officials. That was the reason of the redoubling of envenomed hatred
which the leaders of the coalition felt for th« French army. What had been
pure impulse was taken to be the result of a plot, and it was not known that
the only conspiracy which took place before the 20th of March had a wholly
different aim than the re-establishment of the emperor. The foreigners had
now but one idea, and that was to do away with Napoleon and the French
army and to inspire the French military spirit with a terror, which as they
said would insure the repose of Europe.
While the prisons were filling up, while political trials were beginning
on all sides, the constitutional government was being reorganised under bad
auspices. The peerage was reconstituted by the nomination of ninety-four
new peers and declared hereditary. The electoral colleges had been con-
voked on August 14th. The ordinance of convocation established new
rules provisionally. The colleges of the arrondissement were to present
14 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1815A.D.1
candidates and the colleges of the department were to name the deputies,
half from among the candidates, half from their own free choosing. This
was putting the election in the hands of the aristocracy. The age of eligi-
bility was lowered to twenty-five years, that of the electorate to twenty-
one, and the number of deputies increased from 253 to 402. All that
concerned electoral conditions was to be submitted to revision by the legis-
lative power. The elections were carried out everywhere under the
influence of authorities dominated by the ultras and in the south at the point
of the dagger. Massacre had begun again at Nimes on the eve of the elec-
tions. It was found necessary to occupy four departments of the south with
Austrian troops, at the moment when the Protestants were organising to
resist the butchery and when civil war was on the point of succeeding
assassination.
The elections gave the majority to the ultras. The royal government
was placed between the fury of its partisans, whom it could not control,
and the menacing demands of the allies who humiliated and oppressed it.
Louis XVIII had hoped that after the overthrow of the " usurper " Europe
would maintain the treaty of May 30th, 1814, which was already so hard for
France. He was very much mistaken. The foreigners, making light of their
declarations and their promises, dreamed only of a new dismemberment and
of the ruin of France.^
The ministry was at that moment very near its fall. Fouche was the
first to be attacked. The ultras of the provinces had never accepted him,
and those of the court, having no more need of him, abandoned him. Wel-
lington's protection sustained him for some time ; but he soon felt the im-
possibility of maintaining himself before the chambers. He resigned and
accepted the insignificant post of minister of France at the court of the king
of Saxony .2
The whole ministry soon followed him. Furious counter-revolutionary
addresses came from a large number of electoral colleges and from general
and municipal councils which heralded the storm which would burst at the
opening of the chambers. The king gave way to the current which was set-
ting in against the ministry, without difficulty ; Talleyrand displeased him
as much as Fouche, and, knowing him to be at variance with the emperor
Alexander, he saw no reason for keeping him. Talleyrand, having offered
his resignation and that of his colleagues more or less sincerely, the king
took him at his word. This man, whose egoism had contributed to aggravate
the ills of France, was to have nothing more to do with its affairs as long
as the restoration lasted./
RICHELIEU THE NEW MINISTER
Along with Talleyrand there retired from the ministry Louis, Pasquin,
Jaucourt, and Gouvion-Saint-Cyr. The ministry required to be entirely
remodelled ; and the king, who had long foreseen the necessity of this
step, and who was not sorry for an opportunity of breaking with his revolu-
tionary mentors, immediately authorised Decazes, who had insinuated him-
self into his entire confidence, to offer the place of president of the council,
corresponding to the English premier, to the duke de Richelieu.
[1 We have already seen in the preceding chapter the results of the treaties of 1815.]
[^ Having accepted the trifling and distant embassy to Dresden, Fouohfe hastened to depart,
and left Paris under a disguise which he only changed when he reached the frontier, fearful of
being seen in his native land, which he was fated never again to behold. — Guizot.«]
THE BOUEBON EESTOEATIOK 15
[1815 A.D.]
Armand, duke de Richelieu, grand-nephew by his sister of the cardinal
of the same name, was grandson of the marshal de Richelieu, so celebrated
in the reign of Louis XV as the Alcibiades of France. When called to the
ministry, in 1815, he was forty-nine years of age. Consumed from his earli-
est years, like so many other great men, by an ardent thirst for glory, he had
joined the Russian army in 1785, and shared in the dangers of the assault
of Ismail under Suvaroff. When the French Revolution rent the nobles
and the people of France asunder, he had hastened from the Crimea to join
the army of the emigrant noblesse under the prince of Conde, and remained
with it till the corps was finally dissolved in 1794. He had then returned
to Russia. On the accession of Alexander, Richelieu was selected to carry
into execution the philanthropic views which he had formed for the improve-
ment of the southern provinces of his vast dominions.
The progress of the province intrusted to his care was unparalleled, its pros-
perity unbroken during his administration. To his sagacious foresight and
prophetic wisdom Russia owes the seaport of Odessa, the great export town
of its southern provinces, which opened to their boundless agricultural plains
the commerce of the world. The French invasion of 1812 recalled him from
his pacific labours to the defence of the countrj^, and he shared the intimacy
and counsels of Alexander during the eventful years which succeeded, till
the taking of Paris in 1814. Alternately at Paris, at Vienna, or at Ghent,
he had represented his sovereign, and served as a link between the court of
Russia and the newly established throne of Louis XVIII.
His character qualified him in a peculiar manner for this delicate task,
and now for the still more perilous duty to which he was called — that of
standing, like the Jewish lawgiver, between the people and the plague. He
was the model of the ancient French nobility, for he united in his person all
their virtues, and he was free from their weaknesses. He was considered,
alike in the army and in diplomatic circles at home and abroad, as the most
pure and estimable character that had arisen during the storms of the Revo-
lution. His fortunate distance from France during so long a period at once
preserved him from its dangers, and caused him to be exempt from its delu-
sions. His talents were not of the first order, but his moral qualities were
of the purest kind.fl'
Treaty of 1815
The first duty of the new minister was to negotiate the treaty with the
enemy which was signed on November 20th, 1815. The conditions of
the treaty, unfortunately agreed to beyond the necessity of the case, by the
pliancy of Talleyrand, and the impatience of the court for the throne at any
price, were, however, modified within limits which a statesman might, with-
out being satisfied, submit to. Richelieu, in despair at not being able to
obtain more advantageous conditions, still considered them too unfavourable,
and obstinately refused to sign them. The king, who saw the chambers,
then about to open, disposed to call him to account for his sterile inter-
vention for the pacification of the country, and who saw on the other
side Austria, Prussia, Holland, and the powers of the Rhine crushing
his people under the devastations of 800,000 men, sent for the duke de
Richelieu, one night, by Decazes, and, bedewing the hand of his prime min-
ister with tears, implored him for the sacrifice which is dearest to a man of
honour — that of his name. The duke de Richelieu went away, moved
and vanquished by this conference with his unhappy master, and signed the
treaty.
16 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1815 A.D.]
This treaty left France in possession of its frontiers of 1790, as we have
seen, with the exception of some unimportant portions of territory enclosed
within other states, and of Savoy, a conquest of the Revolution which had
been respected by the treaty of 1814. It imposed an indemnity to Europe
of 700,000,000 francs for the last war commenced by Napoleon, an armed
occupation for five years of 150,000 men, the generalissimo of which was
to be nominated by the allied powers, and the fortress to be delivered up to
this garrison of security. This occupation might terminate in three years, if
Europe considered France sufficiently pacified to offer it moral guarantees of
tranquillity. The prisoners of war were to be given up, and the liquidation
of the 700,000,000 indemnity was to be effected day by day. Besides this war
indemnity, France recognised the principle of the indemnities to be assigned
after its liquidation to each power for the ravages, the requisitions, or the
confiscations that each of these states had sustained, during the last wars,
by the occupation of the French armies. France was further burdened with
the pay and the subsistence of the 150,000 men of the army of occupation, left
by the allied powers upon its territory. The national penalty incurred by
France for Napoleon's return from Elba was, in money, about 1,500,000,000
francs ; in national strength, its fortresses ; in bloodshed in the field, 60,000
men ; and in honour, the disbanding of its army, and a foreign garrison to keep
a close watch over an empire in chains. This is what the last aspiration of
Bonaparte to the throne and to glory cost his country. Eleven hundred and
forty thousand foreign soldiers were at that moment trampling under foot
the soil of France.**
EXECUTION OP MARSHAL NEY AND OTHERS
Among the distinguished victims of royalist fury were Marshal Brune,
who was assassinated while on his way to Paris to swear allegiance, and
Colonel Labedoyere, whose defection at Grenoble had admitted Napoleon to
France from Elba, and who, refusing the opportunities proffered him for
escape, was tried and condemned by judges who wept while they condemned
him. His last words were, " Fire, my friends," to the soldiers who shot him.
The next victim of high distinction was Ney, who had also gone over to
Napoleon after joining Louis XVIII. Immediately after the capitulation of
Paris he had made his escape with a false name and false passport, but re-
turned and was arrested at the chateau of Bossonis, among the mountains of
Cantal. Curiously enough, he was discovered by means of a Turkish sabre
of peculiar form and exquisite workmanship, a present from Napcdeon, which
he had carelessly left on a table in the salon of the chateau. General Mon-
cey refused to preside at the military trial, and was imprisoned for three
months. Richelieu then accused Ney of treason before the chamber of
Peers, in spite of the capitulation of Paris which promised amnesty for all
who took part in the Hundred Days. Ney himself declared : " The article
was so entirely protective that I relied on it ; but for it, can anyone believe
that I would not have died, sword in hand! " The peers disclaimed the
capitulation concluded between foreign generals and a provisional govern-
ment to which the king was a stranger. As a last resort, Ney's counsel
pleaded that he was no longer a Frenchman, his birthplace having been
detached from France by a recent treaty, but Ney checked him exclaim-
ing : "I am a Frenchman and will die a Frenchman. I am accused in
breach of the faith of treaties, and I imitate Moreau. I appeal from Europe
to posterity."
THE BOUKBON KESTORATIOK 17
[1815 A.D.]
He was nevertheless condemned to die. When his death-warrant was
read with its long preamble and his many titles, as duke of Elchingen and
prince of the Moskova, he broke forth : " Come to the point ! say simply
Michel Ney soon a little dust." Importunate appeals were made to the
king, and even to the duke of Wellington, for a commutation of the capital
penalty, but in vain.«
He was not taken to the usual place for military executions (the plain of
Grenelle) because a popular rising was feared. They took him from the
Luxembourg, where he had been imprisoned, to the avenue de I'Observa-
toire. A platoon of veterans awaited him there, on the spot where his
statue stands to-day. The marshal cried, " I protest before my country
against the judgment which condemns me, I appeal to posterity and God.
Vive la France ! " Then, putting his hand on his breast, he called in as firm
a voice as though commanding a charge, "Soldiers, straight to the heart."
The commanding officer, awestruck, horrified, had not courage to give
the word. A courtier, a colonel on the staff, took his place. The marshal
fell riddled with balls (December 7th, 1815). Ney's appeal to posterity
has been heard. France has never pardoned the murder of this hero. /
The death of Ney was one of the greatest faults that the Bourbons ever
committed. His guilt was self-evident ; never did criminal more richly
deserve the penalties of treason. Like Marlborough, he had not only
betrayed his sovereign, but he had done so when in high command, and
when, like him, he had recently before been prodigal of protestations of
fidelity to the cause he undertook. His treachery had brought on his coun-
try unheard-of calamities — defeat in battle, conquest by Europe, the
dethronement and captivity of its sovereign, occupation of its capital and
provinces by 1,100,000 armed men, contributions to an unparalleled amount
from its suffering people. Double treachery had marked his career ; he had
first abandoned in adversity his fellow-soldier, benefactor, and emperor, to
take service with his enemy, and, having done so, he next betrayed his trust
to that enemy, and converted the power given him into the means of de-
stroying his sovereign. If ever a man deserved death, according to the laws
of all civilised countries — if ever there was one to whom continued life
would have been an opprobrium — it was Ney. But all that will not justify
the breach of a capitulation. He was in Paris at the time it was concluded
— he remained in it on its faith — he fell directly under its word as well as
its spirit. To say that it was a military convention, which could not tie up
the hands of the king of France, who was no party to it, is a sophism alike
contrary to the principles of law and the feelings of honour. If Louis
XVIII was not a party to it, he became such by entering Paris, and resum-
ing his throne, the very day after it was concluded, without firing a shot.
The throne of the Bourbon-s would have been better inaugurated by a deed
of generosity which would have spoken to the heart of man through every
succeeding age, than by the sacrifice of the greatest, though also the most
guilty, hero of the empires'
Two other generals, Mouton-Duvernet and Chartrand, who had aided
Napoleon's re-entry to Italy, were executed, and Lavalette, who in Alison's fl'
phrase " was in civil administration what Marshal Ney had been in military
— the great criminal of the Hundred Days," and whose seizure of the post-
office had been of greatest assistance to Napoleon, was also condemned, but
escaped from prison in his wife's clothes and made his way out of the country
with the aid of three Englishmen who underwent three months' imprisonment
for their chivalry. «
H. w. — VOL. xni. 0
18 THE HISTOKY OF TRANCE
[1815 A.D.]
DEATH OF MUBAT (1815 A.D.)
It is fitting to speak here of the catastrophe which terminated the days
of another of the most illustrious companions of Bonaparte's exploits. King
Joachim Murat had taken refuge in France, during the Hundred Days, and
after the failure of his expedition against Austria. He had not advanced
nearer than Provence, when the battle of Waterloo condemned him to a life
of exile. After having been twenty times on the point of being arrested, he
managed to embark for Corsica. The welcome he received in that island
raised his confidence to too high a degree. He dared to entertain the idea
of once more ascending the throne of Naples. He set out on this expedition
with two hundred and fifty men and six ships. On his way to Naples he
met with much disloyalty and received sinister warnings. His resolution
wavered ; he would have liked to disembark at Trieste and place himself
Tinder the protection of Austria, who had offered him hospitality, but' con-
trary winds and also perhaps treacherous advice prevented him from doing
this. On October 8th, 1815, he landed at Pizzo, in Calabria, with forty
followers. He was the first to leap ashore, was recognised by some peasants,
and at first was received with interest. He asked for a guide to conduct
him to Monteleone, and a soldier offered his services ; but the so-called guide
was none other than the colonel of the armed police, who intended to deliver
him up to the king. At a certain spot the colonel made a sign to a band of
peasants, who fell on Murat and his companions. Murat, after some resist-
ance, sacrificed himself in order to save his friends from the fury of the
crowd. Soon a military commission condemned this marvellously intrepid
captain to be shot, and he underwent the penalty in that same country where
he had so long exercised royal authority. a
LA CHAMBEE INTROUVABLE (1815-1816 A.D.)
The chambers, which had been convoked in August, met at Paris, Octo-
ber 16th, 1815. The chamber of deputies, which included an immense
majority of royalists, decided on making no compact, and having no trans-
actions with either Bonapartists or Revolutionists. Laine was elected
president. Louis XVIII, seeing it more royalist than he had imagined,
christened it by a name it retained — La Chnmhre Introuvable.^
It began by making exceptional or emergency laws. It forbade seditious
cries ; suspended, in certain cases, individual liberty. It instituted, on the
5th of December, courts of provosts, composed of a military provost assisted
by five civil judges, who went wherever troubles arose, to judge the authors
of them summarily. Liberal writers, in protesting against these severities,
are wrong in trying to make the chamber of 1815 responsible for the sad
conditions which it had not caused. It had, moreover, merits with which it
should be credited, combining a fierce independence with pitiless honesty.
It abolished divorce, which was struck out of the civil code. It opposed
excess of centralisation and all that was contrary to true liberty.
[1 The chambers opened on October 7th. Louis XVIII, on learning that the elections had
been entirely "royalist," had at first appeared very -well content thereat, and had let fall a
remark which became celebrated : " We have found a ckambre introuvable." He very soon had
cause to regret having " found " it, and the name has had a very different meaning in history
than the one he gave it. — Martin,/' The play on v7ords is hard to transfer to English. In
effect Louis XVIII said : " We have found (trouvi) the thing unflndable (introuvable)," that is,
a completely royalist chamber in Revolutionary France.]
THE BOUKBON KESTORATION 19
[1815 A.D.J
The chamber of 1815 did not limit itself to reclaiming for the clergy neces-
sary guarantees and influence. It showed an intemperance in religious zeal
that alarmed many. Not content with taking the part, to a legitimate extent,
of the men set aside by the Revolution, it appeared animated by a desire of
assuring domination to one class to the prejudice of all others. It did not
haggle, however, concerning the increased taxes that the cost of the war and
the treaty had rendered inevitable, and it created a sinking fund that would
some day render these taxes unnecessary. It recognised all public debts
without regard to their origin, in spite of opposition from an obstinate
faction. The session ended April 25th, 1816, the ministry feeling itself
incompetent to act with a chamber it could not control. In this chamber
was a group of not inconsiderable men, strangers at first to one another, but
tending to unite in forming a constitutional party. The principal were
Pasquier, Serre, Barante, Beugnot, Simeon, Saint-Aulaire, Royer-CoUard,
and Camille Jordan. Although reduced to lie low and adapt themselves to
circumstances, reckoning on the passions of those among whom they were
thrown, they sought nevertheless to establish the doctrines of parliamentary
government conforming to the charter — efforts which gained them the title
of doctrinaires. i
THE DIVISION OF PARTIES
From this moment were formulated the two opposing doctrines which
will reappear in the time of Louis Philippe under the name of " constitu-
tional monarchy " and " parliamentary government." The " constitutional "
doctrine recognises in the king the right to choose his ministers according
to his pleasure, even against the will of the chamber, provided that they do
not govern contrary to the constitution ; it leaves him master of the execu-
tive power, the only real force, and by consequence master of the country ;
the chambers have no other hold over him than the illusory right to bring the
ministers to trial for violation of the constitution. The "parliamentary"
doctrine declares the king obliged to take his ministers from the majority ;
it places the executive power under the domination of the parliament, who
may compel its withdrawal by a vote of want of confidence ; it indirectly
transfers the sovereignty to the chamber. In 1 816 the ultra-royalists were sup-
porting the doctrine of the rights of the parliament against the king, and the
liberals were defending the king's prerogatives against the royalists.
On the electoral question the ultras demanded election by two stages, in
the canton and the department, and for the electors of the canton the lower-
ing of the qualification to fifty francs ; that is to say the extension of the
suffrage to nearly two millions of electors; they demanded a numerous
chamber and the complete renewal of the chamber at the end of five years.
The king and the liberal minority wished to preserve direct election by a
very restricted electoral body (less than 100,000 electors), while exacting
a qualification of three hundred francs in taxes; they demanded partial
renewal and a reduction of the number of deputies. The electoral law
proposed by the ultras was voted by the chamber and rejected by the
chamber of peers (March- April, 1816). The ultras also wished to diminish,
the power of the prefects and to give the local administration to the land-
owners. The liberals defended the centralisation created by the empire.
Thus the roles seemed reversed; it was the party of the old regime-
which wished to weaken the king to the profit of the parliament, to enlarge
the electoral body and to increase local self-government ; it was the liberal
party which was supporting the king's supremacy, the power of the prefects.
20 THE HISTORY OF PRANCE
[1816 A.D.]
and the limitation of the suffrage. The fact was the parties regarded the
political mechanism solely as an instrument for securing power for them-
selves and were less anxious about the form of government than the direc-
tion given to politics : the ultras wished to restore the power to the rural
nobility, who, through the fifty-franc electors, would have been masters of the
chamber, in order to re-establish an
aristocratic regime; theliberals were
anxious to preserve the supremacy
to the king, the prefects, and the
three-hundred-franc electors, be-
cause they were known to be favour-
able to the maintenance of the social
order to which the Revolution had
given birth.
Louis XVIII, supported by the
foreign governments, retained his
ministers and resisted the chamber;
he began by closing the session
(April, 1816) and, without again
convoking it, dissolved it in Sep-
tember. For the future chamber the
ordinance of dissolution re-estab-
lished the number of 258 deputies
as in 1814. The king, by a simple
ordinance, changed the composition
of the chamber; it was a coup d'Stat,
analogous to that of 1830. To make
sure of the chamber of peers he
created new peers, ex-generals and
officials of the empire. During this
struggle between the king and the
chamber, the party of the tricolour
flag, reduced to nine deputies, had
taken no direct action. The plots
to overturn the monarchy (Didier's at Grenoble, the "patriots'" at Paris)
were merely isolated attempts unknown to the party or disavowed by it.c
Louis XVIII
(1755-1824)
THE COUP d'etat OV SEPTEMBER 5th, 1816
The king had finally made up his mind. The secret was well guarded.
A royal ordinance published September 5th, 1816, surprised the ultras like
a thunderbolt. It declared that none of the articles of the charter under
discussion should be revised and that the chamber was dissolved. To the
cries of fury that rose from the aristocratic faubourg Saint- Germain,
responded an explosion of public joy that recalled the 9th Thermidor;
people kissed each other in the streets. In the ensuing elections a majority
of the upper middle class and of the officials replaced the majority of grands
seigneurs of the old regime and the provincial nobles who had dominated
the chambre introuvable. The attempt at restoring the old regime had
miscarried ; what followed was a first attempt at a bourgeois monarchy
by an understanding between the bourgeoisie and the legitimatists./
It is worthy of observation how early the French nation, after they had
attained the blessing, had shown themselves unfitted, either from character
THE BOURBON RESTORATION 21
I1B15-1816 A.D.]
or circumstances, for the enjoyment of constitutional government. After
the overthrow of Napoleon, scarcely a year had passed which was not
marked by some coup d'Stat, or violent infringement, by the sovereign,,
of the constitution. The restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 was imme-
diately attended by the creation of sixty peers on the royalist side, and-
the expulsion of as many from the democratic ; this was followed, withirt
four years, by the creation of as many on the liberal. The whole history
of England prior to 1832 could only present one instance of a similar
creation, and that was of twelve peers only, in 1713, to carry through the
infamous project of impeaching the duke of Marlborough. It was threatened
to be repeated, indeed, during the heat of the reform contest ; but the wise
advice of the duke of Wellington prevented such an irretrievable wound
being inflicted on the constitution. The French chamber of deputies was
first entirely remodelled, and 133 new members added to its numbers, by
a simple royal ordinance in 1815 ; and again changed — the added members
being taken away, and the suffrage established on a uniform and highly
democratic basis — by another royal ordinance, issued, by the sole authority
of the king, the following year. Changes, on alternately the one side or
the other, greater than were accomplished in England by the whole legis-
lature in two centuries, were carried into execution in France in the very
outset of its constitutional career, by the sole authority of the king, in two
years.
What is still more remarkable, and at first sight seems almost unaccount-
able, every one of those violent stretches of regal power was done in the inter-
est, and to gratify the passions, of the majority at the moment. The royalist
creation of peers in 1815, the democratic addition of sixty to their numbers
in 1819, the addition of 133 members to the chamber of deputies in the first
of these years, their withdrawal, and the change of the electoral law by the
coup d'etat of September 5th, 1816, were all done to conciliate the feelings,
and in obedience to the fierce demand, of the majority. That these repeated
infringements of the constitution in so short a time, and in obedience to
whatever was the prevailing cry of the moment, would prove utterly fatalto
the stability of the new institutions, and subversive of the growth of any-
thing like real freedom in the land, was indeed certain, and has been abun-
dantly proved by the event.
But the remarkable thing is that, such as they were, and fraught with
these consequences, .they were all loudly demanded by the majority; and
the power of the crown was exerted only to pacify the demands which in
truth it had not the means of resisting.fi'
The royal ordinance of September 5th dissolving the chambre introuv-
ahle also announced that another chamber, less numerous, composed of only
250 deputies, would be immediately elected by the electoral corporations. A
provisionary electoral law, the work of Laine, who had replaced Vaublanc as
minister of the interior, fixed the bounds of the departments, of which the
numbers were diminished. Deputies were required to be at least forty years
of age, and their taxes must amount to 1,000 francs. The measure was a bold
one. It caused great excitement among the ultras, and was the stibject of
violent recriminations, above all from Chateaubriand,'" who had constituted
himself the mouthpiece of the Bourbons in his work " La Mbnarchie selon.
la Charte" but who mingled with very exalted ideas concerning constitu-
tional government equally absurd ones born of an ill-regulated imagination.
However, his exaggerations often missed their aim. The royalist party
remonstrated and submitted.
22 THE HI8T0KY OF FEANCE
[1816-1818 A.D.J
THE NEW CHAMBER (1816-1818)
The new chamber opened its session on the 4th of November, 1816.
Many members of the preceding one were there, but the general feeling was
3no longer the same. The doctrinaires, on whom Decazes relied, returned
/stronger and better grouped.
The first law to be made was an electoral one. Laine presented a
project which would abolish the two degrees of election ; establish direct
^election by all tax-payers paying three hundred francs taxes, and substitute
for a general election renewal by one-fifth. The charter declared, without
directly specifying anything, that all tax -payers paying three hundred francs
might be electors. The object of the law was to create an important electoral
body to the number of about 100,000 members possessing guarantee of
fortune, conservative interest and intelligence generally, of what was called
the middle class, in contradistinction to the aristocracy. By this partial
renewal they hoped, by keeping the chamber au courant with the changes
of public opinion, to avoid those brusque changes which might agitate the
country and transform legislative spirit too suddenly.
After a discussion, the details of which furnish curious reading to-day,
showing how very different ideas on this subject were in those days, the law
was passed in both chambers, but by a very feeble majority (January 30th,
1817).
The financial scheme of Corvetto was voted. Opponents were quieted
by the grant of 4,000,000 francs to the clergy as compensation for the forest
land which it was wished to give as pledge for a loan. The budget, com-
piled with great care and resting on a large sinking fund, assured the finan-
cial future of the country. Credit, until that time paralysed, again revived.
The dividends rose from fifty-four to sixty francs, and a loan, the most con-
siderable ever raised, was obtained to hasten the liberation of state lands.
"The foreign houses of Baring and Hope undertook it, at the rate of fifty-five
francs. No banks in France were at that time sufficiently powerful to do
this alone.
Order and calm seemed to be re-established. But the inclemency of the
weather and a very bad harvest caused profound misery. There were dis-
turbances in several market towns, but no serious trouble occurred except at
itiyons, where three assassinations took place on the same day, June 8th, and
'these, coinciding with risings in several neighbouring villages, were taken
as a signal for revolt. The authorities, however, who were quite ready, had
^foreseen the disorders and took vigorous measures. The national guard
was disarmed. The court of provosts pronounced many condemnations.
The elections of 1817 brought to the chamber a group of liberals, such as
Laffitte, Voyer d'Argenson, Dupont de I'Eure, and Casimir Perier. They
were dubbed " the independents." The important question of this session
was the re-organisation of the army. Marshal Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, having
Tcplaced the duke de Feltre as minister of war (because the latter was lack-
ing in initiative) made an excellent law which became the base of the French
Jinilitary system. This law consisted of three parts : (1) forced recruit-
'ment ; (2) a reserve made up of former sub-officers ; (3) fixed rules for
promotion. Gouvion-Saint-Cyr defended his law with vigour and obtained
a complete success. The chambers joined with him in the homage he ren-
■dered the French troops — homage which the marshals supported with their
authority and Chateaubriand with his eloquence. It was really a reconcilia-
tion of the Restoration and the army. It was also a decisive step towards
THE BOURBON RESTOEATION 23
[1818 A.D.]
removing foreign troops which were no longer necessary to defend France
against herself.
The chambers approved, moreover, the figure at which foreign credit had
been regulated by diplomacy. Richelieu had long had a fixed idea — that of
obtaining the evacuation before the five years which had been stipulated for
in the treaty of 1815. Thanks to his activity, the sovereigns, united in con-
ference at Aachen, (Aix-la-Chapelle), signed, on the 9th of October, a dec-
laration announcing the departure of their troops for the 30th of November.
A loan of 141,000,000 francs, issued at sixty-seven per cent, and raised by
public subscription, allowed the indemnities to be paid.
Richelieu now considered his task ended, and thought only of retiring.
When the elections of November, 1818, returned La Fayette, Manuel, and
other liberals of the Hundred Days, he was alarmed at the results of the elec-
toral law, and resolved to change it. But after vain efforts to find colleagues
and draw up a common programme, he retired on the 2nd of December. He
was succeeded by Decazes who composed a ministry of constitutionalists. A
remarkable journalistic war ensued.*
THE MINISTRY OP DECAZES
Decazes, so hostile to the ultras, was not a liberal. He was the man of
that system of balance (bascule') or the " see-saw," as it has been called, which
consists in keeping the balance between parties and in giving the government
the greatest possible authority but using it with caution./
Decazes saw himself more involved with the liberals than he wished to be,
and these became exacting. The royalists, even such moderates as Laine and
Roy, gave him little sympathy. They were alarmed at seeing successive elec-
tions introduce into parliament men who, while professing attachment to the
Bourbons, put certain absolute principles above fidelity to their king.
The chamber of peers pronounced in favour of the re-establishment of the
electoral law of two degrees. Decazes, still using his ministerial prerogative,
on the 6th of March formed a batch of sixty-one new peers, of whom half were
chosen from among the peers unseated in 1815, or from the marshals, gener-
als, and ministers of the empire. Thus he re-opened the doors of government
to the most noted men who had been excluded, and so tried to bring about a
reconciliation between the parties. The ministry passed several laws that
were liberal enough, among others three laws regarding the press, which are
still the basis of actual French laws, although experience has since shed light
on many points. The Restoration arrived at the happy resalt of doing away
with exceptional laws — a result which no government had before obtained.
While giving proof of liberalism the ministry, nevertheless, on certain points
made a firm stand against revolutionary exactions, stoutly rejecting an organ-
ised petition for the recall of regicides and exiles.
Thus in spite of apparent agitations — the necessary consequence of a free
government — in spite of frequent struggles between the tribune and the press,
in spite of a certain re-awakening of parties and a spirit of fermentation
reigning in the schools, France had a renascence to prosperity. One could
look forward with more confidence to the future. The budget was sound.
With the abandonment of exceptional laws revolutionary traces began to
disappear. The new laws seemed to echo public wishes ; minds gradually
became habituated to a free government. The certitude of order, the free-
ing of lands, the re-opening of foreign markets, all tended to prosperity.
Work abounded. Agriculture and industry took a new flight, putting to
24 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1819-1820 A.D.]
full use scientific discoveries and particularly that of steam. The move-
ment which was taking place was analogous to that of the first days of the
consulate. Decazes reinstated on a wider basis councils to discuss agri-
culture, manufactures, and commerce generally. He opened an industrial
exhibition, and at the same time an exhibition of painting. Strangers
flocked to Paris, especially the English.
The elections of 1819 were, like the preceding ones, favourable to the
liberals. The return of the regicide abbd Gregoire for Grenoble by a ma-
noeuvre hostile to the ministry caused a scandal. The deputies, however,
took advantage of the irregularity of the election to refuse admission to the
candidate.
ASSASSINATION OP THE DUKE DB BEREI AND ITS KEStTLTS (1820 A.D.)
Matters stood thus, when, on the 13th of February, 1820, the duke de
Berri [the second in succession to the crown] was assassinated by a fanatic
named Louvel as he was coming from the opera. This frightful crime stupe-
fied people generally, and produced an outburst of royalist fury.*
In the midst of the general confusion, those even who must have been
the most deeply affected by it, sought to find the triumph of their party in
this outrage. From early the following morning, Decazes, the principal
author of the unpopular decree of September 5th, was spoken of in most
severe terms. He was blamed, as minister of the interior, and therefore
responsible for the safety of the state, for not having kept watch over the
dangers which surrounded the prince. One of the daily newspapers, Le
Drapeau llano, hurled the most abominable accusations against the minister.
The assassination of the prince was, represented as the result of a vast con-
spiracy covering the whole of Europe, which was in favour of a policy bene-
ficial to the enemies of royalty. They pretended that his royal highness,
the duke de Berri, had fallen a victim to the aversion he had always shown
to a policy which insured neither the honour nor the safety of his family.
On the benches of the Left, the sorrow was great ; a presentiment of the
fatal consequence to liberty was added to the horror of the crime.
M. Clausel de Coussergues ascended the tribune and in a loud voice
uttered these words : " Gentlemen, there is no law referring to the mode of
accusing ministers, but the nature of such an act warrants its taking place
in a public meeting and before the representatives of France ; I propose
therefore before the chamber, the impeachment of M. Decazes, minister of
the interior, as accomplice in the assassination of his royal highness, the
duke de Berri, and I claim permission to explain my proposition." A cry
of indignation broke out from every part of the house. De Labourdonnaie
ascended the tribune and in his turn said that he could only see the instru-
ment of an infamous party in the obscure assassin, who without personal
hatred, without ambition, had struck down the descendant of kings — him
whose duty it was to continue the race ; this deed being committed with
the intention, openly admitted, of preventing its perpetuation. He asked
for strong measures to destroy in its infancy such execrable fanaticism, and
once more to stifle the revolutionary spirit which an iron hand had sup-
pressed for so long ; the unscrupulous writers whose unpunished doctrines
had provoked the most odious crimes should be especially severely dealt
with.
In the meanwhile the chiefs of the liberal party came to hear of the
sombre agitation which reigned at court. They felt torn between the hor-
THE BOURBON RESTORATION 25
[1820-1821 A.D.]
ror of the exceptional laws and the fear of seeing the fall of a minister,
victim of his devotion to the charter. The duke de Richelieu obstinately
refused the court's appeal to re-enter the ministry. He was more hurt than
anyone at the charges made against a young minister of whose goodness of
heart he was thoroughly convinced.
This heart-breaking state of affairs seemed likely to prolong itself.
Decazes insisted upon retiring ; the king conferred a dukedom upon him,
and made him ambassador to London. The duke de Richelieu's resistance
was overcome ; and he was again nominated president of the council, but
would not accept any particular department. 'i
From this moment the liberal party loses the direction of affairs. Power
is going to pass into the hands of royalists, and France, attacked almost con-
tinuously by a series of anti-national measures, destroying its liberty, will
not emerge from the retrograde path into which a rash hand has thrust her
except in overturning the throne upon the torn charter.
EVENTS IN ETJKOPB
The largest part of Europe was at that time in a state of violent effer-
vescence and the celebrated prediction, " The French Revolution will make
the round of the world," was being fulfilled, i
A revolution at the same time burst out in Spain. Ferdinand, the basest
of poltroons and crudest of tyrants, had refused the reforms he had sworn to
introduce. The constitution of 1812 (an imitation of the French constitu-
tion of 1791) was proclaimed. The example was followed by Naples, which
had a similar king to complain of. The states of the church threw off the
hated yoke of the cross-keys and the three-crowned hat, and Benevento and
Pontecorvo declared themselves republics. Piedmont was not left behind
in its fight for freedom (1820). A cry was heard even at the extreme east
of Europe foi: a new life and a resuscitation of ancient glories. It came
from Greece, which for centuries had been trampled down by the brutal and
utterly irreclaimable Turks ; and, in fact, an outcry for change and improve-
ment arose from all the nations which had aided or even wished the fall of
Napoleon. The countrymen of Miltiades were favourably regarded, or at
least not forcibly repressed, by the classical potentates — who, besides, were
not displeased at the commencement of the dismemberment of Turkey; but
the Neapolitans, Romans, and Piedmontese had no dead and innocuous
Demosthenes to plead their cause, and the armies of Austria were employed
in extinguishing the hopes of freedom from Turin to Naples.*
In France individual liberty was suspended, the censorship re-established,
and the " double vote " instituted in order to make political influence pass
into the hands of the large land-owners who voted twice, with the depart-
ment and the arrondissement. The birth of the duke de Bordeaux, posthu-
mous son of the duke de Berri (Sept. 29th, 1820), and the death of Napoleon
(May 5th, 1821), augmented the hopes of the ultra-royalists, which brought
Villele and Corbiere into the ministry.^
THE CONGKEGATION AND THE JESTTITS
At the same time an occult power was taking hold of the court, of the
chambers, and of all branches of public administration.
For ten years men of sincere piety like Montmorency and the abbe
Legris-Duval had formed an influential society in France, whose primary
26 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1815-1822 A.D.]
object had been to perform good works and acts prescribed by a fervent
devotion. The Restoration opened the political field for their society, which,
imbued with the ultramontane and other royalist principles under the pat-
ronage of Polignac and Riviere, became the most redoubtable obstacle to the
ministries of Decazes and Richelieu. Generally designated by the name of
"Congregation," it allied itself with the Jesuits. The latter, not being
allowed to live in France in the capacity of members of their order, again
established their power in the state under the name of "Fathers of the
Faith."
From the moment when they began to direct the Congregation, intrigue
exercised a sovereign influence over it and a crowd of ambitious men made
their way into it. Montrouge, whither the Jesuits had transferred the place
of residence for their novices, became the centre for all the schemes of the
court and church against the charter and French institutions. The Jesuits
had powerful supporters even in the royal family; and Louis XVIII, con-
stantly assailed by petitions in their favour, consented to tolerate them,
although without recognising their existence as legal. The Jesuits founded
schools called petitg seminaires, in which children of the most distinguished
families of the realm were placed ; they dominated the court, the church, the
majority in the chamber. Missionaries, afl&liated with the Congregation and
imbued with its doctrines, traversed the kingdom. Almost everywhere they
were the occasion or the involuntary cause of strange disorders.
The French unfortunately blamed religion for the scandals of those who
outraged while they invoked her ; they were seized with indignation against
her on account of the shameful yoke which had roused their anger, and it
was necessary to have recourse to force to protect the missionaries against
the infuriated populace. At Paris, at Brest, at Rouen, in all the great
towns, they preached under the protection of swords and bayonets, and men
beheld the spectacle of priests calling down the chastisements of human
justice on those whom they had been unable to convince by the authority of
their words..?
THE CAEBONABI
Parallel to the Congregation grew another secret society absolutely dif-
ferent. This was that of the Carbonari,^ or " Charbonnerie," which, stamped
out in Italy, took root in France and established there its methods of organ-
isation and conspiracy. La Fayette and his friends joined it, and Carbo-
narism spread rapidly, its members uniting with another secret association in
the west under the title of " Knights of Liberty." La Fayette thought that
if an insurrection succeeded, a constituent assembly would choose between a
republic and a constitutional monarchy. It was scarcely practicable to think
of a revolution while the country was so unsettled.
The Carbonari made preparations for a double military and popular
rising in Alsace and the west. The second of these plots, which was to
break out at Saumur, was discovered by accident and many pupils in the
military college of this town were arrested. The Carbonari hoped for better
success in Alsace. La Fayette went secretly to direct the movement person-
ally. The Belfort garrison was to rise on the night of the 1st of January,
[iThe word carbonari means in Italian "charcoal-makers," and the name rose from the
prevalence of charcoal-making in the mountainous regions of Italy where the malcontents
gathered and organised into secret societies, using terms from the charcoal trade as well as
from Christian ritual for their passwords. As Lamartine<* said: " Carbonarism, the origin of
which is lost in the night of the Middle Ages, like freemasonry, of which it was by turns the
ally and the enemy, was a sort of Italian Jacobinism."]
THE BOURBON RESTOKATION 27
[1822 A.D.]
1822. There, again, a misunderstanding divulged the plot to the military
authorities some hours earlier. The officers and non-commissioned officers
who were compromised escaped, and La Fayette, who was not far off, was
warned in time.
The oppressive laws voted by the Right were the cause of fresh plots
among the Carbonari. The movement which had failed at Saumur was tried
again. A retired general, Berton, raised the tricolour flag at Thenars and
marched to Saumur at the head of a little body of insurgents. The inhabitants
of the places through which he passed showed indecision. He reckoned on
the national guard at Saumur and on the pupils of the military school, but
these, when they saw so small a force, did not stir. Berton's companions
dispersed ; he himself hid in the country, hoping for better success another
time (February 24th). For the third time the Saumur plot was set going,
but this time its execution did not even arrive at a beginning. General Ber-
ton, betrayed by a non-commissioned officer who had really only joined the
Carbonari to betray them, was arrested in the country with two of his friends
(June 17th).
A retired officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Caron, tried to revive the movement
in Alsace. There the authorities carried out their former action on a larger
scale. They introduced Canuel's method at Lyons. Caron was allowed
perfect freedom of action. On the 2nd of July a squadron of mounted
lancers came from Colmar and put themselves under Caron's orders; a
second squadron soon rejoined the first. They made for Miilhausen, crying
" Vive Napoleon II! A has les Bourbons!" Suddenly, towards dusk, when
at some distance from Miilhausen, officers in disguise who led the pretended
insurrection, gave the signal : Caron was seized, and, the next day, taken
back to Colmar gagged, to cries of " Vive le roi ! "
Berton and his accomplices were brought before the court at Poitiers.
The procureur-general, Mangin, in the writ of accusation, denounced La
Fayette and the principal leaders of the Left, including many who were
quite strangers to Carbonarism, as General Foy, Benjamin Constant, and
Laffitte the banker. These latter were indignant and demanded an investi-
gation. La Fayette himself showed no indignation but only proud con-
tempt, though he supported the demand for an investigation. This was not
granted.
The procureur-general answered the demand of the deputies with insult,
and in the trial of the case at Poitiers shamefully outraged the accused.
The prosecution employed the language of 18l5. The Poitiers jury, com-
posed wholly of ultras and emigres, condemned Berton and the greater
number of those accused with him. Berton and two others were executed.
A fourth committed suicide (October 5th).
Lieutenant-Colonel Caron had been executed a few days before at Col-
mar. The details of his case had raised a storm of reprobation; the army
was dishonoured ; whole squadrons had been made to play the part of gov-
ernment spies in the midst of the people of Alsace.
Another affair which had excited exceptional interest had ended the
month before. This was the sase of the "four, sergeants of Rochelle" —
Bories, Goubin, Pommier, and Raoul. These four young men, enrolled
amongst the Carbonari, had been arrested for a plot in which they had
joined with certain men not in the army, and brought before the tribunal
in Paris. Their age, their bearing, and generous sentiments had touched
public opinion. There had been no beginning of carrying the plot into effect
on their part, but they were, all the same, condemned to death. " France
28 THE HISTOKY OF FEANCE
[1821-1822 A.D.]
will judge us ! " said Bories, the one of them most remarkable by his intelli-
gence and character.
La Fayette and his friends did their utmost, but in vain, to insure the
escape of these four condemned men. They were executed the 21st of Sep-
tember. A great display of military force rendered useless every attempt
on the part of the Carbonari to save them. They died crying, " Vive la
libertS! " That same evening a grand birthday fete was given at the Tuile-
ries for the duke de Berri's daughter. The contrast produced a sinister
effect. The memory of the four Rochelle sergeants has remained popular
from among all those of the political victims of this time. Every year, on
le Jour des morts [All Souls' Day], the Parisians cover with flowers and
wreaths the tomb erected to them in the cemetery of Mont-Parnasse after
the revolution of 1830.
Many other malcontents had been put to death and numbers of others
had suffered severe penalties. This was the end of the bloody executions of
the Restoration. Carbonarism was discouraged and in fact dissolved. The
struggle against the Restoration took other forms./
THE MINISTRY OF VILLBLE AND THE SPANISH CRXJSADE (1821-1823 A.D.)
At the opening of the session of 1821 the Congregation redoubled its
efforts against Richelieu's ministry. The liberals felt obliged to unite with
the ultra-royalists to overturn the cabinet, in the dangerous hope that the
majority, if it came to the head of affairs, would perish as in 1815 through
its own excesses. The address in the chamber, composed by that majority,
was hostile and insulting to the monarch. Richelieu having demanded new
restrictions of the press, the royalists, whose most immediate interest was to
vanquish him, pretended a great horror of the censorship, an ardent zeal
for the liberty he was attacking. The position of the ministry was no
longer tenable, and it retired on December 15th, 1821, after twenty-three
months of existence.
Madame du Cayla, a woman whose patronage favoured the associate of the
Congregation, and who kept Louis XVIII under the charms of her fascination
up to the end of his days, was not a stranger to the foundation of the new
cabinet, the most influential members of which were Peyronnet, keeper of
the seals; Villele, minister of finance; Corbiere, minister of the interior. The
viscount Mathieu de Montmorency had received the portfolio of foreign
affairs, and the duke de Bellune [formerly the Napoleonic marshal Victor],
that of war. Villele already exercised a great influence in the council and
soon became its chief. His fortune had been rapid; endowed with a
great talent for intrigue and with a remarkable capacity for affairs, he had
neither the lofty views of a statesman nor force of character sufBcient to
escape the influence of a faction whose fatal blindness he deplored. In a
word, he thought he could fight against the sympathies and the political and
moral demands of a great people, by means of ruse and corruption. The Con-
gregation understood that it could dominate in spite of him, while the nomi-
nation of the pious viscount de Montmorency assured its triumph. Its
allies immediately took possession of the offices and seized the prominent
posts of every ministry.
From that moment the chamber of deputies and the government marched
hand in hand towards a counter- revolution. The Jesuits first attacked their
most serious enemy, the university, by causing the courses given by Cousin
and Guizot to be suppressed (1822). To intimidate the press a law was
THE BOURBON EESTOEATION 29
[182a-1823 A.D.]
made which made it possible to bring suit not for one particular offence, but
for the general tendency of opinion of a journal. Royer-CoUard, who was
not a revolter, described the situation in a word : " The government is in a
sense the inverse of society. "i
The victors of 1814 and 1815, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, had formed
the " Holy Alliance " for the purpose of smothering, to their common advaa-
tage, the ideas of liberty which the Revolution had thrown into the world,
and which were fermenting everywhere. They were violently suppressed in
Germany, Naples, and Piedmont, and the French government, which had just
prevented their return by laws and punishments, received from the congress
of Verona (1822) a strange task. ^
To try the firmness of Louis XVIII in support of the monarchic cause,
the sovereigns assembled at Verona committed to France the task of putting
down the Spanish liberals who still maintained their constitution of 1812,
and reinstating Ferdinand on his absolute throne.^
A hundred thousand men crossed the Pyrenees (1823) under the command
of the duke d'Angouleme,^ and were joined by the remains of a Catholic army
called the " army of the faith," which the priests and other absolutists had
raised in defence of the irresponsible crown.
These allies brought more dishonour and dislike on the invading forces,
by their cruelty and insubordination, than were compensated for by their
numbers or moral weight in the country. The cortes carried Ferdinand in
honourable durance with them to Seville.
Angouleme entered Madrid, and, after heroic resistance on the part of
Mina, Quiroga, and Ballasteros, succeeded in the object of his mission [as
has been already described at length in the history of Spain] . The consti-
tutional regency was dissolved, and a loose given to the feuds and pas-
sions of the triumphant army of the faith. But Angouleme was a French
gentleman, and not a Spanish butcher. He bridled the lawlessness of both
mob and army, and placed the late rebels, and all who were suspected of dis-
affection, under the protection of French tribunals and impartial law.
Impartiality in the eyes of the Spanish enthusiasts was worse than hostility ;
and a royalist insurrection was with difficulty prevented against the protec-
tors of royalty, since they would not condescend to be also the oppressors of
the people.
At length the struggle came to an end. The king was liberated, free-
dom withdrawn, and a frantic mob received their monarch when he returned
to his capital with cries of " Long live the absolute king ! Death to the
liberals ! Perish the nation ! " By an unfortunate coincidence, though per-
haps designed by his admirers, the duke d'Angouleme made his entry into
Paris on the anniversary of the battle of Austerlitz (December 2nd, 1823).
The arch of triumph, which forms so splendid a termination to the view
from the Tuileries, had been left uncompleted on the downfall of Napoleon ;
but wooden scaffoldings were raised on the unfinished walls, painted carpets
were suspended from the top, and the arch itself garlanded with laurels.
The ridicule, however, was not of the duke's seeking, and even Beranger
spared him for the sake of his moderation and love of justice.
[ 1 Such a policy was repugnant to the liberal party in France, and throughout Europe .; but
military glory has ever rallied the French people round their rulers whether royal or republican.
For a time the monarchy was strengthened by this success ; but the pretensions of the royalists
were dangerously encouraged. France had accepted the repressive policy of the Holy Alliance ;
and her rulers were to become yet more defiant of the principles of the Eevolution. — Ebskise
Mat. 6]
[^ The duke d'AngoulSme was the son of the heir to the throne, the count d'Artois.]
30 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1821-1824 A.D.]
The monarchy appeared strengthened for a while by the Spanish crusade,^
and the minister, Villele, thought he might venture on the introduction of
various measures. *;
THE MINISTEY OF VILLELE
Villele carried out the traditional administration of his predecessors.
As to politics, he wanted to steer clear of emergency laws and expedients.
He proposed a press law — no longer preventive, but repressive, and more
severe than that of 1819 — transferring from the jury to the magistracy the
judgment of the greater number of law-suits and multiplying penalties of
suspension and suppression of the newspapers.
Count Mole, who had acquired in his high offices a profound knowledge
of the administration, of government and men generally, said to the peers :
" Those institutions which would have prevented the Revolution of 1789 are
now the only methods of ending it." Without a press and publicity all sorts
of abuses would be possible. Other peers supported these ideas. The
chamber, in voting for the project, introduced important amendments.
Although the government could thenceforth count on success, Villele con-
tinued to exercise power without too much demonstration. He had a great
end in view, a vast financial operation, destined to end the debate on the
national lands. He flattered himself that he would thus forever destroy one
of the most irritating causes of the struggles and recriminations of opposite
parties, and proudly believed himself destined to put an end to r&volution.
But he was not yet sure of support from the chamber of deputies, mutilated
by the resignation of the Left, and influential members of the Right kept a
most independent attitude. He obtained a decree of dissolution from the
king on December 24th, and made every possible effort to get deputies
favourable to himself elected in the following January.
Assured henceforth of a loyal majority, Villele resolved to keep it, and
govern for several years without fresh elections. With this object he formu-
lated a law which made the government septennial — the only way, he urged,
to give it a spirit of continuity and cut short the uncertainty of majorities
which annual elections constantly raised. He met with much opposition,
some urging very reasonably the inconvenience of general elections which
disturbed the whole country and threatened it with changes otherwise per-
fect. Royer-CoUard, however, went a little too far when he declared that
representative government ought to be an organised mobility. Opinions
were very diverse, but as the deputies were as interested as the minister in
passing the bill it was passed.
Villele then advanced a project for the conversion of five per cent, stock to
three per cent., offering fund-holders a diminution of income with an aug-
mentation of capital. Government bonds were at par, a proof of public
prosperity and definitively established confidence ; this was a necessary con-
dition of the measure. His idea was to obtain a thousand million francs,
which he intended to employ in indemnities to emigres whose estates had
been confiscated during the Revolution. The financial side of the project
was skilfully planned ; but competent financiers opposed it, and orators on
the Left, judging from another point of view, reproached him with destroy-
[ 1 There had been some resistance to the vote of a hundred million francs for the war, and
one deputy named Manuel had been dragged out of the chamber by the gendarmes for opposing
intervention in the Spanish quarrel, in a speech which was taken to be of regicide spirit. The
entire Left, including La Fayette, Foy, Casimir-P^rier, and fifty-nine others, departed from the
chamber and did not return.]
THE BOUEBON EESTORATIOE 31
[1824 A.D.]
ing under pretext of consolidating the work of the Revolution, and of making
a retrograde act. Villele adjourned his project, but did not renounce it.
The ministry lacked necessary homogeneity. The decided character of
Corbiere was cause of dispute. Chateaubriand, who affected independence,
and rendered himself insupportable to everyone and particularly to the court
by his desire to outshine and his immense self-esteem, was dismissed June
6th. To please the clergy, Villele created a Ministry of Public Worship
and Instruction, and gave the post to a prelate.
After the close of the session on August 4th, he re-established the censor-
ship. He was obliged to buy over papers to defend his policy, and he over-
whelmed those who attacked him with law-suits. Neither the ordinary law
court nor the superior courts had condemned as frequently or as severely as
he desired, i
ALISON ON THE LAST DAYS OF LOUIS XVIII
During this year Louis XVIII lived, but did not reign. His mission
was accomplished ; his work was done. The reception of the duke
d'Angouleme and his triumphant host at the Tuileries was the last real act of
his eventful career ; thenceforward the royal functions, nominally his own,
were in reality performed by others. It must be confessed he could not have
terminated his reign with a brighter ray of glory. The magnitude of the
services he rendered to France can only be appreciated by recollecting in
what state he found, and in what he left it. He found it divided, he left
it united ; he found it overrun by conquerors, he left it returning from con-
quest ; he found it in slavery, he left it in freedom ; he found it bankrupt,
he left it in affluence ; he found it drained of its heart's blood, he left it
teeming with life ; he found it overspread with mourning, he left it radiant
with happiness. An old man had- vanquished the Revolution ; he had done
that which Robespierre and Napoleon had left undone.
He had ruled France, and showed that it could be ruled without either
foreign conquest or domestic blood. Foreign bayonets had placed him on
the throne, but his own wisdom maintained him on it. Other sovereigns of
France may have left more durable records of their reign, for they have written
them in blood, and engraven them in characters of fire upon the minds of
men ; but none have left so really glorious a monument of their rule, for
it was written in the hearts, and might be read in the eyes, of his subjects.
This arduous and memorable reign, however, so beset with difficulties, so
crossed by obstacles, so opposed by faction, was now drawing to a close.
His constitution, long oppressed by a complication of disorders, the result in
part of the constitutional disorders of his familj', was now worn out. Unable
to carry on the affairs of state, sinking under the load of government, he
silently relinquished the direction to De Villele and the count d'Artois, who
really conducted the administration of affairs. Madame du Cayla was the
organ by whose influence they directed the royal mind. [Louis said to one
of his ministers, " My brother is impatient to squander my realm. I hope
he will remember that if he does not change, the soil will tremble beneath
him." On his death-bed he warned his brother against the royalists, painted
for him in words feeble and broken the difficulties of his reign, the means of
escaping the reefs that a too great exaltation of royalist opinion could pro-
duce, and added, " Do as I have done and you will arrive at the same peace-
ful and tranquil end." — Capefigub.]
Though abundantly sensible of the necessity of the support of religion to
the maintenance of his throne, and at once careful and respectful in its out-
32 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1824 A.D.]
-ward observances, Louis was far from being a bigot, and in no way the slave
of the Jesuits, who in his declining days had got possession of his palace.
In secret, his opinions on religious subjects, though far from sceptical, were
still farther from devout : he had never surmounted the influence of the
philosophers who, when he began life, ruled general opinion in Paris. He
listened to the suggestions of the priests, when they were presented to him
from the charming lips of Madame du Cayla ; but he never permitted
themselves any nearer approach to his person.
At length the last hour approached. The extremities of the king became
cold, and symptoms of mortification began to appear ; but his mind con-
tinued as distinct, his courage as great as ever. He was careful to conceal
his most dangerous symptoms from his attendants. " A king of France,"
said he, " may die, but he is never ill ; " and around his death-bed he re-
ceived the foreign diplomatists and officers of the national guard, with whom
he cheerfully conversed upon the affairs of the day. " Love each other,"
said the dying monarch to his family, "and console yourselves by that
affection for the disasters of our house. Providence has replaced us upon
the throne ; and I have succeeded in maintaining you on it by concessions
which, without weakening the real strength of the crown, have secured for
it the support of the people. The Charter is your best inheritance ; pre-
serve it entire, my brothers, for me, for our subjects, for yourselves ; " then
stretching out his hand to the duke de Bordeaux, who was brought to his
bedside, he added, " and also for this dear child, to whom you should trans-
mit the throne after my children are gone. May you be more wise than
your parents."
Louis XVIII, who thus paid the debt of nature, after having sat for ten
years on the throne of France, during the most difficult and stormy period in
its whole annals, was undoubtedly a very remarkable man. Alone of all
the sovereigns who have ruled its destinies since the Revolution, he suc-
ceeded in conducting the government without either serious foreign war or
domestic overthrow. In this respect he was more fortunate, or rather more
wise, than either Napoleon, Charles X, or Louis Philippe ; for the first kept
his seat on the throne only by keeping the nation constantly in a state of
hostility, and the last two lost their crowns mainly by having attempted to
do without it. He was no common man who at such a time, and with such
people, could succeed in effecting such a prodigy. Louis Philippe aimed at
being the Napoleon of peace ; but Louis XVIII really was so, and succeeded
so far that he died the king of France. The secret of his success was, that
he entirely accommodated himself to the temper of the times. He was the
man of the age — neither before it, like great, nor behind it, like little men.
Thus he succeeded in steering the vessel of the state successfully through
shoals which would have in all probability stranded a man of a greater or
less capacity. The career of Napoleon illustrated the danger of the first,
that of Charles X the peril of the last. 9
LAMAETINE'S estimate op LOUIS XVIII
The natural cast of his mind, cultivated, reflective, but quick withal,
stored with recollections, rich in anecdotes, ripe with philosophy, full of
reading, ready at quotation, but by no means of a pedantic character, placed
him at that period on a level with the most celebrated geniuses and literary
men of his age. Chateaubriand had not more elegance, Talleyrand more
fancy, or Madame de Stael more brilliancy.
THE BOURBON RESTORATION 33
[1824 A.D.]
Since the suppers of Potsdam, tlie cabinet of a prince had never been the
sanctuary of more philosophy, more literature, more wit, and more lively
sallies. Louis XVIII would have served for a king of Athens equally as well
as a king of Paris ; for his nature was Grecian more than French, universal,
elastic, artistic, delicate, graceful, feminine, sceptical, somewhat corrupted
by the age, but if not capable of doing everything, capable at least of under-
standing and expressing everything with propriety. Such, without any
flattery, was the mind of Louis XVIII. His intimacy with Madame du
Cayla, which her wit and allurement made every day more necessary to his
heart, was no longer a mystery to anyone. But Madame du Cayla was not
merely the affectionate friend and comforter of the king ; she was the confi-
dential minister, and the secret negotiator of a triple, or quadruple intrigue.
An emissary of the clerical party, like Madame de Maintenon, in the cabinet
of the king, the pledge and the instrument of favour for the houses of La
Rochefoucauld and Montmorency, the hidden link between the policy of the
count d'Artois and the heart of his royal brother, and finally, the inter-
mediate agent between Villele, the clerical party, the count d'Artois, and
the king himself; she was the multiplied connection between these four
diversified influences, the accordance of which formed and maintained the
harmony of the government. No woman ever had so many and such deli-
cate strings of intrigue and policy to manage in the same hand.
Posterity, when it approaches too closely the memory of a deceased mon-
arch, is influenced in its judgment of that memory by the prejudices, the
partialities, and the party-feelings which prevailed during his life ; and by
those posthumous feelings the reign of Louis XVIII has been hitherto
judged. Almost all men were equally interested in misrepresenting, depre-
ciating, and lessening the merit of his life and person. The partisans of the
empire had to avenge themselves upon him for the fall of their idol ; and to
eclipse disdainfully under the military glory of Napoleon, and the splendour
of his reign, the civil and modest merits of policy, of peace, and of freedom.
It was necessary to debase the king in order to elevate the hero ; to sacrifice
a memory to exalt a fanaticism ; and they have accordingly continued to
pour forth sarcasm instead of history.
No king ever bore with more dignity and constancy dethronement and
exile, tests which are almost always fatal to men who are elevated only by
their situation : no king ever waited with more patience, or more certainty,
the restoration of his race : no king ever re-ascended the throne under cir-
cumstances of greater difficulty, confirmed himself upon it against greater
obstacles, or left it to his family with a fairer prospect of maintaining it long
after his death.d
-VOL. XIII. V
o-
CHAPTER II
CHARLES X AND THE JULY REVOLUTION OF 1830
Charles X was neither a fanatic, a slave, nor a persecutor, but he
■was a believer. His zeal, unknown to himself, influenced his policy ;
and he thought he owed a portion of his reign to his religion. The
people were misled by this ; it was supposed that he wished to restore
France to the church ; and the first of the liberties conquered by the
Revolution, the freedom of the human mind, felt itself threatened.
Hence arose the disquietude, the disaffection, the brevity, and the
catastrophe of this reign. He was destined to fall a victim to his faith.
This was not the fault of his conscience, but of his reason. In him the
Christian was destined to ruin the king. — Lamaktine.6
Never did a monarch ascend a throne with fairer prospects and greater
advantages than the count d'Artois, who took the name, Charles X ; never
was one precipitated from it under circumstances of greater disaster. Every-
thing at first seemed to smile on the new sovereign, and to prognosticate a
reign of concord, peace, and happiness. The great contests whieh had dis-
tracted the government of his predecessor seemed to he over. The Spanish
revolution had exhausted itself; it had shaken, without overturning, the
monarchies of France and England, and led to a campaign glorious to the
French, which on the peninsula, so long the theatre of defeat and disaster,
had restored the credit of their arms and the lustre of their influence. In
Italy, the efforts of the revolutionists, for a brief season successful, had ter-
minated in defeat and ignominy. After infinite difficulty, and no small danger,
the composition of the chamber of deputies had been put on a practical foot-
ing, and government was assured of a majority sufficient for all purposes, in
harmony with the great body of the peers, and the principles of a constitu-
tional monarchy. Internal prosperity prevailed to an unprecedented degree ;
every branch of industry was flourishing, and ten years of peace had both
healed the wounds of war, and enabled the nation to discharge, with honour-
able fidelity, the heavy burdens imposed on it at its termination. After
an arduous reign and a long struggle, Louis had reaped the reward of his
wisdom and perseverance.
The character and personal qualities of Charles X were in many respects
such as were well calculated to improve and cultivate to the utmost these
advantages. Burke had said, at the very outset of the French Revolution,
that if the deposed race was ever to be restored, it must be by a sovereign
34
CHAELES X AND THE JULY EEVOLUTION OF 1830 35
[1824 A.D.]
who could sit eight hours a day on horseback. No sovereign could be so far
removed from this requisite as Louis XVIII, whose figure was so unwieldy
and his infirmities so great, that, for some years before his death, he had to
be wheeled about his apartments in an arm-chair. But the case was very
different with his successor. No captain in his guards managed his charger
with more skill and address, or exhibited in greater perfection the noble art
of horsemanship ; no courtier in his saloons was more perfect in all the graces
which dignify manners, and cause the inequalities of rank to be forgotten, in
the courtesy with which their distinctions are thrown aside.
Many of the sayings he made use of, in the most important crises of his
life, became historical ; repeated from one end of Europe to the other, they
rivalled the most celebrated of Henry IV in warmth of heart, and the most
felicitous of Louis XIV in terseness of expression. But, with all these valu-
able qualities, which, under other circumstances, might have rendered him
one of the most popular monarchs that ever sat upon the throne of France,
he was subject to several weaknesses still more prejudicial, which, in the end,
precipitated himself and his family from the throne. He was extremely fond
of the chase, and rivalled any of his royal ancestors in the passion for hunt-
ing ; but with him it was not a recreation to amuse his mind amidst more
serious cares, but, as with the Spanish and Neapolitan princes of the house of
Bourbon, a serious occupation, which absorbed both the time and the strength
that should have been devoted to affairs of state. A still more dangerous
weakness was the blind submission, which increased with his advancing years,
that he yielded to the priesthood.
No change was made by the new sovereign in the ministers of state, who
indeed were as favourable to the royal cause as any that he could well have
selected. But from the very outset of his reign there was a Camarilla^ or
secret court, composed entirely of ecclesiastics, who had more real influence
than any of the ostensible ministers, and to whose ascendency in the royal
council the misfortunes in which his reign terminated are mainly to be
ascribed. The most important of these were the cardinal Latil, archbishop
of Rheims, who had been the king's confessor during the time he was in exile,
and earnestly recommended to him by his mistress, Madame de PoUastron,
who possessed the greatest influence over his mind ; the pope's legate,
Lambruschini, a subtle and dangerous ecclesiastical diplomatist ; and Quelen,
archbishop of Paris, a man of probity and worth, but full of ambition, and
ardently devoted to the interests of his order. To these, who formed, as it
were, the secret cabinet, that directed the king, and of which he took counsel
in all cases, were added all the chiefs of the ultra-Royalist and ultra-Cath-
olic party, who, like a more numerous privy council, were summoned on
important emergencies. The most important of these were the duke de
Riviere and Prince Polignac. Such was the secret council by which Charles
was from the first almost entirely directed, and the history of his reign is
little more than the annals of the consequences of their administration.
The king made his public entry into Paris on the 27th of September.
The day was cloudy, and the rain fell in torrents as he moved through the
streets, surrounded by a brilliant cortege ; but nothing could damp the ardour
of the people. Mounted on an Arab steed of mottled silver colour, which he
managed with perfect skill, the monarch traversed the whole distance
between St. Cloud and the palace, bowing to the people in acknowledgment
of their salutations vdth that inimitable grace which proclaimed him at once,
\} This term is taken from the history of the contemporaneous Spanish Bourbons. See the
history of Spain.]
36 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1821 A.O.]
like the prince-regent in England, the first gentleman in his dominions. His
answers on his way to and when he arrived at the palace were not less felici-
tous than his manner. When asked if he did not feel fatigued, he replied,
" No ; joy never feels weariness." " No halberts between my people and me,"
cried he to some of his attendants, who were repelling the crowd whicl^
pressed in too rudely upon his passage — an expression which recalled his
famous saying on April 12th, 1814, "There is but one Frenchman the
more." ^ Never had a monarch been received with such universal joy by his
subjects. " He is charming as hope," said one of the numerous ladies who
were enchanted by his manner. Some of his courtiers had suggested the pro-
priety of taking some precautions against the ball of an assassin in the
course of his entry. "Why so?" said he: "they cannot hate me without
knowing me ; and when they know me, I am sure they will not hate me."
Everything in his manner and expressions towards those by whom his family
had been opposed, seemed to breathe the words, "I have forgotten." c
FIEST MISTAKES OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT
Charles introduced his son the duke d'Angouleme into the government,
by giving him the supreme direction of the army, whose esteem this prince
had justly acquired. Eager for that popularity of which he had just tasted
the first-fruits, he himself proposed to the council of ministers to abolish the
censorship of the public journals, which was an odious restriction that had
been impatiently submitted to during the last few months of the late reign.
The press responded to this generous act by an effusion of gratitude which
raised the enthusiasm of Paris to a pitch of delirium. " A new reign opens
upon us," exclaimed the journalists who had been most bitter against the
Bourbons; "the king is desirous of doing good; his wisdom scatters at
the first word the cloud under which bad governments conceal their evil
thoughts ; there is no snare to apprehend from one who himself invokes the
light." 6
But in granting liberty to the press, Charles X did not at all repudiate
the acts of a ministry which had been stigmatised by it. He accepted it on the
contrary, declaring his formal intention of keeping it in power. Those who
had been too quick in hoping were disabused and public opinion pronounced
with terrifying rapidity against a series of unpopular projects presented to
the chambers by the crown. One of them, in connection with which the
ministry had skilfully formed the plan of converting government bonds to
a three per cent, rate, gave a billion francs indemnity to the emigres;*
another re-established religious communities for women; a third attached
infamous and atrocious penalties to profanities and thefts committed in
churches, in certain cases the sacrilege was to be punished by the penalty
of parricide, (i Some moderate and rational-minded men in the chamber of
peers, the Moles, the Lally-ToUendals, the Broglies and Chateaubriand
himself, revolted in the name of human reason, of humanity, and of religion
against this unjust and barbarous law. In the chamber of deputies, Royer-
CoUard vindicated reason, liberty of conscience, humanity, and the Deity,
r This epigram, as we have seen, he had borrowed from a courMer.]
P In fact this law, very unpopular, and onerous to the national finances, was advantageous
to the owners of the properties formerly held by the 6migr6s. The fear of seeing the titles con-
tested vanished and with it the inferiority in market value of these properties to other estates.
As for the families of the toigr^s, the poor provincial gentry had had but little ; but the people
of the court who had already largely regained their affluence, redoubled it and though lackbig
the immoderate luxury of old, yet found themselves richer than ever.— Ma.etih.«]
CHARLES X AND THE JULY REVOLUTION OF 1830 37
[1824-1827 A.D.]
all outraged by this law in one of the most powerful speeches ever inspired
at the French tribune by philosophy, religion, and eloquence.6
But the project which wounded the greatest number of interests and
aroused the greatest resentment tended to put a stop to the division of
estates by creating in the law of inheritance the right of primogeniture,^ in
default of a wish formerly expressed by the testator. All these proposed
laws, dictated under the influence of the old emigres and the Congregation,
were conceived in a spirit contrary to that of the Revolution. The chamber
of deputies adopted them, the peers fought some of them with success, suc-
ceeded in eliminating the most objectionable clauses, and for some time
shared popular favour with the royal courts.
These governmental acts were interrupted in 1825 by the solemnities of
the coronation. Charles X appeared at Rheims surrounded by the ancient
apparel of royal majesty. There he took oath on the charter and received
the crown from the hands of the archbishop, in the midst of the ancient
ceremonial which was not at all in harmony with the customs of the cen-
tury, and in which the new generation saw only an act of deference to the
clergy.
The liberal party was growing, and drawing new force from all the faults
of the party in power. It saw with pride men like Benjamin Constant,
Royer-CoUard, and Casimir Perier at its head in the elective chamber. One
immense loss was to be deploired. Foy, the general of Napoleon, the states-
man of Restoration times, was no more. A hundred thousand citizens, the
elite of trade, of the bar, of literature, and of the army followed his cortege
and energetically protested against the procedure of government, by adopt-
ing his children in the name of their country, on the still open tomb of their
father, who had been the most redoubtable and the most eloquent adversary
of the ministers.
In the first days of 1827 Peyronnet presented to the chamber of deputies
the law under which the liberty of the press was to perish. He defended
it against the desperate attacks of the Left [which called it the "Vandal
Law"] by calling it the "law of justice and love." It hardly became known
before it caused a general uprising of public opinion. The French Academy
did itself honour by protesting against it on the motion of Charles de
Lacretelle, actively supported by Chateaubriand, Lemercier, 'Jouy, Michaud,
Joseph Droz, Alexandre Duval, and Villemain. A commission was appointed
from their midst to beg the king to withdraw so fatal a project. Charles X
refused to receive the commission and answered by punishing this act of
courageous independence. He removed from office Villemain, Lacretelle,
and Michaud himself, the author of History of the Crusades, and one of
the oldest supporters of the monarchy. The law, adopted by the chamber
of deputies, met with violent opposition in that of the peers.^ The ministry
understood that, even if the latter should adopt it, it would at least eliminate
its most rigorous clauses. The project was withdrawn without being sub-
mitted to this dangerous test.
The people did honour to the monarch for this wise measure. Paris was
illuminated and cries of " Vive le roi!" were heard in the midst of bonfires
and popular acclamations."^
[1 The law was more timid than its title and cast only a moderate reproach on the existing
law, Imt feeble as it was this reproach was an enormous fault. Nothing was worse conceived
than this challenge to " Equality," the grand passion of the nation. — Dabeste./]
'^ Milller * speaks of the law as one ' ' which sought to smother all education and reason, turn
France into a Jesuit machine, and set it back to the days of the Inquisition."]
38
THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
GROWING DISCONTENT
[1827 A.D.]
The masses seemed to wish to open to the king a peaceful issue. An
expression of Casimir Perier made a great stir. Some members of the Left
alone rising in favour of a liberal petition, the Right cried, " There are only-
six of them." Casimir Perier replied,
"We are only six in this place, but
there are thirty million men in France
who rise with us."
The partial elections were to the
advantage of the liberals, and the return
of La Fayette was a sign of the time.
Charles X, uneasy and chagrined, could
not conceal his unpopularity. He
thought to regain it in Paris by review-
ing the national guard. Villele was
greatly alarmed ; the dauphin advised
against the review, but the guard was
summoned on the Champ de Mars
April 29th, 1827. The word had been
passed to the soldiers to cry nothing
but " Vive le Boi!" and " Vive le charte!"
At certain places, however, they cried,
"^ bas les ministres! A has lesjSsuites!"
To one national guardsman who
repeated this cry near him, the king
answered, "I came to receive your
homage, not your instructions." On
returning from the Champ de Mars,
tumultuous groups surrounded the car-
riages of the princesses crying, " A hag
les j'Ssuitesses ! " Two legions of the
national guard cried violently, "A has Villele! A has Peyronnet!" in passing
the ministers of finance and of justice.
Villele advised the king to disband the national guard of Paris and double
the garrison. The majority of the ministers agreed. The ordinance of dis-
bandment appeared the next day. The liberal journals protested fiercely
against this measure and the opposition on the Right associated itself with
the liberals. The act alienated irrevocably the entire middle class of Paris.
The majority was lost in the chamber. The session terminated June 22nd ;
it was the fourth and ought to have been the last of the " septennial " cham-
ber ; besides, this chamber was used up and, as it were, decomposed.
The day after the closing, the censorship was re-established despite the
dauphin's wishes. The minister instituted above the bureau of censure a
council of supervision presided over by De Bonald, the implacable enemy of
the liberty of the press as of all liberty. The illustrious scientist Cuvier,
who had shown in the council of state much administrative capacity but
till now little independence, refused to take part in the committee of super-
vision ; nor would two of the nominees for the bureau of censure serve.
The censure fell into odious ridiculous excesses which called forth Chateau-
briand and a throng of other writers in pamphlets full of ironic and indignant
vigour.
A crisis was imminent, and the approaching elections looked ominous. A
Charles X
(1T57-1836)
CHARLES X AND THE JULY REVOLUTION OF 1830 39
[1837-1828 A.D.]
powerful society was formed to prepare the country, under the significant
name of "Heaven helps those that help themselves" (^Aide-toi, le del faidera).
Guizot was president of the governing committee. An allied society of
republican tendencies was formed, the " Free-speakers, "e
When the duke de Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, a liberal member of the
chamber of Peers, died, some of the old pupils of the Academy of Chalons,
to whom he had been very kind, endeavoured to show their gratitude to
their neighbour and benefactor by bearing his body to the Barrier, where
the hearse was waiting to convey it to his estate. In the church of the Made-
leine the police seized the coffin — unwilling that such a mark of respect should
be shown to a member of the opposition ; the pupils resisted: in the struggle
the coffin fell to the ground, and the authorities in triumph carried it off.?
Later a similar scene was enacted on a greater scale at the funeral of
Manuel the expelled deputy. The irritated crowd was hardly prevented from
a pitched battle with the troops. The discourse spoken over the grave by
La Fayette was of a very different character from that which signalised the
funeral of General Foy. Under this not yet lawless struggle, one felt
revolution.e
Seventy-six new peers were named ; the chamber of Deputies, from which
still less subserviency was expected, was dismissed (Nov. 6th, 1827) ; and the
gauntlet was fairly thrown down.
In this year the battle of Navarino (Oct. 20th, 1827) had practically
delivered Greece from its oppressors, and was hailed as the first national
resurrection to freedom since the reaction had begun. The English and
French navies, which were united with the Russian in the entire destruction
of the Turkish fleet, took also different views of the result of their valour
and preponderating force. France was so enraptured with a naval victory,
however obtained, that even the supporters of the ministry rejoiced in an
action which greatly excited the liberal hopes throughout Europe. The
English, on the other hand, perceived too late the fault they had committed
in exposing Turkey unprotected to the maritime attacks of Russia, and
called the victory of Navarino " an untoward event." Yet, as naval victories
were of more importance to France than England, an opportunity was found
for another triumph in an expedition against the dey of Algiers. Success-
ful to a certain degree, but not so brilliantly decisive as its promoters had
expected, the squadron came back with its work only half performed, but
furnishing information which led to a greater effort and more satisfactory
result in a future year. In spite of government influence, which was unscru-
pulously used, the elections of 1828 returned a majority for the liberals.
There were riots and loss of life in Paris and other towns. The Villele
ministry retired for fear of the coming storm. 9'
THE MINISTRY OF MAKTIGNAC (1828-1829 A.D.)
Charles X was obliged to form a liberal government. The Restoration
again found itself obliged to rely on the support of the left benches. The
first time this happened it was the result of the initiative of Louis XVIII ;
this second time it was due to the will of the electors.
The new ministry was formed Jan. 4th, 1828, with Martignac as leader
of the cabinet. Possessed of undoubted eloquence and an attractive manner,
he had more charm than strength. Although he was a man of moderate
mind he had been one of the majority of Villele. With him, Portalis, Roy,
and soon afterwards Hyde de NeuviUe and Feutrier, the bishop of Beauvais,
40 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1828 A.D.]
made up a cabinet which the public at first considered lacking in weight and
in authority.*
The king had made haste to say to his new ministers, " M. de Villele's
system is mine " ; and the chamber made haste to write down in its address
that M. de VillSIe's system was "deplorable." The whole history of the
Restoration is epitomised on this simple juxtaposition of facts. How was
the chamber to be prevented from exercising the paramount strength it pos-
sessed? And what should hinder the head of the state from crying out,
under the exasperation of insult, as did Charles X upon the presentation of
the address, " I will not suffer my crown to be flung into the mire ! " What
then remained to be tried ? To side completely with the elective power ?
Martignac could not do so without declaring war against royalty. To serve
royalty in accordance with its own views ? He could not do so without
declaring war on the chamber. To combine these two sorts of servitude,
and to hold the reins of government on the tenure of being doubly a slave ?
He tried this. J
The Martignac ministry began by suppressing the " black cabinet," where
letters were opened for the police, and by passing a liberal law with regard
to the press. In Greece, France received from the two other powers the
glorious charge of putting an end to the struggle which was going on. A
force of 14,000 men under the orders of General Maison landed in the
Morea on the 29th of August. Ibrahim, who had been sent by his father
the pasha of Egypt as commander of the Egyptian troops, to help the sultan
of Turkey, made no attempt to fight ; on the 9th of September he sailed
away with his troops. The only case in which force had to be employed
was in the taking of Fort Morea, and Greece was delivered. Two burning
questions occupied the public mind: one was that of an inquiry into the pro-
ceedings of the Villele ministry, a measure on which the liberals insisted ;
the other the enforcing of the laws against the Jesuits, which was demanded
by a strong wave of public opinion, by a decision of the court in Paris,
and by the new chamber. The ministry decided on carrying out the latter
measure in order to avoid the former. They prepared two ordinances,
in which the name of the Jesuits was not so much as mentioned. The first,
which was countersigned by Portalis, deprived them of their educational
establishments ; the second, which was inspired by the bishop of Beauvais,
dictated the necessary precautions to be observed in order to exclude them
from the management of ecclesiastical schools (June 19th, 1828).
Thus the throne seemed anxious to be reconciled to the liberal party.
But this was only apparently true. Between the two parties who were
struggling for possession of the country, one supported by the king, the
other by the people, one wishing to go back to the eve of '89, the other to
march forward with the century, there was no room for equivocation or for
compromise. Those who were anxious to conciliate both parties ran the risk
of being crushed between the two. Martignac, in spite of his wonderful
eloquence, his charm, and the sympathy he inspired, was looked upon with
suspicion by both camps.
As for Charles X, he submitted to this ministry as to a personal defeat ;
he was still the ardent partisan of the cabinet which had been overthrown. It
was therefore most obnoxious to him to have to sign the ordinances against
the Jesuits. The ministers were obliged to threaten to resign in order to get
him to do it. The furious outcry raised by the whole body of the clergy,
the maledictions of the bishops directed even against the bishop of Beauvais,
brought the devout frenzy to a climax.
CHARLES X AITD THE JULY EEVOLUTION OF 1830 41
[1828-1829 A.D.]
He could only endure this return to liberalism for a time by nursing
tlioughts of revenge. But he still had patiently to endure the session of
1829, which was occupied by discussions on the organisation of the depart-
ments and the communes, in which the cabinet was weakened by several
reverses. Hardly had the chambers dissolved when the king dismissed his
ministers. The session had closed on the 30th of July ; on the 9th of
August the list of the new ministry was published, i
When the names were made known a cry of indignation broke out from
one end of France to the other : Polignac, Labourdonnaie, Bourmont.
The patriots who, from passion or principles, had never admitted the
possibility of a compromise with the old dynasty, experienced that sort of
satisfaction which a soldier feels on the eve of a decisive battle. Those who
had dreamed of liberty with monarchy were now overwhelmed with con-
sternation. " See ! " cried Royer-Collard, " Charles X is still the count
d'Artois of 1789."
The liberal journals in general responded by an explosion of anger
and menaces to the defiance which had just been flung at the nation. The
Journal dea DShats, attached to the Bourbons by bonds which its ardent
opposition had not hitherto broken, terminated an article full of an elo-
quent suffering by the cry so often quoted : " Unhappy France ! Unhappy
king ! "
The ministry brought a suit against it. Answer was made by a violent
attack from a young editor, Saint-Marc Girardin, on Polignac, " the man of
Coblenz and the counter-revolution," on Bourmont, " the deserter of Waterloo
now exposed on the scaffold of the ministry," and on Labourdonnaie, the
man who in the White Terror of 1815 had constantly demanded irons, hang-
men, and executions.?
THE MINISTET OF POLIGNAC
The president of the new cabinet, Jules de Polignac, son of the chief
equerry of Louis XVI and of the duchess de Polignac, who was an intimate
friend of Marie Antoinette, was a sort of incarnation of the old regime. He
had been one of the most enthusiastic amongst the emigres and later had
become a leading member of the Congregation. He was perhaps the most
ardent adherent that body possessed. His minister of war, Bourmont, had,
in 1815, on the eve of the battle of Waterloo, deserted Napoleon's army for
that of the enemy, and had thus gained the rank of marshal.
It was certain that such a minister would advocate extreme measures.
The country prepared for a struggle. Societies were formed quite openly,
at first in Brittany and then throughout France, with the purpose of refusing
to pay the taxes in case the cabinet should attempt to force any violent
measure on the country. The papers which advertised these associations
were in every case prosecuted, but were either acquitted or very lightly
punished. The courts themselves seemed to condemn in advance the projects
with which the ministry was credited.*
This was indeed a ministry of madness. Not only every liberal senti-
ment but every national sentiment was defied. The unfortunate Charles X
was so much a stranger to his age and country that he did not understand that
France would take the summons of Bourmont to the head of the army as the
most deadly of outrages. He believed that in order to justify the deserter
of Fleurus in the eyes of the public it would suffice to give out that he had
the king's orders.
42 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1829-1830 A.D.]
If the king and his advisers had been capable of reflection, the attitude
of the country would have made them tremble. At this moment La Fayette
paid a visit to Auvergne, his native province,«and then to Dauphine and Lyons.
In the towns of Dauphine, especially in Vizille, the little place famous for
having given the signal for the revolution of 1789, La Fayette was welcomed
by demonstrations which recalled that great epoch ; at Grenoble the popu-
lation offered him an oak wreath " as a witness of the people's gratitude and
as the emblem of the force which the people of Grenoble, following his
example, would be able to bring into action to maintain their rights and the
constitution." At Lyons he made a truly royal entry : the whole city went
out to meet him, deputations from the neighbouring departments waited on
him. At the banquet which was given him La Fayette declared that he was
happy to receive proof of the determination of that great and patriotic city
to resist all the attempts of the incorrigible counter revolution. The
official journals of this party had said recently " no more concessions." " No
more concessions " says in its turn the French people, which knows its rights
and will know how to defend them. Then he added, "How are the pro-
jects with which the people are threatened to be executed ? By means of
the chamber of deputies? It would show itself faithful to patriotism and
honour. By a dissolution? The electors would have something to say to
that. By simple ordinances ? The partisans of such measures would then
learn that the strength of every government lies only in the arms and the
purse of the citizens which compose the nation."
The triumphant journey of La Fayette afforded royalty an alarming con-
trast to the reception which the dauphin and dauphiness received about the
same time in Normandy. Silence and a desert surrounded them everywhere.
At Cherbourg the authorities could not even organise a ball in their honour.*
On the 2nd of March, 1830, Charles X, displaying for the last time all
the pomp of royalty, declared in the presence of the assembled deputies and
peers his intention to preserve intact the prerogatives of the crown and
French institutions. The address of the deputies in response to the speech
from the throne showed the king that the> composition of his new cabinet
was dangerous and menacing to public liberty. Two hundred and twenty-
one members as against 186 voted for this memorable address. The king
was indignant. He complained in his response of a lack of support and con-
cluded by stating that his resolves were known and were unchangeable.
The chamber was prorogued and then dissolved.
However, the council had tried to acquire some popularity by means of a
military success, and an insult offered to the French consul by the dey of
Algiers furnished the ministers a favourable opportunity to clear the sea
of barbarous pirates. <*
"WAR "WITH ALGEKIA
The Algerian dey, Hussein, had come into power in 1818. No dey had
been so well obeyed. His foreign policy was less fortunate, because he had
illusions about his own strength and thought he could brave the European
powers with impunity. This error caused his downfall. The relations with
France, interrupted during the empire, were renewed in 1816 ; but the un-
derstanding was never very cordial, especially after the accession of Hussein.
He wished the annual revenue paid for the concessions to amount to 300,000
francs, according to the convention made in 1817 with the dey Omar; France
wished to keep to the amount of 90,000 francs, which was the revenue paid
to Ali Khodja, who reigned between Omar and Hussein. The dey would not
CHAELES X A2TD THE JULY EEVOLUTION OF 1830 43
[1819-1830 A.D.]
consent to the fortifying of the French establishments ; the execution of some
works of defence had greatly annoyed him. But the Bakri affair caused him
more annoyance than anything else.
Bakri and Busnah, two Algerian Jews, had furnished the Directory with
a large amount of corn which had not been entirely paid for ; the empire
gave some instalments. In 1819 the credit was fixed at seven millions, but
the convention then concluded expressly reserved the rights of certain
Frenchmen of whom Bakri and Busnah were debtors. Opposition arose,
and a part of the sum was kept back while awaiting the decision of the
tribunals.
Hussein, who had large interests in the business, and who understood noth-
ing of the complicated forms of French justice, was indignant at the delay. At
a solemn audience he questioned the French consul sharply and then hit him
with his fan and sent him out of his presence ; a more prudent and dignified
consul would not have provoked such a scene ; but Deval represented France ;
a reparation was necessary.
A naval division appeared before Algiers. Hussein absolutely refused
satisfaction ; June 15th, 1827, war was declared ; immediately the French
settlements, which they had taken the precaution to evacuate, were pillaged
and destroyed. A cruising expedition then began ; but the blockade soon
proved useless ; it imposed a difficult and dangerous service on the French
navy, it cost upwards of twenty millions in three years, and the dey appeared
no more disposed to give in than on the first day.
Since 1827 Clermont-Tonnerre, then minister of war, had been inclined
to act vigorously ; England made almost imperious representations, which
were answered as they should have been. Even in France, the opposing
parties disapproved of an expedition ; they saw in this, not without some
reason, a political artifice to turn men's minds from interior affairs, but they
also forgot that national honour was engaged.
An admiral, Duperre, at last decided to accept the command of the fleet.
Bourmont, minister of war, kept that of the army for himself, with the sole
direction of the enterprise. It was decided to fortify the peninsula to make
it into an entrenched camp, a place of refuge in case of defeat. The enemy,
however, had taken its forces to Staoueli; Ibrahim, Hussein's son-in-
law, took with him the Turkish militia, some Kolougis and Moors of
Algiers, the contingent of the beys, and some thousand Kabyles. Among the
eye-witnesses, some enumerate this army at 60,000 men, others only at 20,000.
The confused manoeuvring, the rapid and disorderly movements of the
Arabian cavalry, must have promoted the illusion of an immense multitude.
With the exception of the Turks all these undisciplined troops presented a
poor appearance when drawn up in battle order. The first shock, however,
was terrible ; on the morning of the 19th all the French lines were assailed,
but the attack told more on the wings, weaker and not so well posted as
the centre. The left was exposed for a moment; the Turks fought with
incredible ardour ; the horsemen spurred their horses and sprang over
the entrenchments. But the French army had the advantage of tactics
and discipline. After a desperate fight the Algerians retreated to their
camp.
The dey and the inhabitants of Algiers had no doubt of success ; there
was consternation at the arrival of the fugitives. The Algerians hastened
to defend Fort Emperor, which protected the town on the southwest. Emis-
saries were sent on all sides to rally the Arabs, the Ulemas preached the
holy war.
44 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1830 A.D.J
On the 24th the French lines of Staoueli were attacked ; the French army
easily repulsed the aggressors, pursued them, and established itself on the
plateau of Sidi-Khaled. The days of the 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th were
difficult and murderous. On the 29th, before day, the offensive movement
commenced all along the line. The fleet cannonaded the place and, without
causing much damage, added by this opportune demonstration to the con-
sternation of the population. On July 4th, at four o'clock in the morning,
the entrenchment was opened against Fort Emperor; the French batteries
then uncovered and destroyed it with their fire.
The garrison made a brave defence, but the contest of the two artilleries
was too unequal ; at the end of a few hours the Turks had their embrasures
demolished, their guns dismounted, their gunners disabled.
Fort Emperor once taken, Algiers could no longer hold out ; Hussein
signed a capitulation.*
The victory, however, was little heeded at home and war was declared
between France and monarchy. The struggle had been desperate on both
sides. The opposition brought out a new paper, the National, edited by
Thiers and Mignet, the two historians of the Revolution, and Armand
Carrel, who had begun his public career as leader of an armed conspiracy.
This paper propagated the views of the opposition with extreme ardour.
On the other side the king vainly threw his name and his influence into the
scale. The result was a crushing defeat. The opposition had fought for
the 221 deputies who had condemned the Polignac ministry, as in 1877 they
were to fight for the 363. They were all returned again and fifty more elec-
tions were also gained.
The Ordinances of Polignac and War with the Press, 18S0 A.D,
The defeated ministry prepared a coup d'etat. Taking as a pretext the
wording of Article 14 of the charter, they resolved to suppress the liberties
of the country. Three ordinances signed by all the ministers formed the
reply of Charles X to the French nation. One of these dissolved the cham-
ber before it had ever met ; so that the country had been consulted and had
given its answer, but that answer was treated with contempt. Another
abolished liberty of the press. Henceforth every paper would be forced
to obtain the royal sanction ; otherwise, it would not only be forbidden to
appear, but its plant would be destroyed. The third created a new electoral
system. It would no longer be a sufficient qualification for a vote to pay
300 francs in taxes ; patents were no longer to be taken into account ; and
all electors who were engaged in commerce or manufactures were to be
deprived of their votes.
The last two ordinances were manifestly unconstitutional : they violated
the laws and usurped their functions. The king's pleasure was substituted
for the votes of the chambers. This was a return to absolute monarchy.
This attempt at violence was made in incredible ignorance of the actual situ-
ation. Up to the time of the elections the ministers had thought themselves
certain of a majority, and, even after the results were known, seemed to
have an inexplicable confidence in the measures they were preparing. They
had only 19,000 men at their command to subdue Paris.
Secrecy was most carefully observed. Nobody, except those who had
drawn them up and signed them, knew the contents of the ordinances, when,
on the evening of Sunday, 25th July, they were handed over to the chief
editor of the Moniteur for publication the following morning. The editor
o
o
o
B
U
o
% s
S 00
S I
p.
9 i
«
n
CHARLES X AND THE JULY REVOLUTION OF 1830 46
(1830 A.D.]
glanced over them, and turning pale said to the minister : " I am fifty-seven
years of age ; I have passed through all the revolutions, but I now withdraw
overwhelmed with fear." On the morning of the 26th of July, 1830, the
ordinances published in the Moniteur burst on the nation like a thunderbolt.
At first people seemed stupefied. The press had the honour of setting an
example of action.
It has already been said that one of the edicts suppressed all, the opposi-
tion papers. That very day all their editors signed a protest of which the
following words contain the gist : To-day the government has lost that con-
stitutional character which alone commands obedience. And they added
that they would use every possible means to publish their papers in defiance
of the authority of the government. Among the young writers who perhaps
risked their lives by affixing their signatures to this bold protest, were some
who were destined to play an important part in public affairs. The protest
was signed by Thiers, Mignet, Armand Carrel, Remusat, and Pierre Leroux.
This intrepid action of the press was the first reply to the coup d'etat.
Their actions were as bold as their words ; and when on the following day
the police attempted to carry out the provisions of the ordinance, the com-
missary of police found the proprietor of the paper, with the law in his hand,
threatening the agent of the government with the punishment due to theft
aggravated by housebreaking. A crowd collected and protested loudly.
The locksmith who had been summoned to break up the plant refused to
do so, and was heartily applauded. Another was sent for, who also refused.
Not a workman could be found who was willing to raise his hand against the
instrument of public liberty. It was found necessary at last to have recourse
to the wretch whose duty it was to affix the fetters worn by convicts.
Such was the lawful resistance which most politicians of that time, whether
journalists or deputies, considered the only possible course.
PELLETAn'S ACCOUKT of the THKEE days of JULY
The first day, the wrath of Paris, kept in check by amazement, had the
appearance of hesitation; people were waiting and consulting. The next
day, July 27th, the dissatisfaction of the city became articulate. The mid-
dle classes and the working people began to express their feelings; street
orators were active, and stones were thrown at the police outside the Palais
Royal. A barricade was raised near the French Theatre ; men formed them-
selves into bands ; shots were fired and the pavements had begun to be stained
with blood ; but the movement had begun outside the popular quarters of
the town ; the mass of the people had not yet joined it.
However, the last rays of the setting sun shone on a well-nigh forgotten
sight — an unknown man ran along the quays waving a strip of blue, white,
and red stuff. This was the tricolour flag, which had formerly sprung from
the ruins of the Bastille to wave over a nation rescued and delivered from
tyranny. This was the flag of the convention and the empire, which, borne
by the regiments from Madrid to Moscow, from Cairo to Amsterdam, had
shaken liberty from its folds in its passage through the nations. This was
the proscribed flag, which throughout Europe lay hidden in the depths of
men's memories, as the symbol of liberties destroyed and nations remorse-
lessly crushed.
Whoever the unknown man was who first waved the tricolour in the
sunlight, he had thoroughly grasped the spirit of the situation. The ques-
tion at issue had ceased to be the maintenance of a royal constitution, the
46 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1830 A.D.]
downfall of a minister, or the re-establishment of a king : above all these
more limited ideas, the cause of popular liberty was now supreme. A father-
land which had been assailed, a revolution which had been defeated, had now
to be reckoned with.
The question at issue was between the people and the Bourbons. On
the 28th the people rose in arms. Workmen, citizens, students, marched
out pell-mell to fight. A student from the Polytechnic who had been ex-
pelled for having sung the Marseillaise — Charras, afterwards a minister
under the republic, and one of the most celebrated among those who were
proscribed under the second empire — had informed his comrades the day
before of what was to take place, and they had forced the gates of the school
in order to be present at the battle. None of the people had any weapons,
and they were obliged to equip themselves as well as^ they could. Here an
armourer's shop was broken into and pillaged, there a* military post was sur-
prised, or barracks were attacked ; and manufacturers and merchants might
be seen distributing muskets.
To the open space in front of the Exchange two carriages, driven by
^tienne Arago, brought a store of guns and uniforms, which were being
used at the Vaudeville in a military play. Next the Musee d'Artillerie was
attacked, and military equipments which had belonged to warriors of the
Middle Ages were seized ; so for this epic battle the people borrowed theat-
rical properties and the rusty uniforms of ancient knights.
Since the day before, the government had understood that they required
an efficient military leader : they had chosen Marshal Marmont, duke de
Raguse. His was a very unpopular name. In 1814, at the time of Napoleon's
first defeat, Marmont, whilst negotiations were going on, had prematurely
yielded to the enemy some important positions before Paris. This shadow
of a terrible suspicion hung over him. Besides, having served as a soldier
under the republic and the empire, he was now about to shed French blood
in support of a coup d'etat of which he did not approve. His plan of
action was soon made ; from the Tuileries where he was, two columns of
troops would drive back the insurgents, one by the boulevards, the other by
the quays. A body of troops posted at the market of the Innocents, and
clearing the whole length of the rue St. Denis, would maintain communica-
tions between the two columns.
But on all sides, in that close network of streets and alleys which formed
the heart of Paris, and which were not yet intersected by the wide thorough-
fares which exist in the present day, in front and behind the lines of troops,
combatants seemed to spring up in myriads as if they rose out of the very
ground ; th^ streets were bristling with barricades, and a battle was waging
at every cross-road. The columns were both stopped, one at the H6tel-de-
Ville and one at the Bastille ; the troops at the market of the Innocents
were surrounded and cut off ; the army seemed lost in this immense rising
of Parisians.
What an heroic crowd it was ! After fifteen years of peace, the citizens
of 1830 proved themselves worthy of the soldiers of Jemmapes, Fleurus,
and Austerlitz. A fine sense of a fraternity in courage and enthusiasm
united the rich and the poor. The Paris street-boy shared in the perils of
the day with his usual saucy intrepidity. During the battle, a boy of fifteen
brought a packet of cartridges to Charras, saying, " We will go shares, but
only on condition that you will lend me your gun so that I may take my
turn at firing." Certain of the combatants had not money to buy bread ;
in the rue St. Joseph a citizen saw a workman who was fighting at his side
CHAELES X AND THE JULY EEVOLUTION OF 1830 47
[1830 A.D.]
Stagger, and said to him : " You are wounded ? " " No, I am starving."
The other offered him a five-franc piece. Then the workman pulled out
from his blood-stained shirt a strip of the royalist flag, saying: "I will give
you this in exchange." A hundred incidents proved that the combatants
felt that the same blood was flowing in their veins, though they were fight-
ing on different sides. In one case an officer had received a dangerous blow
from an iron bar, but, with his face bathed in blood, he warded off with his
sword the bayonets which were about to pierce the man who had struck him.
In another place the corpse of an insurgent was lying near the tricolour flag;
some soldiers passed by and they and their officers all saluted.
It would be impossible to describe the war that raged all over Paris.
On the 28th the thick of the fight had been at the market of the Innocents
and round the H6tel-de-Ville. To reach it, it was necessary to cross the
suspension bridge, which was under a constant fire. A young man sprang
forward with a tricolour flag in his hand : " If I fall," he cried, " remember
that my name was Arcole." His name was given to the bridge which was
consecrated by his heroic death. Nightfall interrupted the fighting.
Silence and solitude descended on the bloody streets, on the deserted barri-
cades, and on the corpses lying in the shadow. Nothing disturbed the
silent solemnity of that terrible night but the footsteps of the troops as they
evacuated the town in order to mass themselves round the Tuileries.
On the morning of the 29th, fighting began again. Two battles took
place that day, both against the Swiss Guard. This foreign guard was the
last resource of the monarchy, just as it had been on the occasion of the 10th
of August, 1792. The Swiss troops belonged to the king, not to the nation.
On the left bank of the river the Polytechnic school, at the head of several
columns of workmen and students, laid siege to the Babylon barracks.
Charras led one of the columns. Vaneau was killed by a bullet in the head,
and the street where he fell was called after him. The barracks were taken,
but a more decisive struggle had taken place elsewhere.
On the right bank, the people had only to get possession of the vast
enclosure of the palace formed by the Louvre and the Tuileries. Since the
day before they had been besieging the front of the Louvre before St. Germain
I'Auxerrois. The Swiss, posted in the colonnade, directed a murderous fire
on the assailants. A blunder, made while changing the battalion posted
there, left the colonnade unprotected ; in ah instant the people stormed the
entrance and broke in through the windows, firing from those which looked
on to the courtyard. The Swiss, taken by surprise, were seized with a
panic, the officers were unable to restore order, and they were chased by the
people as far as the place de la Concorde. The crowd then for the second
time made their way into the conquered palace. They had already entered
it on the 10th of August, 1792, and they were to enter it again in February,
1848, and in September, 1870.
Charles X deposed
Each of these visits signified the fall of a monarchy. And this time, as
on every similar occasion, was seen the spectacle of a crowd of starving men
keeping guard, without attempting to touch it, over the wealth of treasure
which was passing from the king to the nation. Thus ended that most glori-
ous struggle, the result of which was greeted by universal acclamations.
Where, during those terrible days, were the men who on one side or the
other represented the principles for which France was fighting?
48 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1830 A.D.]
Charles X was at St. Cloud. The day the ordinances appeared (July
26th) he was stag-hunting until the evening at Rambouillet. Partly owing
to an incomprehensible carelessness and partly to avoid the unpleasantness
of the struggle, he had kept out of reach of the storm which had assailed his
crown. He was told : " Stocks have fallen " ; and replied, " They will go
up again." Then they said, "Paris is in a state of anarchy." To this he
answered, " Anarchy will bring her to my feet." The most faithful royal-
ists, trying to make the king realise his position, found him incredulous.
Even on the 29th, when the revolutionists, after three days' fighting, were
driving the army from Paris, Charles X, six miles away, kept on repeating
that every measure was being taken to suppress the insurrection.
Three days' war had raged ; officers and men alike sad at heart had found
themselves obliged to shed French blood. Men who should have been the
glory of their country, politicians, artists, and philosophers, had been made
the mark for French buUets ; the people and the army had covered the
streets with corpses, and all the time the king refused to believe what was
happening.
It was only on the evening of the 29th, when the army returned to St.
Cloud and he heard of their defeat, that he agreed to withdraw the ordinances
and change the ministry. There was a great deal of talk about a game of
whist that he played, whilst Mortemai;t, who was to be the new minister,
was awaiting his instructions. Ten hours later Charles X was still hesitat-
ing, and it was only at daybreak on the 30th of July that the king made
up his mind — just twenty-four hours after the triumph of the Revolution.
The next evening, after two long days of hesitation, in the midst of
troops decimated by desertion, Charles X at last resolved to retire to Ram-
bouillet ; this was the first stage on his way to exile. Most of the men who
were looked upon as the leaders of the victorious party had done little more
fighting on their side than Charles X had done on his. When they met on
the very day the edicts were issued there was division in the camp. If some,
notably La Fayette, were anxious for revolt, others not only did not desire it,
but actually feared it. All the deliberations of the deputies and other influ-
«ntial persons during these three days were fruitless, as no decision was
reached. At last, on the 28th of July, they sent five of their number to
Marshal Marmont, who was already being urged by the great astronomer
Arago to put a stop to bloodshed. Polignac refused to see the five deputies,
and while they were opening tardy negotiations with St. Cloud, the people
completed their victory.
On the evening of the 28th, the monarchy being abolished, there was no
xecognised authority in Paris. ^ An unknown man named Dubourg, dressed
in a general's uniform borrowed from a theatre, and the journalist Bauds
who appointed himself secretary to a provisional government which did not
«xist, had only to take their places in the H6tel-de-Ville, which the troops
had abandoned, in order to exercise a certain amount of power. On the
evening of the 29th La Fayette took possession of the H6tel-de-Ville and was
reinforced by a commission consisting of Casimir Perier, Lobau, Schonen,
Audry de Puyraveau, and Mauguin ; Laffitte, whose house had been latterly
the headquarters of the victors, and General Gerard, who continued to be the
military chief of the new government, declining to join the commission.
[^ Men who had received their warrant from themselves alone, installed themselves in the
Hfltel-de-Ville as representatives of the provisional government ; and in that capacity they
parodied the majesty of command, signed orders, distributed employments, and conferred dig-
nities. Their reign was short, because those who would dare greatly must be able to do greatly ;
but it was real, and gave occasion to scenes of unexampled buffoonery. — Louis Blano.;]
CHAELES X AlfD THE JULY KEVOLUTION OF 1830 49
[1830 A.D.]
THE DUKE OP ORLEANS MADE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL OF THE KINGDOM
Those who had taken no part in the fighting wished to take advantage of
the victory. Most of them had already begun to think of the duke of Orleans.
As often happens in reigning families the Orleans branch, the younger branch,
was always in a state of rivalry with the elder branch of Bourbons. Since
1789 the duke of Orleans had supported the revolutionary party; whilst his
cousins were amongst the emigres, he, a member of the convention, having
given up using his title and assumed the name of Philippe Egalite, voted in
favour of the death of Louis XVI. His son, duke of Orleans in 1792, had
fought under the tricolour with Dumouriez at Jemmapes. Though he had
emigrated afterwards, yet on the Restoration he had again declared himself
a liberal. The family has always maintained this variable attitude, some-
times supporting, sometimes deserting the revolutionary party.
After 1815 the duke of Orleans was sometimes a prince of the blood,
sometimes the hope of the revolutionists. He alternately claimed the largest
share of the indemnity paid to the emigres, or openly took the part of Beranger
and General Foy; he at one time obtained from Charles X the title of Royal
Highness, and at another would pose as a citizen-prince.
The example of England was in everybody's mind. It was by dethroning
the lawful king and putting in his place a prince of a lateral branch that the
English had gained their liberties in 1688. For a long time many people
had been hoping that a similar change might bring about a similar result in
France.
On the 30th Thiers and Mignet hurried to Neuilly where the prince lived,
but he was not there. In the morning the deputies met at the house of
Laffitte, and decided to hold a session at noon at the Bourbon palace. There
it was decided to offer the "lieutenancy of the kingdom" to the duke of
Orleans. He hesitated, tried to gain time, and was finally, it is said, per-
suaded by the advice of Talleyrand. On the 31st he accepted.
The Revolution was sacrificed for his benefit. But would those who
had brought it about permit this ? It was doubtful. The duke of Orleans
decided to confront the danger by going through Paris to the H6tel-de-Ville.
A good deal of dissatisfaction was manifested in the streets. People were
saying to themselves, " What ? Another Bourbon I " His life was at the
mercy of the populace. An adverse movement seemed imminent, but it did
not take place. At the H8tel-de-Ville La Fayette appeared on the balcony
and was received with acclamations ; the duke of Orleans embraced him and
was applauded too. He had gained the crown,
Charles X had finally abdicated in favour of a child, the duke de Bor-
deaux. His was a strange destiny. He, whom the royalists called Henry V,
was only to reign for one day and that at the age of ten ! The old king was
convinced that the duke of Orleans had only accepted the " lieutenancy of
the kingdom " for the purpose of re-establishing legitimate authority in the
person of Henry V. The duke found himself in a difficult position between
the revolutionists who had offered him a throne, and Charles X, to whom he
owed so much ! Very opportunely, owing to an alarm raised in Paris, on
the 3rd of August a little band of Parisians marched on Rambouillet. It
was a strange jumble of national guards, volunteers, students with soldiers'
belts over their black coats, workmen wearing helmets, many of them in
omnibuses or cabs chartered for the occasion. This disorderly troop set out
on a march of forty-five miles without victuals and quite unprepared for any
emergency. At the same time the duke of Orleans sent Marshal Maison,
H. W. — VOL. XIII. E
50 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1688-1830 A.D.]
Schonen, and Odilon Barrot to Rambouillet. He had given the Parisians to
understand that Charles X might prove dangerous, and he warned Charles X
that sixty thousand Parisians were marching against him, and that he had
better provide for his safety. Thus he got rid of the old king. Charles X
and his family were accompanied as far as Cherbourg by his cousin's three
envoys. Thence he went into exile where the elder branch of the Bourbons
was to die out. On the 9th of August, 1830, the duke of Orleans was
solemnly proclaimed king under the name of Louis Philippe I, king of the
French. i
HILLEBKAND'S parallel between the revolution of 1688 AND 1830
The French 1688 was accomplished : the kingdom of God's grace had
made way for a kingdom of conventions. Whilst the '^Glorious Revolu-
tion " had sealed the representative system in England, the " Great Week "
forever put an end to it in France. Instead of the balance of power between
the crown, the house of peers, and the house of commons, the real or seem-
ingly unlimited authority of the latter stepped in. The victory of the 221,
that is to say the majority of the house, was like that of Pyrrhus, as is every
victory which is only due to the assistance of uncertain confederates. Their
leaders would infallibly have come into power, even if the throne had not
been overturned, and they would have taken over the government under
circumstances far more favourable to themselves and the land, if the irre-
sponsibility of the throne had been regarded, and the dangerous support of
the street riots disdained.
Be that as it may, Charles X was the last monarch of France who
attempted to oppose his will to the majority of the House. From hence-
forth not only did the minister require a similar majority so as to retain his
office, but also the leaders of the state — king, emperor, or president — were
dependent on Parliament, the fiction of an irresponsible leader of the state
was forever ended, and the upper house was practically a thing of the past.
According to this it was only natural and right that from henceforth all
leaders of the state should, if only artificially, seek to assure the majority in
the Commons and to aiccustom themselves to consider every opponent of their
minister as their own opponent, views which the nation shared and still
shares.
At times the capital which helped the parliamentary majority to win in
1830 may have fought and conquered this majority, as in the years 1848
and 1870, but only to withdraw her taxes after a short interregnum. In
England, the House of Commons only became all-powerful a century after
the Revolution, and the irresponsibility of the crown is still undisputed
to-day. The convention of 1688 was the voluntary agreement of two
equally powerful contractors ; the convention of 1830 was a one-sided and
conditional offer to which the one party submitted and which the other
simply signed.
In other respects the popular comparison between 1688 and 1830 was no
less sound. The eminent German statesman Stein at that time wrote to
G?gern that only the spirit of falsehood and deception could find a resem-
blance between Charles X and James ll. He asks, "Where is the barbarian
Jeffreys? Where are the endeavours and attempts to establish a strange
church in the place of the national church ? Where is the treaty with a
strange monarch to destroy the administration and religion of his own
land ? Where is the money that the stranger will receive for this purpose ?
CHAllLES X AUD THE JULY REVOLUTION OF 1830 51
[1688-1830 A.D.]
And we might further ask : wherein lay the future danger ? Was Henry V
born into a church hostile to his own country, and baptised like James III ?
Did the Parisian workers and students — whose political wisdom had at first
discovered and made known the inconsistency of the eight hundred years
of national dynasty with the interests and views of France, whilst the
entire nation held contrary views — possess the same importance as the
experienced statesmen who, in 1688, amidst the rejoicings of the middle
classes and people of the land, and assisted by the church and aristocracy,
called the daughter of James II to the throne of England ? Did Louis
Philippe gain his crown against foreign armies, as William fought for his
at the bloody battle of the Boyne, after having at the head of his troops
obtained it by defiance from the politicians who would so willingly have
made of him prince consort and their creature ? And William was not
content with the acts of Parliament but also made his own. The childless
monarch only acted in the interests of the statesmen, not in that of his own
person or of the family, and considering his childless position, as well as
his Dutch disposition and the confessional side of his r81e, one might well
say: William of Orange as regent for his brother-in-law a minor — in the
guardianship of whom none could have excelled him — could never attain
that which he attained as king, and that Louis Philippe on his side would
have attained without trouble, had he reigned in his own name, instead of
in that of the minor Henry V for whom he had been appointed regent."
The insurrection which served as motive for the violation of the con-
stitution on the 25th of July, was artfully called forth by "some secret cove-
nanters and journalists ; but when after long procrastination it really broke
out, the whole of the middle class of France backed up the July combatants,
although they took no active part in the fight — for seldom in history has a
deed been so firmly corroborated by eye-witnesses on all sides, as the inac-
tivity of the middle class in this fight. Even after they had been carried
away by a moral if not active participation they only wished to defend the
constitution, at the most to extend it and to prevent its being attacked —
not to change the dynasty. Certainly the sense of the insurrection was
first falsified by the conspirators — republicans and Orleanists — who made
themselves masters of the situation, and under pretext of protecting the
threatened statutes undertook to dismiss the king's guilty counsellors, to do
away with his law and the king himself. Thus the nation remains respon-
sible to history for the result, as the wearer of the new crown accepted the
responsibility of what had happened, although throughout the whole affair
he had been more sinned against than sinning. And if there is no doubt
that he had often dreamed of the throne, there is no proof that he ever
aspired to it through conspiracy or intrigue.
For in public as in private life we not only act by what we do, but also
by what we allow to be done, how much more by that which is termed good-
ness. When and where did a people acknowledge having done something
more energetically and unconditionally than the French after the July days ?
Not only those who were late in hastening to the fight but also those not
concerned in it wished to acknowledge this as a great national event ; and
if the feeling shown towards the new pionarch, almost unknown to the mass
of the nation, was less spirited and less general than that shown for this
event, the nation nevertheless imposed on it, and in no way reacted against
it as it did against the republic in 1848, towards which it would have acted
differently in 1830. And it not only confirmed this change by silent
acknowledgment but also by the expressed oath of representatives of the
62 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1688-1830 A.D.]
people, of the House of Lords, of almost all military and civil state officials,
above all by the loud and unanimous respect shown by aU towns, places,
villages, and communities of the land.
The old dynasty which had been estranged from the nation by the twenty-
five years of revolution and empire had not yet sufficiently grown accustomed
to it, and Charles X had placed every difficulty in the way of approximation.
No doubt the nation would have liked to see the reigning family retained,
but as they were only drawn to it by considerations of profit and fear
of overthrow, and not by a feeling of warm attachment or a deep insight
into the affairs of the kingdom, they gave it up with all the cheerfulness
so peculiar to the French in public affairs. No idea was formed as to the
extent of this change ; the kingdom still existed ; that its life-giving roots
had been cut off was not taken into consideration. They were only too
glad to have been let off so cheaply. This feeling effaced all regret as
well as all fears, which the fall of the old kingdom might have instilled
into less unscrupulous minds.
The July Revolution was generally felt to be a liberation and was accepted
with enthusiasm ; and no less outside of France, and rightly ; for this revolu-
tion was more profitable to foreign parts than to the country which made it.
Europe breathed again as after a nightmare. Everywhere nations awoke at
this early call, stirred and stretched themselves in their chains, and although
they were not yet to succeed looked to see where they could cast them off,
for the long, long night was over. It had been a gloomy time for Europe :
fifteen years of darkness only illuminated by the reflection of princely
feasts and congresses, fifteen years of silence only broken by the melodious
voices of incomparable artists who seemed to wish to sing the people into
a deeper sleep. For France it had been a bright and alert time which was
now so suddenly interrupted : a time of fighting for the highest treasures,
strong reliance in the victory of the good, and of pure enthusiasm for
ideal aims. Now all this was ended.
The July Revolution was the last flicker of the flame of 1789, and
although a great deal of deception was mixed in the enthusiasm, and pathos
and declamation were less naive than forty years before, " the great week "
rightfully lives in the traditions of the nation as the most heroic and glorious
of all the great battles of the past ninety years, not so much because the
victory was more unsullied, sacrificing, and magnanimous than all others,
but because the elevation was the sublimest of all.
With this elevation, the poetry of the Revolution ended, the hour of prose
had struck. There began a bitter strife for power and gain, a life in the
moment and for the moment, a mastery of phrases such as had never been seen
before and which in the end degenerated into conscious lies. For the entire
movement was the outcome of the great reaction of Rousseau and his times
against the calmness of the eighteenth century, and it lasted until the fresh
calmness stepped in, in the middle of the nineteenth century. All the inspira-
tions of the times were hollowed out into empty words during those twenty
years ; instead of the thoughts and sentiments which had filled the race, there
arose vain forms, behind which covetousness and pure egotism were hidden..
These were not to be dethroned after the cooling down of 1849-1850, but
they were unmasked, and it is characteristic of our times that after the
extinction of enthusiasm and want of idealism, under the ever more grasping
tule of a sceptical and positive comprehension of life, they have at least the
courage to honour the truth, on which the former race, either consciously or
unconsciously, laid so little stress.'
CHARLES X AND THE JULY REVOLUTION OF 1830 53
[1830 A.D.]
MAETIN ON THE JULY REVOLUTION
It must be recognised that — given the conditions of French history
since '89, and the social state of France being what it was, and so different
from that of England — after the national sovereignty had once been re-estab-
lished, the republic must also take its turn. In 1830 the question however
was not to know if the republic were the last word of the French Revolution,
but if the time were come to pronounce that word irrevocably.
France was not then at all ready. Memories of the Terror oppressed the
imagination and were still generally confounded with the idea of a republic ;
an irresistible current carried the liberal citizenry to an imitation of the Eng-
lish revolution of 1688 and the trial of an elective monarchy. As for the
popular masses, they had in the highest degree the national sentiment, which
bad raised again with passion the tricoloured flag, but they had little senti-
ment for universal suffrage which is inseparable in the modern world from
the republican idea.
The regime established August 9th, 1830, has then its raison d'Stre in
French history, but could be only a transition, and the blame that attaches
to its authors is that of neglecting to introduce in the Charter a means of
operating this transition peacefully by giving the nation the power to revise
its constitutional laws, a faculty inalienable and inseparable from national
self-government. «
CHAPTER III
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1848
[1830-1848 A.D.]
The revolution of July suddenly frustrated the repressive policy of
the great powers, and was the commencement of a new era in the lib-
erties of Europe. It gave an impulse to the revolution in Belgium ; to
the insurrection in Poland ; to the democratic constitutions of Switzer-
land ; to political reforms in several of the states of Germany ; and to
parliamentary reform in England. Its influence was felt in Italy, in
Spain, and Portugal ; in Hungary, and in the Slavonic provinces of
Austria. And, even beyond the bounds of Europe, it reached from
Egypt and Syria, in the east, to South America, in the west. The
period of reaction was now closed, to be succeeded by the progressive
development of constitutional freedom. — Sik Thomas Eeskine Mat. 5
Placed as Louis Philippe was between the past and the future, between
the ancient monarchy crumbled without hope of return and the republic
brought forward, then adjourned, his position was complex and his spirit
contradictory. He was at the same time a prince at heart and a bourgeois
in form ; revolutionary by his memories, and reactionary, or at least station-
ary, from the fear which these very memories inspired in him, as well as by
his royal memories.
" King-citizen," promenading Paris in round hat and with an umbrella,
not only by calculation, but by taste as well, he was at the same time a
descendant 'of Louis XIV — the issue of the brother of Louis XIV, on the
male side; he descended on the female side from the Grand Monarch himself
and Mme. de Montespan. He had kept from Voltairianism sentiments of
humanity and religious scepticism, but nothing more from that great breath
of the eighteenth century which had for a moment animated his youth and
inspired the entire life of La Fayette.
One of the men who did most to enthrone Louis Philippe was Thiers,
who has defined the constitutional monarchy in the phrase, " It reigns but
it does not govern." The new king never accepted this maxim and aspired
from the first day to rule in all things, less from any theory of monarchy
than from a passion for affairs, big or little, and above all from a conviction
54
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE KEVOLUTION OF 1848 55
[1830 A.D.]
of the superiority he fancied he held over his ministers, even when he had
before him a Casimir Perier or a Thiers. He could not even delegate
authority as Napoleon did and Charles X wanted to do. It was necessary
then that he govern by address and by artifice, not by imposing and order-
ing, but by reducing and dividing, by subalternising his ministers and gaining
his parliamentary majorities by interesting groups and individuals. Such a
policy was incompatible with sincerity towards persons and things ; incapable
of violating the laws, Louis Philippe used all his skill to contract the laws
and to undermine free institutions. These dangerous tendencies, however,
manifested themselves but gradually, c
STATE OF THE COUNTRY AND FIRST ACTS OP THE REIGN
Although the political revolution was over, and the throne of Louis
Philippe, so far as external appearances went, firmly established, the interior
of society was in a very different state, and the seeds of evil which were des-
tined in the end to overturn it were beginning to germinate. The state of the
working-classes, especially in the great towns, which had rapidly degenerated
since and in consequence of the first revolution, had been brought to a per-
fect climax of horror by the effects of the second. The almost entire stop-
page of purchases and expenditure in France, in consequence of the terrors
which had seized all the affluent classes, combined with the corresponding
reductions in the English market, from the effect of the simultaneous reform
agitation in that country, had reduced all who were engaged in the produc-
tion of luxuries — that is, the immense
majority of the working-classes — to the
last stages of destitution. It was hard to
say whether the vin e-gr o wers of the Gironde,
the silk-weavers of Lyons, the cotton-spin-
ners of Rouen, the jewellers or the printers
of Paris, were in the greatest distress. In
Bordeaux there were twenty-two thousand
workmen out of employment ; in Paris the
number exceeded sixty thousand. At
Nimes the fancy silks had sunk to a third
in price, while the wages of the work-
men had undergone a similar diminution.
Montpellier, which depended chiefly on the
sale of wines, was in the utmost distress,
and loudly complained of the recent rise in
the octroi on that article ; and in Lyons the
suffering had become such that the only
question seemed to be when a half of the
entire inhabitants were to expire of famine.
Nor was the condition of the masters more
consoling, for even at the low rates of wages,
such had been the fall of prices in the manu-
factured article that they could not work
at a profit ; and numerous failures among
the most considerable both threw numbers of workmen out of employment
and fearfully augmented the general consternation.<i
The first acts of the reign of Louis Philippe were prudent and modest.
He modified and completed the ministry which he had formed during his
Louis Philippe
(1773-1850)
66 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1830 A.D.]
lieutenant-generalship. He called Mole to take charge of the foreign affairs
and Broglie to the ministry of public instruction. The other ministers
remained. Laffitte, Casimir Perier, Dupin, and Bignon were members of the
cabinet of ministers without portfolios. There was no president of the
council, neither Laffitte nor Casimir Perier accepting this high post. This
ministry included very opposite tendencies.
The chambers, in accord with the government during the month of
August, voted certain measures which were the natural result of the July
Revolution. Political condemnations from the time of the restoration were
annulled. Aid and recompense were voted for the July combatants ; for
the wounded and for the families of the dead. The Pantheon, which under
the empire had become the church of Ste. Genevieve, was restored to the
destination given it in 1791, which was to receive the remains of great men.
The double vote was suppressed, also the great electoral colleges, or depart-
mental colleges, which the restoration had founded as citadels of the
aristocracy to control the electoral bourgeoisie.
However, difficulties were beginning for the new government. Commer-
cial affairs had weighed heavy before the Revolution ; they became, as we
have seen, worse after it. The working-classes were surprised and angry to
find themselves more unhappy the day after than on the eve of the " great
days " which owed so much to their courage and devotion. They gathered
together in the streets and on the squares to command the government to
procure for them diminution of labour or increase of wages. The less
enlightened wanted to break the machines which, they said, suppressed the
employment of their arms."
SOCIALISTIC MOVEMENTS
Although mischievous to society (the return and repose of which they
delayed) and troublesome to the authority which as yet wanted the power to
repress them, these palpable irregularities would have signified little, if
beyond and above street demonstrations, other causes of disorder, older and
more deeply rooted, had not taken possession of many minds. The revolu-
tion of July had not confined itself to the overthrow of a dynasty, and the
modification of a charter : it had given rise to pretensions and hopes, not
alone in the political party who desired for France a form of government
opposed to monarchy, but in all the schools, and in every sect, through all the
varied divisions of life, whether prominent or obscure, who were dreaming
of another state of social organisation quite distinct from that which France
had received from her origin, her Christian faith, and her fourteen ages of
political existence.
Besides the republicans — and divided between a desire to join and to
separate from them — the Saint Simonians, the Fourierists, the socialists, and
the communists, much opposed to each other in principle and unequal in
strength, as in intellectual power, were all in a state of ambitious effervescence.
The secret societies of the Restoration had transferred themselves into
revolutionary clubs, thus combining the remains of silent discipline with the
extravagant enthusiasm of unbridled speech. There at daily and public
meetings, all events and questions, whether of principle or incidental occur-
rence, were warmly discussed. All designs, hopes, and dreams were boldly
investigated. The entire government, the monarchy, the chambers, the
magistracy, the administration, were attacked with undissembled violence.
Their total overthrow was unreservedly proposed. Working-people and
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE EEVOLUTION OF 1848 57
[1830 A.D.]
youths, casual passers-by, entered into these places of assembly as to a public
spectacle, enjoying their audacious license ; and round the leaders of these
old republican, Bonapartist, socialist, or other associations, advocates of the
popular party were grouped, ready to declare against the existing authori-
ties, which from day to day they were in the habit of hearing insulted and
denounced as enemies, e
The chamber of deputies voted a credit of five millions for public works,
one of thirty millions to make advances to commercial houses. Disturbances
at home and abroad united to prevent the resumption of affairs. These
alarms were confirmed by the continued low state of public funds. Four of
Charles X's ministers, among them Polignac and Peyronnet, had been
arrested and confined at Vincennes. The expectation of their trial agitated
people's minds.^
Foreign affairs caused the most lively anxiety. Louis Philippe and the
men who surrounded him realised that the counter action of the July Revo-
lution would inevitably make itself felt abroad, and that the new regime
would not subsist in France if it permitted the Holy Alliance to recom-
mence, in respect to the French, what the Restoration had done in Spain.
The English minister was the first to announce an intention to recognise the
new government in France, on condition that it respected existing treaties.
Public opinion in England had been very sincere and active in favour of the
July Revolution. Prussia and Austria also, in spite of the displeasure and
anxiety of Metternich, had received the communications of the new govern-
ment, properly although with reserve. The great question was the attitude
which Russia would take. Against all expectation Nicholas repulsed Louis
Philippe's advances rudely, almost brutally. When to his great regret Eng-
land, Austria, and Prussia had recognised the new government, he consented
to keep relations of peace and friendship, but he refused to give the title of
"brother" to the king of the French, and recalled his ambassador. c
Belgium had separated itself from Holland and offered itself to France,
but was refused in order not to excite the jealousy of England. Spanish
refugees wanted to attempt a revolution in their country. They were
arrested at the frontier in order not to violate international rights, even with
a prince who was a secret enemy. Poland, delivered for a short period by a
heroic effort, called to the French. Was it possible to save her by arms?
As she herself said in the midst of her great sufferings : " God is too high
and France is too far." Only isolated assistance was sent, which did not
prevent Warsaw from succumbing. Its fall found a sad echo in the heart of
France.
The approach of the trial of the ministers was causing a fermentation in
Paris. Guizot and Broglie retired from the ministry, their demission entail-
ing that of Mole, Louis and Casimir Perier. Laffitte at the urgent insist-
ence of the king accepted the task of forming a new ministry (November
2nd, 1830)./
lafpitte's ministry
On the 15th of December the ministers of Charles X were tried. La
Fayette took every precaution to preserve order. Taken from Vincennes
to the Luxembourg they defended themselves before the chamber of peers,
[ 1 The populace demanded the death of those who, by signing the ordinances, had hronght
on the Revolution, and were therefore indirectly the cause of so many deaths. But even La Fay-
ette opposed this, being generous enough to wish their escape, especially because they were his
enemies. This also caused a dissension in the cabinet. — MiJLLEE.]
68 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1830-1831 A.D.]
being represented by their advocates, Martignac, Hennequin, Sauzet, and
""Tor "three days, from the 18th to the 20th of December, the mob besi^ed
the Luxembourg, accusing the government of treason. Pans was terrified.
La Fayette tried to negotiate with the ringleaders. On the 20th the inner
court of the Luxembourg was forced and the peers were obliged to suspend
their sitting. By the 21st the riot had become more formidable. Before pro-
nouncing sentence, Montalivet, minister of the interior, went at the head of
the detachment which reconducted the prisoners to Vincennes. The sentence,
read at ten o'clock in the evening, condemned the ministers to imprisonment
for life. On account of the "clemency" of this verdict a new not occurred
on the 22nd, which was suppressed by the national guards and the troops.^
At the moment when these new tumults burst forth the chamber of depu-
ties was busily engaged in discussing the bill for the organisation of the
national guards. This bill naturally brought into question the position of La
Fayette. After a long debate the chamber adopted the article suppressing
the functions of commandant-in-general of the national guards of the king-
dom (December 24th). Without delay La Fayette sent in his resignation
to the king, who resolved to accept it.«
On the 22nd of January, 1831, there was a riot among the students at the
Sorbonne against the academic council assembled to forbid collective demon-
strations. The 13th qf February a memorial service was held in St. Germain-
r Auxerrois in memory of the assassination of the duke de Berri ; there the
legitimists made an imprudent demonstration in honour of the duke de Bor-
deaux. The crowd, thoroughly roused, pillaged the presbytery, profaned
the church, and committed many acts of vandalism. In the evening the
republicans promenaded carrying arms. Dupin was threatened in his house.
The 14th saw the archbishop's palace pillaged. There were fresh scenes of
vandalism : the archbishop's country house at Conflans was sacked ; the
church of Bonne Nouvelle was pillaged, and several public buildings were
attacked. Baude, prefect of police, and Odilon Barrot, prefect of the Seine,
were perfectly inert. Their complacent proclamations only touched the
counter-revolutionists and the legitimists. The fleurs-de-lis were torn down
everywhere, and the scenes of anarchy were not limited to Paris.
Those who loved order, and had hailed the government as a saviour, began
to doubt its strength and even its will. On the 17th of February Delessert
denounced the negligence and weakness of the ministry in the chamber.
There was yet time to act vigorously against the plotters of sedition, and
prevent civil war. Baude and Odilon Barrot made a very poor defence and
criticised the retrograde methods hitherto pursued. Guizot wanted the
government to free itself from all illegal pressure, and to act in harmony
with the chamber, putting itself at the head of society and not at the tail,
renouncing a popularity both impossible and compromising. Laffitte still
avoided expressing his opinion, and contented himself by replacing Baude
and Odilon Barrot by Vivien and Bondy. His position personally became
more and more false ; even the other ministers acted without him.
The risings continued ; strikes spread ; credit was low. Laffitte obtained
on the 6th of March two hundred million special credit with difficulty ; but
the chamber refused him a vote of confidence. His friends persuaded him to
retire, and he was, moreover, obliged to do so owing to pecuniary embarrass-
ments and the losses sustained by his banking house.''
One of the direct causes of Laffitte's fall was his position on the Italian
question, the minister wishing to aid an insurrection against Austria which
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 59
[1831 A.D.]
was on foot there. But the king was even more unwilling to intervene for
the independence of Italy than he had been to interfere in the affairs of
Belgium. The king had gone behind the back of his minister and made an
agreement with Austria, on learning of which LafStte resigned March 9th,
1831."
CASIMIR PERIER AND rOEEIGN AFFAIRS (1831-1832 A.D.)
Casimir Perier, the new minister, had been endowed with a gift at the
same time very striking and almost universally appreciated, namely a force
of character which amounted almost to heroism. President of the chamber
before he became prime-minister, he was the man of the majority. His
policy may be very briefly summed up : order at home maintained by such
means as were authorised by the charter and the law ; peace abroad, with-
out sacrificing in the slightest degree the honour of the nation ; in foreign
affairs three great questions claimed the attention of the French govern-
ment— Belgium, Poland, and Italy. When Casimir Perier was called upon
for a statement of his policy before the chambers, he said : " The principle
already laid down of non-intervention is the one we will adopt," and his
actions verified his words.
In 1831 the centre of Italy was occupied by the Austrians on the pre-
text of overcoming revolution. On the 2nd of February the conclave
proclaimed Gregory XVI sovereign pontiff. In order to pacify men's
minds, the European powers addressed a memorial to the pope in which
they pointed out such reforms as seemed to them likely to appease the dis-
satisfaction of his subjects. The pope refused to pledge himself, so secret
societies were again formed and rebellion broke out anew. Gregory XVI
appealed to the Austrians for help. Austria by granting it violated the
principle of non-intervention.
Casimir Perier, in the name of France, protested in a way that might
have brought about war ; on the 7th of February a French fleet carrying a
line regiment left Toulon and arrived on the 22nd within sight of Ancona.
The troops landed during the night and the town was taken. The pope,
indignant, cried, " Such an attempt has not been made against the holy see
since the time of the Saracens." The government made known its intentions.
It would protect the holy father even against attacks from within, but it
would not suffer Austria to rule in his states ; to the foreign ambassadors,
who in the name of public justice called upon him for an explanation, Casimir
Perier replied, " It is I who defend the rights of Europe at large. Do you
think it is easy to keep the peace and insist on the observance of treaties ?
The honour of France must be maintained." The pope soon agreed to
what he was powerless to prevent. Austria did not pick up the gauntlet
which had been thrown down. The Austrian troops evacuated the legations
and, on the 24th of October, 1838, the French soldiers set sail for France.
Poland had attempted in 1830 to release herself from the iron grasp of
Russia. The institutions granted by the czar Alexander and guaranteed by
Europe in 1815 had fallen one by one under the persistent attacks of the
Russian government. When the emperor Nicholas came to Warsaw to be
crowned in 1829, he refused to revoke the measures of which Poland com-
plained. In the evening of the 29th of November, 1830, at a signal given
by means of two fires, an insurrection broke out in Warsaw and the Russian
army retired. But the Poles were divided amongst themselves, and the
emperor of Russia took advantage of the time wasted by them. A desperate
battle, lasting for two days, did not shake the determination of the Poles,
60 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1831-1832 A.D.]
who resisted the Russians for several months. In the meantime they
claimed help from the western nations, especially from France, who made
them understand that they must not expect any support from her arms.
At the same time France reminded Russia of the sacredness of treaties, and
proposed to act as a mediator. She begged the other European nations to
succour the Poles, but without result.
After the disaster, all she could do was to open her arms to the exiles.
This she did eagerly, and gave an asylum to ten thousand Polish refugees.
In the streets the mob constantly cried : " Poland forever ! " and pursued
with this cry the great administrator.*
Casimir P^rier was the only man capable of controlling the situation
and of directing what was called the party of the opposition. But he
was not inclined to make himself the tool of anyone. He had demanded,
together with the presidency of the council, the ministry of the interior.
He declared that he intended to preside actively over the council and that
the king should not be present. He thought that where responsibility is
located, there should also be the power of action. He was resolved to prac-
tice the principle laid down by Thiers in Le National before the Days of
July: "The king reigns, but does not govern. "c
He plainly stated two things : that he wished legal order and that he
would consequently fight the republicans and legitimists to the death ; that
he would not precipitate France into a universal war, and consequently that
he would make all sacrifices to the peace of the world, which were com-
patible with the honour of the country. This language sounded proud;
action confirmed it./
Dom Miguel in Portugal had treated two Frenchmen outrageously.
A fleet forced its way through the straits of the Tagus, hitherto consid-
ered impregnable, and anchored at three hundred toises from the quays of
Lisbon. The Portuguese ministers humbled themselves, and a just repara-
tion was made. The Dutch had invaded Belgium : fifty thousand French-
men advanced thither and the Dutch flag gave way.
In the interior the president of the council followed with the same energy
the line of conduct he had laid down for himself. Legitimists agitated
the departments of the west. Mobile columns extinguished the revolt. The
working-classes of Lyons, incited by too severe suffering, but also by agita-
tors, had rebelled, inscribing on their banner this sad and sinister device :
" Live in working or die in fighting." After a frightful melee in the city
itself, they were disarmed and order appeared re-established on the surface.
Grenoble in its turn ran with blood.c
In Paris the different parties were not wanting in energy. Two legiti-
mist plots broke out — first, that of " the Towers of Notre-Dame." Six indi-
viduals secreted themselves in the bell-tower of the cathedral to ring the tocsin
and thus give the signal for insurrection. They were arrested and imprisoned.
The following month a new conspiracy was discovered, that of the " rue des
Prouvaires. " The agent Poncelet had managed to enrol twenty-five hundred
men in Paris. At a given moment these men were to rise and carry off the
royal family by force. They were arrested in rue des Prouvaires. However,
the government was attacked by the papers of all parties with an ever-
increasing bitterness. In speaking of Frenchmen M. de Montalivet used
the word " subjects," and someone cried : " What about the minister ? " and
a deputy added : " Men who make kings are not subjects."
Soon after this the overwhelming anxiety caused by a terrible epidemic
of cholera absorbed the thoughts and attention of the whole nation. The
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE KEVOLUTION OF 1848 61
tl832 A.D.]
scourge, which came originally from India, had already spread all over the
Old World from China and Russia to England. It spread from town to town
and from capital to capital defying all efforts to arrest its progress. It broke
out in Paris on the 26th of March, 1832, raged for a hundred and eighty-nine
days and carried off nineteen thousand persons. ^ It spread through twenty-
seven departments. Casimir Perier had visited the hospital with the duke
of Orleans ; two days afterwards he was confined to his bed. His health
had for some time been feeble, and he died on the 16th of May after severe
and protracted suffering. When Louis Philippe heard of his death he said
to one who was present : " Casimir Perier is dead : is it a blessing or a mis-
fortune ? The future will show." The king was not always quite comfort-
able with such an imperious minister.*
LOMfeNIE'S ESTIMATE OF CASIMIR PEKIEB
No man better understood or did more to maintain representative gov-
ernment than Perier. That is to say he thought the government should be
carried on under an open sky, so to speak, and always under the eyes and
control of the country. It has been truly said of him that he governed from
the tribunal, and that he was sometimes indiscreet in his fear of not being
sufficiently frank. No statesman ever had a stronger sense of the duties or
of the rights appertaining to responsibility and the exercise of power. He
wished the throne to be respected and to be worthy of respect as the chief
magistracy of the kingdom, but he wished it to remain inviolable and strictly
within its own exalted sphere, ruling over parties without mixing in them.
An open enemy of what has since been called personal government,
Perier was no less hostile to emergency laws ; he refused them, with equal
firmness before the entreaties of his friends and the representations of his ene-
mies. His courageous confidence in public opinion always made him look
on the common law energetically administered as the only instrument which
could be suitably employed by the " government of July." " Our system of
home policy," he would say, " is to make the laws of the land our constant
rule of action, to support the government by restoring to it the power and
unity which it lacks, to reinstate and tranquillise all sorts of interests, by
giving them guarantees of order and stability, to respect the laws and to
draw from our legislative system and the moral strength which arises from
it, all our methods of action and of influence ; it is in short never to consent
to form a party government and, while keeping a strict watch over any
intrigues that may be woven in secret, never to yield to the temptation of
crushing the vanquished ; for, in so doing, victory is dishonoured."
In his dealings with other nations the language and behaviour of the
statesman of the 13th of March were always worthy of France. He desired
peace but he would not have sacrificed either the interests or honour of his
country to preserve it. He would not rashly enter upon a quarrel but when
once he had declared himself he never drew back, and when he considered
the moment for action had arrived, he acted quite independently without
the sanction of anyone else. Thus he entered Belgium entirely on his own
initiative and without waiting for the conference of London to authorise
him in doing so. Thus he blockaded and took the port of Lisbon, without
troubling himself about the dissatisfaction of England. It was thus that in
order to convince Austria that she had better retire from the Roman states
he could find no better way than forcing an entry into Ancona and establish-
[1 In the whole of France it counted 120,000 victims in 1832. c]
62 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1832-1834 A.D.]
ing himself there. Thus it was in short that he was capable, with a vivacity
which was characteristically French, of reducing to silence a Russian ambas-
sador who dared to speak to him about the " decisions " of the emperor.
To sum up : whatever judgment we may form of the political career of
Casimir Perier, it would be impossible for any unprejudiced person to tail
to recognise in him two valuable qualities which essentially distinguished
him, namely : energy and loyalty. ^
SUCCEEDING MINISTRIES
Montalivet replaced Casimir Perier in the office of minister for home
affairs, but not in the presidency of the council. Louis Philippe did not
care to share the power with a viceroy. Laborious, intelligent, gifted with
a fine sense of honour, unimpulsive, courageous as he was merciful and easy-
tempered, the king was impressed by his own superiority, and wished to
direct the government himself, and to establish what he called his 'system.'
He was too inclined to attribute the merit of success to himself. For a long
time he sought to place at the head of the cabinet a president who would
inspire confidence in foreign nations, and to induce orators to enter who could
defend his politics victoriously before the chambers. His ideas led to the
resignation of Sdbastiani and Montalivet, looked upon as court followers ;
the formation of the ministry of October 11th, composed of Marshal Soult the
president, with Broglie, minister of foreign affairs, Thiers, home secretary ;
Guizot, minister of education, Humann, minister of finance, Admiral de
Rigny, Bar the, and d'Argout; and the creation of sixty-two new peers. ^
Meanwhile society had been moved to its lowest depths by the partisans
of Saint-Simon and of Fourier, who demanded another social order. They
themselves still played the part of mere apostles of peace, but the insurrec-
tion at Lyons had shown that among the proletariat there was a whole army
ready to apply their doctrines. The national guard energetically defended
the monarchy, when, in consequence of the obsequies attending the funeral
of General Lamarque, the republicans gave battle behind the barricades of
St. Merry on the 5th and 6th of June. This check arrested their party for
some time. A month later (July 22nd, 1832) the death of Napoleon's son,
the duke of Reichstadt, relieved the Orleanist dynasty of a redoubtable rival
and the marriage of Princess Louise with the king of the Belgians seemed
to give it an added support.
Another pretender also lost her cause. The duchess de Berri, who had
landed secretly dn the coasts of Provence with the title of regent, was come
to stir up civil war in the west, in the name of her son Henry V. But there
were no longer either Vend^ans or royalists of the Loire (Ghouans) in
existence. The new ideas had made way there as elsewhere, and more than
elsewhere even. " Those people are patriots and republicans," said an officer
charged to combat them. A few nobles, some refractory persons, few peas-
ants responded to the call. The country, overrun with troops, was quickly
pacified, and the duchess, after wandering for a long time from farm to
farm, entered Nantes, disguised as a peasant. This adventurous attempt
showed the weakness of the legitimist party. To complete its ruin Thiers,
who was at that time minister,, instituted an active search for the duchess.^
[1 Mliller ff says that she was betrayed to the authorities hy a Jew named Deuz who was paid
SOOjObO francs. " Her relative Louis Philippe was relieved from his predicament as to her disposal
by her giving birth to a daughter whose paternity she could not satisfactorily explain. She was
allowed to go to Palermo and the legitimists ceased for a time to be willing to risk their heroes and
heroines on the slippery ground of France. They fixed their only hope on a general reaction."]
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE EEVOLUTION OF 1848 63
[1832-1834 A.D.]
Discovered on the 7th of November and imprisoned at Blaye, she was obliged
to confess to a secret marriage which made any other attempt of the same
kind impossible for the future.
The capture by French soldiers of the citadel of Antwerp which the
Dutch refused to give up to the Belgians put an end to the critical situation
from which war might result at any moment (December 23rd, 1832). The
occupation of Arzeu, of Mostaganem,, and of Bougie confirmed the French
occupation of Algeria, and these expeditions to the border of the Schelde
and on the shores of the Mediterranean brought some glory to French
arms.
In Portugal, Dom Miguel, absolutist prince, had been dethroned in the
interests of Donna Maria, who gave the people a constitutional charter. In
Spain, Ferdinand VII was on the point of death, excluding from the crown,
with the abolishment of the Salic law, his brother Don Carlos, who was sus-
tained by the retrograde party. Thus the whole peninsula escaped from an
absolutist party at the same time./
In the discussion on the budget of 1833 the opposition combated the
idea of raising detached forts round Paris, "making a Bastille of it." In
such an act they saw a danger to liberty. The revolutionists appealed to
the national guard and the working-classes, and prepared to celebrate
the July anniversary. The plot was unearthed by the police, who seized the
stores of arms and arrested several heads of sections. I^ater on, nearly all the
accused were acquitted because the plot had been without result. The acquit-
ments led to deplorable results. The republicans organised strikes. On
October 23rd, the SodStS des droits de Vhomme published a manifesto in La
Tribune and put themselves under the patronage of Robespierre.
The new session opened December 22nd, 1833. The republicans who
had signed the Tribune manifesto were called upon to declare themselves.
New repressive laws were passed : one, 17th February, 1834, against street-
criers ; this was followed on the 24th by a rising, which was promptly sup-
pressed. On March 25th a severe law was issued against associations. Not
more than twenty persons were to meet. The cognisance of political offences
committed by them belonged to a jury ; that of infractions of the law to the
ordinary tribunes, and attempts against the safety of the state to the cham-
ber of peers. The opposition vainly brought all their forces to weaken
these provisions, but the majority was a strong one and obtained a decisive
triumph. A law was passed against the fabrication or storing of arms and
ammunition. The government was' henceforward armed with every possi-
ble means of resistance, and yet these were not called emergency laws.^
The Treaty of the Quadruple Alliance, signed April 22nd, 1834, between
the courts of Paris, London, Lisbon, and Madrid, promised to the new Spanish
and Portuguese governments the sure support of two great constitutional
countries, against the ill-will of the northern courts. In France these prom-
ises even led to some effect. To sustain the young queen Isabella, in case
of need, against the Spanish legitimists, the natural allies of the French
legitimists, an army corps of fifty thousand men was organised at the foot
of the Pyrenees. /
FIESCHl'S INFEENAL MACHINE AND THE "SEPTEMBER LAWS "
For some time rumours of plots against the king's life had been in circu-
lation. There was, so to speak, a presage of evil in the air. The public was
uneasy. The republican and legitimist newspapers attributed these reports
64 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1835 A.D.]
to the police ; but they had too real a foundation. The police had not in-
vented conspiracies, but had prevented many; now it was said m France and
abroad that there would be an attempt upon the life of Louis Philippe dur-
ing the annual review of July 28th. This might have no other origin than
the thought of the opportunity that this day offered to the king s enemies ;
but from" July 26th to 27th, the rumours grew more distinct ; the police was
warned that an infernal machine had been constructed, and that the blow
would be struck near the boulevard du Temple ; they made diligent search
but without success. It was most imprudent to pass the troops in review on
the boulevards, where an unexpected attack would be so easy, rather than
in the Champ de Mars. ,. , , , , , . r-^ j:
The information by which the pohce had been unable to profat was untor-
tunately not imaginary. At the moment when the royal procession reached
the boulevard du Temple, on the spot where the Jardin Turc then was, the
king perceived a puff of smoke burst forth from beneath the shutters of a
house on the boulevard. He quickly exclaimed to one of his sons who was
beside him, " Joinville, that is intended for me."
A loud detonation was heard, the roadway was strewn with slain and
wounded ; more than forty people fell. Among the dead was Marshal Mor-
tier, who had escaped so many battles to perish, murdered in Paris, by a
blow intended for another. With him were killed a general officer, superior
officers of the army and of the national guard, some old men and women.
Five other generals were wounded. The horses of the king and the prince
de Joinville had been struck, but the projectiles whistled around the king and
his sons without touching them.
In the midst of the universal terror, Louis Philippe said composedly,
"Now, gentlemen, let us proceed." And he finished his progress amongst
the acclamations of the national guard and the indignant populace. The
police hastened to the spot whence the explosions had proceeded ; it proved
to be a small house of mean appearance, No. 50, boulevard du Temple. They
found here a machine composed of twenty-four gun-barrels arranged like
organ-pipes. There was no one in the room ; but, in a neighbouring court-
yard, a man who had descended from the roof, by means of a rope, was
arrested. He was covered with blood and mutilated — he had been wounded
by his own machine, several of the gun-barrels having burst. He said his
name was Girard, but it was soon discovered that he was a Corsican, called
Fieschi.
The public feeling was one of horror at this outrage, which as in the case
of the first infernal machine directed against Bonaparte had indiscriminately
struck so many victims whilst attempting to reach the intended one. The
reaction produced was profitable to the king, whose brave composure was
praised. The population took part with emotion in the solemn obsequies of
the dead, which were held on July 28th. Then followed the same conse-
quences as after the assassination of the duke de Berri ; free institutions paid
for Fieschi's crime, as they had paid for that of Louvel. On August 4th, in
imitation of the royalist ministry of 1820, Louis Philippe's ministers pre-
sented to the chamber of deputies a number of restrictive and reactionary laws.
After the catastrophe which had just terrified Paris and France, it was
not to be wondered at that all possible precautions should be taken to protect
the king's person against hatreds which were manifested in so terrible a man-
ner, but far more than this was intended. The bills interdicted not only all
offensive allusion to the king's person, but all discussion regarding his claims
to the throne, and the principle of his government. It was forbidden to
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OE 1848 65
[1835 A.D.]
assume the name of republican, and to express a desire for the restoration of
the elder branch of the Bourbons. The number of votes necessary for the
condemnation of accused persons was reduced from eight to seven out of
twelve in the jury ; it was the simple majority instead of the two-thirds.
The offences of exciting hatred or contempt of the king's person, or of his
constitutional authority, were in these bills made crimes liable to be brought
before the court of peers. The penalties were increased in extravagant pro-
portions. Terms of imprisonment were much lengthened and fines were
raised from ten thousand to fifty thousand francs. In proportion as the
penalties were increased the difficulty of escaping them was augmented not
only by changes in jurisdiction, but by the introduction of a flood of new
definitions.
The deposits required of newspapers were considerably increased. All
the illustrations and engravings were submitted to preliminary authorisation,
that is to say, to the censorship. Some republican artists of much talent had
made caricature a perfect implement of war against Louis Philippe and
against all men of the Juste Milieu; they had far surpassed the English in
this style of polemics, the sharpest and most incisive of all. The new laws
broke this weapon in their hands.
The constitutional opposition resisted energetically; it felt that the gov-
ernment of July, by seeking to exaggerate its actual strength, was risking
its future. There was deep emotion in the assembly when Royer-CoUard,
the aged head of the doctrinal school, recalled to constitutional principles his
disciples, Broglie and Guizot. He worthily crowned his career by his grand
and austere defence of legitimate liberty. One seemed to have gone back
to the Restoration, and it was the doctrinaires and one of the liberal parties
who replaced Villele and Peyronnet.
Dupin, with less haughtiness, but plenty of common-sense and logic,
also supported the cause of press and jury. But all in vain. The majority
was maddened by Fieschi's attempt, and voted for everything ; even increas-
ing the terms proposed. The chamber of peers followed the chamber of
deputies. There also, however, eloquent protests were made; Villemain,
Guizot's former and celebrated colleague at the Sorbonne, made a brilliant
but ineffectual defence of liberty. The laws against press and jury were
termed the "laws of September," because the decisive vote took place on the
9th of that month. The republicans called them the " Fieschi laws.""
THE KISB OP THIEES AND GUIZOT
Amongst the prominent possibilities for ministerial power two were spe-
cially prominent — Guizot and Thiers. Guizot was a Protestant and a
native of Nimes. He was still quite young in 1815, but had already occu-
pied important positions. At first an enthusiastic royalist, the extremist
members of his party had driven him to join the opposition. As a professor
of history he had won the applause of his pupils. His mind was dry but
powerful ; as a writer he was stiff but dignified ; in the tribune the ideas he
expressed were methodically formulated and his style was cold and haughty ;
in public life he maintained an attitude of proud severity. Since Royer-
CoUard had grown too old for public functions Guizot had been the leading
man of the "theoretical politicians." This name was given at the Restora-
tion to a party of men whose power consisted more in their talents than in
their number (a wag had said that the whole party could sit on one sofa).
The name did not imply that they were consistently attached to the same
H. W. — VOL. XIII. F
66 THE HISTOEY OP FRANCE
[1833-1840 A.D.]
theories for long together, but there was a certain sententiousness in their
language which justified the title.
Guizot was the historian and the theoretical exponent of the policy
whose statesman had been Casimir Perier. He had founded a historical and
philosophical system on the power given to the upper middle class, tha,t is to
say on the most ephemeral of expedients. His past life and his opinions
constituted him the most conservative of the Orleanist party.
Thiers was just the reverse ; at that time he was young and modern ; a
little rotund man, with a peculiar face already adorned by the traditional
spectacles, sparkling with wit and vivacity, very supple minded, clever in
adapting himself to circumstances, understanding or at least in touch with
everything, drawn to the people by the poverty of his early life and by his
ardent enthusiasm, imbued with the history of the empire, an ardent admirer
of military exploits and of strong measures, he formed, during six years of
uninterrupted rivalry, the strongest possible contrast to Guizot.
Guizot and Thiers both became members of the same government that of
the 11th of October, 1833. This ministry passed through many vicissitudes,
was modified several times, and had many different chiefs.
The marked feature of all succeeding combinations, the union of Guizot
and Thiers, disappeared in 1836. For a short time Thiers was alone. But
the king had made a plan of his own, and on the 15th of April, 1837, as we
shall see, he made Mole prime minister. Mole's chief merit in the king's
eyes was that he was ready to do as he was told ; in short, he acknowledged
the king as his master. The idea of a personal government made men of
all shades of opinion, and even those who were bitter rivals, unite against
the new minister. Thiers, Guizot, and the man who wished to bring the
new regime back to the traditions of the Revolution of 1830, Odilon Barrot,
formed a coalition which included men of every party who had united with
all those who had taken leading parts in the government of July. Mole
tried to make himself popular. He set free political prisoners, and resolved
to grant the amnesty which everyone, as everyone always does, had declared
to be impossible, but which everybody, and this too is a common occurrence,
applauded as soon as it was accomplished. The amnesty reflects credit on
the Mole ministry, but it did not save it. It succumbed in 1839 beneath the
repeated attacks of its opponents.
The latter split up into sections immediately after their victory. A
crisis which seemed interminable supervened. For two months, abortive
measures and manoeuvres which became the laughing-stock of the news-
papers perpetually proclaimed the inefficacy of the government. It was only
when, during an insurrection, the sound of firing was heard, that a ministry
was formed in which neither of the leaders of the party had a place. This
was the last expedient of the reign. Soon, after so many short ministries,
there was to be one which was too durable and which was to put an end to
the existing state of things.
The struggle between Thiers and Guizot occupied the closing years of
the reign. On the 1st of March, 1840, Louis Philippe decided to request
Thiers to form a government. In doing this the king acknowledged himself
defeated: first because Thiers was most intolerant of the king's interference
in affairs of state, and secondly because he represented the boldest element,
the section which was most nearly allied to the Left benches, of the Orleanist
party. Louis Philippe resigned himself, not without misgivings, to this state
of things, and Guizot agreed to absent himself from the debates in the cham-
ber, and even to serve under his rival by accepting the embassy in London.
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE EEVOLUTION OE 1848 67
[1831-1810 A.D.]
And what was Thiers going to do that would not have been done by a
docile instrument of the king ? He gave up all the reforms, and all the
principles in whose name he had just made such a determined opposition.
The minister's language was different, his relations with the left benches
were dissimilar, but the policy was the same. Thiers began by refusing
either to change anything in the repressive laws made during the previous
ten years, or to undertake any electoral reform. One or two hundred
thousand rich men would continue to vote and to govern, to the exclusion
of the ten million citizens ; and, in order to keep the latter in subjection, all
the weapons which had been forged during the government of July for the
maintenance of authority were preserved.
Outside the kingdom Thiers did nothing more ; indeed he could do noth-
ing. The fact was it was difficult enough for him to get the king to accept
him at all. Unpopular and feeling his position continually threatened at
the Tuileries, he dared not act. He governed, but was paralysed by
opposition.
Only two measures were prepared by him, and he had not time to carry
them through. He formed the plan for the fortification of Paris, a plan
which was variously regarded by different parties. The liberals looked
upon it as a military precaution against foreign foes ; the court as a means
of subduing Paris in case of need. The events of 1870 sufficiently proved
that, from a national point of view, Thiers was right. The plan was revived
by Marshal Soult during the next ministry and was sanctioned. Thus,
thirty years later, Paris was able to defend herself.
With Thiers, too, originated the idea of bringing back the remains of
Napoleon I in triumph from St. Helena and placing them in the Invalides.
Thus more warlike ideas, which would have given France a prouder position
amongst the nations of Europe, but which were held in check by the king,
and which the minister found himself obliged to abandon one after another,
were all merged in a sort of funeral procession in honour of the conqueror
who, in the name of France, had dictated laws to the whole world.* We
may now review in some detail the ministries from 1836 to 1840, first noting
the war with Abdul-Kadir."
■WAR WITH ABDUL-KADIR
In the province of Oran a new power had arisen, one very dangerous to
the French, that of a young Arab chief, full of courage and intelligence, the
descendant of a family which exercised a hereditary religious influence.
Abdul-Kadir presented himself to the Moslem tribes as being the man whom
the prophet Mohammed had destined to deliver them from the " Rumis "
(Christians). General Desmichels, who commanded at Oran was imprudent
enough to treat Abdul-Kadir as an equal and to recognise him as the emir,
the prince of all the Moslems of that country (February 25th, 1834). French
authority thus imposed Abdul-Kadir on those very Moslems who till then
had not wished to submit to him. He was not content with dominating the
province of Oran, where the French occupied only a few points ; he presumed
to establish his lieutenants even in the province of Algeria.
A rupture was inevitable ; and, at the battle of the Macta, a small French
force commanded by General Trezel disengaged itself only with great dilh-
culty and loss from the midst of large numbers of Arabs united under Abdul-
Kadir (June 26th, 1835). The French government decided finally to send
into Africa General (later Marshal) Clausel, accompanied by the duke ot
68 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1835-1837 A.D.]
Orleans. Marshal Clausel took the offensive against Abdul-Kadir, scored a
victory at Mascara, the residence of the emir, and occupied Tlemcen (Novem-
ber, 1835-January, 1836). These were the two principal cities of the
province of Oran. ai.j i t;- j-
The marshal, however, had not received sufficient forces ; Abdul-Kadir
might continue the war, and, on the other hand, the bey of Constantine, who
ruled in the east of Algeria and constituted another independent power in
that region, was defying and harassing the French. Clausel returned to
Paris to ask for reinforcements. It was 'during the ministry of Thiers, who
had understood the necessity of putting an end to half -measures. He would
have enabled Clausel to act on a large scale. Unfortunately he fell and his
successors did not inherit his broad views. Clausel did not have at his dis-
posal all the resources which he thought necessary to make an attack upon
Constantine. There was necessity for it, however, if all authority in the
eastern province was not to be lost. The weather was bad, the season
advanced. Clausel decided nevertheless to risk the expedition.
The marshal set out from Bona November 8th, 1836, with a small force of
less than nine thousand men, including some native auxiliaries. He arrived
before Constantine on the 21st, after having crossed the Little Atlas with
great difficulty in the midst of winter rains which made this rugged country
almost impassable. As Ahmed Bey was unpopular, it had been hoped that
the Kabyle and Arab tribes would join the French. But upon seeing the
numerical weakness of the French, they remained on the side of the bey and
the French troops saw them upon their flanks while the city was defended
by a strong garrison well provided with artillery. The ground was so soft
that it had not even been possible to bring up the light field-guns on this
kind of isthmus.
A double attack failed. Provisions and even munitions were growing
scarce. Retreat became inevitable. It was forty leagues to Bona and the
French troops must cross the mountains harassed, by thousands of Arab
horsemen. The Arabs tried to destroy the rearguard, where a weak battal-
ion of the 2nd light cavalry was protecting the ammunition wagons loaded
with the wounded. The Arab cavalry threw themselves in a body upon
this handful of men. The commandant Changarnier gave orders to form a
square and resolutely await the multitude of enemies. The fire of two ranks
at pistol range covered the ground with men and horses. The Arabs were
thoroughly tired of the charge and contented themselves henceforth with
sharpshooting at a distance. This incident made the military fortune of
the commandant Changarnier.
Marshal Clausel conducted the retreat to Bona with much vigour and
skill. The ministry, with which he was not in favour, made him bear all
the responsibility of this defeat and recalled him. They appointed General
Damremont to succeed him, but returned to the bad system of having a
general at Oran who was independent of the governor of Algiers. General
Bugeaud, who had the reputation of an energetic officer, was sent to Oran ;
there was reason to hope that he would dispose of Abdul-Kadir. But he
allowed himself to be entangled in the diplomatic schemes of the Arab chief
and signed a new treaty with him worse than that of his predecessor, Des-
michels. In return for a vague acceptance of the sovereignty of France,
Bugeaud recognised Abdul-Kadir as emir, not only of nearly the whole of
the province of Oran, but of the province of Titery, intermediate between
the provinces of Oran and Algiers ; he even conceded to him a part of the
territory of Algiers. Abdul-Kadir's authority extended then beyond Medea,
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OP 1848 69
[1836-1837 A.D.]
to the last chain of the Little Atlas, above Blida, in fact, into the Metidja
itself. The wretched Treaty of the Tafna thus meant a precarious peace
which gave the emir the means and the time to organise a strong opposition.
The governor of Algiers at least made use of it to operate in the province
of Constantine and repair the losses of Clausel ; for it had been felt to be
impossible to remain quiet under this blow.
General Damremont had not a much larger force than Clausel — 10,000
men altogether ; but he set out much earlier in the season, well provisioned
and equipped with siege guns. The army arrived before Fort Constantine
in the best of condition on the 6th of October. The autumn rains had be-
gun. Unprecedented efforts were necessary to drag the cannon up Coudiat-
Aty. _ The breach, nevertheless, was opened the 11th of October. On the .
following morning General Damremont approached to reconnoitre the
breach. He was instantly killed by a bullet. The loss of this brave leader,
instead of disheartening the army, inspired it. An old soldier of the repub-
lic, the artillery-general Valee, took the command, immediately ordered the
firing to recommence, and on the morning of the 13th sent three columns to
the assault. The first was in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lamoriciere,
and was composed principally of Zouaves. This corps, since become so
famous, had originally been formed of native auxiliaries and retained its
picturesque oriental costume, though recruited with Frenchmen and fre-
quently with Parisians. Lamoriciere impetuously spurred on his men,
scaled the breach, and penetrated into the city, supported by the other two
columns. A bloody struggle was kept up from house to house in the
narrow streets and amid the ruins made by the cannon. Lamoriciere was
cruelly burned by the explosion of a powder magazine, but he survived and
had a brilliant military career.
When the French columns had united in the middle of the city, what was
left of the Mussulman authorities surrendered, and the firing ceased. A
frightful scene marked the end of resistance. A great number of the
inhabitants had madly attempted to escape from the city by descending the
jagged rocks of the gorge of the Rummel. Many of these unfortunates
tumbled from rock to rock and were dashed to pieces in the bed of the tor-
rent. The conquest of the ancient capital of Numidia gave France a firm
base for the future in the interior of Algeria. The event did the army much
honour ; but the ministry did not derive from the amnesty nor from the
taking of Constantine the hoped-for effect upon the elections.^
MINISTERIAL CRISES (1836 A.D.)
Between 1836 and 1840, the cabinet was modified five times successively:
its leaders were Thiers, Count Mole, Broglie, Marshal Soult, and once again
Thiers.
In the first ministry of Thiers the cabinet did not last long. Thiers
soon settled the internal difiiculties ; he succeeded in adjourning the con-
version of stock, and was supported by the majority of the chamber. It
was during this ministry that one of the men who were to a great extent
responsible for the revolution of July, having, with Thiers and Mignet,
founded Le National, disappeared from the scene. Armand Carrel, sep-
arated from his former colleagues, had ardently embraced republican doc-
trines of which his paper soon became the mouthpiece ; he had however
rejected communism. A political quarrel with M. de Girardin who had just
founded La Presse brought about a duel in which the editor of Le National
70 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1836-1837 A.D.]
was mortally wounded. He died at St. Mande, after having refused the
consolations of religion, saying that he died in the faith of Benjamin Con-
stant, of Manuel, and of liberty. The home policy of Thiers was very judi-
cious but his foreign policy was a failure. Wishing to restore France to the
position she had formerly occupied amongst the powers of Europe, Thiers
was anxious for the French government to interfere in Spanish affairs by
sending troops to put a stop to the civil war in Spain, by repulsing Don
Carlos and by supporting the young queen Isabella II. The king took fright
at the idea of an expedition into the Peninsula. "Let us help the Spaniards
from without," he said, " but do not let us embark on their ship ; if we do
we shall certainly have to take the helm, and God knows what will happen."
Thiers sent in his resignation and was succeeded by Mole and Guizot.
The union of these two ministers did not last long and was brought to
an end by an important event.
THE STEASBTTEG BONAPAKTIST PLOT
This ministry had not been in existence two months when the attempt
made at Strasburg by Louis Bonaparte took place.
The nephew of Napoleon I had been living for some years at the castle
of Arenenberg in Switzerland with his mother, and was a captain of artillery
in the Swiss army. The continual risings which took place in France, and
the letters of his partisans, made him believe that the time, had come for
attempting, by means of a military revolution, to replace on the throne the
Napoleonic dynasty of which he was the head now that the duke of Reich-
stadt was dead. He had succeeded in opening communications with the
garrison of Strasburg. On the 29th of October, 1836, he arrived at Stras-
burg. The next day at five o'clock in the morning. Colonel Vaudrey
presented him to the fourth artillery regiment. For a few moments he
succeeded in arousing the enthusiasm of the soldiers who cried " Long live
Napoleon ! Long live the Emperor ! " But the 46th line regiment, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Taillandier, turned a deaf ear to these outcries and
remained faithful to their duty. By order of their commanding officer, the
infantry surrounded Louis Bonaparte and took him prisoner. Louis Philippe
sent him to America. The other conspirators were brought to trial and
acquitted, for the jury were unwilling to pronounce them guilty when the
chief culprit had been sent away unpunished.
This acquittal made the government uneasy and the "bill of Separation,"
or law of Disjunction, was brought before the chambers. This bill pro-
vided that when civil and military offenders were both implicated in the
same plot, the former only should be tried at the assizes, and the others by
a pourt martial. The bill, which was fiercely attacked by Berryer, was
rejected. The ministry were unable to survive this reverse. A ministerial
crisis supervened, and ten days were spent in intrigues and negotiations, but
eventually the court party led by Mole carried the day.
Mole remained in power nearly two years. Four important events
relating to foreign policy took place during this ministry. The first was the
marriage of the duke of Orleans, the king's eldest son. This young prince
married on the 30th of May, 1837, the Lutheran princess Helen of Mecklen-
burg. It was on the occasion of this marriage that the galleries of Versailles,
containing sculptures and paintings illustrating the chief events of French
history, were thrown open to the public. An amnesty was granted to all
criminal and political offenders who were then ia prison. The second publio
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 71
P838-1840 A.D.]
act of the ministry was their intervention in America. The Mexican govern-
ment refused to make any reparationfor injuries suffered by French merchants.
A fleet commanded by Rear- Admiral Baudin and the prince de Joinville bom-
barded the fort of San Juan de Ulua near Vera Cruz. By the treaty of
March 9th Mexico granted the claims of France. An intervention of the same
kind took place in Buenos Ayres, but it was many years before the required
reparation was obtained.
The republic of Haiti, formerly under French rule, had obtained its
independence in 1825 by paying an indemnity of 150,000,000 francs to the
original colonists. The payment of this indemnity was so long delayed that
it was found necessary to send a fleet to these parts also. The republic thus
intimidated, yielded and agreed to pay 60,000,000 francs, which sum the
French consented to accept. The other two events, which have been already
recorded, were the recognition of Belgium and the evacuation of Ancona.
The ministry was keenly attacked by the coalition. The heads of par-
ties in the chamber, Thiers, Guizot, and Odilon Barrot, united against
M. Mole. The debate on the address in reply to the king's speech was very'
heated (January, 1839). M. Mole obtained only a very slight majority in
favour of the amendments, which he himself proposed, to this document,
which was drawn up in a spirit very hostile to the ministry. He wished to
retire, but the king retained him and dissolved the chamber. The elections
went in favour of the coalition. Mole retired on the 8th of March, 1839.
Parliamentary tradition triumphed over monarchical tradition. The deputies
had vanquished the king, of whom Thiers said " he reigns but he does not
govern."
For two months all sorts of systems and plans were discussed. The
three chiefs could not agree ; each one wished to have the chief power.
The king, who did not much relish being ruled by them, put them aside saying,
"Gentlemen, try to come to an agreement." Provisional ministers were
appointed to carry on the necessary business. Their names were greeted
by peals of laughter and by gibes. The disorder became so great that the
republican party took advantage of it to raise an insurrection. On the
12th of May the society called " The Seasons," led by Barbes and Blanqui,
attacked an armourer's store. Being repulsed, they entrenched themselves
behind a barricade. After a desperate resistance, they were almost all killed
or taken prisoners. Barbes and Blanqui were condemned to death, but
their punishment was commuted to imprisonment for life. However, they
were released in 1848. On the very evening of this attempted rising a
regular ministry was formed.
THE SOULT MINISTKY
This ministry lasted only ten months. At this period the Eastern ques-
tion began to occupy public attention, but its difficulties were not the cause
of the fall of the ministry, which was due to the disagreements on the ques-
tion of a royal dowry. The marriage of the duke de Nemours seemed to
Louis Philippe a suitable occasion for demanding for his son an income of
half a million, to be provided from the public treasury. Public opinion was
very hostile to such demands for money. Numerous petitions called on the
chamber to refuse the dowry. The day for deciding the question by vote
arrived. The ministry, feeling certain of success, did not defend the meas-
ure, and realised what an error had been committed only when the votes
were counted and two hundred and twenty-six black balls were announced
72 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1810 A.S.]
against two hundred white ones. The ministry went out of office. M.
Thiers loved revolutions, glory, and fighting, and professed a sort of cult
for the genius of the emperor. These predilections being in accordance
with popular feeling, he was recalled to power.
Since 1792 Louis Philippe had been fearing lest a victory of his foreign
foes might encourage them to march on Paris, which was undefended. In
1814 and in 1817 he had vainly tried to induce Louis XVIII to render the
heart of France invulnerable, by the adequate fortification of Paris. Since
1830 all propositions in favour of carrying out this scheme had been frus-
trated. At length, however, the march of events supplemented the king's
convictions and perseverance. France was apprehensive of a war with the
whole of Europe. A French defeat, and a bold march on the part of the
enemy might lead to the taking of Paris. A bill was passed for encircling
Paris with ramparts protected by enormous forts. This work, which was
carried out in less than seven years, cost 140,000,000 francs.
THE RETTJEN OP NAPOLEON'S REMAINS
Either as a means of exciting patriotic feeling or in accordance with the
policy which wished to found the government of July on the renown of the
first Napoleon, the king, in accordance with his ministers, resolved to
demand from England the ashes of the emperor, who had died at St.
Helena. Lord Palmerston granted the demand, and the prince de JoinviUe,
on board the frigate Belle Poule, went to fetch these precious relics. *
The frigate made a good passage, and arrived in safety at St. Helena. The
officers intrusted with the melancholy duty were received with the utmost
respect by the English garrison, and every preparation was made to give due
solemnity to the disinterment of the emperor's remains. The solitary tomb
under the willow tree was opened, the winding-sheet rolled back with pious
care, and the features of the immortal hero exposed to the view of the
entranced spectators. So perfectly had the body been embalmed that the
features were undecayed, the countenance serene, even a smile on the lips,
and his dress the same, since immortalised in statuary, as when he stood on
the fields of Austerlitz or Jena. Borne first on a magnificent hearse, and
then down to the harbour on the shoulders of the British grenadiers, amidst
the discharge of artillery from the vessels, batteries, and all parts of the
island, the body was lowered into the French frigate, and England nobly
and in a right spirit parted with the proudest trophy of her national glory.
The Belle Poule had a favourable voyage home, and reached Havre in safety
in the beginning of December. The interment was fixed for the 15th of
the same month — not at St. Denis, amidst her ancient sovereigns, but in
the church of the Invalides, beside the graves of Turenne, Vauban, Lannes,
and the paladins of France ; and every preparation was made for giving the
utmost magnificence to the absorbing spectacle.
Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm and excitement which prevailed in
Paris when the day fixed for the august ceremony arrived. The weather
was favourable ; the sun shone forth in unclouded brilliancy, but a piercing
wind from the north blew with such severity that several persons perished
of cold as they were waiting for the funeral procession. Early on the
morning of the 15th, the coffin, which had been brought by the Seine to
Courbevoie the preceding evening, was placed on a gigantic funeral-car, and
at ten it began its march, attended by an immense and splendid military
escort, and amidst a crowd of six hundred thousand spectators. So dense
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 73
[1840 A.D.]
was the throng that it was half -past one when the procession reached the
place de la Concorde, from whence it passed by the bridge of the same name
to the church of the Invalides, where it was received by the king, the royal
family, with the archbishop and all the clergy of Paris. " Sire," said the
prince de Joinville, who approached at the head of the coffin, " I present to
you the body of the emperor Napoleon. " " General Bertrand," said the king,
"I command you to place the sword of the emperor on his coffin." When
this was done, he said, " General Gourgaud, place the hat of the emperor on
his coffin." This also was done ; and, the king having withdrawn, the coffin
was placed on a magnificent altar in the centre of the church, the funeral
service was performed with the utmost solemnity, and the Dies Irce chanted
with inexpressible effect by a thousand voices. Finally, the coffin, amidst
entrancing melody, was lowered into the grave, while every eye in the vast
assemblage was wet with tears, and the bones of Napoleon " finally reposed
on the banks of the Seine, amidst the people whom he had loved so well."'?
THE BASTEEN QUESTION
France intervened in the interests of the pacha of Egypt, for whose suc-
cess she was anxious, though she did not desire the destruction of Turkey.
The pacha checked the march of his victorious army. France and England
ought to have come to an understanding, for their interests were similar;
but England was jealous of France's position in Egypt. Besides, the czar
Nicholas hated Louis Philippe. In London a conference met to discuss the
affairs of the East ; Russia, England, Austria, and Prussia signed a treaty
without deigning to include France, When this insult became known, pop-
ular feeling was aroused, and a sentiment of keen irritation spread through
France. It was suggested that the nation should rise in arms to avenge this
insult to the national honour. Thiers made preparations for war, and called
out the national guard. This was a dangerous attitude for France to adopt
for it was impossible to declare war on the whole of Europe. Louis Philippe
understood this, and when Thiers, having drawn up a statement which assumed
war to be imminent, asked the immediate convocation of the chambers to
support this policy, the king refused to follow his advice. This was equal
to dismissing the minister and Thiers resigned. A short time after, the
Eastern difficulty was settled by the Convention of the Straits, which was
signed by France as well as by the other powers. This treaty forbade all
vessels, of whatever nationality, to enter the Dardanelles, and made Egypt
subject to Turkey. France had thus regained her position in Europe. There
followed the ministry which lasted from the 29th of October, 1840, till the
24th of February, 1848.
Marshal Soult was directed to form a ministry. This cabinet had more
stability than those which preceded it and lasted till the fall of Louis Philippe.
M. Guizot had complete management of affairs, and relied constantly on the
support of the majority in the chamber, without taking into consideration
either the wishes or opinion of the country.*
louis-napoleon's second attempt at a coup d'etat
Louis Philippe left Paris for his castle of Eu, where he had given a ren-
dezvous to MM. Thiers and Guizot for the purpose of discussing Eastern
affairs. There he received strange tidings : Louis Napoleon had landed at
Boulogne on August 6th, 1840. The latter, since he had transferred his
74 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1840 A.D.]
residence to England, had recommenced the same operations as in Switzer-
land; bribing newspapers, distributing pamphlets, tampering with officers
and sergeants. He believed he could count upon the commander of the
departement du Nord, General Magnan, an equivocal character, to whom he
had offered a large sum of money, and who, later on, was to be one of his
chief accomplices on December 2nd. He had even entered into relations
with a higher official. Marshal Clausel. He determined to land near Bou-
logne, purposing to capture the small garrison of that town, to seize the
castle, which contained a gun magazine, then to direct his steps towards
the departement du Nord, and from thence to Paris.
He prepared declamatory proclamations wherein he promised to the
soldiers " glory, honour, wealth," and to the people reduction of taxes,
order, and liberty. "Soldiers," he said, "the great spirit of Napoleon
speaks to you through me. Traitors, be gone, the Napoleonic spirit, which
cares but for the welfare of the nation, advances to overwhelm you ! "
He asserted that he had powerful friends abroad as well as at home, who
had promised to uphold him ; this was an allusion to Russia, whose support
he believed he possessed and from whom he had very probably received some
encouragement. In a sketch of a decree, he named Thiers president of the
provisional government, and Marshal Clausel, commander of the Army of
Paris. His plans thus laid, he left London by steamer, with General Mon-
tholon, several officers, about sixty men, and an eagle, destined to play the
part of a living symbol in the forthcoming drama.
The expedition landed at night at Vimereux, north of Boulogne, and
proceeded to that town. The confederates entered the courtyard of the
barracks of the 42nd regiment of the line. A lieutenant, who was for
Napoleon, had mustered the men and told them that Louis Philippe reigned
no longer ; then Louis Bonaparte harangued them. Confused, fascinated,
they were beginning to shout " Long live the emperor," when there appeared
upon the scene a captain, who, breaking through the confederates, and regard-
less of their threats, summoned the non-commissioned officers and men to his
side. Louis Bonaparte fired a pistol at him, but it missed him and wounded
a grenadier ; the soldiers rallied round their captain.
The confederates left the barracks without delay, and ascended to the
castle, but they were unable to break in the doors. None of the townspeople
had joined them. The rappel was sounded, and the national guard assembled,
but against them. They left the town and retreated to the foot of the column
raised in Napoleon's time in honour of the Grande Armee. The national
guard and the line regiment advanced upon them. They disappeared.
Louis Bonaparte and a few of his followers fled towards the sea and swam
to a yawl, in which they attempted to regain their vessel.
The national guards opened fire upon the fugitives, several of whom
were severely wounded ; the yawl capsized and a spent bullet struck Louis
Bonaparte. Two of his accomplices perished, one was shot, the other
drowned. Louis Bonaparte survived for the sorrow of France.
The pretender was this time arraigned with his accomplices before the
court of peers, which condemned him to imprisonment for life (October 6th).
He was imprisoned in the castle of Ham, in the same chamber where Polignac
had been confined. This non-capital sentence confirmed in effect the aboli-
tion of the death penalty in political affairs, which had been implied in the
pardon of Barbes.
This attempt, even more feebly conceived than that of Strasburg, had
thus failed still more miserably. The pretender had made himself ridicu-
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 75
[1810-1845 A.D.]
lous in the eyes of the enlightened and educated classes,^ who perused
the newspapers and knew the details of his adventures. But it was a
great mistake to look upon him now as harmless, and to forget that the
majority are not in the habit of reading.c
EVENTS PEOM 1840-1842
On the 13th of July, 1842, an unfortunate event cast a gloom over the
whole country without distinction of party. The duke of Orleans, a kind
and justly loved prince, was thrown from his carriage and killed. At his
death, his right of succession passed to his son, the comte de Paris, and a
child of four years became the heir of the heaviest crown that could be
borne. From that day the legitimists ceased to hope. The liberals and the
republicans expected everything for the triumph of their ideas from the
inevitable weakness of a regency.
The chambers were convoked at once. They were presented with a law
which in advance named the duke de Nemours regent. This prince did not
have the brilliant reputation of the duke of Orleans, the popularity which
the prince de Joinville had acquired by his services off San Juan de Ulua,
nor the budding renown which the capture of Abdul-Kadir's smala had
brought to the duke d'Aumale. The law was passed but without public
concurrence.
During several years France had enjoyed a period of remarkable pros-
perity attested by a budget of receipts amounting to 1,343,000,000 francs.
Popular instruction was advancing ; the penal code had been" lightened in
severity and the lottery suppressed. The law of expropriation for the cause
of public utility prevented work undertaken in the interest of the general
good from being impeded by private interests. Industry took a new start
from the introduction of machinery and commerce was extending. The
coasts began to be lit up by lighthouses, the primitive roads to he improved,
and a vast network of railways was planned. But this plan once conceived,
instead of first concentrating all the energy of France on the chief artery of
the country, from Boulogne to Marseilles, the resources were scattered on
all the lines at once for the sake of satisfying every locality and of thus
preparing favourable elections.
These enterprises, as often happens, gave rise to boundless speculation.
The evil went far, for a minister of the king had been condemned for hav-
ing sold his signature, a peer of France for having bought it.
National sentiments had been deeply wounded by the events of 1840.
Guizot sought a compensation for French pride. He caused the Marquesas
Islands, sterile rocks in the Pacific Ocean, to be occupied (May, 1842).
New Zealand was more worth while. The French were about to descend
upon it when England, being forewarned, took possession and began to
show jealous susceptibilities. A French officer placed the flag of France on
the large oceanic island of New Caledonia ; the ministry had it torn down.
The states of Honduras and Nicaragua claimed French protection. Santo
Domingo wished the same. It was refused and England seemed to have
imposed the refusal. On the Society Islands, which the French also took,
their commercial interests were not sufficient to necessitate an expensive
establishment. The cession of Mayotte (1848) was a better negotiation
because that island offered a refuge to French ships which Bourbon could
[1 A tame eagle, which he carried to suggest the Napoleonic eagles, was captured, and put in
theZo51ogical Gardens of Paris.]
76 THE HISTORY OF FEANCE
[1843-1845 A.D.]
not give them, and a naval station in the vicinity of Madagascar. On
Tahiti, in the Society Islands, an English missionary, Pritchard, stirred up
the natives against the French. /
Queen Pomare, who governed the island of Tahiti, placed herself under
French protection. But Pritchard, the Englishman, who was at the same
time consul, Protestant missionary, and dispensing chemist, fearing to lose
his influence over the natives, urged the queen to pull down the French flag
and roused the natives to rebellion ; many French sailors were massacred.
The admiral, indignant at this conduct, had Pritchard arrested, and he was
set at liberty only on condition that he would go to the Sandwich Isles.
The English government claimed that it had been insulted, and demanded
satisfaction. The king refused first of all; then, fearing a rupture, disavowed
the admiral's act and offered a pecuniary indemnity to England, which was
accepted.
Public opinion considered that the dignity of the country had been com-
promised by this act. People were tired of always yielding to England.
In the address to the throne in 1845, a majority of only eight votes pre-
vented the expression of severe censure on the conduct of the government
in the Pritchard affair. »'
The right of mutually inspecting ships, agreed upon with England in
1841, for the repression of the slave-trade, was another concession to the
proud neighbours of France. This time the opposition in the country was
so active that the chamber forced the minister to tear up the treaty and,
by new conventions, to replace the French marine under the protection of
the national flag (May, 1845).
War with Ahdul-Kadir
The chamber, impelled in this direction by public opinion, wanted at
least to continue the conquest of Algeria. The ministry had the merit of
choosing an energetic and skilful man, General Bugeaud, who succeeded in
impressing both respect and terror on the Arabs.
Abdul-Kadir had violated the Treaty of Tafna, proclaimed the holy war,
and by the rapidity of his movements spread terror in the province of Oran,
and even brought inquietude to the very gates of Algeria. The general
pursued him without relaxation clear to the mountains of the Ouarensenis,
pacified this difficult region and crowded the enemy back into the desert.
It was in his flight towards the Sahara that the emir, attacked by the duke
d'Aumale, lost his smala (his family and flocks). May, 1843.
Taking refuge in Morocco, the emir engaged the emperor in his cause.
England, perhaps, was not a stranger to this resolve. French territory was
violated on several occasions and an army which seemed formidable was
collected on the banks of the Muluiah. France responded to these provoca-
tions by the bombardment of Tangiers and Mogador, which the prince de
JomviUe directed under the eyes of the irritated English fleet, and by the
victory of Isly, which General Bugeaud gained with 8,500 men and 1,400
horses over 25,000 horsemen (August 14th, 1844). The emperor, being so
severely punished, signed the peace — which was not made onerous for him,
since France was rich enough, said the ministry, to pay for its glory. The
principal clause of the treaty, providing that Abdul-Kadir be confined to
the west, remained for a long time unexecuted ; but after a new and vain
attempt upon Algeria the emir tried to establish a party in the empire
Itself. This time Abd ar-Rahman, being directly threatened, bethought
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OE 1848 77
[1840-1847 A.D.]
himself of his treaty with the French, and Abdul-Kadir, thrown back on the
French advance posts, was reduced to surrendering to General Lamoriciere
(November 23rd, 1847).
In Morocco, as at Tahiti, England had been found opposed to France.
Thus the English alliance, too eagerly sought after, had brought only
trouble. But it was said that it assured the peace of the world. However,
a marriage came near breaking it — that of the duke of Montpensier with
the sister of the queen of Spain.
1 The Spanish Marriages
Queen Christina, then regent of Spain, feeling herself entirely depend-
ent on the liberal party for the preservation of her daughter's throne, and
being well aware that it was in France alone that she could find the prompt
military assistance requisite to support her against the Carlists, who formed
a great majority of the Spanish population, naturally bethought herself of
the favourable opportunity presented by the marriageable condition of the
princes of one country and the princesses of the other, to cement their
union by matrimonial alliances. With this view, although the princesses,
her daughters, were as yet too young for marriage, she made formal pro-
posals before 1840 to Louis Philippe for a double marriage, one between the
duke d'Aumale, the king's third son, and Queen Isabella, her eldest daugh-
ter, and another between the duke of Montpensier, his fourth son, and the
infanta Luisa Fernanda, her second daughter.
How agreeable soever these proposals were to Louis Philippe, who
desired nothing so much as to see his descendants admitted into the family
of European sovereigns, he was too sagacious not to perceive that the hazard
with which they were attended more than counterbalanced the advantages.
It was evident that such a marriage of the duke d'Aumale with the queen
of Spain would at once dissolve the entente cordiale with Great Britain, on
which the stability of his throne so much depended ; for however much the
liberal government of England might desire to see constitutional monarchies
established in the peninsula, it was not to be expected it would like to see
the crown of Spain placed on the head of a French prince. It was already
surmised, too, that the cabinet of London had views of its own for the hand
of the younger princess. He therefore returned a courteous answer, declining
the hand of the queen for the duke d'Aumale, but expressing the satisfac-
tion it would afford him to see the duke of Montpensier united to the infanta.
The next occasion on which the subject of the Spanish marriages was
brought forward was when Queen Christina took refuge in Paris, during one
of the numerous convulsions to which Spain had been subject since the
attempt was made to introduce democratic institutions among its inhabit-
ants. Louis Philippe then declared to the exiled queen-regent that the
most suitable spouse for her daughter the queen would be found in one of
the descendants in the male line of Philip V, king of Spain, the sovereign
on the throne when the Treaty of Utrecht was signed. The object of this
proposal was indirectly to exclude the pretensions of the prince of Coburg,
cousin-german to Prince Albert, whom rumour had assigned as one of the
suitors for the hand of the young queen, and at the same time avoid excit-
ing the jealousy of the British government by openly courting the alliance
for a French prince.
Matters were in this situation, with the question still open, so tar as
diplomatic intercourse was concerned, but the views and interests of the two
78 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1842-1846 A.D.]
cabinets were well understood by the ministers on both sides, when Queen
Victoria in the autumn of 1842 paid a visit to the French monarch at the
chateau d'Eu in Normandy, which was followed next spring by a similar act
of courtesy on the part of Louis Philippe to the queen of England in the
princely halls of Windsor, Fortunately the pacific inclinations of the two
sovereigns were aided by the wisdom and moderation of the ministers on
both sides ; and under the direction of Lord Aberdeen and Guizot a com-
promise was agreed on of the most fair and equitable kind. It was stipu-
lated that the king of France should renounce all pretensions, on the part of
any of his sons, to the hand of the queen of Spain ; and, on the other hand,
that the royal heiress should make her selection among the princes descend-
ants of Philip V, which excluded the dreaded competition of a prince of
the house of Coburg. And in regard to the marriage of the duke of Mont-
pensier with the infanta Dona Luisa Fernanda, Louis Philippe positively
engaged that it should not take place till the queen was married and had
had children (ies enfants). On this condition the queen of England con-
sented to waive all objections to the marriage when these events had taken
place ; and it was understood that this consent on both sides was to be depend-
ent on the hand of the queen being bestowed on a descendant of Philip V
and no other competitor./
The sagacious Louis Philippe now discovered a certain half -idiotic cousin
of Isabella of Spain, deficient in every power both of body and mind ; and in
a secret and underhand manner he celebrated the wedding of this miserable
being with the queen ; and immediately afterwards that of his son with the
handsome, blooming, and wealthy Luisa Fernanda, who, in addition to her
present possessions, which were very large, carried to her husband the
succession to the Spanish crown, in the absolute impossibility of any issue
from her sister's unhappy marriage. Hard feeling and political opposition
were roused by this degrading trickery — and England learned, with a senti-
ment of regret and compassion, that Guizot, whose talents and character had
hitherto commanded her respect, had been deluded by the crowned tempter
at his ear to defend his conduct on the quibble that the marriages were not
celebrated at the same time — some little interval having occurred between
them — and that this was all he had promised. Suspicion and jealousy
took the place of the former cordial relations. Losing the fervent friend-
ship of the only constitutional neighbour on whom it could rely, France, like
a beggar with its bonnet in its hand, waited at the gates of Austria and
Russia, and begged the moral support of the most despotic of the powers.
The moral support of Austria and Russia there was but one way to gain, and
that was by an abnegation of all the principles represented by the accession
of Louis Philippe, and an active co-operation in their policy of repression.
At this time the Swiss broke out into violent efforts to obtain a reform.
Austria quelled the Swiss aspirations with the strong hand, and took up
a menacing attitude towards the benevolent pontiff, Pius IX. France was
quiescent ; and the opposition rose into invectives, which were repeated in
harsher language out of doors.
The stout shopkeeper who now occupied the throne of Henry IV thought
that all the requirements of a government were fulfilled if it maintained
peace with the neighbouring states. Trade he thought might flourish though
honour and glory were trampled under foot. He accordingly neglected, or
failed to understand, the disaffection of the middle class, whose pecuniary
interests he was supposed to represent, but whose higher aspirations he had
insulted by his truckling attempts to win the sympathy of the old aristocracy
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OP 1848 79
[1847-1848 A.D.]
and the foreign despots. Statesmen like Thiers and Odilon Barrot, when
the scales of office fell from their eyes and the blandishments of the sover-
eign were withdrawn, perceived that the parliamentary government of the
charter had become a mockery, and that power had got more firmly consoli-
dated in royal hands under these deceptive forms than in the time of the
legitimate kings. A cry therefore suddenly rose from all quarters, except
the benches of the ministry, for electoral and parliamentary reform; and
there was also heard the uniformly recurring exclamation, premonitory of all
serious disturbance, for a diminution of the taxes. The cries were founded
on justice, and urged in a constitutional manner. Corruption had entered
into all the elections ; parliamentary purity had become a byword under the
skilful manipulation of the purse-bearing king; and the expenses of the
country far exceeded its income, owing to the extravagant building of forts
and palaces, with which, in the years of his prosperity, he had endeavoured
to amuse the people, i
RISING DISCONTENT (1847-1848 A.D.)
The state of the budget, which was threatened with a yearly deficit,
increased the difficulty of the situation which was still further aggravated
by a scarcity of provisions. The method of taxing corn made it difficult to
provision the country, a matter which was never easy in times previous to
the construction of railways. There was a succession of bad harvests, and in
the winter of 1847 a famine resulted. There were riots in all directions,
and bands of men tramped through the country. At Buzangais, cases of death
from starvation occurred. Thus everything combined to make the people
dissatisfied with the government. And there was indeed little to be said in
its favour. It had achieved nothing and no progress had been made. " To
carry out such a policy as this," said Lamartine, "a statesman is not required,
a finger-ppst would do." And one of the moderate party summed up the
work done by this ministry as : " Nothing, nothing, nothing."
In short, this strange result was all that Guizot could boast. Little by
little public opinion unanimously turned against him, and the more unpopu-
lar he became, the more solid became his majority in the chamber, thanks to
the system, which, placing the country in the hands of a handful of rich men,
made the elections a mere mockery. Then a universal outcry arose, and the
demand for progress and democracy seemed to be concentrated on one point :
"electoral reform."
Guizot opposed an obstinate refusal to this demand. Yet very little
was asked for — not universal suffrage (and Guizot said " the day for uni-
versal suffrage will never come"), but some reform, however slight it might
be. Guizot refused to give the vote even to jurymen and academicians ! The
opposition appealed to public opinion. Banquets were organised in many
different places for the discussion of reform, at Paris, then at Colmar, Stras-
burg, Soissons, St. Quentin, and Macon.
THE BANQUET OF 1848
It could not be denied that the excitement was singularly out of propor-
tion to the idea which was its ostensible cause. The spirit of democracy in
France had been aroused. Lamartine's book Les Q-irondins added the charm
of lyric poetry to the recollections of the Revolution. The spectacle offered
by the July monarchy had gradually influenced the great poet to espouse
80 THE HISTORY OP FRANCE
[1818 A.D.]
the cause of popular progress. In his striking speech at the banquet of
Magon, which was organised as a tribute to him in honour of his G-irondim
in the midst of a violent thunderstorm which had not deterred a crowded
audience from coming to hear him speak, he threatened Guizot's retrograde
government with "a revolution of scorn." i , ^ .
I'he year 1848 opened with heated debates, in the course of which Gui-
zot's whole policy was denounced. A banquet on a vast scale was organised
in Paris immediately after for the purpose of forwarding Sectoral reform.
A large piece of ground enclosed by walls near the Champs-Elysees had been
taken for the occasion.
The ministry, with less tolerance than it had shown in the preceding
year, claimed the right to forbid this banquet. This involved the question
of the liberty of holding public meetings. This right had never yet been
contested, but Guizot wished to take one more retrograde step.
Orleanists, liberals, republicans, and legitimists all united in defending
their rights. Parliament rang with the vehement discussions which ensued
and in which Ledru-RoUin showed all his great oratorical powers. In spite
of the threats of the government, it was decided to meet at the Madeleine
and proceed from there to the banquet. The very evening before the
banquet was to take place this plan was changed for fear of bringing about
a massacre. It was stated in the morning papers that the meeting was
put off, and instead of the demonstration which they had been obliged
to abandon, the opposition members signed a vote of censure on Guizot.
But the people nevertheless assembled at the appointed time in front of the
Madeleine.
History repeats itself strangely. It had been the chief anxiety of Loms
Philippe to avoid another 1830, and yet he was now about to undergo, in
every detail, the experience of Charles X. The rising of the people to sup-
port the claims of the opposition, but soon leaving these behind them ; a
disturbance indefinite at first, but developing into a fierce struggle ; a king
obstinate at first, then willing to make one concession after another, but
never agreeing to make them until it was too late ; then the flight across
France and the departure for England : such was the history of both these
revolutions.
Two things increased Louis Philippe's confidence : Firstly, he had not
violated the letter of the law. Though he had in a measure twisted the
revolution of 1830 to his own purposes, he had done so by ruling his minis-
ters, and by gaining over the electoral body. He did not realise that he was
in the long run preparing a lasting disgrace for himself. His fall was none
the less certain because instead of violating the rights of the people he had
merely distorted them. His fall would only be the more petty for that.
Secondly, he had in Paris, what Polignac had so signally lacked, a strong
and numerous army.
Had he not easily succeeded in suppressing all risings which had taken
place ? He forgot that troops which are always firm and always victorious
when dealing with the revolt of part of a nation, are useless when the people
as a whole are actuated by the same opinion. Under such circumstances
revolution pervades the air and paralyses the powers of the army. The troops
hesitate, and sometimes recede. However this may be, on the 22nd of
February, while the deputies of the opposition were preparing to ask Guizot's
majority to pass a vote of censure on Guizot, an enormous crowd surged
round the Madeleine, the populace began to parade the streets, and columns
were formed at various points.
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND .THE EE VOLUTION OF 1848 81
[1848 A.D.]
THE REVOLUTION OF 1848
Among the troops called out to defend the government, the municipal
guards, then very unpopular, made a vigorous charge and several on the
other side were wounded. The army began to hesitate. At one place the
crowd awaited an attack crying, " The dragoons forever ! " The dragoons
sheathed their swords. The government was afraid to call out the national
guards, whom they mistrusted : wherever they were called out they cried,
"Eeform forever ! " and tried to interpose between the troops and the people.
But though a storm was brewing it did not burst yet. The streets were
crowded with an infuriated mob, demonstrations were continually taking
place, and now and then there was a skirmish with the troops. That was
all, so far, but the more enthusiastic among the republicans were making
steady efforts to get the populace to rise.
The king slept that evening confident that nothing serious would happen.
During the night the troops bivouacked in the silence of Paris beneath a
rainy sky, and the cannon were fixed ready for use. The next morning
(February 23rd) the troops, who had spent the night in the mud, were weary
and discontented.
Barricades had been hastily raised in all parts of the town. There was
no desperate struggle like that of 1830. The barricades were attacked
without much spirit and were soon deserted only to be reconstructed at a
little distance. However — in the part where risings usually took place, in the
populous heart of Paris — the battle raged more fiercely : the veterans of St.
Merry were fighting against the municipal guard. At the Tuileries no anxiety
was felt: "What do you call barricades? " said the king, "do you call an
overturned cab a barricade ? " However, General Jacqueminot resolved on
that day to call out the national guard.
During a reign which was virtually that of the bourgeoisie, the national
guard, like the electoral body, consisted only of bourgeois. The governiag
class alone carried arms, just as they only were allowed to vote. Therefore
in the elections previous to 1840 the national guard had been the faithful
ally of the government. They had shown themselves no less energetic
against the barricades of the first half of the reign than the rest of the
troops. But times had changed and everyone was thoroughly sick of
Guizot's policy. "When the soldiers were called out, they assembled crying,
" Reform forever ! " One regiment had inscribed this on its flag ; another
refused to cry " God save the king 1 " A third sent a deputation to the
Bourbon palace to try to overcome the resistance of the ministry. At
another place when the municipal guards were going to charge the crowd,
the national guard opposed them with their bayonets. When the news of
all this reached the king at the Tuileries he was filled with surprise and
grief. He realised that he had lost the allegiance of the national guard in
which he had such absolute confidence, the men for whose sake he had
governed 1
He then made a first concession agreeing that Mole should form a min-
istry. It was not much of a concession, for the difference between Guizot
and Mole was only a difference in mental capacity and the rivalry for power
which existed between them. Besides Mole had already represented the
personal policy of the king. The king liked him, and in calling him to the
ministry he merely changed the surname of his minister. But there are
times when, if a certain name has become universally hateful, such a change
is sufficient to pacify the public. Besides Mole was obliged to choose his
H, W. — VOL, XIII. O
82 THE HISTORY OP FRANCE
[1818 A.D.]
cabinet in a conciliatory spirit. Paris, delighted to think that the strife
was at an end, put on a festive appearance ; the streets were illuminated,
and gay crowds filled the boulevards when a spark re-ignited the flame of
faction.
Near the Madeleine, troops barred the way. A column of demonstrators
wished to pass through, and, in accordance with the peaceable feelings just
then prevailing in Paris, to fraternise with the soldiers. The officer in com-
mand gave the order to fix bayonets : a shot was fired — whether by the sol-
diers or by the crowd is not known. How many times in French history
have such accidents, the source of which is wrapped in mystery, proved the
cause of terrible bloodshed ! What sinister results may ensue from the
chance which causes a gun to go off and, at the same time, gives the signal
for a battle !
A soldier had been wounded — the troops fired; a storm of bullets rid-
dled the peaceful crowds on the boulevards. At first there was a cry of
terror, then a cry of furious rage, as here and there men fell dead, and the
street was sprinkled with blood.
Some men then improvised a sort of theatrical background for the mas-
sacre, with the genius that Parisians certainly possess for giving dramatic
effect even to their most painful emotions. A cart was stopped, and the
corpses were placed upon it ; men walking beside it carried torches which
illumined the ghastly cargo. The procession passed on through Paris while
a man standing on the cart lifted up and showed to the people the dead body
of a woman whose face was horribly mutilated by bullets. This frightful
spectacle aroused a frenzy of rage throughout the city and Paris was again
plunged into civil war. The real battle was that of the 24th. On this occa-
sion the king had placed Marshal Bugeaud in command of the royal forces.
Bugeaud was the best of the African generals, but at the same time he was
the one whose name was most dreaded by the people ; he had the reputation
of having gained some most bloody victories over insurgents on former
occasions.
This time Paris was covered with barricades ; the fighting continued all
the morning. Whenever the army seemed likely to yield or retreat, the
king, who but a short time since was so full of confidence, and to whom the
marshal had promised a brilliant victory, made some fresh concession. First
he agreed that Thiers should form a ministry, then Odilon Barrot, as if the
shades of difference which separated the centre of the chamber from the left-
centre or the left-centre from the dynastic centre were of any importance in
this mortal struggle between the people and the monarchy.
THE KING ABDICATES AND TAKES FLIGHT
All these flimsy negotiations were going on amidst the smoke of battle.
Now Thiers, now Odilon Barrot was to be seen rushing from one barricade to
another announcing the king's last concession. Ministerial episodes mingled
with the episodes of battle, and raised their weak voice amid the thunder of
the cannon. Then, one after another, these political personages gave up what
was an impossible task; and, like Charles X, Louis Philippe abdicated in
favour of a child, his grandson, the count de Paris.
The battle at this moment was brought to an end by its most bloody
episode : the attack on the ch&teau d'Eau opposite the Palais Royal. The
people on one side and the municipal guard on the other showed, at this
point, indescribable energy, and fought with the courage of desperation.
LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE REVOLUTION OP 1848 83
[1848 A.D.]
Bullets were dealing out death all around, and all the staunchest republicans
were there, including Caussidiere, Albert, and Lagrange. By two o'clock the
people had gained the victory.
Louis Philippe and his family fled from the Tuileries. There was some
difficulty in finding a cab to take him as far as St. Cloud. The crowd
allowed this fallen king to pass, while behind him, the people for the third
time invaded the Tuileries where they wrote, " Death to robbers ! "
The duchess of Orleans had gone with her son to the chamber. The sight
of a child and an unhappy woman, surrounded by sympathy, might induce the
people in a moment of emotional excitement to agree to the maintenance of
the monarchy. Some seemed ready to accept a regency. Lamartine felt the
weakness and inadequacy of such a solution of the difficulty. Meantime the
crowd was taking possession of the palace. The duchess of Orleans fol-
lowed the old king into exile.
The latter was going abroad like Charles X, but he had more to make him
anxious. He was obliged to conceal himself, was often suspected, and some-
times had not enough money to supply his needs. When at last he reached
the little Norman port which was his destination he found a stormy sea, and
could not for a long time get any vessel to take him across the Channel ;
finally, having disguised himself, he secured a passage from Havre on board
an English ship.
On leaving the chamber the leaders of the people had gone to the Hotel-
de-Ville. Crowds assembled from every direction, crjdng out in favour of
ten different ministries at the same time ; contradictory lists were made, but
in the end the government was composed of Lamartine, Dupont de I'JEure
Arago, Ledru-Rollin, Cremieux, Marie, Garnier-Pages, the deputies of the Left
benches to whom were added later Louis Blanc, Albert a working-man,
Flocon, and Armand Marrast.*
ALISOK'S estimate of LOUIS PHILIPPE
Louis Philippe, who by the force of circumstances and the influence of
dissimulation and fraud obtained possession of the throne of France, is, of all
recent sovereigns, the one concerning whose character the most difference of
opinion has prevailed. By some, who were impressed with the length and
general, success of his reign, he was regarded as a man of the greatest
capacity ; and the " Napoleon of peace " was triumphantly referred to as
having achieved that which the "Napoleon of war" had sought in vain to
effect. The prudent and cautious statesman who, during a considerable
portion of his reign, guided the affairs of England, had, it is well known, the
highest opinion of his wisdom and judgment. By others, and especially the
royalists, whom he had dispossessed, and the republicans, whom he had dis-
appointed, he was regarded as a mere successful tyrant, who won a crown by
perfidy, and maintained it by corruption, and in whom it was hard to say
whether profound powers of dissimulation, or innate selfishness of disposi-
tion, were most conspicuous. And in the close of all, his conduct belied the
assertions and disappointed the expectations of both ; for, when he fell from
the throne, he neither exhibited the vigour which was anticipated by his
admirers, nor the selfishness which was imputed to him by his enemies.
In truth, however, he was consistent throughout ; and when his character
comes to be surveyed in the historic mirror, the same features are everywhere
conspicuous. His elevation, his duration, and his fall are seen to have been all
brought about by the same qualities. He rose to greatness, and was long
84 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1848 A.D.]
maintained in it because he was the man of the age ; but that age was neither
an age of heroism nor of virtue, but of selfishness.
The vicissitudes of his life had exceeded everything that romance had
figured, or imagination could have conceived. The gallery of portraits in the
sumptuous halls of the Palais Royal exhibited him with truth, successively
a young prince basking in the sunshine of rank and opulence at Paris, a
soldier combating under the tricolour flag at Valmy, a schoolmaster instruct-
ing his humble scholars in Switzerland, a fugitive in misery in America, a
sovereign on the throne of France.
These extraordinary changes had made him as thoroughly acquainted with
the ruling principles of human nature in all grades as the misfortunes of his
own house, the recollection of his father guillotined had with the perils by
which, in his exalted rank, he was environed. Essentially ruled by the self-
ish, he was incapable of feeling the generous emotions ; like all egotists, he
was ungrateful. Thankfulness finds a place only in a warm heart. He was
long deterred from accepting the crown by the prospects of the risk with
which it would be attended to himself, but not for one moment by the reflec-
tion that, in taking it, he was becoming a traitor to his sovereign, a renegade
to his order, a recreant to his benefactor. His hypocrisy, to the last moment,
to Charles X was equalled only by his stern and hard-hearted rigour to
his family, when he had an opportunity of making some return for their
benefactions.
His government was extremely expensive ; it at once added a third to
the expenditure of Charles X, as the Long Parliament had done to that of
Charles I; and it was mainly based on corruption. This, however, is not
to be imputed to him as a fault, further than as being a direct consequence
of the way in which he obtained the throne. When the " unbought loyalty of
men " has come to an end, government has no hold but of their selfish desires,
and must rule by them ; and when the " cheap defence of nations " has ter-
minated, the costly empire of force must commence. As a set-off to these
dark stains upon his moral character, there are many bright spots on his
political one. He stood between Europe and the plague of revolution, and,
by the temperance of his language and the wisdom of his measures at once
conciliated the absolute continental sovereigns, when they might have been
expected to be hostile, and overawed the discontented in his own country
when they were most threatening.**
CHAPTER IV
THE REPUBLIC OF 1848
Perhaps there is no event in her history which has done more to
lower France in the estimation of the world than the revolution of
1848. The old monarchy had a glamour and brilliancy which gave it
a high place in the world's affairs as they stood then, but the evils
and the injustice which it brought about furnished some excuses for
the first Revolution, even in the eyes of those who most bitterly con-
demned that event. The first empire, though infinitely more disastrous
to France than the Revolution, covered its sins in a blaze of military
glory. The revolution of 1830 had its explanation, if not justification,
in the inquietude and the reactionary character of Charles X and his
surroundings. The errors and calamities of 1870-71 were condoned by
the courage, the endurance, and the elasticity of the French people.
But in 1843 France had enjoyed eighteen years of constitutional gov-
ernment. It had maintained peace abroad and in good measure at
home, and the country had advanced greatly in wealth and prosperity.
The king was humane, liberal, and well intentioned, and it seemed as if
gradual reform might have remedied the moderate comparative dis-
advantages from which the country suffered. But all this was over-
turned at a blow, the country plunged into anarchy, civil war averted
only by fierce bloodshed in Paris, and after a few years of hesitation
and fear the nation was handed over to despotism almost as mean and
contemptible as that of Louis XV. — Gamaliel Bradford.*
THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
It was the 24th of February; the hour was half past one. The king had
gone, and the dynasty had now no representative. The covmt de Paris was
a child, with no immediate right to the throne. The duke de Nemours,
invested legally with the regency, had followed the king's example and ab-
dicated; the duchess of Orleans was not yet regent. The king, out of respect
to legality, had not appointed her; and she had not been recognised by any
public power. Some friends had gone with her to the chamber of deputies
in the hope of renewing in her favour the election of 1830. To support this
monarchy with no constitutional title, there was neither army, ministry,
85
86 THE HISTOEY OF PEANCE
[1848 A.D.]
nor ministers. Thiers felt himself left behind, and abandoned the struggle.
Odilon Barrot alone, an obstinate minister with only undefined and tem-
porary powers, had made himself minister of the interior. But such was
the effect of the Revolution that in the midst of all the news he knew nothing;
in the very centre of action, he was quite devoid of power. Influence, au-
thority, power were elsewhere — in the open street, at the discretion of the
first comer.
Moreover, Armand Marrast, thanks to his tact and quick decision, had
managed for some weeks both the intrigue and the intriguers. He knew,
as a true disciple of Aristophanes, that the people love to be flattered and
led; that they vote and applaud, but must have matters decided for them.
In a secret councU, which was held a few days before the Revolution, Marie
had suggested the advisability of naming a provisional government. This
advice, when adopted, became the signal for order. Le National hastened
to name those who should compose the government: Pupont (de I'Eure),
Frangois Arago, Marie, Gamier-Pages, Ledru-RoUin, Odilon Barrot, and
Marrast; a compromise list, doubtless, since Armand Marrast figured by
the side of Ledru-Rollin and the latter with Odilon Barrot. But it was a
list with a double tendency, favouring both the republic and the regency.
Emmanuel Arago, who brought the corrected list to Le National, arrived
at the Palais Bourbon and went in at the same time as the duchess of Orleans.
This latter placed herself in the semicircle at the foot of the tribune, having
beside her the duke de Nemours and her two sons, the count de Paris and the
duke de Chartres. Dupin spoke, interrupted by acclamations from the
national guard, the army, and the people who had thronged round the duchess
as she passed from the Tuileries to the Palais Bourbon and in the palace
itself. He demanded a formal act of procuration. Cheers burst out again,
while on the other hand they cried, "A provisional government!"
Lamartine demanded that the sitting be suspended " out of respect to
the national representation and the duchess of Orleans." " It was almost
the same thing," says Dupin, "as proposing to put the young king and his
mother out of the hall as intruders who had no right to be present at the
sitting. But this same sitting, because the king was present, was in reality
a royal one." Sauzet suspended the sitting, but the duchess did not leave
the hall. She only went to the higher seats in the amphitheatre. An outburst
of enthusiasm in the chamber, the presence of the duchess, the concurrence
of several resolute men might have determined for a regency. Like those of
1830, the barricades of 1848 might have served to support a throne. The
men of Le National felt the peril. La Rochejaquelein demanded an appeal
to the people: "You cotuit for nothing here; you are no longer in power,"
he said to the deputies; " the chamber of deputies as a chamber no longer
exists. I say, gentlemen, that the nation should be convoked, and then
Here the nation mdeed interrupted by an irruption of the crowd, which
now for the first time came pouring in, uttering cries of "Dethronement!
Dethronement! " The cause of the regency was lost. Crowd followed crowd,
orator followed orator. Cr^mieux, Lamartine, Ledru-Rollin contested the
tribune with invaders from the people. "No more Bourbons! Down with
traitors!" they cried.
Lamartine succeeded Ledru-Rollin in the tribune. Even before he began
to speak they cheered and applauded him, as if to win hun over forever to
the republic. In 1842 he had defended the regency of the duchess of Orleans,
but he dismissed this inopportune recollection. He let fall, however, a sym-
THE EEPTJBLia OF 1848
87
[1848 A.S.]
pathetic phrase about "this august princess and her innocent son." Then
fearing, from the murmurs which arose, that he would be taken for a partisan
of the monarchy, he hastened to demand a provisional government. He
made no distinction between " national representation and representation by
citizens from the people, but accepted the competency of this multitude and
drew up the programme of a government which would first restore public
peace and then convoke all the citizens in popular assemblies. At these
words, and as if touched by one common impulse, new combatants invaded
the assembly — men from the chateau d'Eau, pillagers and devastators of the
Tuileries, who came to soil with their presence the palace of national repre-
sentation as they had soiled the royal abode.
The dynastic deputies slipped out. Sauzet put
on his hat, rang his bell, and ordered silence ; not
obtaining it, he declared the sitting closed and
quitted the chair. It was at this juncture that the
duchess of Orleans escaped with her
children.
Dupont de I'Eure, venerated Nestor
of the republican party, consented to
preside over this horde of excited con-
stituents. But what human voice had
power to dominate the tumult? Bas-
tide thought of writing on an immense
sheet of paper, with a finger
dipped in ink, the five
names of those who should
compose the government;
but the sheet slipped and
fell down from the rail
where it was hung. The
list was passed to Lamar-
tine: "I cannot read it,"
he said ; " my own name is
there." They asked M.
Cr^mieux: " I cannot read
it," he answered; "my name
is not there." At last, after
many fruitless efforts, while
repeated cries of " No more
Bourbons! We want a re-
public!" arose, Dupont de I'Eure succeeded in reading out the names of
Lamartine, Ledru-Rollin, Arago, Dupont de I'Eure, and Marie, which were
accepted unanimously. A voice cried : " The members of the provisional gov-
ernment must shout ' Vive la RepuUique' before being named and accepted.
But Bocage, the democratic actor, cried, " To the H6tel-de-Ville with Lamartine
at our head!" and Lamartine, accompanied by Bocage and a large number
of citizens, left the hall.
While this tumultuous proclamation was being made in the chamber of
deputies, Louis Blanc in the office of La Reforme was holding a meetmg of
the editors of the journal and some political friends. He also was drawmg
up a list for a provisional government. . ^
However, the provisional government wandered about the nation s palace
without finding any spot where they could deliberate in peace, or where they
Lamartine Demanding a Pbovisionai, Government
88 THE HiSTOilY OP FEANCE
[1848 A.S.]
would be free from the importunate sovereignty of the people. They shut
themselves up in a room, but petitioners hunted them out; they hid in another,
certain delegates intervened with authority; with much trouble they foimd
refuge in a third. Lamartine drew up the first proclamation to the French
nation; then the members of the government disposed of the ministerial
offices. Dupont de I'Eure, on account of his age, was exempted, but was
given the title of president of council. Lamartine became foreign minister;
Arago, head of the admiralty; Cr^mieux, solicitor-general; Marie, minister
of public works; Ledru-Rollin, minister of the interior (home secretary).
Garnier-Pages was confirmed in his office of mayor of Paris.
Towards half past eight Louis Blanc, Marrast, and Flocon were intro-
duced into the deliberating assembly. Louis Blanc imperiously demanded
the inscription of his name and those of Marrast and Flocon on the list of
members of the provisional government. He was offered the post of secre-
tary. He refused at first; then, seeing himself abandoned by Marrast and
Flocon, he retracted his refusal.
Thus the government was finally completed. Every shade of republi-
canism was represented: moderate opinions, by Dupont de I'Eure, Arago,
and Marie; adaptability, by Garnier-Pages and Cr6mieux; socialism, by
Louis Blanc; communism, by Albert; recollections of the convention, by
Ledru-Rollin and Flocon; republican bourgeoisie, by Armand Marrast.
Lamartine, who by his past, his name, and his aristocratic connections was
looked on with the least favom* by the public, personified in himself the
diverse characters of his colleagues. He was not exactly the adversary nor
the ally of any of them, but was dominated by a superior impartiality. But
this same impartiality which constituted his strength was also a soiu-ce of
weakness. Sometimes he resisted, sometimes he yielded — less from force of
conviction than from a spirit of tolerance, and in order to evade immediate
embarrassment or peril. Among the members there was one whose ideas
and sentiments were totally opposed to these — ^Louis Blanc. According to
him the Revolution ought to call itself the repubhc, and the republic ought to
realise high ideals. He would allow no temporising, no concession. We
have seen him exact the inscription of his name on the government list: we
shall see him in the council oppose himself to all, supported in his isolation
by the intervention of the masses, and succeed in dictating measures most
fatal to the republic.
In short, from the first hour, such was the critical situation of the pro-
visional government, which owed its origin to popular sovereignty, that it
was constantly in dispute with that sovereignty. The crowd had encroached
upon royalty; it now began to complain that the provisional government
encroached upon its domain. First it had applauded; then it asked arro-
gantly by what right they had seized the power.
"By what right?" cried Lamartine, who faced the danger; "by the right
of the blood which flows, of the fire which devours your buildmgs, of the
nation without leaders, of the people without a guide or orders, and to-
morrow, perhaps, without bread. By right of our most devoted and cour-
ageous citizens. Smce I must say it, in right of those who were the first
to yield their souls to suspicion, their blood to the scaffold, their heads to
the vengeance of peoples or kings to save the nation." The provisional gov-
ernment, after it had acquired power, paid for it at the price of complaint,
opposition, and hostility from the crowd. In the narrow place where they
deliberated their electors besieged them, kept them prisoners. None of their
decrees reached their destination without having passed through the hands
"THE EEPtJBLtC OF 1848 8d
[1848 1..D.]
of strict censors who took note of their contents and their destination. It
was the punishment of those who all their lives had invoked the sovereignty
of the people, to be suddenly left face to face with them, with no alternative
save to bow before their decrees or perish under their blows.''
THE FIRST PROBLEMS OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
The first care which devolved upon the provisional government was to
make head against the violence of its own supporters. During the three
days that Paris had been in a state of insurrection, no work had been any-
where done; and as the great bidk of the labouring classes were alike destitute
of capital or credit, they already began to feel the pangs of hunger on the
morning of the 25th, when the provisional government, having surmounted
the storms of the night, was beginning to discharge its functions. An enor-
mous crowd, amounting to above one himdred thousand persons, filled the
place de Grive and surrounded the Hotel-de-VUle on every side, as well as
every passage, stair, and apartment in that spacious edifice itself. So dense
was the throng, so severe the pressure, that the members of the government
itself cotdd scarcely breathe where they sat; and if they attempted to go out
to address the people outside, or for any other cause, it was only by the most
violent exertion of personal strength that their purpose could be effected.
Decrees to satisfy the mob were drawn up every quarter of an hour, and,
when signed, were passed over the heads of the throng into an adjoining
apartment, where they were instantly thrown off by the printers of Le Moni-
teur, and thence placarded in Paris, and sent by the telegraph over all France.
Under these influences were brought forth the first acts of the provisional
government, some of which were singularly trifling, but very descriptive of
the pressure under which they had been drawn up. One issued on the 25th
of February changed the placing of the coloin-s on the tricolour flag, putting
the blue where the red had been; a second abolished the expressions Monsieur
and Madame, substituting for them the words Citoyen and Citoyenne; a third
liberated all functionaries from their oaths of allegiance; a fourth directed
the words Ldberte, Sgalit6, FratemitS to be inscribed on all devices and on all
the walls of Paris, and changed the names of the streets and squares into
others of a revolutionary sound and meaning. This was followed on the 27th
by others of a more alarming import, or deeper signification. One ordered
everyone to wear a red rosette in his button-hole; another directed trees of
liberty to be planted in all the public squares, and reopened the clubs; a
third changed the names of the colleges of Paris, and of the titles of general
officers; and a fourth abolished all titles of nobility, forbidding anyone to
assume them.
But the provisional government soon found that it was not by such decrees
that the passions of the people were to be satiated, or their hunger appeased.
Already, on the morniug of the 25th, before they had had time to do any-
thing, the well-known features of popular insurrection had displayed them-
selves. The Tuileries and the Palais Royal had been abandoned to the
populace the evening before, as in truth, after the king had abdicated, there
was no longer any government to withstand their excesses. These august
palaces were sacked from top to bottom, their splendid furniture was burned
or thrown out of the windows, the cellars were emptied of all the wines which
they contained. The presence of the national guard and troops of the line,
who were still under arms, prevented these excesses going further in the
metropolis; but that only caused the storm to burst with the more fury on the
90 THE HISTORY OP FRANCE
[1848 A.D.]
comparatively unprotected buildings in the country around it. Over a
circle formed by a radius of thirty leagues round Paris, aU the railway sta-
tions were sacked and burned; the bridges were in great part broken down,
or set on fire; even the rails in many places were torn up and scattered about.
The beautiful chateau of Neuilly near Paris, the favourite abode of the late
king, was plundered and half-burned. VersaUles was threatened with a
similar fate, which was only averted by the firm attitude of the national
guard, which turned out for the protection of that palace, no longer ot kings
but of the fine arts. But the magnificent chateau of Rothschild near bu-
resnes was sacked and burned by
a mob from Melim, at the very
time when that banker was put-
ting at the disposal of the pro-
visional government fifty thou-
sand francs, to assuage the
sufferings of the woimded in the
engagements.
Imagination may figure, but
no words can convey, an adequate
idea of the tremendous pressure
exercised on the provisional gov-
ernment during the first days
succeeding their installation. But
of all the pressing cases, by far
the most urgent was to pacify
and feed the enormous multitude
of destitute workmen whom the
Revolution had thrown out of
emplo3T:nent, and who crowded
into the place de Gr^ve, threats
ening the government with de-
struction if they did not instantly
give them bread and work. They
inundated the salle du gotiveme-
ment, and extorted from the over-
whelmed members a decree " guar-
anteeing employment to all, and
bestowing on the combatants on
the barricades the million of
francs saved by the termination
of the civil list." Though this decree was a vast concession to the working
classes, and indicated not obscurely the commencement of that socialist pres-
sure on the government which was ere long felt so severely, yet it was far
from meeting the wishes of the angry and famishing crowd who filled the
place de Gr^ve and all the adjoining streets.^
Hardly had they published the proclamation on the labour question, when
a great uprising broke forth on the square of the H6tel-de-Ville. New
bands sallied forth firing off their muskets and crying, "The red flag! the red
flag!" They penetrated into the hdtel, a red banner at their head. It was
a decisive moment. It was important to know whether the flag of the Revo-
lution and of modem France were to disappear before a factional standard;
if all tradition were broken, and society plunged into an tmknown abyss.
Lamartine forced his way to the grand staircase, from the top of which,
BuBNiNO OP A Chateau
THE REPUBLIC OP 1848 * 91
[1848 A.D.]
after the most heroic efforts, he made himself heard by the crowd. He en-
deavoured to calm this seething multitude by appealing to the sentiments
of harmony and humanity which they had shown in the victory of the previous
evening; he implored the people not to impose on his government a standard
of civil war, not to force it to change the flag of the nation and the name of
France: "The government," cried he, "will die rather than dishonour itself
by obeying you — I will resist tuito the end this flag of blood. The red flag
has made but the tour of the Champ de Mars, bedraggled with the blood of
the people in '91; the tricoloured flag had made the tour of the world, with
the name, the glory, and the liberty of the country." These men, passionate
but easily influenced, broke forth into cheers. Lamartine had conquered
them. They tore down their red flag.
The high stature, the noble and handsome face of Lamartine, his fine
gestures, his grave and sonorous voice, his serene attitude during the most
violent demonstrations of the unruly populace, had, as much as his eloquent
words, seized the imagination and touched the heart of his stormy audience.
These scenes, which occurred many times, made of Lamartine, for several weeks,
one of the most original and most majestic figures in the history of France.
He resembled perhaps more the ancient orators than those of the Revolution./
THE NATIONAL WOEKSHOPS AND OTHER EXPEDIENTS
But although the danger of a bloody republic was got over at the moment,
yet it was evident to all that some lasting measures were indispensable in
order to provide security for the government, and the employment of the
idle and violent persons who were assembled in the streets. The municipal
guard had been disbanded, and the whole military had been sent out of the
city by the provisional government, in order to appease the people and avoid
the risk of collisions, which might be highly dangerous. Thus the govern-
ment was entirely at the mercy of the mob, and the only protection they could
invoke consisted in two battalions formed of volunteers, who had placed their
bayonets at the disposal of the authorities.
They decreed the formation, accordingly, of a new urban corps called the
garde mobile, to be composed of those who had been most determined on
the barricades; and the plan would, it was hoped, enrol on the side of the
government the most formidable of those who had recently been leagued
together for its overthrow. It perfectly succeeded. High pay — double ,
that of the troops of the line — soon attracted into the ranks the most ardent
of those who had been engaged in the late disturbances, and the garde mobile,
which soon consisted of twenty-four battalions, and mustered fom-teen thou-
sand bayonets, rendered essential service to the cause of order in the subse-
quent convulsions.
Several other measures, less creditable to the authorities but not less
descriptive of the pressure under which they laboured, emanated at the same
time from the busy legislative mill m the H6tel-de-Ville. Acts of accusa-
tion were launched forth against Duchatel, Salvandy, Montebello, and all the
members of the late ministry, March 1st; but this was a mere feigned conces-
sion to the passions of the people; the provisional government, to its honour
be it spoken, had no intention of proceeding seriously against them. Gra-
tuitous tickets to the opera were largely distributed among the people; but,
as well observed, it was poor consolation for a man who had got no dinner
to be presented with an opera ticket. The licentious mob who had plundered
and kept possession of the Tuileries were at length got out March 6th, but
92 THE HISTORY OP PRANCE
[1848 A.D.]
only by a great display of military force, and on the express condition that
they were to be taken to the H6tel-de-Ville, thanked for their patriotic con-
duct, and presented with certificates of good behaviour.
A fresh element of discord soon arose from the liberation of Blanqui,
Barb^s, Bernard, Huber, and all the pohtical prisoners in Paris, whom long
confinement had roused to perfect frenzy against authority of every kind.
Their first measure was to reopen all the clubs, which soon resounded with
declamations as violent as any which had ushered in the horrors of the Reign
of Terror. A hundred of them were opened in a few days, chiefly in the worst
parts of Paris, and every night crowded by furious mmtitudes.^ The gov-
ernment, in compliance with their demands, authorised .the planting of trees
of liberty, in imitation of the orgies of the first revolution.
But the provisional government had soon more serious cares to occupy
them. Distrust and distress, the inevitable attendants on successful revo-
lution, ere long appeared in their most appalling form. The government,
having guaranteed employment and sufficient wages to every citizen, soon
found themselves embarrassed to the very last degree by the multitudes
every day thrown upon them. Credit was at a stand; the manufactories
and workshops were closed, and the thousands who earned their bread in
them were thrown destitute upon the streets. So violent was the panic, so
strong the desire to realise, that the five-per-cents fell in the beginning of
March to forty-five!
"Nothing," says Lord Normanby,? "surprised me more, in the wonderful
changes of the last few days, than the utter destruction of all conventional
value attached to articles of luxury or display. Pictures, statues, plate,
jewels, shawls, furs, laces, all one is accustomed to consider property, became
as useless Imnber. Ladies, anxious to realise a small sum in order to seek
safety in flight, have in vain endeavoured to raise a pittance upon the most
costly jewels. What signified that they were 'rich and rare,' when no one
could or would buy them?" It was melancholy to see the most civilised cap-
ital in the world suddenly reduced to the primitive condition of barter.
In these circumstances it was vain to think of the ordinary channels of
employment being reopened, and nothing remained but for the government
to take upon themselves, in the meantime at least, the employment of the
people. For this purpose, on the 27th and 28th of February, decrees were
passed appointing great workshops called ateliers nationaux, where all the
imemployed might be set to work. As the idle were the very men who had
made the Revolution, it was indispensable to keep them in good humour, and
for this purpose the wages given were two francs a day. This was more than
the average rate even in prosperous periods, and it had the effect of bringing
a host of needy and clamorous claimants, not only from Paris but all the towns
in the neighbourhood. The mmibers in the first week were only five thousand,
but they soon increased in a fearful progression; from the 1st to the 15th of
April they swelled to 36,250, and at length reached the enormous nimiber of
117,000! The daily cost of their maintenance exceeded two himdred thou-
sand francs. This enormous expenditure was necessary, for the imiversal
prostration of credit, hoarding of specie, and disappearance of capital ren-
dered it impossible to get quit of workmen once enrolled in the brigades of
the unemployed; the government were obliged to add much from the secret-
service money to support them, in addition to the vast sums publicly applied
to their relief; and, in truth, they were kept up as well from the desire always
to have a huge army of dependants ready to support the revolutionary gov-
ernment as from the necessities of their situation.
THE REPUBLIC OP 1848 93
[1B18 A.D.]
In these huge workshops were collected a crowd of workmen, all of different
trades; and they were all set to the same employment, which was generally
that of removing nuisances, levelling barricades, or taking away dimghills.
Even these humble employments were soon done: nothing remained for the
enormous multitude to do; for as to making articles of luxury, or even con-
venience, for the public, that was out of the question at a time when no one
was purchasing more than the absolute necessaries of life. Thus the ateliers
nationaux soon turned into vast pay-shops, where idle crowds hung about all
day, receiving two francs a day for doing nothing. In the latter period of
their existence there were not two thousand actually at work out of 110,000
on the public rolls. There was no one concerned in the administration who
was to blame for this state of things. It was unavoidable in the circimi-
stances, just as was the employing of two himdred thousand starving labourers
on the public roads in Ireland, at the same time.
When the increasing necessities of the numerous classes whom the Revo-
lution had deprived of bread forced the subject of their maintenance on an
unwilling government, the cry was for the appointment of a minister pour
V organisation de travail; and the public voice, expressed on an hundred
banners reared aloft in the place de Gr^ve, designated Louis Blanc, whose
socialist principles had long been known, for the high office. To avoid the
danger, and yet escape the obloquy of openly resisting a demand so supported,
they fell upon the device of appointing Louis Blanc president of a commission
appointed to sit at the Luxembourg and inquire into the condition of the
working classes and the means of relieving their distresses. They associated
with Louis Blanc in this commission the acknowledged chiefs of all the sects
of socialists and commimists. The ateliers nationaux, however, were not put
under their direction. They remained under the orders of Marie, the minister
of commerce; and in consequence of this not being generally adverted to,
and the Luxembourg being regarded as the centre of the commimist action
and the source of communist measures, much unjust obloquy has been brought
upon Louis Blanc and his socialist supporters.
Three circumstances distinguished this revolution from both of those
which had preceded it. The first is the entire absence of all religious jeal-
ousy or rancour by which it was distinguished. No one needs be told that
the very reverse was the case in the first revolution. The same was the case,
though in a lesser degree, in the revolution of 1830. Hatred of the Jesuits,
and jealousy of the influence they were supposed to be acquiring in the gov-
ernment and the educational establishments of the coimtry, were the chief
causes of the overthrow of Charles X. But on this occasion, this, the most
deadly poison that can be mixed up with the revolutionary passions, was
entirely wanting. The old animosity of the revolutionists against the clergy
seemed to have disappeared. The Revolution was ardently supported by the
clergy, in the first instance at least, especially in the rural districts. The priests
blessed the trees of liberty which were planted in the villages and squares;
fervent prayers were offered up for the republic from the altars; the priests,
surrounded by their flocks, marched to the polling-places for the elections
for the assembly when they came on. This change is very remarkable, and
suggests much matter for reflection; but it is easily explained when we rec-
ollect that the Church had lost all its property during the first revolution,
and ceased to be either an object of envy from its wealth, or of jealousy
from its power. Thrown upon their flocks for support, since the miserable
pittance of forty pounds a year allowed by the government barely suflaced
for existence, the clergy had identified themselves with their interests and
94 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCB
[1818 A.D.]
shared their desu-es. The government of Louis Philippe had been so hostile
to religion that they in secret rejoiced at its overthrow.
The second circumstance which distinguished this revolution was the
sedulous attention now paid to the demands and interests of labour. It was
the interests of capital and the bourgeoisie which were chiefly, if not exclu-
sively, considered in the revolution of 1830. Robespierre and Saint-Just had
professed, and probably felt, a warm interest in the concerns of the working
classes; but they could see no other way of serving them but by cutting off
the heads of all above them. The lapse of thirty-three years' peace since
1815, and the vast increase of industry which had in consequence taken
place, had now, however, given a more practical direction to men's thoughts.
They no longer thought that they were to be benefited by placing the heads
of the rich under the guillotine; they adopted a plan, in appearance/ at least,
more likely to be attended with the desired effect, and that was to put their
own hands into their pockets. Encouraged by the conferences at the Lux-
embourg and the socialist declamations of Louis Blanc, as well as the decrees
of the government, which guaranteed employment and full wages to all the
working classes, they all imited now in demanding from their employers at
once an increase of wages and a diminution in the hours of labour! By a
decree of the government, the hours of labour of all sorts in Paris were fixed
at ten hours a day, though in the provinces they were left at twelve hours.
These demands, too, were made at a time when, in consequence of the panic
consequent on the Revolution, and the universal hoarding of the precious
metals which had ensued, the price of every species of industrial produce, so
far from rising, was rapidly falling, and sale of everything, except the mere
necessaries of life, had become impossible! The consequence, as might have
been anticipated, was that mostly all the master-manufacturers closed their
workshops; and in the first two weeks of March, above an hundred thousand
were out of emplojTnent in Paris alone, and thirty or forty thousand in
Rouen, Lyons, and Bordeaux!
A third effect which ensued from the peculiar character of this revolution,
as the revolt of labour against capital, was the strongest aversion on the part
of all its promoters to the principles of free trade, and a decided adherence
to that of protection.
But all other consequences of the Revolution fade into insignificance
compared with the- commercial and monetary crisis which resulted from its
success, and, in its ultimate results, was attended with the most important
effects upon the fortunes of the republic. The panic soon spread from the
towns to the country; the peasants, fearful of being plundered, either by
robbery or the emission of assignats, hastened to hide their little stores of
money; specie disappeared from the circulation.
THE REPUBLIC ESTABLISHED
The time was now approaching when something definite required to be
adopted by the provisional government in regard to the future constitution
of the republic. With this view the government felt that it was necessary
to convoke a national assembly; but before that could be done, the basis
required to be fixed on which the election of its members should proceed.
In these moments of republican fervour, there could be no doubt of the prin-
ciple which required to be adopted. The convention of 1793 presented the
model ready made to their hands. The precedent of that year accordingly
was followed, with a trifling alteration, merely in form, which subsequent
THE REPUBLIC OF 1848 95
[1848 A.D.]
experience had proved to be necessary. The number of the assembly was
fixed at nine hundred, including the representatives of Algeria and the other
colonies, and it was declared that the members should be distributed in exact
proportion to the population. The whole was to form one assembly, chosen
by universal suffrage. Every person was to be admitted to vote who had
attained the age of twenty-one, who had resided six months in a commune,
and had not been judicially deprived of his suffrage. Any Frenchman of
the age of twenty-five, not judicially deprived of his rights, was declared
eligible as a representative. The voting was to be secret, by signing Hsts;
and no one could be elected unless he had at least two thousand votes. The
deputies -were to receive twenty-five francs a day for their expenses during
the sitting of the assembly. This was soon followed by another decree,
which ordered all prisoners for civil or commercial debts to be immediately
set at liberty.
The provisional government, at the head of which was Lamartine, were
at the same time labouring courageously and energetically to coerce the vio-
lent party, and direct the Revolution into comparatively safe and pacific
channels. The first act which evinced the objects of this section of the gov-
ernment, and obtained the concurrence of the whole, was' a most important
and noble one — the abolition of the punishment of death in purely political
cases. This great victory of humanity and justice over the strongest pas-
sions of excited and revengeful man was achieved by the provisional gov-
ernment in the very first moments of their installation in power, and when
surroimded by a violent mob loudly clamouring for the drapeau rouge and
the commencement of foreign war and the reign of blood. Whatever may
be said of the tricolour flag making the tour of the globe, there can be no
doubt that this great and just innovation will do so. To regard internal
enemies, provided they engage only in open and legitimate warfare, in the
same manner as external foes, to slay them in battle, but give quarter and
treat them as prisoners of war after the conflict is over, is the first great step
in lessening the horrors of civil conflict. On the contrary, the full merit of
their noble and courageous conduct will not be appreciated imless it is recol-
lected that, without guards or protection of any sort, they were, at the very
time they passed this decree, exposed to the hostility of a bloodthirsty fac-
tion, loudly clamom-ing for the restoration of the guillotine, a second reign
of terror, and a forcible propagandism to spread revolution through foreign
nations.
Though the republic, generally speaking, was received in silent submis-
sion in the provinces when the telegraph announced its establishment in Paris,
yet, in those places where the democratic spirit was peculiarly strong, it was
not inaugurated without very serious disorders. At Lyons it was proclaimed
at eight at night, on the 25th of February, 1848, by torchlight; and before
midnight, the incendiary torch had been applied to the religious and chari-
table establishments of the Croix Rouge, Fourviere, and the faubourg du Paix.
Delivered over to the rule of a tumultuous mob, the condition of Lyons
for several months was miserable in the extreme; and though perfectly aware
of these disorders, the government did not venture to attempt their suppres-
sion. In the midst of this universal excitement and fever, a very serious
run took place on the savings banks, and these establishments soon found
that they were unable to pay the deposits in specie.
When such elements of discord existed, not only in the state but in the
provisional government itself, it was only a question of time when an open
rupture was to take place between them. It was brought on, however.
96 THE HISTOEY OP FRANCE
[1848 A.D.]
somewhat sooner than had been expected, by an ordinance of Ledru-RoUin,
published on the 14th of March, ordering the dissolution of the flank com-
panies, or compagnies d'ilite as they were called, of the national guard, and
the dispersion of their members, without distinction or equipment, among
the ordinary companies of the legion. The object of this was to destroy
the exclusive aspect and moral influence of these companies, which, being
composed of the richer class of citizen, formed the nucleus of a body which
naturally inclmed to conservative principles, and might impede the designs
of the extreme revolutionary party. To "democratise," as it was called,
the whole body, the decree ordered these companies to be dispersed among
the others, and the whole to vote together for the election of the oflacers,
which was to take place in a few days.«
On the 16th of March, these 61ite companies of the old national guard
made a demonstration in a body twenty-five thousand strong at the Hotel-
de-Ville in order to test the strength of the forces at the disposal of the peo-
ple. In revenge, on the following day, the workmen's corporations, the
delegates to the Luxembourg, and the national workshops, excited by leaders
who wished to drive them to extremes, organised a coimter-demonstration
in favour of the proletariat. The provisional government, whose members
clung together in spite of internal rivalries, was obliged every day to deliver
speeches and proclamations which gave Lamartine an ever-increasing but
ephemeral popularity. In order not to leave the capital imdefended in the
hands of the factionists, the provisional government ordered back to Paris
some battalions of the army which had left hmniliated on the 23rd of Feb-
ruary.
After a new socialistic demonstration which repulsed the national guard
and a feast of fraternity on the 21st of April which reconciled no one, the
electoral colleges met on Sunday, the 23rd of April. The elections were
held, for the first time, by universal suffrage. This meant passing from
222,000 electors to 9,000,000 — a sudden upheaval of political life which had
not been expected and which would inevitably cause disaster.
The election of Lamartine in ten departments characterised this moment
of the Revolution. The 4th of May the constituent assembly met and sol-
emnly proclaimed the republic; and, despite the remembrance of the feeble-
ness of the Directory, it imprudently placed the agreement in the hands of
an executive commission composed of five members: Arago, Gamier-Pag^s,
Marie, Lamartine, and Ledru-Rollin.
It seemed that nothing was left but to frame a constitution. Unfortu-
nately, every day the Revolution was interpreted in a different way. Some
held that it was exclusively political and tried to restrict it to a few modifica-
tions in the form of government, while others wanted it to be social and aimed
at transforming society. Many even spoke of returning to the monarchy,
and some dreamed of entirely demolishing all public authority.
They began by an attack on the national assembly. The 15th of May,
under the pretext of carrying to the deputies a petition in favour of Poland,
a movement was made against the chamber.''
THE INSURRECTION OF MAT 15TH, 1848
The petitioners assembled at the place de la BastUle, and began their
march about 11 o'clock. Their attitude was not hostile; but, on the boule-
vard du Temple, Blanqui and his club awaited their coming, quickly placed
themselves at the head of the column, and moved forward with the greatest
THE REPUBLIC OF 1848 97
[184SA.D.]
rapidity. The assembly came forth on the place de la Madeleine much earlier
than they were expected. The national guard, weary of being summoned
so often in vain, had not responded in a large number to the call upon them;
in spite of this they would have been able to avert the danger had they con-
centrated. Instead of taking this necessary measure at once, General Cour-
tais had the imfortunate idea of overtaking this mass of people — he imagined
he could stop them by kind words. In the first lines were the most violent
characters; amongst them were some armed men. These paid no attention
to Courtais, but passed on; the rest followed. The crowd bordered the place
de la Concorde and advanced toward the bridge. In a short time it hurled
itself against the gratings of the assembly.
Lamartine and Ledru-RoUin attempted to harangue the multitude from
the top of the stairs where the assembly, some days before, had come to mix
its republican acclamations with those of the people of Paris. The eloquence
of the poet and of the tribune did not have the same ascendency at this
moment as at the H6tel-de-Ville. The multitude continued to shake the
gratings and cry, "Down with the bayonets!" Courtais gave the command
to a thousand of the national guard and the garde mobile to sheathe their
bayonets; then he had a grating opened to admit twenty delegates: a much
larger number followed Blanqui. The crowd went round the palace to the
place de Bourgogne; there they joined the club de Barb^s, not to invade
but to observe. When they were sure that Blanqui had entered they wished
also to enter; there took place, on the place de Bourgogne, a melee, a terrible
stampede. The gratings on that side were forced: the multitude poured
into the assembly room; others entered directly by forcing the doors. At
the moment of the invasion the assembly were discussing Poland and Italy.
In the midst of the tumult which followed, Louis Blanc, with the permis-
sion of the president, began to speak; he demanded silence in order that the
petition in favour of Poland might be read, and the right of petition sanc-
tioned. In spite of the protestations of a number of representatives, Raspail,
who was not a member of the assembly, mounted the tribxme and read the
petition. The president, Buchez, asked the crowd to leave and allow the
assembly to deliberate. Barbes, seeing Blanqui at the foot of the tribune,
hastened to make the first move, and pressed the assembly to carry out the
wishes of the people for Poland. "Citizens," cried he, "you have done well
to come and exercise your right to petition, and the duty of the assembly
is to execute what you demand, which is the wish of France; but in order
that she should not appear violent it is necessary that you retire."
Cries of "No! No!" were heard, and Blanqui on the other hand demanded
of the assembly a decree that France should not put her sword in the scab-
bard until Poland had attained her independence. He added that the people
came also to demand justice for the massacres of Rouen and claim from the
assembly that it should see that they had work and bread. Contradictory
cries broke forth: "Poland! we are interested only m Poland!" and "The
minister of work, immediately!"
The struggle was, in fact, between those Who wished to continue the in-
vasion of the assembly and those who wished it to cease. Raspail, who
found himself carried there without intending it, joined Ledru-RoUin and
Barbes in trying to clear the assembly room; Huber himself, the promoter
of the manifestation, tried to induce the people to retire before the assembly,
whose representatives had held their posts with dignity in the midst of
this chaos. The party of Blanqui resisted, the struggle became intense in this
close atmosphere — when, from outside, was heard the sound of drums.
H. yr.—you xui. b
98 THE HISTORY OF FEANCE
[1848 A.D.)
Gamier-PagSs had sent, in the name of the executive commission, the
order to beat to arms all the legions. At the news of what had happened
the national guard gathered in great throngs. The crowd, on the contrary,
around the Palais Bourbon, on the bridge, at the place de la Concorde, began
to thin. All those who had come with no evil intentions became disquieted,
grieved; and one by one they went away. In the interior of the hall, among
the invaders, many were exhausted, some even fainted. Barb^s' head was
turned. He, who had no intention but to defend the assembly against
Blanqui, declared that it was necessary that they should vote, at that sitting,
the sending of an army to Poland, a tax of a thousand millions on the rich,
and that they should forbid the call to arms; if not, the representatives
would be declared traitors to the country! He and those aroimd him were
delirious. The clamours redoubled at the same time for Poland and for the
organisation of work. "We wish Louis Blanc," cried someone, and Louis
Blanc was' brought forward, agauast his will, in triumph; harassed, ahnost
fainting, he protested in vain and felt that he was lost. The fury increased
in a measm-e at the sound of the drmns. Armed men with sinister faces
surrounded and threatened the president Buchez, who had remained im-
movable on his seat, and the vice-president Corbon, who had come to join
Buchez at his perilous post. The president was called on to give the order
to stop the call to arms. He resisted. The commands became frantic. An
officer of the national guard came to the president to tell him that the legions
would be ready to act within a quarter of an hour.
The order to the mayors to cease the call to arms could no longer have
any result. The refusal to give this order would inevitably have led to a
catastrophe. Men of imquestioned courage amongst the representatives
counselled the president to gain a quarter of an hour at any price and to accede
to the wishes of the people. He signed the orders. This- action without
doubt prevented violent acts, but did not quiet the tumult, as the invaders
seemed to be possessed by an imcontrollable fury. Amidst the stamping
and howling of the crowd, Huber suddenly moimted the tribune and declared
the national assembly dissolved. A group of the most frantic hurled them-
selves on the desk and threw the president from his seat. The president and the
vice-president at last went forth accompanied by most of the representatives.
The invaders, remaining masters of the hall, commenced to argue on
the candidates for a new provisional government, when the dnmas began
echoing in the interior of the palace. "The garde mobile!" they cried; a
panic seized the invaders and they fled in disorder from the hall, crying,
"To the H6tel-de-Ville!" This political orgy had lasted nearly fom: hours.
A little after four o'clock, the garde mobile and the national guard entered
and finished clearing the hall./
The assembly came back and reopened the sitting. Lamartine and Ledru-
Rollin, at the head of the representatives and of the national guard, marched
to the H6tel-de-Ville, where Marrast, the mayor of Paris, had seized a new
provisional government which had attempted to install itself there; the
agitators were sent to Vincennes. This riot, a sad and senseless parody of
the too famous days of the first revolution, had the result of putting the
assembly in a position of defiance against the Parisian populace. It was
decided to dissolve the national workshops, which formed an army of one
hundred thousand labourers having arms, officers, and discipHne. This news
excited the anger of the agitators who were still free, and the despair of the
workmen who had been misled by dangerous Utopian ideas.^
In June there were several new elections, and Paris returned Proudhon
THE EEPUBLIC OF 1848 99
[1848 A.D.]
and other socialist leaders. The general result of these elections, however,
was not favourable to that party; while Count Mol6, Thiers, and several other
statesmen of the monarchy recovered seats in the assembly, and at the same
time Prince Louis Napoleon was elected by no less than four departments.
He had been supported not only by Bonapartists but by red republicans,
and even by communists to whom his speculative writings had commended
him. Many parties confronted one another in the assembly; but the ultra-
democrats formed an insignificant minority. Growing more desperate as
political power eluded their grasp, they were plotting another insurrection,
when the assembly determined to disperse the idle and dangerous workmen
in the national workshops, who had now risen to one hundred and twenty
thousand. This moment of discontent was promptly seized upon. The
clubs and the red republican leaders appealed to the workmen, to the revo-
lutionary proletairists and to the forgats, and Paris flew to arms.*
CIVIL WAR IN PAEIS (JUNE 22ND-25TH, 1848)
Every symptom indicated the approaching movement. It broke out on
the 22nd of June at ten at night. The government, warned of the rioting
and clamour which attended the first steps that had been taken for dis-
tributing a portion of the workmen through the departments, assembled at
the Luxembourg. In the course of the evening numerous mobs had several
times assailed the palace with furious shouts of "A has Marie!" "A bas
Lamartine! " The government had appointed General Cavaignac commander-
in-chief of the troops of the national guard, with the view of concentrating
the whole plan and the unity of its execution in a single individual.
The night was tranquil; it was spent in arrangements for the attack and
defence. Neither the socialists nor the anti-republican party joined in the
insurrection. Everything indicated that this undecided, feeble movement,
incoherent in its principle, had been organised and planned in the heart of
the national workshops themselves. It was a plebeian and not a popular
movement, a conspiracy of subalterns and not of chiefs, an outbreak of
servile and not of civil war.
At seven o'clock on the 23rd of June, the government received informa-
tion that mobs, forming altogether an assemblage of from eight to ten thou-
sand men, had collected on the place du Pantheon to attack the Luxem-
bourg. The occupants of the national workshops poured down from the
barriers, and the populace, excited by some of their armed leaders, threw up
barricades. Their leaders were, for the most part, the men who acted as
brigadiers of the national workshops, and who were agents of the seditious
clubs. They were irritated by the proposed disbandment of their corps,
whose wages passed through their hands, and some of them, it was alleged,
did not scruple to divert the money from its destined object, for the purpose
of paying sedition. From the barriers of Charenton, Bercy, Fontainebleau,
and M^nilmontant, to the very heart of Paris, the capital was almost totally
defenceless, and in the power of a few thousand men.
General Cavaignac resolved to concentrate his troops (as had l^en de-
termined beforehand) in the garden of the Tuileries, in the Champs Elys6es,
on the place de la Concorde, on the esplanade des Invalides, and round the
palace of the representatives. Meanwhile, the conflict had commenced on
the boulevards. Two detachments of volunteers of the 1st and 2nd legions
attacked two barricades erected on that point. Most of these brave volun-
teers perished heroically under the first fire of the insurgents.
100 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1848 A.D.]
Duvivier commanded the central part of Paris at the H6tel-de-Ville.
Dimiesne and Lamoriciere, who seemed, as it were, to multiply themselves,
performed prodigies of resolution and activity with the mere handful of^men
at then- disposal. By four o'clock in the afternoon Dumesne had cleared and
made -himself master of the left bank of the Seine, and had overawed the
whole mass of insurrectionary population in the quarter of the Pantheon.
Lamoriciere, invincible, though hemmed in by two hundred thousand of
the msurgents, occupied the space extending from the rue du Temple to the
Madeleine, and from CUchy to the Louvre. He was incessantly gallopmg
from one point to another, and always exposing himself to receive the first
shot that might be fired. He had two horses killed imder him.
A summer storm was at that moment breaking over Paris. General
Cavaignac, surrounded by his staff, with Lamartine, Duclerc, and Pierre
Bonaparte (son of Lucien), and followed by about two thousand men, ad-
vanced amidst flashes of lightning and peals of thimder, mingled with the
applauding shouts of the well-disposed citizens, as far as the chateau d'Eau.
After repeated assaults, kept up for the space of three quarters of an hour,
and amidst an incessant shower of balls and bullets, decimating both ofiicers
and men, the barricades were carried. Lamartine felt as though he could
have wished for death to release him from the odious responsibility of blood-
shed which pressed upon hun so unjustly, but yet so unavoidably. Four
hundred brave men lay killed or wounded in different parts of the faubourg.
Lamartine returned to the chateau d'Eau to rejoin General Cavaignac.
Accompanied only by Duclerc, and a national guard named Lassaut, who
had been his companion the whole of the day, Lamartine passed the line of
the advanced posts, to reconnoitre the disposition of the people on the boule-
vard of the Bastille. The immense crowd, which fell back to make way for
him as he proceeded, stiU continued to shout his name, with enthusiasm
and even amidst tears. He conversed long with the people, pacing slowly
and pressing his way through the crowd by the breast of his horse. This
confidence amidst the insurgent masses preserved him from any manifesta-
tion of popular violence. The men, who by their pale coimtenances, their
excited tone, and even their tears bore evidence of deep emotion, told him
their complaints against the national assembly, and expressed their regret
at seeing the revolution stained with blood. They declared their readiness
to obey him (Lamartine), whom they had known as their coimseUor and
friend, and not as their flatterer, amidst the misery they had suffered and
the destitution of their wives and children. "We are not bad citizens,
Lamartine," they exclaimed; "we are not assassins; we are not factious
agitators! We are unfortimate men, honest workmen, and we only want the
government to help us in our misery and to provide us with work! Govern
us yourself! Save us! Command us! We love you! We know you! We
will prevail on our companions to lay down their arms!"
Lamartine, without having been either attacked or insulted, returned
to rejoin General Cavaignac on the boulevard. At midnight the regunents
nearest to the capital and the national guards of the adjacent towns entered
Paris in a mass, marching through all the barriers. Victory might still be
tardy, yet it was now certain.'
On the morning of the 24th matters looked very serious, and the assembly,
which had endeavoured to ignore the danger, was forced to recognise and
Me republic 6^ 1848 lOl
[1848 A.D.]
take measures to avert it. The inefficiency of the executive commission
and the distrust they had inspired in the national guard having become
painfully conspicuous, a motion was made, at noon on the 24th, to confer
absolute power on a dictator; and General Cavaignac was suggested and
approved almost unanimously. The executive commission, finding them-
selves thus superseded, resigned their appointments, and absolute uncon-
trolled authority was vested in the dictator.
The effects of this great change were soon apparent. Immense was the
difference between the hesitation and disunited action of five civilians in
presence of danger, and the decided conduct of one single experienced mili-
tary chief. The first object was to repel the enemy from the vicinity of the
H6tel-de-Ville. The task was no easy one, for the streets aroimd it swarmed
with armed men; every window was filled with tirailleurs, and from the
summit of barricades, which were erected across the narrow thoroughfares
at every hundred yards, streamed a well-directed and deadly fire of musketry.
At length, however, after a dreadful struggle, the nearest streets were carried,
and the H6tel-de-Ville was put for the time in a state of comparative safety.
The attack was next carried into the adjoining quarters of the Eglise St.
Gervais and the rue St. Antoine, while General Lamorici^re pushed on towards
the faubourg St. Denis, and then, wheeling to his left, commenced an assault
on the faubourg Poissonniere. The insurgents defended each barricade as it
was attacked, as long as possible, and when it was about to be forced they
quickly retired to the next one in rear, generally not more than one or two
hundred yards distant, which was stubbornly held in like manner; while upon
the column which advanced in pursuit a heavy and mm-derous fire was di-
rected from the windows of the adjoining houses.
It was not surprising that the progress even of the vast and hourly-
increasing military force at the disposal of the dictator had been so slow;
for the task before them was immense, and to appearance insurmountable
by any human strength. The number of barricades had risen to the enor-
mous and almost incredible figure of 3,888, nearly all of which were stoutly
defended. The great strongholds of the insiu-gents were in the clos St.
Lazare and the faubourg St. Antoine, each of which was defended by gigantic
barricades, constructed of stones having all the solidity of regular fortifica-
tions, and held by the most determined and fanatical bands.
The night of the 24th was terrible; the opposing troops, worn out with
fatigue and parched with thirst, sank down to rest within a few yards of
each other on the summit of the barricades, or at their feet, and no soimd was
heard in the dark but the cry of the sentinels. Early on the morning of the
25th the conflict was renewed at all points, and ere long a frightful tragedy
signalised the determination and ferocity of the insiu-gents. General Br6a
humanely went with a flag of truce to the headquarters of the insm-gents.
He was overwhelmed with insults, shot down, and left for dead on the ground;
his aide-de-camp, Captain Mauguin, was at the same time put to death, and
his remains mutilated to such a degree that the human form could hardly
be distinguished. After waiting an hour for the return of his general. Colonel
Thomas, the second in command, having learned his fate, and announced it
to his soldiers, made preparations for an assault. Infuriated by the treach-
erous massacre of their general, the men rushed on, and carried at the point
of the bayonet seven successive barricades. AU then defenders were put to
the sword, to avenge their infamous treachery.
But ere the attack commenced, a sublime instance of Christian heroism
and devotion occurred, which shines forth like a heavenly glory in the midst
102 THE HISTOEY OP FRANCE
[1848 A.S.]
of these terrible seasons of carnage. Monseigneur Affre, archbishop of Paris,
horror-struck with the slaughter which for three days had been going on
without intermission, resolved to effect a reconciliation between the con-
tending parties, or perish in the attempt. Having obtained leave from
General Cavaignac to repair to the headquarters of the insurgents, he set
out, dressed in his pontifical robes, having the cross in his hand, accom-
panied by two vicars, also in full canonicals, and three intrepid members of
the assembly. Deeply affected by this courageous act, which they well
knew was almost certain death, the people, as he walked through the streets,
fell on their knees and besought him to desist, but he persisted, saymg, "It
is my duty. Bonus pastor dat vitam suam jrro ambus suis.'[ At seven in the
evening he arrived in the place de la Bastille, where the firing was extremely
warm on both sides.
Undismayed by the storm of balls, the prelate advanced slowly, attended
by his vicars, to the summit of the barricade. He had descended three steps
on the other side when he was pierced through the loins by a shot from a
window. The insurgents, horror-struck, approached him when he fell,
stanched the wound, which at once was seen to be mortal, and carried him
to the neighbouring hospital of Quatre-Vingts. When told he had only a
few minutes to live, he said, " God be praised, and may he accept my life
as an expiation for my omissions during my episcopacy, and as an offering
for the salvation of this misguided people"; and with these words he ex-
pired.
Immediately after his decease, proposals came for a capitulation from
the insurgents, on condition of an absolute and imqualified amnesty. Gen-
eral Cavaignac, however, would listen to nothing but an unconditional sur-
render. All attacks proved successful, and at last the enemy capitulated.
With this the terrible insurrection came to an end. The losses on either side
in this memorable conflict were never accurately known; for the insurgents
could not estimate theirs, and the government took care not to publish then-
own. But on both sides it was immense, as might have been expected, when
forty or fifty thousand on a side fought with the utmost courage and desper-
ation for four days in the streets of a crowded capital, with nearly four thou-
sand barricades erected and requiring to be stormed. General N^grier was
killed, and Generals Duvivier, Dumesne, Koste, Lafontaine, and Foncher
were wounded mortally — General Bedeau more slightly. Ten thousand
bodies were recognised and buried, and nearly as many, especially on the
side of the insurgents, thrown unclaimed into the Seine. At the close of the
contest nearly fifteen thousand prisoners were in the hands of the victors,
and crowded, almost to suffocation, all places of confinement in Paris. Three
thousand of them died of jail fever; but the immense multitude which
remained created one of the greatest difficulties with which for long the
government had to contend.
The concourse of troops and national guards who flocked together from
all quarters, on the 27th and 28th, enabled the dictator to maintain his
authority, and restore order, by the stern discipline of the sword. The as-
sembly divided the prisoners into two classes: for the first, who were the
most guilty, deportation to Cayenne, or one of the other colonies, was at
once adjudged; the second were condemned to transportation, which with
them meant detention in the hulks, or in some maritime fortresses of the
republic. But all means of detention ere long proved inadequate for so
prodigious a multitude, and many were soon liberated by the government
from absolute inability to keep them longer. This terrible strife cost France
THE REPUBLIC OF 1848 103
[1848 A.D.]
more lives than any of the battles of the empu'e; the number of generals
who perished in it, or from the wounds they had received, exceeded even
those cut off at Borodino or Waterloo.
THE DICTATOBSHIP OF CAVAIGNAC
The victory once decidedly gained, Cavaignac lost no time in abdicating
the dictatorial powers conferred upon him during the strife. But the assem-
bly were too well aware of the narrow escape which they had made, to enter-
tain the thought of resuming the powers of sovereignty. If they had been
so inclined, the accounts from the provinces would have been sufficient to
deter them, for the insurrection in Paris was contemporary with a bloody
revolt at Marseilles, occasioned by the same attempt to get quit of the bur-
densome pensioners at the ateliers nationaux, which was only put down
after three days' hard fighting by a concentration of troops from aU the
adjoining departments.
At Rouen and Bordeaux the agitation was so violent that it was evident
nothing but the presence of a large military force prevented a rebellion from
breaking out. Taught by these events, the national assembly unanimously
continued to General Cavaignac the powers already conferred upon him, and
prolonged the state of siege in the metropolis. The powers of the dictator
were to last till a permanent president was elected either by the assembly or
the direct voice of the citizens; and in the meantime General Cavaignac
proceeded to appoint his ministers, who immediately entered upon their
several duties.
The first care of the new government was to remodel the armed force of
the metropolis, and extinguish those elements of insurrection which had
brought such desolation, bloodshed, and ruin upon the country. The ateliers
nationaux were immediately dissolved: this had now become, comparatively
speaking, an easy task; for the most formidable part of their number, and
nearly all who had actually appeared with arms in their hands, had either
been slain or were in the prisons of the repubhc. Those legions of the national
guard which had either hung back or openly joined the insurgents, on occasion
of the late revolt, were aU dissolved and disarmed. Already, on Jime 25th,
when the insurrection was at its height, a decree was issued, which suspended
nearly all the journals of a violent character on either side, and even fimile
de Girardin, an able writer and journalist of moderate character, was ar-
rested and thrown into prison. These measures, how rigorous soever, were
all ratified by a decree of the assembly on the 1st of August, and passed
unanunously. "The friends of liberty," says the contemporary annalist,
"observed with grief that the republic had in a single day struck with im-
punity a severer blow at the liberty of the press than the preceding govern-
ments had done during thirty years." At the same time the clubs, those
great fountains of treason and disorder, were closed. Thus was another
proof added to the innumerable ones which history had previously afforded,
that popular licentiousness and insxu-rection, from whatever cause originating,
must ever end in the despotism of the sword.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION AND THE PLEBISCITE
The duty of framing a constitution had been intrusted, in the beginnmg
of June, to a committee composed of the most enlightened members. The
discussion commenced on the 2nd of July, and was only concluded by the
104 THE HISTOEY OP PEANCE
[IMS A.D.]
formal adoption of the constitution, as then modified, on the 23rd of October.
On the important question whether the legislature should be in one or two
chambers, the debate was conducted by two distinguished men, Lamartme
and Odilon Barrot. , j • /•
The assembly, as might have been anticipated, decided m favour of one
chamber by a majority of 530 to 289. The "sovereign power" of legislation
accordmgly was vested in a single assembly, and Lamartine, who was not
without a secret hope of becoming its ruler, was triumphant. But the all-
important question remained— by whom was the president of the chamber to
be appointed, and what were to be his powers as the avowed chief magis-
trate of the republic? Opinions were much divided on this point, some ad-
hering to an election by the assembly, others to a direct appeal to the people.
Contrary to expectation, M. de Lamartme supported the nomination by
the entire population of France.
He could not be convinced of the fatal blow which his popidarity had
received from his coalition with Ledru-RoUin. He still thought he was lord
of the ascendant, and would be the people's choice if the nomination was
vested in their hands. By extending the suffrage to all France, the revolu-
tionists had dug the grave of their own power. The result, accordingly,
decisively demo^istrated the strength of this feeling even in the first assembly
elected under tiniversal suffrage, and how well founded were the mournful
prognostications of Lamartine as to the approaching extinction of liberty
by the very completeness of the triumph of its supporters.^
The formation of the constitution having been at length concluded, it
was finally adopted, on the 4th of November, by a majority of 737 to thirty
votes. Ainong the dissentients were Pierre Leroux and Proudhon, extreme
commimists, and Berryer and La Rochejaquelein, royalists. Victor Hugo
and Montalembert were also in the minority, though no two men could be
foimd whose opinions on general subjects were more opposite. On the even-
ing of the day on which it was adopted by the assembly, the intelligence was
communicated to the Parisians by 101 guns discharged from the Invalides.
The sound at first excited the utmost alarm, as it was feared the civil war
was renewed; and when it was known that it was only the annoimcement
of a constitution, the panic subsided, and the people, careless and indifferent,
dispersed to their homes.
By the constitution thus adopted, the form of government in France was
declared to be republican, the electors being chosen by universal suffrage,
and the president in the same way. The right of the working classes to
employment was negatived, it being declared, however, that the government,
so far as its resources went, was to furnish labour to the unemiuoyed. The
punishment of death was abohshed in pm-ely political offences. Slavery was
to be abolished in every part of the French dominions. The right of associa-
tion and public meeting was guaranteed; voting, whether for the representa-
tives or the president, was to be by ballot; the representatives once chosen
might be re-elected any number of times. The president required to be a
French citizen, of at least thirty years of age, and one who had not lost on
any occasion his right of citizenship. He was to be elected for four years,
[' An expression of the philosopher Jean Reynaud during " the Days of June " characterised
the situation with poignant truth : " We are lost if we are conquered ; lost if we conquer." It
was too true : the Republic was stabbed to the heart. Victorious, the body politic drifted, in a
few months, to a monarchic caesarism by the path of reaction ; vanquished, it had drifted, in a
few days, to a demagogic caesarism by the path of anarchy. Like the Janus of fable, Bona-
partism was ready to present the one or the other of its two faces to France doomed to be its
prey. — Mabtin/ ]
THE EEPTTBLIC OP 1848 105
[1848 A.D.]
and a simple majority was to determine the election. The president was
re-eligible after havmg served the first four years; he was to reside in the
palace of the assembly, and receive a salary of six hundred thousand francs
a year. All the ministers of state were to be appouited by the president,
who also was to command the armed force, declare peace and war, conducfc
negotiations with foreign powers, and generally exercise all the powers of
sovereignty, with the exception of appointing the judges of the supreme
courts m Paris, who were to be named by the assembly, and to hold their
offices for life.
Disguised under the form of a republic, this constitution was in reality
monarchical, for the president was invested with all the substantial power
of sovereignty; and as he was capable of being re-elected, his tenure of office
might be prolonged for an indefinite period. Though there were several can-
didates for the high office, yet it was soon apparent that the suffrage would
really come to be divided between two — General Cavaignac and Prince Louis
Napoleon.
THE CANDIDACY OF LOUIS NAPOLEON
The door had already been opened to the latter by an election which took
place at Paris on the 17th of September, when the young prince was again
elected by a large majority. Four other departments in the country had
already elected him. On this occasion he no longer hesitated, but accepted
his election for the department of the Seine. He took his seat on the 26th
of September, and made the following speech on the occasion, which was very
favourably received by the assembly:
Citizen Represkntativeb :
After three-and-thirty years of proscription and exile, I at length find myself among you, I
again regain my country and my rights as one of its citizens. It is to the republic that I owe
that happiness : let the republic then receive my oath of gratitude, of devotion ; and let my
generous fellow-citizens, to whom I am indebted for my seat in its legislature, feel assured that
1 will strive to justify their suffrages, by labouring with you for the maintenance of tranquillity,
the first necessity of the country, and for the development of the democratic institutions which
the country is entitled to reclaim. My conduct, ever guided by a sense of duty and respect for
the laws, will prove, in opposition to the passions by which I have been maUgned and still am
blackened, that none is more anxious than I am to devote myself to the defence of order and the
consolidation of the republic'
THE ELECTIONS OF DECEMBER, 1848
Both Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and General Cavaignac had ex-
ceptional advantages: the first, that of a great name; the second, that of
the immense resources with which executive power is necessarily invested.
But in addition to the advantage of his name, Prince Louis Napoleon Bona-
parte belonged to no party whatsoever. Isolated between the army of social-
ism and the "party of order," he offered in his very person a sort of com-
promise. His attitude, his remoteness from the stormy debates of the cham-
ber rendered his conduct conformable with his situation. In his seclusion
at AuteuU, he had held conferences with men of aU parties. All could place
some of their hopes on him, without his binding himself to any single one.
He belonged at the same time to the democracy, on account of the worship
of the proletariat for the name of Napoleon; to socialism, by a few of his pam-
phlets; and to the party of order by the religious and military tendencies
of his policy: and this is what no one in those times of blindness perceived.
A serious incident of far-reaching consequences dealt a terrible blow to
the candidateship of General Cavaignac — the sitting of the national assem-
106 THE HISTOEY OP PEANCE
[1848 A.D.]
bly of November 25th, 1848. As the terror of the .Time Days faded away,
the exammation of facts had, Uttle by Httle, convinced many that General
Cavaignac, during those terrible days, had disdained the means of quellmg
the insurrection in its infancy; that he had served as an instrument for the
seditious mutinies against the executive commission; that, in consequence
of his calculated nervelessness and inaction, the insurrection had assumed
formidable proportions, and the general had been obliged to shed the blood
of France in torrents. As he had greatly benefited by this same bloodshed,
and owed his inconceivable elevation
to it, public feeling traced in this en-
semble the manoeuvres of criminal
ambition. These rumours soon ac-
quired such consistency that General
Cavaignac thought he ought to give
an explanation in the tribune of the
national assembly. The debate took
place at the sitting of November 25th.
When General Cavaignac had chal-
lenged his adversaries to declare if he
had in any way betrayed his trust,
Barth^lemy Saint-HUaire ascended
the tribune and asked permission of
the assembly to read an unpublished
page of history. This statement em-
braced an accumulation of the most
damaging evidence against the vacil-
lations of General Cavaignac and
against the faction which had striven
for the overthrow of the executive
commission.
General Cavaignac defended him-
self with the skill of a barrister. The
danger of his position sharpened his
wits. In spite of the affirmations of
Garnier-PagSs and Ledru-Rollin, Gen-
eral Cavaignac came through this dan-
gerous debate with the appearance
of having triumphed. An alleged
order of the day, presented by Du-
pont (de I'Eure), was adopted by a
. Napoleon III Very large majority. The order of
the day was expressed thus: "The
national assembly, persevering in the decree of Jime 28th, 1848 — thus worded,
' General Cavaignac, chief of the executive power, deserves well of his coun-
try'— passes on to the usual business of the day."
" The country will judge," many voices exclaimed when General Ca-
vaignac ended the discussion by vaunting his devotion to the republic; and
indeed the country was not slow in formulating its judgment.
In the election of December 10th, 1,448,302 votes were returned for
General Cavaignac, whilst Louis Napoleon Bonaparte obtained 5,534,520;
Ledru-Rollin had 371,434 suffrages, Raspail 36,964, and Lamartine, who had
once been simultaneously elected by ten departments, received a dole of
17,914 votes.
THE EEPUBLIC OP 1848 107
(1848 A.D.]
_ The election of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte greatly surprised many zealous
minds; and seriously disturoed the dreamers. Like carrion crows wheeling
round to seek their route and filling the air with their cries, they were seen
raising their heads and scenting the wind, seeking the meaning of an event
they could not comprehend. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte appeared upon the
scene like Fortinbras at the end of Hamlet. Brutal in fact, his election cut
the knot of a thousand intrigues. The people, by their vote, had expressed
the idea_ of a great popular dictatorship which put an end to the quarrels
of the citizens, to the subtlety of Utopians, to party rancour, and guarded
them against the endlessly recurring crises engendered by the parliameni;ary
regime amongst nations with whom sentiment dominates reason, action and
discussion. The poll also expressed an ardent desire for ttnity. The pro-
letariat knows well that what takes place in the republic of barristers and
landlords concerns it but little. It was by analogous reasons that Csesar
triumphed in Rome. Having nothing to gain from party strugg]^s, knowing
by experience that for them the only result is lack of work, imprisonment,
exile, or death, the people always aspire to rise above them. Louis Bona-
parte, in his electoral address, was careful to give expression to this thought:
"Let us be men of the country," he said, "not men of a party!"
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed president of the republic on
December 20th at four o'clock, by the president of the national assembly.
We know the political oath had been abolished by the February revolution,
which thus seemed to confess its absence of belief. But by a miserable dem-
ocratic equivocation, the oath was still taken by one man, by the president
of the republic. The contract was not a mutual one. Each one reserved
to himself implicitly the right of violating the constitution, and we shall see
that the national assembly did not fail to do so; but each one desired at the
same time that the president of the republic should be bound thereby as with
a strait-jacket. The least fault of this vain ceremonial was its lack of com-
mon sense, the constitution being fatally and necessarily violated./
viCTOE Hugo's portrait of "napoleon the little "
It was about four in the afternoon of December 20th, 1848; it was grow-
ing dark, and the immense hall of the assembly having become involved in
gloom the chandeliers were lowered from the ceiling, and the messenger
placed the lamps on the tribime. The president made a sign, the door on
the right opened, and there was seen to enter the hall, and rapidly ascend
the tribune, a man still yoimg, attired in black, having on his breast the
badge and riband of the Legion of Honour.
All eyes were turned towards this man. His face wan and pallid, its
bony, emaciated angles developed in prominent relief by the shaded lamps;
his nose large and long; his upper lip covered with moustaches; a lock of hair
waving over a narrow forehead; his eyes small and dull; his attitude timid
and anxious, bearing in no respect a resemblance to the emperor — this man
was the citizen Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. During the murmurs
which arose upon his entrance, he remained for some instants standing, his
right hand in the breast of his buttoned coat, erect and motionless on the
tribune, the front of which bore this date— 22nd, 23rd, 24th of February;
and above which was inscribed these three words — Liberty, Equahty, Fra-
ternity.
Prior to being elected president of the republic, Charles Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte had been a representative of the people for several months, and
108 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1848 A..D.]
though he had rarely attended a whole sitting, he had been frequently seen
in the seat he had selected, in the upper benches of the left, in the fifth row in
the zone, commonly designated the Mountain, behind his old preceptor, the
representative Vieillard. This man, then, was no new face in the assembly,
yet his entrance on this occasion produced a profound emotion. It was to
all, to friends as to foes, the future that had entered on the scene, a future
unknown. Through the space of immense murmur, formed by the concur-
rent voices of all present, his name circulated in connection with the most
opposite estimates. His antagonists recalled to each other his adventures,
his cowps-de-main, Strasburg, Boulogne, the tame eagle, and the piece of
meat in the little hat. His friends urged his exile, his proscription, his im-
prisonment, a well-compiled work of his on artillery, his writmgs at Ham,
impressed with a certain degree of liberal, democratic, and socialist spirit,
the maturity of the graver age at which he had now arrived; and to those
who recalled his follies, they recalled his misfortunes.
General Cavaignac, who, not having been elected president, had just re-
signed his power into the hands of the assembly with that tranquil laconism
which befits republics, was seated in his customary place at the head of the
ministerial bench, on the left of the tribune, and observed, in silence and
with folded arms, this installation of the new man.
At length, silence became restored, the president of the assembly struck
the table before him several times with his wooden knife, and then the last
murmurs of the assembly having subsided, said: "I will now read the form
of the oath."
There was an almost religious halo about this moment. The assembly
was no longer an assembly, it was a temple. The immense significance of
this oath was rendered still more impressive by the circumstance that it was
the only oath taken throughout the extent of the territory of the republic.
February had, and rightly, abolished the political oath, and the constitution
had, as rightly, retained only the oath of the president. This oath possessed
the double character of necessity and of grandeiu*. It was the oath taken
by the executive, the subordinate power, to the legislative, the superior
power; it was stronger still than this — the reverse of the monarchical fiction
by which the people take the oath to the men invested with power, it was the
man invested with power who took the oath to the people. The President,
functionary and servant, swore fidehty to the people, sovereign. Bending
before the national majesty, manifest in the omnipotent assembly, he re-
ceived from the assembly the constitution, and swore obedience to it. The
representatives were inviolable; he, not so. We repeat it: a citizen respon-
sible to all the citizens, he was, of the whole nation, the only man so bound.
Hence, in this oath, sole and supreme, there was a solemnity which went to
the inmost heart of all who heard it. He who writes these pages was present
in his place in the assembly, on the day this oath was taken; he is one of
those who, in the face of the civilised world, called to bear witness, received
this oath in the name of the people, and still, in their name, maintain it.
Thus it runs: "In presence of God, and before the French people, repre-
sented by the national assembly, I swear to remain faithful to the democratic
republic, one and indivisible, and to fulfil all the duties imposed on me by
the constitution."
The president of the assembly, standing, read this majestic formula;
then, before the whole assembly, breathlessly silent, intensely expectant, the
citizen Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, raising his right hand, said, with
a firm full voice, "I swear it."
THE EEPIJBLiC OP 184§ 109
[1848 A.D.]
The representative Boulay (de la Meurthe), since vice-president of the
republic, who had known Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte from his child-
hood, exclaimed: " He is an honest man, he will keep his oath."
When he had done speaking, the constituent assembly rose, and sent forth,
as with a single voice, the grand cry, "Long live the republic!" Louis Na-
poleon Bonaparte descended from the tribune, went up to General Cavaignac,
and offered him his hand. The General, for a few instants, hesitated to ac-
cept the pressure. All who had just heard the speech of Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte, pronounced in an accent so redolent of candour and good faith,
blamed the general for his hesitation.
The constitution to» which Louis Napoleon Bonaparte took the oath on
the 20th of December, 1848, " in the face of God and man," contained, among
other articles, these:
Article 36. The representatives of the people are inviolable. Article 37. They may not be
arrested in criminal matters unless they are taken in the fact, nor prosecuted without the per-
mission of the assembly, first obtained. Article 68. Every act by which the president of the
republic shall dissolve the national assembly, prorogue it, or impede the exercise of its decrees,
is a crime of high treason.
By such act, of itself, the president forfeits his functions, the citizens are bound to refuse
to him obedience, and the executive power passes, of full right, to the national assembly. The
judges of the supreme court shall thereupon immediately assemble, under penalty of forfeiture ;
they shall convoke the jurors in such place as they shall appoint, to proceed to the trial of the
president and his accomplices, and they shall themselves appoint magistrates to fulfil the func-
tions of the state administration.
In less than three years after this memorable day, on the 2nd of Decem-
ber, 1851, at daybreak, there might be read at the corners of all the streets
of Paris this notice:
In the name of the French people, the president of the republic decrees : Article 1. The
national assembly is dissolved. Article 3. Universal suffrage is re-established. The law of the
31st of May is repealed. Article 3. The French people are convoked in their comitia. Article 4.
The state of siege is decreed throughout the extent of the first military division. Article 5. The
council of state is dissolved. Article 6. The minister of the interior is charged with the execu-
tion of the present decree.
Done at the Palace of the Elysee, December 3nd, 1851.
Louis Napoleon Bonapabte.
At the same time Paris learned that fifteen of the inviolable representa-
tives of the people had been arrested in then- homes, in the course of the
night, by order of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte.*^
, CHAPTER V
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PRESIDENT AND EMPEROR
[1849-1870 A.D.]
On the SOth of December, 1848, commenced the government of that
man to whom France delivered herself in an access of dizziness and
who was to preside over her destinies till the 2nd of September, 1870.
" This unfortunate people," according to the expression of a great
national historian, Michelet, " stabbed itself with its own hand."
Cavalgnac, a man whose ideas were simple and his words sincere,
was replaced by a successor with whom all was ulterior purpose and
subterranean scheme. Since Louis Napoleon's admission to the con-
stituent assembly, nothing was visible in his politics but a double
effort to reassure the conservatives and yet flatter the popular
hopes. — Martin.*
The immense majority by which Prince Louis Napoleon had been created
president of the repubUc added greatly to the power of the executive, and
was an important step in the restoration of order after the Revolution; but
it was far from appeasing the parties, or producing a similar union in the
assembly. It was, in truth, a declaration of France against the Revolution,
and bespoke the anxious desire of the inhabitants to terminate the disorders
which it had introduced, and return to the occupations of peaceful industry.
But to the legislature, or at least a large part of its members, it was a serious
blow, and was felt the more severely that it had been so completely unex-
pected.
The executive power — so important in all countries, so powerful in every
age in France — had been appointed over their heads by the general voice of
the people; the president was no longer their officer or administrator, but
the nominee of a rival power, and might be expected on a crisis to be sup-
ported by the army, which looked to him for promotion, employment, and
glory. The seeds, in this way, not merely of discontent and division, but
probably of strife, were sown in the very outset of the president's power;
the balance between a popular chief magistrate and an ambitious but dis-
contented legislature could not long be preserved; and as the nation would
110
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PRESIDENT AND EMPEROR 111
[1849 A.D.]
certainly not again go back to the republic, it was already foreseen that it
must go forward to the empire.
The first care of the president, after installation in office, was to organise
a powerful army imder the command of Marshal Bugeaud at Lyons and the
adjacent provmces near the Alps. It was now raised to seventy-two thousand
infantry and eight thousand horse. The threatening aspect of affairs in the
north of Italy amply justified these precautionary measures; and it was
mainly owing to the formidable front thus presented that the Austrians,
after their successes over the Piedmontese, had been prevented from crossing
the Ticino. But the army was destined also for another object: it was to
this powerful force that Louis Napoleon mainly looked for the support of
his authority, in the event of that breach with the assembly and democratic
party which, it was evident, sooner or later, must ensue.
Public opinion meanwhile in France was so rapidly turning against the
legislature that it was foreseen its existence could not be long continued.
The general feeling was forcibly expressed in meetings held in Rennes and
Lille. "It will no longer do," said an orator in the former city, "for Paris
to send us down revolutions by the maU-coach; for it is now no longer po-
litical but social revolutions with which we are visited. The departments in
Jura have shown unequivocally that they are determined to put an end to
this system. Reflect on the days which we denominate by the 24th of Feb-
ruary, the 15th of May, the 23rd of June. Is it to be borne that we are still
doomed to go to bed at night without knowing whether we shall ever waken
in the morning?"
" It is unprecedented in history," said a speaker in LiUe, " that a few thou-
sand turbiilent adventurers, ever ready for a coup de main, should have suc-
ceeded on so many occasions in putting in hazard the destinies of a people so
advanced in civilisation as that of France. We present to Europe the extra-
ordinary spectacle of a nation of thirty-five million of men ever ready to
take the yoke from twenty thousand or thirty thousand creators of revolu-
tions, who descend into the streets at a signal given by a few ambitious leaders,
and treat France as a conquered country. A unanimous resistance has now
declared itself against the Parisian tyranny; a violent desire to shake off
its yoke has made itself felt even by the central government. It is not a
conspiracy, still less a dream of a federative government; it is an open and
deliberate movement by the provinces of France, as the old ones of Gaul
were determined that their interests should no longer be swallowed up in
those of Rome."
END OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY (1849)
The general wish foimd vent in a motion made by Rateau, that the gen-
eral election should take place on the 4th of next May, and the existing as-
sembly be dissolved on the 19th of that month. The republicans were quite
aware that it would annihilate their ascendency, and they resolved to an-
ticipate the legal dissolution of the assembly by a coup d'itat against the
president. This was a direct appeal to a civil war, and an invitation to a
coup d'itat; for the president, having been elected by the direct votes of the
people, and not by the assembly, could not be removed, but by- the same
authority which had created him, before the legal period of his tenure of
office expired.
It was the hoisting of the signal for insurrection that was really intended;
and this design was carried into execution on the 29th of January, 1849. It
took place accordingly, but proved a miserable failure. The fire of democracy
112 THE HISTOBY OE FEANCE
[1849 AA]
in the great body of the people was burned out. The government were ao-
quainted with the whole plan of the conspu-ators, and from an early hour
of the morning all then- places of rendezvous were occupied by large bodies of
troops, who, far from joming them as they expected, forcibly prevented any
attempt at assembling. Foiled, disconcerted, and utterly overmatched, the
conspirators, who came up in considerable numbers from the clubs, had no
alternative but to retire, and they did so worse than defeated — turned into
ridicule.
The days of the assembly being now nimibered, its legislative acts ceased
to be an object of any consideration; and the regulations for the approaching
election having been passed without a division on the 15th of February, the
clubs were closed after a stormy debate on the 20th of March following, by the
slender majority of nineteen votes — the numbers being 378 to 359. This
was the last important act of the constituent assembly. It rejected, on
May 15th, by a majority of thirty-seven, a motion to the effect that the
ministry had lost the confidence of the country, and four days afterwards
came to an end. Every eye was now fixed on the approaching general
election, fraught as it was with the future destinies of France.^
The constitution of the 12th of November, 1848, was not fitted to siu^ive
in the time and conditions in which it was produced. The executive and
deliberative powers had one origin, since they both proceeded from imiversal
suffrage and were renewed, the one after three, the other after four years'
exercise. But the president had this advantage — that, being elected by
millions of suffrages, he seemed to represent the entire nation; whilst the
assembly consisted only of deputies, each of whom represented some thou-
sands of votes. Moreover, whilst the foundations were laid for an inevitable
antagonism, the idea had been to subordinate the executive to the legislative.
Thus the president made appointments to innumerable offices in the ad-
ministration: he negotiated treaties and had the army at his disposition:
but he could not be re-elected; he had neither the right to take command of
the troops nor that of dissolving the assembly or to oppose a bill which might
seem to him pernicious. He had too much or too little; and with the tempta-
tion to resmne the usual prerogatives of public authority, he had been given
the means to acquire them.
Nevertheless, the president and the assembly maintained an vmderstand-
ing so long as it was a question of restoring order and restraining the extreme
parties. Thus on the 29th of January, as we have seen, and again on the
13th of June, 1849, the army of Paris under their direction triumphed over
revolt without bloodshed.
SIEGE OP ROME
A matter concerning a foreign nation had caused the latter conflict.
The European revolutions, to which the revolution of February had given
birth, had been promptly put down by the kings whom they had alarmed.
Already Austria, victorious in Hungary, thanks to the Russians, had defeated
the king of Sardinia, Charles Albert, at Novara; and Lombardy had again
fallen into its power. The republic proclaimed at Rome, after the flight of
the pope, vainly endeavoured to make the walls of the Holy City the last
rampart of the independence of the peninsula. Victorious for an instant,
six months before, Italy had refused the aid of France; now that she was
vanquished and threatened by a heavier yoke, policy, and the solicitations
of the Catholics who were then dominant in the chamber and the ministry,
made it a duty of the government to protect the Italian peninsula and the
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PKESIDENT AND EMPEEOR 113
[1849 A.B.]
holy see against the revolutionaries who wished to suppress the pope's tem-
poral royalty. An army commanded by General Oudinot was sent into
Italy to restore Rome to the pontiff.
The republicans of Paris endeavoured by an insurrection to save the
republic of Rome. A member of the former provisional government, Ledru-
Rollin, was with them. On the 13th of June, 1849, a timely display of troops
nipped the rising in the bud. This riot cost the party its leaders, who were
condemned by the high court of Versailles, and the Romans their last hope.
On the 2nd of July General Oudinot, after showing the utmost discretion in
the siege of the place, entered Rome, where the pope was reinstated. The
legislative assembly, which had succeeded the constituent assembly. May
28th, 1849, although less unanimous on this question, nevertheless approved
the president's conduct and it was decided that the troops should remain in
Rome for the protection of the pope. From that day France had one arm
occupied in Italy, to the advantage of the ultramontanes but to the detriment
of her general interests.**
STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
The first thing the assembly attacked was education, just as the ultra-
royalists had done under the Restoration. A curious spectacle presented
itself: those of the Orleanists who were best known for never having been
devout, but who had shown themselves rather the reverse, as Thiers, for
instance, were among the most enthusiastic in helping on this work for the
Church. All conservatives, fearing the influence which was pushing the
democratic section into the arms of the advanced republicans, courted the
alliance of the clergy, and intrusted them with the mental training of France.
Montalembert put the question in these terms: "We must choose between
socialism and Catholicism."
This was the idea which influenced the best known of the followers of
Voltaire to return to the church. They thought the elementary teachers
were dangerous to the cause of order. They looked upon the miassuming
conscientious men who taught the people to read as the forerunners, if not
as apostles of revolution. Therefore the first law dealing with education
withdrew from them the sanctions which the monarchy of July had granted
them. The prefects had full power to deal with them, and a law treating
them as "suspects" was passed.
Nor was the University any more favourably regarded; another law
placed it imder the supervision of a superior councU, in which the bishops
were largely represented. Some time after, the classes held by the great
historian Michelet were closed. It was not long before universal suffrage
was attacked. Some elections had taken place, and the assembly was alarmed
to find that the country had changed its opinions, and now gave a majority
to the advanced republicans. On the 10th of May Paris nommated its can-
didates — Carnot, Vidal, and Flotte. In all France, out of twenty-eight
elections, the advanced party gained eighteen.
It was impossible openly to attack universal suffrage itself; but a resi-
dence of three years was required to entitle a man to vote; and this could
only be proved by certain methods — for instance, by the pa3Tnent of taxes.
This measure involved the political fall of the greater part of the working
population. Figures will give us an exact idea of the effect of the law: before
it was passed, there were 9,936,000 electors in France; afterwards there were
only 6,709,000. With a stroke of the pen the assembly had suppressed a
H. w. — VOL. xm. I
114 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1849-1850 A.D.]
third part of the nation — 3,200,000 citizens who had had votes since 1848.
Thiers stamped this mutilation of the suffrage with its true character when
he made use, during the debate, of the notorious words "vile multitude."
These were the principal achievements by which the assembly showed
the kind of spirit that animated it. It would take up too much time to
recount the details of this long reaction. We will only quote a law on trans-
portation which was described by the tragic expression "a bloodless guillo-
tine." This meant, for the party threatened by the assembly, death in a
distant country, with all the physical suffering which the deadly mists of a
tropical climate hold in reserve for political offenders. Of course the press
was not overlooked, and measures were passed limiting its liberties.
All these laws were brought about by an alliance between Louis Napoleon
and the majority. The latter did not foresee how the former would be able
to turn their joint work against them in the future. Of the two, which
became unpopular? The assembly. And
when, on the 2nd of December, the president
wished to get rid of the assembly, what pre-
text did he allege? The law of the 31st of
May, supported by himself. Louis Bona-
parte, the president, had assisted through
his ministers in the mutilation of universal
suffrage. Louis Napoleon, wishing to be-
come emperor, gave as his motive for the
cowp d'6tat his desire to re-establish univer-
sal suffrage.
Nothing now remained but to substitute
a monarchy for the republic. It was on
this point that the president and the ma-
jority in the assembly, who were united
against the republican spirit, were to dis-
agree. Naturally the Bonapartists wished
to reinstate the empire; and the majority of
. the Right benches only desired a monarchy.
The schism had begtm less than a year after the presidential election. Till
then, the president, Louis Napoleon, had allowed the united Orleanists and
legitimist parties to govern, under the name of Odilon Barrot. On the 31st of
October, 1849, with a suddenness that was almost melodramatic, he dismissed
his ministers; and saying that France desired "to feel the hand and the will
of him who had been elected on the 10th of December" — that " the name of
Napoleon in itself constituted a programme," he formed a Bonapartist min-
istry, including Baroche, Rouher, Fould, Ferdinand Barrot, and others.
This did not prevent the Bonapartist ministry and the royalist majority
from working together, in 1850, in their work of reaction against the republic,
by means of the laws we have just mentioned. But as soon as the assembly
was dispersed, on his return from a journey through France, the president
reviewed the army at Satory. The cavalry cried, "Long live the emperor!"
but the infantry was silent. And as proof that this demonstration was made
to order is the fact that on inquiry the general, having asserted that the troops
ought not to have uttered this cry while under arms and that they had thus
prevented the infantry from joining in it, was immediately deprived of his
command.
In this way plans for a restoration of the empire were revealed; and a
visit paid by Berryer to the count de Chambord at Wiesbaden, and the fact
Adoi/PHE Thiers
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PEESIDENT AND EMPEEOR 115
[1850-1851 A.D.]
that Thiers made a journey to Claremont to visit the Orleans family/ and
energetic attempts to reconcile the two branches of the Bourbons, who had
been estranged since 1830, showed that the royalists also were planning a
restoration. The imperialists rallied round the president, while the royalists
fixed their hopes on General Changarnier, who was in command in Paris.
Louis Napoleon had him dismissed by the government, in which he had just
made some changes. This showed what his plans were and a storm arose in
the assembly. " If you yield," said Thiers, " the empire will be established."
The assembly overthrew the ministry, but the president replaced it by another
Bonapartist ministry, rather more insignificant than its predecessor. Chan-
garnier, however, was not reinstated.
Monarchists of all shades of opinion were warmly petitioning for a re-
vision of the constitution — the Bonapartists in order to prolong the powers of
Louis Napoleon, who was about to stand for re-election; the royalists in
order to shake the republic. The discussion was a brilliant oratorical strug-
gle between the partisans of monarchy and the republicans. Berryer was
the chief mouthpiece of the former. The republican party, aheady weak-
ened by exile, had still quite a constellation of orators, from Jules Favre to
Madier de Montjau. The chief of these heirs of Ledru-Rollin was Michel
de Bom-ges, who, in debate on the revision, rose to splendid heights of oratory.
The advanced democrats had a still more famous orator: Victor Hugo
had devoted himself entirely to the republic. His genius, which had at first
taken little interest in politics, but which had blossomed in the royalist camp,
had marched with the times. The sight of the reaction of 1850 had made him
a radical. He was soon to show, amidst the bullets of the coup d'itat and
in exile, his loyalty and intrepidity in the cause of the people. His great
speeches on the reactionary laws and his speech on the revision are among
the most brilliant and most solid of his works. It was in the latter speech
that he called the president, soon to be emperor, "Napoleon the Little."
The struggle between the latter and the royalist majority became more
desperate. Even before the debate on the revision, at the opening of a rail-
way, he had openly attacked the assembly. From the tribune Changarnier
had replied that the soldiers would never march against the national repre-
sentatives, adding emphatically, "Representatives of the country, continue
your deliberations in peace." But these empty words did not allay the
anxiety that was felt, and at the end of 1851, the quaestors of the chamber
proposed to promulgate as a law, and to affix in the barracks, the clause in
the decree of 1848 giving the president of the chamber the right to call out
the troops and compelling the officers to obey him.
The republicans, equally distrusting the royahsts who made the proposi-
tion and the Bonapartists against whom it was directed, made the mistake
of voting against it. Michel de Bourges, in his blind confidence, spoke of the
" invisible sentinel who guards the republic and the people." The proposition
was rejected.
The coup d'etat had been long prepared. General Magnan, minister of
war, had already sounded and gained over the generals under his orders. The
president Louis Napoleon was only waiting for a propitious moment to break
the oath which he had sworn to the republic. Many times rumours had been
set afloat, and many times the republicans had taken their precautions; and
there was actually a question of risking the coup d'etat earlier. But the
[• The chief of the Orleans branch, Louis Philippe, died in exile August 26th, 1850, at the
age of seventy-six. As Martin <" says, " France has not cherished a hostile feeling toward his
memory ; if he erred in his policy, he made bitter expiation."]
116 THE HISTOSY OP FRANCE
[1851 A.D.]
wisest of the party resolved to wait until the vacation of the assembly had
begun.*
THE COUP d'etat OF DECEMBER 2ND, 1851
All was ready. At the last moment Louis Napoleon began to hesitate.
Bold in his projects, tmdecided in execution, a man of conspiracy without
being really a man of action, he was capable of allowing the moment_ for
action to go by; and yet both he and his were at the eid of their pecuniary
resources. Persigny, who thought he might take any liberty in consideration
of his absolute devotion, subjected the president to a violent scene. Morny
and Saint-Amaud also made him feel that the time for dreaming had gone
by. The day and hour were fixed.
There were groups in the assembly composed of Bonapartists and of men
desirous, from other motives, to come to terms with the president, who now
at the last moment also meditated an unconstitutional revision of the con-
stitution, but at the hands of the assembly itself. Some poUticians, rather
clerical than legitimist or Orleanist, such as Montalembert and Falloux, were
working in this direction. A Bonapartist historian (Granier de Cassagnac)/
has asserted that on the evening of the 1st of December Falloux made Louis
Napoleon an offer to take the initiative at the tribune in proposmg a prolonga-
tion of the president's powers by a simple majority, if it were necessary to
have recourse to force in case the Left resisted. Louis Napoleon is said to
have postponed his answer till the following day. Falloux has protested
against this inculpation; in the evening Momy, Saint-Arnaud, and Maupas
arrived at the filys^e and in concert with the president took all the steps for
the coup d'etat the next morning. Louis Napoleon, who paid a superstitious
attention to anniversaries, had chosen that of his uncle's coronation and of
the day of Austerlitz, the 2nd of December.^
On that day, the prince went out on horseback, accompanied by a brilliant
escorts of generals; they passed through the Champs Elys^es, along the
streets and the boulevards, greeted by the troops and by some of the people.
It was the seal of his victory.
However, the struggle was not ended, lawful resistance was followed by
riots, which had no chance of success with a government and generals who
were decided on action. Both the representatives of the Mountain — who
had declared so proudly on the 17th of November that the assembly was
under its protection — and the people had tried in vain on December 2nd to
organise resistance. On the morning of the 3rd, a barricade was raised in
the faubourg St. Antoine; it was easUy destroyed by the troops after a brief
fire, during which a delegate, Baudin, was killed. In the course of the day
and in the evening new barricades were erected in the districts of St. Martin
and the Temple; they offered but a slight resistance to the troops. Measures
had been carefully taken, and "the people" replied but faintly to the appeal
of its representatives.
The following day, December 4th, was more serious though without en-
dangering the new state of affairs. The troops had returned to their barracks,
either because General Saint-Arnaud believed that resistance had come to an
end, or because, following the example of Cavaignac in June, he did not wish
to disperse his troops, or else because he wished to give the rebels an oppor-
tvmity to form their army so that he might destroy it by a single blow: bar-
ricades were erected freely in the usual quarters; the troops were not brought
out till the afternoon. There took place what has been called, not without
exaggeration, "the boulevard massacre." A body of troops, which had been
^x^
LOUIS HAPOLEON AS PEESIDENT AND EMPEEOR 117
[1851 A.D.]
fired on, returned the fire without orders.? Many oalookers were counted
among the dead. Victor Hugo, who was banished for his opposition to
Napoleon, wrote in exile an account of this massacre, from which we quote.
VICTOR Hugo's account of the boulevabd massacre
A little after one o^clock, December 4th, the whole length of the boule-
vards, from the Madeleine, was suddenly covered with cavalry and infantry,
presenting a total of 16,410 men. Each brigade had its artillery with it.
Two of the cannon, with their muzzles turned different ways, had been
pointed at the ends of the rue Montmartre and the faubourg Montmartre
respectively; no one knew why, as neither the street nor the faubourg pre-
sented even the appearance of a barricade. The spectators, who crowded
the pavement and the windows, looked
with affright at all these cannon, sa-
bres, and bayonets, which thus blocked
up the street.
"The troops were laughing and
chatting," says one witness. Another
witness says, "The soldiers had a
strange look about them." Most of
them were leaning upon their muskets,
with the butt-end upon the ground,
and seemed nearly falling from fatigue,
or something else. One of those old
officers who are accustomed to read a
soldier's thoughts in his eyes, General
, said, as he passed the caf6 Fras-
cati, "They are drimk."
There were now some indications
of what was about to happen. At
one moment, when the crowd was
crying to the troops, "Vive la r4pu-
blique! Down with Louis Bonaparte!"
one of the officers was heard to say,
in a low voice, "Ceci va toumer h la
charcuterie!" (We shall soon have a
little to do in the pork-butchering Victor Hugo
line!)
A battalion of infantry debouches from the rue Richelieu. Before the
cafe Cardinal it is greeted by a unanimous cry of " Vive la ripvblique!" A
literary man, the editor of a conservative paper, who happened to be on the
spot, adds the words, "Down with Soulouque!" The officer of the staff,
who commanded the detachment, makes a blow at him with his sabre. The
journalist avoids the blow and the sabre cuts in two one of the small trees on
the boulevards.
As the 1st regiment of Lancers, commanded by Colonel Rochefort, came
up opposite the rue Taitbout, a numerous crowd covered the pavement of
the boulevards. This crowd was composed of some of the inhabitants of that
quarter of the town, of merchants, artists, journalists, and even several young
mothers leading their children by the hand. As the regiment was passing by,
men and women — everyone, in fact — cried, " Vive la constitution ! Vive lalai!
Vive la r^publiqitel" Colonel Rochefort, the same person who had presided
118 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1851 A.D.]
at the banquet given on the 31st of October, 1851, at the ficole MUitaire by
the 1st regiment of Lancers to the 7th regunent of Lancers, and who at this
banquet had proposed as a toast "Prince Louis Napoleon, the chief of the
state, the personification of that order of which we are the defenders —tlus
colonel, on hearmg the crowd utter the above cry, which was perfectly legal,
spurred his horse into the midst of the crowd, through all the chairs on the
pavement, while the Lancers precipitated themselves after him, and men,
women, and children were indiscriminately cut down. "A great number
remained dead on the spot," says a defender of the coup d 6tat; and then
adds, " It was done in a moment." ■. c 4.u
About two o'clock two howitzers were pointed at the extremity ot the
boulevard Poissonni^re, at one hundred and fifty paces from the little ad-
vanced barricade of the guardhouse on the boulevard Bonne-NouveUe.
While placmg the guns in their proper position, two of the artillerymen, who
are not often guilty of a false manoeuvre, broke the pole of a caisson. " Don't
you see they are drunk!" exclaimed a man of the lower classes.
At half past two— for it is necessary to follow the progress of this hideous
drama minute by minute, and step by step— the firmg commenced before
the barricade, but it was languid and almost seemed as if done for amusement
only. The chief officers appeared to be thinking of anything but a combat.
We shall soon see, however, of what they were thinking. The first cannon
ball, badly aimed, passed above all the barricades and killed a little boy at
the chateau d'Eau as he was procuring water from the basin. The shops were
shut, as were also almost all the windows. There was, however, one window
left open in an upper story of the house at the corner of the rue d.e Sentier.
The principal mass of mere spectators were stiU on the southern side of the
street. It was an ordinary crowd and nothing more — men, women, children,
and old people who looked upon the languid attack and defence of the bar-
ricade as a sort of sham fight. This barricade served as a spectacle imtil the
moment arrived for making it a pretext.
The soldiers had been skirmishing in this manner, and the defenders of
the barricade returning their fire, for about a quarter of an hour, without
anyone being wounded on either side, when suddenly, as if by the agency of
electricity, an extraordinary and terrible movement was observed, first in
the infantry and then in the cavalry. All of a sudden, as we have said before,
the cavalry, infantry, and artillery faced towards the dense crowd upon the
pavement, and then, without anyone being able to assign a reason for it,
unexpectedly, without any motive, without any previous warning, as the in-
famous proclamations of the morning had announced, the butchery com-
menced from the theatre of the Gymnase, to the Bains Chinois — that is to
say the whole length of the richest, the most frequented, and the most joyous
boulevard of Paris. The army commenced shooting down the people, with
the muzzles of their muskets actually touching them.
It was a horrible moment: it would be impossible to describe the cries,
the arms of the people raised towards heaven, their surprise, their horror —
the crowd flying in all directions, the shower of balls falling on the pavement
and bounding to the roofs of the houses, corpses covering the road in a single
moment, young men falling with their cigars still in their mouths, women in
velvet gowns shot down dead by the long rifles, two booksellers killed on
their own thresholds without knowing what offence they had committed,
shots fired down the cellar-holes and killing anyone, no matter who hap-
pened to be below.
When the butchery was ended — that is to say when night had completely
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PRESIDENT AND EMPEEOR 119
[1851 A.D.]
set in, and it had begun in the middle of the day — the dead bodies were not
removed; they were so numerous that thirty-three of them were counted
before a single shop. Every space of ground left open in the asphalt at the
foot of the trees on the boulevards was a reservoir of blood. "The dead
bodies," says a witness, "were piled up in heaps, one upon the other, old
men, children, persons in blouses and paletots, all collected pell-mell, in one
indescribable mass of heads, arms, and legs."
Ah! you will tell me, M. Bonaparte, that you are sorry, but that it was an
unfortunate affair; that in presence of Paris, ready to rise, it was necessary
to adopt some decided measure, and that you were forced to this extremity;
that as regards the coup d'etat, you were in debt, that your ministers were in
debt, that your aides-de-camp were in debt, that your footmen were in debt,
that you had made yourself answerable for them all, and that, deuce take it,
a man cannot be a prince without squandering, from time to time, a few
millions too much — that he must amuse himself and enjoy life a little; that
the assembly was to blame for not having understood this, and for wishing to
restrict you to two wretched millions a year, and, what is more, for wishing
to make you resign your authority at the expiration of four years, and act
up to the constitution; that, after all, you could not leave the Mys6e to enter
the debtors' prison at Clichy; that you had in vain had recourse to those
little expedients which are provided for by Article 405 of the criminal code;
that an exposure was at hand; that the demagogical press was spreadmg
strange tales; that the matter of the gold ingots threatened to become known;
that you were bound to respect the name of Napoleon; and that, by my
faith, having no other alternative, and not wishing to be a vulgar criminal,
to be dealt with in the common course of law, you preferred being one of the
assassins of history!
So then, instead of polluting, this blood you shed purified you! Very
good.
I continue my account. When all was finished, Paris came to see the
sight. The people flocked in crowds to the scenes of these terrible occur-
rences; no one offered them the least obstruction. This was what the butcher
wanted. Louis Napoleon had not done aU this to hide it afterwards.
Thirty-seven corpses were heaped up in the cit6 Berg^re; the passers-by
could coimt them through the iron railings. A woman was standing at the
corner of the rue Richelieu. She was looking on. All of a sudden, she felt
that her feet were wet. "Why, it must have been raining here," she said;
"my shoes are full of water." "No, Madam," replied a person who was
passing, "it is not water." Her feet were in a pool of blood.
A witness says, "The boulevards presented a horrible sight. We were
literally walking in blood. We counted eighteen corpses in about five-and-
twenty paces." Another witness, the keeper of a wine-shop in the rue du
Sentier, says, " I came along the boulevard du Temple to my house. When
I got home I had an inch of blood around the bottom of my trousers."
The massacre was but a means; the end was intimidation. Was this end
attained? Yes. Immediately afterwards, as early as the 4th of December,
the public excitement was calmed. Paris was stupefied. The voice of in-
dignation which had been raised at the coup d'etat was suddenly hushed at
the carnage. Matters had assumed an appearance completely unknown in
history. People felt that they had to deal with one whose nature was im-
known. Crassus had crushed the gladiators; Herod had slaughtered the
infants; Charles IX had extermmated the Huguenots; Peter of Ruesia, the
Strelitz guards; Mehemet All, the mamelukes; Mahmoud, the janissaries;
120 THE HISTORY OF FEANCE
[1851 A.D.]
while Danton had massacred the prisoners: Louis Napoleon had just dis-
covered a new sort of massacre — the massacre of the passers-by.
From this moment, in spite of all the efforts of the committees, of the
repubUcan representatives, and of their courageous allies, there was— save
at certain points only, such as the barricade of the Petit Carreau, for instance,
where Denis Dussoubs, the brother of the representative, fell so heroically —
naught but a slight effort of resistance which more resembled the convulsions
of despair than a combat. All was finished. The next day, the 5th, the
victorious troops paraded on the boulevards. A general was seen to show
his naked sword to the people, and was heard to exclaim: "There is the re-
public for you!"
Thus it was this infamous butchery, this massacre of the passers-by,
which was meant as a last resource by the measures of the 2nd of December.
To undertake them, a man must be a traitor; to render them successful, he
must be an assassin. It was by this wolf-like proceeding that the coup
d'6tat conquered France and overcame Paris. Yes, Paris! It was necessary
for a man to repeat it over and over again to himself before he can credit it.
Is it at Paris that aU this happened?
Is it possible that, because we still eat and drink; because the coach-
makers' trade is flourishing; because you, navigator, have work in the Bois
de Boulogne; because you, mason, gain forty sous a day at the Louvre; be-
cause you, banker, have made money by the Austrian metallics, or by a loan
from the house of Hope and Co.; because the titles of nobility are restored;
because a person can now be called Monsieur le comte or Madame la duchesse;
because religious processions traverse the streets on the occasion of the F6te-
Dieu; because people take their pleasure; because they are merry; because the
walls of Paris are covered with bills of f 6tes and theatres — is it possible that,
because this is the case, men forget that there are corpses lying beneath?
Is it possible that because men's daughters have been to the ball at the
;ficole Militaire, because they returned home with dazzled eyes, aching heads,
torn dresses, and faded bouquets; because, throwing themselves on their
couches, they have dozed off to sleep, and dreamed of some handsome officer —
is it possible that, because this is the case, we should no longer remember
that under the turf beneath our feet, in an obscure grave, in a deep pit, in
the inexorable gloom of death, there lies a crowd that is still icy cold and
terrible — a multitude of human beings already become a shapeless mass,
devoured by the worm, consumed by corruption, and beginning to be con-
founded with the earth around them; a multitude of human beings who
existed, worked, thought, and loved; who had the right to live, and who
were murdered ? ^
SEVERITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT
The aspect of Paris on the morning of December 5th was sinister. Here
and there pools of blood were to be seen on the pavements of the boiilevards.
Corpses had been ranged in the cit6 Berg^re at the entrance to the faubourg
Montmartre. A much larger number, more than three hundred and fifty,
according to the testimony of the warden of the Cimetiere du Nord, were
transported to that cemetery; the warden had received orders to bury them
immediately; he only half-obeyed and left the heads above ground so that
the families might at least recognise their dead!
The Parisians could no longer laugh at Louis Napoleon: he had succeeded
in getting himself taken seriously; ridicule had disappeared under horror.
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PEESIDENT AND EMPEROR 121
[1851-1852 A.D.]
The coup d'6tat was winning the day. The weak hastened to come to terms;
the strong were furious at their impotence to punish triumphant crime; the
crowd, stunned, was silent: the greater number bowed prostrate. During the
day of the 5th of December silent and sombre figures breathing concentrated
fury were seen wandering slowly about the boulevards; in the central quarters
some feeble attempts at barricades were renewed and almost instantly aban-
doned. All was indeed over in Paris! That same day, the 5th of December,
a decree of the president declared that when troops should have contributed
by fighting "to re-establish order" at home, that service should be counted
as service in the field. Service in civil war was raised to the level of service
in foreign war.
On the 6th of December a decree restored the Panthlon to religious wor-
ship and reconverted it into the church of Ste. Genevieve. Advances to
the clergy followed the favours to the army. By a circular of the 15th Momy
exhorted the prefects to do what authority could accomplish to secure respect
for the Sunday rest. He prescribed the interruption of public work on Sun-
days and holy days. He declared that "the man who in contempt of the
most venerated traditions reserves no day for the accomplishment of his
duties becomes sooner or later a prey to materialism!" The voluptuary
with bloodstained hands constituted himself a teacher of religious morality
and of orthodoxy. This was characteristic of the new regime, in which every
kind of excess was to be associated with every kind of hypocrisy.
A decree of the 7th of December had deferred all overt acts relative to
what was called the insurrection, to the military jurisdiction. The next day
it was decreed that any individual who should have made part of a secret
society or who, having been placed under the surveillance of the haute police,
should have left the place assigned to him, could be transported, as a measure
required by the general safety, to Cayenne or Algeria. This placed a number
of persons at the discretion of the government, especially in the south.
In Paris arrests multiplied in an alarming manner. According to the
Bonapartist historians they exceeded twenty-six thousand. The prisons
of Paris were filled; the overflow of prisoners was sent to the forts, where
they were crowded together in damp and freezing casemates. Workmen
and bourgeois mingled in almost equal mmabers in the fraternity of the cell.
The struggle, stifled at Paris, continued in the departments. The de-
partments were much divided. The democratic-socialistic propaganda had
made but insignificant progress in these regions, although the industrial
populations were beginning to practise with success the ideas of association
— for example, in what concerned the societies of consumption. The demo-
cratic propaganda, on the contrary, in spite of the arrest of the first organisers,
had developed to an extraordinary extent in the south and in a part of the
centre. There it was no longer, as formerly, the workmen of the towns; it
was the peasants, who were again taking action, as in '89 — with this difference,
to the great disadvantage of the new movement: there was no longer,
as in '89, a clear idea, a definite object, namely the destruction of privilege
and of the old regime. Men accepted the vague word socialism, while reject-
ing anything which might resemble communism. In all this nothing was
clearly determined except the name of "republic" and the resolution of a
general rising in 1852. The order had gone forth to go to the voting, each
with arms in his hand, in defiance of the law of the 31st of May; it was
calculated that a democratic restoration would be the result of this struggle.
In what form exactly would it be? No one could well have told.
The year 1852 appeared to a great part of the popular masses as a sort of
122 THE HISTOEY OF FKANCE
[1851-1852 A.D.]
mystic date, a new era of liberty and prosperity. The hope of some was the
terror of others. This impendmg revolution inspired the conservatives with
such fear that it prepared them to accept anything m order to escape upheaval.
It goes without saying that the military and civil functionaries, selected
and prepared long beforehand, adhered, with honourable exceptions, to the
coup d'6tat. In the north and west the republicans could make only feeble
manifestations in a few towns. , , ,-iv.
The attempts at revolt which had broken out on a hundred different
points in the southwest indicated what the rising might have been if one at
least of the two great cities of the Garonne had afforded it a centre of support.
The democratic party was still more powerful in the southeast. The three
old provinces of Languedoc, Provence, and Dauphin^ were everywhere
covered with affiliations of the society of the Mountainists. Initiations took
place with a ceremonial borrowed more or less from the free-masons and the
carbonari, and calculated to unpress the imagination. The neophyte, his
eyes bandaged, took an oath on a sword. In H^rault he was made to swear
by Christ that he would defend the democratic and socialistic republic. " Dost
thou swear," said the initiator to him, " to quit father and mother, wife and
children, to fly to the defence of liberty? " " I swear it three times by Christ."
It is said that there were sixty thousand persons affiliated in Herault.
After the suppression of the insurrection in Herault more than three
thousand persons were arrested, of whom more than two thousand were de-
ported. In hunting down the fugitives, the pursuing soldiers constantly shot
dead those who endeavoured to escape them. In Basses-Alpes the republican
rising had been almost unanimous; there curfe had been seen associating
themselves with it with a sincere devotion, and sharing its perils. The ruin
was general, as the movement had been. Many of the inhabitants fled, to
escape the arrests en masse. VUlages were depopulated. Sequestrations
were employed agartist the fugitives — in fact, no means of persecution was
neglected. In this department, the least populous of all, nearly one thousand
persons were deported. The misfortunes and the patriotism of this honest
and courageous population deserve the esteem and sjnnpathy of France.
The struggle was everywhere terminated towards the middle of Decem-
ber. The few crimes committed here and there by insurgents cannot be
brought into comparison with the atrocity of the tremendous reaction which
extended over a great part of France. Many harmless persons, whole groups
of the population, had done honour to themselves by their courageous re-
sistance; but as Eugene T6not,9 the excellent historian of the coup d'etat,
has remarked, events had exhibited on a large scale the impotence of secret
societies to effect the general movements which decide the destinies of coun-
tries; and yet in this case those societies had the exceptional advantage of
having justice as well as law in their favour.
THE APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE
The struggle had come to an end; it had been replaced by the terrorising
of the conquered. Thirty-two departments were in a stage of siege. Nearly
one himdred thousand citizens were captives in the prisons or the fortresses.
The casemates of the forts about Paris were overflowing with prisoners. The
examining magistrates proceeded to summary interrogations, after which the
persons detained were sent before military commissions. The latter, in ac-
cordance with the dossiers of the police and a few words added by the judges
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PEESIDENT AND EMPEEOE 123
[1851-1852 A.D.]
to those notes, classed the prisoners in one of these three categories: (1)
Persons taken with arms in their hands or against whom grave charges are
brought; (2) Persons agamst whom less grave charges are brought; (3)
Dangerous persons. The first category was to be judged summarily by court
martial; the second sent before various tribimals; the third deported without
sentence.
It was imder such conditions that the vote on the appeal to the people
was proceeded with on the 20th and 21st of December. It may be judged
what degree of liberty was left to the electors. There were to be no news-
papers, no meetings. The prefects classed electoral meetings with the secret
societies. The general commanding the department of Cher had had placards
put up to the effect that any person seeking to disturb the voting or criticising
the result would be brought before a court martial. The prefect of Bas-
Rhin had formally interdicted the distribution of the voting papers. The
prefect of Haute-Garonne annotmced that he would prosecute anyone who
should distribute voting papers, even in manuscript, without authority. The
gendarmerie arrested electors on charge of having incited others to vote
against the president of the republic.
The consultative commission instituted by Louis Napoleon on the 3rd of
December was entrusted with the coimting of the ballot of the appeal to the
people. It reported 7,439,216 ayes, 646,737 noes, 36,880 papers rejected. At
Paris there had been 132,181 ayes, 80,691 noes, 3,200 rejected papers; 75,000
electors had not voted.
What was the value of these figures? It is impossible to doubt that
violence and fraud had considerably swelled them. What supervision had it
been possible to exercise over the votes? What scruples were to be expected
from a great number of the men who presided at the elections? The people
voted under the influence of terror in many departments where all who were
not in prison or in flight voted " aye" to pacify the conqueror. The immense
majority of ten to one, which the consultative commission proclaimed was then
evidently artificial; nevertheless, without this terrorising, Louis Napoleon
would have obtained a much smaller but still a real majority in the greater
part of France: the Napoleonic prestige still subsisted with some; others, as
was inevitable in such a case, yielded to fear of the unknown, to the dread of
a new crisis on the heels of the old.
Louis Napoleon tried to justify his usurpation by a sophism: "France,"
he said, " has realised that I exceeded the boimds of legality only to return to
justice. More than seven millions of votes have now absolved me." He
said that with the assistance of "all good men, the devotion of the army,
and the protection of heaven," he hoped to render himself worthy of the con-
fidence which the people would continue to place in him. "I hope," he
added, " to secure the destinies of France by founding institutions which will
answer at once to the democratic instincts of the nation and the universal
desire to have henceforth a strong and respected government. To recon-
stitute authority without woimding equality is to plant the foundations of
the sole edifice which will later on be capable of supporting a wise and be-
neficent liberty." Thus he deigned to promise liberty at a future date,
while reserving to himself the choice of the moment.
On the morning of that day of the year which opened a period so differ-
ent from that on which many hopes had waited in 1852, a decree had sub-
stituted the imperial eagle of Rome for the cock by which the constitutional
monarchy and the republic recalled ancient Gaul. Another decree announced
that the chief of the state was about to take the Tuileries for his residence.
124 THE HISTORY Of FRANCE
[1881-1853 A.D.]
Whilst the man of the 2nd of December was installing himself in the palace
of the kings, the chief representatives of the republic were driven into exile.
EXILE BY WHOLESALE
From the day which followed the coup d'6tat the executors of the plot
had given very different treatment to the captive representatives, according
to whether they were conservatives or republicans. They had at first divided
the 282 representatives, confined in the barracks of the quai d'Orsay, into
three convoys; they had crowded them into the prison vans in which male-
factors are carried. Forty members of the Right were set at liberty. The
republicans were conducted to Mazas, where they were placed in the cells
and under the same rules as thieves. The imprisoned generals had just been
sent from Mazas to Ham; At Mazas they had left Thiers who, like the gen-
erals, had been arrested during the preceding night.
On the 4th, almost all the prisoners of Vincennes were set at liberty. On
the 8th of January the generals detained at Ham and their companion in
captivity, the questeur Baze, were conducted into Belgium. The next day
appeared a series of decrees of proscription. The individuals " convicted of
having taken part in the recent insurrections" were to be deported — some to
Guiana, others to Algeria. A decree designated five representatives of the
Mountain for deportation. The sentence of deportation was afterwards
commuted into exile for three of them. A second decree expelled from France,
from Algeria, and from the colonies, " on grounds of the general safety," sixty-
six representatives of the Left, amongst them Victor Hugo and several others
who were destined to aid in the foimdation of the third republic.
A third decree temporarily removed from France and Algeria eighteen
other representatives, amongst whom the generals figured, together with
Thiers, Remusat, and some members of the Left, of whom were Edgar Quinet
and ;^mile de Girardin. The same day, January 9th, a first convoy of four
hundred and twenty of the Parisian captives was sent from the fort of Bicfetre
to Le Havre; they were crowded together at the bottom of the hold of a frigate.
Convoys followed one another incessantly in the direction of the ports where,
amid all kinds of moral and physical sufferings, thousands of unfortimates
waited for the departure of the vessels. Cayenne and Lambessa divided the
victims.
Whilst the prisons of Paris were being emptied in this fashion, attention
was also given to the departments. The new government was embarrassed
by the multitude of its captives. It authorised its prefects to set at liberty
all those of the prisoners whom they might judge not dangerous (January
29th). This measure was the famous "mixed commissions" (commissions
mixtes). In each department a sort of tribunal was set up, composed of the
prefect, the military commandant, and the chej du parquet (procureur-g^n^ral
or prosecutor for the repubhc). On these commissions was conferred the
power to decree citation before a court martial, transportation, or release.
It was the reversal of all law and justice — something worse than the
revolutionary tribunals of '93 and than the provosts' courts (cours pr&vdtales)
of the restoration, which at least admitted discussion and defence in public.
The mixed commissions of 1852, as the historian of the coup d'etat (Eugene
T6not9) says, "decided without procedure, without hearmg of witnesses,
without public sentence the fate of thousands and thousands of republicans."
The mixed commissions have left the ineffaceable memory of one of the most
monstrous facts of history,
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PEESIDUNT AND EMPEEOR 125
[1852 1..D.]
THE CONSTITUTION OF 1852
An act quite as extraordinary in another class was the promulgation of
the new constitution fabricated by the dictator himself without assistance
(Januarjr 14th, 1852). The conqueror of Italy and Egypt, the vanquisher
of Austria, had at least, for the sake of formalitjj, required eminent men to
deliberate on his constitution of the year VIII. The vanquisher of the 2nd
of December had not thought it necessary to cover himself by such forms.
In a preamble skilfully enough drawn up, with the object of proving that
for the last fifty years the French nation had only continued in virtue of
the institutions of the consulate and the empire, he affirmed tiiat society as
existing was nothing other than France regenerated by the revolution of '89
and organised by the emperor. Having kept everything belonging to the
consulate and the empire, save the political institutions overturned by the
European coalition, why should France not resimie those political institutions
with the rest?
The constitution of 1852 starts by "recognising, confirming, and guaran-
teeing the great principles proclaimed in 1789, which are the base of the public
law of the French." Only it says not a word of the liberty of the press, nor
of the liberty of assembly and association. " The government of the French
Republic is confided for ten years to Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte."
The constitution declares the chief of the state responsible to the French
people; but it forgets to mention how this responsibility is to be realised;
the French people will have no means of applying it except by the way of
revolution. "The chief being responsible, his action must be free and im-
shackled." The ministers then must depend only on him and will no longer
form a collectively and individually responsible coimcil. They will no longer
bear any relation to the deliberative assemblies. "The president of the
republic commands the sea and land forces, declares war, makes treaties of
peace, of alliance and of commerce, nominates to all offices, makes the regu-
lations and decrees necessary to the execution of the laws."
Justice is rendered in his name. He alone initiates laws. He sanctions
and promulgates laws. AU public functionaries make the oath of fidelity
to him. The fij-st wheel in the new organisation is to be a council of state
of forty to fifty members, nominated and liable to be dismissed by the presi-
dent of the republic, discussing bills with closed doors, then presenting them
for the acceptance of the legislative body. In fact the constitution of 1852
outdid, as a monarchical reaction, the constitution of the year VIII. It was
not the consulate; it was already the empire, organised dictatorship, and the
total confiscation of public liberties. Thirty-seven years after the fall of
Napoleon the Great, the long struggles of French liberty ended in re-estab-
lishing absolute power in hands without genius and without glory.
The same day, the 22nd of January, appeared a decree which obliged the
members of the house of Orleans to sell within the space of a year all the
property belonging to them in the territory of the repubhc. On the 29th
of March the prince-president proceeded to the inauguration of the chambers
in the Hall of the Marshals at the Tuileries. It was thought that in his
speech he would make it understood that he expected another title — that of
emperor. He left this subject still undetermined. He spoke of still pre-
serving the republic. This was to mock at his listeners and at France ; but he
did not wish to appear to be in a hurry to seize what could not now escape him.
The session of the two chambers was then opened by the presidents whom
126 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1852 A..B:}
the dictator had given them. In the senate Louis Napoleon had chosen his
uncle, Jerome, the ex-king of Westphalia. In virtue of the new constitution
the presidents claimed from the members of the two chambers the oath of
obedience to the constitution and of fidelity to the president of the republic.
During the session a rumour was current that Louis Napoleon would be
proclaimed emperor on the 10th of May, after the distribution of the eagles
to the army. The dictator did not wish to make himself emperor in this
manner. He would proceed more artfully, and intended to obtain a guaran-
tee that the accomplishment of his wishes should be imposed on him by the
country. He therefore undertook a new tour through the departmente.6
napoleon's addbess at BOEDEAUX (1852)
Master of himself in the midst of the general enthusiasm, Louis Napoleon
was preparing for the great speech which would definitely decide his destiny
and the destiny of France. It was made at Bordeaux on the 9th of October,
at the close of a banquet which had been given him by the chamber of com-
merce. Contrary to his custom he went straight to the point:
" I say with a frankness as far removed from pride as from false modesty,
that never has any nation manifested in a more direct, more spontaneous,
more unanimous manner its wish to rid itself of all anxiety as to the future,
by strengthening under one control the government which is sympathetic
to it. The reason is that this people now realises both the false hopes which
lulled it and the perils which threatened it. It knows that in 1852 Society
was hurrying to its downfall. It is grateful to me for having saved the ship
by setting up only the flag of France. Disabused of absurd theories, the
nation has acquired the conviction that its so-called reformers were but
dreamers, for there was always an inconsistency, a disproportion, between
their resources and the promised results. To bring about the weU-being of
the country it is not necessary to apply new methods, but to give it, before
all else, confidence in the present and security as to the future. These are
the reasons why France appears anxious to revert to an empire."
The important word had at last been uttered. With insinuating clever-
ness Louis Napoleon also brought forward the principal objection to the
scheme: , "There is an apprehension abroad of which I must take note. In
a spirit of distrust, certain persons are saying that imperialism means war.
I say imperialism means peace. It means peace because France desires it,
and when France is satisfied the world is at rest. Glory may well be be-
queathed as an inheritance, but not war. Did those princes who were justly
proud of being descendants of Louis XIV revive his quarrels? War is not
made for pleasure, but by necessity; and in these times of transition when,
side by side with so many elements of prosperity, on every hand so many
causes of death arise, one may truly say: 'Woe imto him who first gives the
signal in Europe for a collision whose consequences would be incalculable.'"
Prolonged cheers greeted these sentiments of pacific pride. The enthusi-
asm became tinged with emotion when the prince, continuing, outlined in
superb language the programme of his future government — a stately plan
for an edifice never, alas! erected. On the 10th of October the presidential
address, "The Bordeaux Speech" as it was promptly dubbed, was telegraphed
to Paris. So dignified, conciliatory, and loyal did its language appear, that
it instantly produced an emotion which was not artificial or simulated, but
profound and sincere.
Louis Napoleon visited in rapid succession Angoul6me, Rochefort, La
XIII. Napoleon III. Liberating Abdul-Kadir
{From the painting by Jean Baptiste Tissier)
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PRESIDENT AND EMPEEOR 127
[1851 A.D.]
Rochelle, and Tours; he made a last halt at Amboise and there, to impress the
public fancy by some new and striking act, he set free the imprisoned Abdul-
Kadir.
At two o'clock in the afternoon of the 16th of October, he arrived in Paris,
and was received with full official pomp and circumstance. Representatives
of official bodies went to the Gare d'Orl^ans to salute him. The soimd of
cannon mingled with the pealing of bells, while strains of military music
alternated with patriotic songs. On the place de la Bastille the president of
the municipal council, M. Delangle, publicly congratulated him.
Throughout the long line of the boulevards the theatres, public buildings,
even some of the shops were decorated with triumphal arches. On one of
them might be read some lines from Virgil: "May the Gods of our fathers
be favourable to this youth in this troubled age." More even than the apt
quotation, the continuous cheers of the crowd gave its true significance to the
reception. Thus was Louis Napoleon borne to the palace of the Tuileries.
Then in the evening, satiated with homage, eager for rest and repose, he
escaped from the ovations and made his way to the chateau of St.
Cloud.^
THE UNIQUE POSITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON
Bradford^ has emphasised the fact that in showing its preference for
Louis Napoleon, France was the first European nation that had "attempted
to form or express any common will." No other ruler in Europe could know
definitely, except by the vaguest of inferences, whether or not he held his
official position with the approval of the majority of his subjects. But there
could be no question as to the attitude of the French people as a whole
toward the man who was about to become their supreme ruler. And in
expressing their approval of that man, the people of France expressed also,
in the view of Bradford, a desire for peace and order. They believed, justly
enough, that to attain that end there must exist a strong executive power.
It was not strange that they should feel that the most likely wielder of such
a power would be the bearer of the magic name of Bonaparte.
It was the fond hope of the multitudes, then, that now in France, as in
the Rome of an elder day, empire should mean peace. But this hope, as all the
world knows, was not to be immediately reaUsed. Within a few years Louis
Napoleon, actuated by self-seekers like Morny and Saint-Arnaud, was to pre-
cipitate the Crimean War. Similar forces were to bring about the Austrian
War within the same decade, with the resulting independence of Italy, paid
for with the heavy price of abrogated treaties. Then there was to follow the
" surpassing folly " of the Mexican expedition, with the execution of Maximihan
for its humiliating sequel. And not so far beyond was to come the crowning
disaster of the Franco-Prussian War, which might almost be regarded as a
just retribution upon the empire, but which fell heavily upon a people who
suffered not so much for their own sins as for the delinquencies of their rulers.
But few indeed were the prophets who could foretell, even vaguely, the
disasters that the enthusiasts of 1852 were imwittingly preparing."
THE ACCESSION OE NAPOLEON III
On December 1st, 1852, at eight o'clock in the evening, in the midst of
a thick fog, two hundred carriages, lighted by torchbearers on horseback,
crossed the bridge of Boulogne, and went in the direction of the palace of
St. Cloud, the windows of which were seen shining from afar; the members
128 THE HISTOEY OP FRANCE
[1852-1853 A.D.]
of the senate occupied these carriages; they carried the prince-president the
decree of the senate which named him emperor.
The fete of the proclamation of the empire was very similar to that of the
return of the prince-president, and curiosity began to be exhausted: the same
flags, the same imiforms, the same people, the same decorations, a smaller crowd
in the streets, but more animation in the theme. The new government, by way
of a gift to celebrate the joyous accession, delivered from imprisonment and
fine those .who were condemned for misdemeanours and infractions of the
laws covering the press and the book trade: official warnings which had been
sent to the journals were considered null and void; there was to be no am-
nesty; exiles might return "if they acknowledged the national will," that is,
if they demanded pardon. The absence of clemency, and the monotony of
the same decorations, the same banners, the same arches, the same trans-
parencies made the day dreary for some, fatiguing for others, long for all. Paris
was anxious to escape from the outward trappings and to enter into the reality.
A banquet for sixty persons and a simple reception at the residence of the
sovereign ended the evening. At midnight a new guest slept in the TuUeries.
So began the reign which was to finish at Sedan.*
napoleon's marriage
The foreign powers which had greeted the coup d'fitat as a bulwark against
revolution did not so highly approve the second empire; but none the less
they had nothing to do but accord it recognition. The three eastern powers
were the slowest; and, as in the case of Louis Philippe, the czar Nicholas
could not brmg himself to grant the usual title "brother," but called him
" good friend." Like his uncle in the case of his second marriage, the parvenu
emperor sought a bride among the ancient royal families; but the eastern
powers managed to foil his suit for the princess Charlotte of Vasa.* He
thereupon married the beautiful Spanish woman Eugenie Montijo, duchess of
Teba, January 30th, 1853. On March 16th, 1856, she bore him an heir,
Prince Napoleon Eugene.?
ERSKINE MAT ON THE COURT LIFE
After the coup d'etat, Louis Napoleon had already restored titles of
honour, and he now endeavoured to surround himself by the most illustrious
nobles of France. The nobihty of the first empire were naturally the chief
ornaments of his court: but the old legitimist and Orleanist nobles generally
held themselves aloof from the Bonapartist circle, and affected the more
select society of their own friends in the faubourgs St. Germain and St.
Honors. But if the old nobility were absent from the TuUeries, there was
no lack of aspirants for new honours and distinctions. Military dukedoms,
and other titles of nobility, were created, as in the first empire. Plebeian
names were dignified by the ennobling prefix, so much cherished in French
society; and the Legion of Honour was lavished with such profusion that to
be without its too familiar red ribbon was, at length, accounted a mark of
distinction.
A court so constituted could not represent the highest refinement of
French society. It was gay, luxurious, pleasure-seeking, and extravagant;
[' The Hohenzollerns also received bis advances discouragingly. The Spanish beauty he
took for queen was not of royal blood. The legitimist nobility, as a rule, kept away from court
and regarded the usurper and his circle with scorn.]
LOUIS NAPOLEON" AS PEESIDE:NT AND EMPEEOE 120
[1854r-1856 A.D.]
but adventurers, speculators, and persons of doubtful repute were in too
much favour to win for it the moral respect of France or of Europe. Nor
did it gain lustre from the intellect of the age. Men of letters were generally
faithful to the fallen monarchies or to the republic, and were not to be won
over by the patronage of the empire. They had been cruelly scourged by
Louis Napoleon, and neither the principles of his rule nor the character of
his associates attracted the intellectual classes. Material force, wealth, and
splendour were the idols of his court, and the poet and the philosopher were
ill at ease in such a company.
The empire was now firmly established, and Louis Napoleon wielded a
power as great as that of any former king or emperor. But he ruled by a
different title, and upon other principles of government. His empire, founded
upon the sovereignty of the people, was a strange development of democracy.
He had been chosen by universal suffrage, yet he wielded a power all but
absolute and irresponsible. He ruled by the voice of the people, but he for-
bade the expression of their sentiments in the press or at public meetings.
The chamber of deputies was elected, like himself, by the whole people. An
assembly so popular in its origin ought to have been a check upon the will
of the emperor; but it did not hesitate to accept his policy and approve his
acts. Enjoying a freedom of discussion unknown beyond its walls, it was
able to give expression to public opinion; but it never aspired to independence.
Yet the democracy of France was not ignored; the emperor was sensitively
alive to the national sentiments, which he was always striving to propitiate:
he never forgot the democratic origin and basis of his throne. Political lib-
erties were repressed; but public opinion, so far as it could be divined with-
out free discussion, was deferred to and respected.
To satisfy this public opinion, and to win the support of various senti-
ments, interests, and parties, the policy of the emperor assumed many forms.
He had proclaimed the empire as peace: but, to gratify the susceptibilities
of Frenchmen, he afterwards declared that not a gim should be fired in
Europe without the consent of the Tuileries; and he desired to revive the
military glories of France, to restore his influence in the councils of Europe,
and to gratify the army, to whom he mainly owed his crown. Hence his
forwardness in bringing about the Crimean War."*
THE CRIMEAN WAR (1854-1856)
Since the treaties of 1815 Russia had exercised a threatening preponder-
ance over Europe. The czar Nicholas had become the personification of a
formidable system of compression and conquest. He had never forgiven the
dynasty of July for having owed its existence to a rebellion; in Germany he
had upheld the sovereigns in their resistance to the wishes of the peoples.
He had done his utmost to denationalise Poland, his possession of which
had been recognised by the treaties of 1815 on condition that he should
assure to it a constitutional government. Dumfoimded for a moment by
the revolution of 1848, the czar had soon returned to his ambition. After
having saved Austria by crushing the Hungarians who had revolted against
her, he had thought that the presence of a Napoleon on the throne of France
guaranteed to Russia the alliance of the English, and he had believed that
the moment was come to seize the perpetual object of Muscovite covetous-
ness — Constantinople. On every opportunity he affected a protectorate
over the Christian subjects of the Turkish Empire: he ended by trying to
come to a secret understanding with England for the partition of the spoil
H, w.— VOL. xm. K
130 THE HISTOBY OF PEANCE
[1853-1856 A.D.]
of the Sick Man (the sultan). In 1853 he occupied the Danubian princi-
palities and anned what seemed a formidable fleet at Sebastopol.
The emperor Napoleon gave the first signal of resistance by boldly send-
ing the French Mediterranean fleet to Salamis to have it within reach of
Constantinople and the Black Sea. He won over England, at first hesitating,
to his alliance, and assured himself of the neutrality of Austria and Prussia.
Hostilities opened with the destruction by the Russians of a Turkish flotilla
at Sinope. The Anglo-French fleet entered the Black Sea, whilst an army-
despatched from the ports of Great Britain and France assembled imder the
walls of Constantinople. The 14th of September, 1854, the army of the allies,
seventy thousand strong, debarked on the Crimean coasts, and the victory
of Alma allowed the commencement of the siege of Sebastopol, a formidable
fortress whose annihilation was necessary in order to protect Constantinople
against a sudden attack.
This siege, one of the most terrible in the annals of modem history, lasted
for more than a year.^ Generals Canrobert and P61issier successively com-
manded the French troops. Continual fighting, two victories, those of Inker-
man and the Tchernaya, earned for the French soldiers less glory than their
dauntless courage against a terrible climate and an enemy who ceaselessly
renewed his ranks. At last, on the 8th of September, 1855, after miracles
of constancy, French dash and English solidity had their reward. The tower
of the Malakoff was carried and the town taken. The emperor Nicholas had
died a few months before.
In the Baltic the Anglo-French fleet had destroyed Bomarsund, the ad-
vanced bulwark of Russia against Sweden, and in the Black Sea the French
iron-plated gunboats, now used for the first time, had compelled the fortress
of Kinburn to surrender, thus opening southern Russia. Aii allied squadron
had even taken Petropavlovsk on the Pacific Ocean. Finally French diplo-
macy had induced the king of Sweden and the king of Sardinia to enter the
league against Russia, and was perhaps on the point of winning over the
emperor of Austria. The czar Alexander II, successor of Nicholas, demanded
peace; it was concluded at Paris, March 30th, 1856, under the eyes of the
emperor of the French.*^
THE CONGRESS OF PARIS (1856)
The congress of Paris (March-April, 1856) was composed of two plenipo-
tentiaries from each of the six powers — France, England, Russia, Turkey,
Austria, and Sardinia — under the presidency of the French plenipotentiaries.
Prussia was invited to take part afterwards.
The congress began by regulating the Eastern question. (1) The integrity
of the Ottoman Empire was guaranteed by the powers; the sultan promised
reforms and the powers renounced all intervention in the internal affairs of
the empire. (2) The Danube was declared free for navigation. (3) The
Black Sea was recognised as neutral; no state might have arsenals or war
ships in it, with the exception of small ships. (4) Moldavia and Wallachia
became autonomous.
After having signed the peace the congress regulated the question of mari-
time law by four decisions which were incorporated in international European
law: (1) Privateering is abolished. (2) All hostile merchandise sailmgimder
a neutral flag is neutral. (3) All neutral merchandise under a hostile flag
[' Fuller accounts of this siege, as of the whole war, will be found in the histories of Eng-
land and of Russia.]
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PEESIDENT AND EMPEEOR 131
[1856-1858 1..D.]
is neutral. (4) A blockade cannot be established by a simple declaration —
it is not valid unless it is effective.
Cavour, representing Sardinia, succeeded in bringing up the Italian ques-
tion in the congress, by coming to an understanding with the representatives
of France and England. They spoke of the evacuation of the Piraeus by
French troops (which was still a discussion of the oriental question), and
a propos of the occupation of the Pirseus they spoke of the occupation (which
still continued) of Tuscany by the Austrians. England demanded that it
should come to an end; Austria refused to discuss it. But Cavour profited
by the occasion to describe the lamentable condition of Italy.
The congress of Paris had been a personal success for Napoleon and his
policy. Not only had he made France re-enter the European concert, but
for the first time he had caused a European congress to be held on French
territory and under her presidency. He had obtained the autonomy of the
Rumanian nation and had posed the national question of Italy, making
the instrument which had been created by Metternich against the nations
to serve the cause of nationalities. He remained under this impression, and
his policy was directed towards bringing together a new congress to alter
the status quo of Europe and to abolish the treaties of 1815, but he never
succeeded in his attempt.
The congress of Paris changed Napoleon's position in Europe. The
sovereigns, seeing him solid at home and powerful abroad, drew closer to him.
The example was set by the princes of the Coburg family. Ernest of Coburg-
Gotha was the first to pay him a visit (March, 1854) ; then came Leopold, king
of the Belgians; then the king of Portugal; finally Prince Albert, husband of
Queen Victoria, consented to see Napoleon (September, 1854). Napoleon and
the empress went to England (April, 1855) ; Victoria and Albert returned
their visit (it was the first time since 1422 that a king of England had come
to Paris). The example of the Coburgs decided Victor Emmanuel, who had
refused till then. After the congress, the rulers of Wiirtemberg, Bavaria,
and Tuscany arrived (1856-57).
Napoleon wished to profit by these relations to adopt an active policy.
He tried to win over the king of Prussia, who refused to be won; he spoke at
the English court of revising the treaties of 1815, but was coldly received
(August, 1857). He then approached Russia in an interview at Stuttgart
■with the czar, in 1857. In 1858 France and Russia acted together to main-
tain Rumanian imity, against Turkey, Austria, and England; in Servia they
together sustained the Obrenovitch dynasty against Austria.
Cavour, who was determined on war with Austria, declared publicly in
the chamber that the principles of Vienna were irreconcilable with those of
Turin. Austria replied that the emperor would continue to make use of his
Tight" of intervention (May, 1856). She ended by breaking off diplomatic
relations with Sardinia (March, 1857).
But Napoleon still hesitated.'^
INTERNAL AFFAIRS (1856-1858)
During the session of 1856 the baptism of the prince imperial, who had
been born (March 16th) during the congress of Paris, was celebrated with
great pomp at Notre Dame. The godfather was Pius IX, represented by a
Roman cardinal. This intimate bond with the pope was to involve the policy
of the empire on grave occasions. The powers of the legislative body elected
in 1852, if they can be called powers, expired in 1857. It goes without saying
132 THE HISTOBY OP FEANCE
[1857-1858 A.D.]
that the official candidature was worked by the prefects in every possible
way. Billault, the minister of the interior, declared in a circular that "the
government considered it just and politic to present for re-election the mem-
bers of an assembly which had so well seconded the emperor and served the
country." He was willing to admit that in face of these conditions "openly
avowed and resolutely sustained," others might be brought forward. "If,
however," he added, "the enemies of the public peace should find in this
latitude an occasion for a serious protest against our institutions; if they
try to make it an instrument of trouble and scandal, you know your duty.
Monsieur le pr^fet, and justice will also know how to execute its duty with
severity."
The prefects went further than the minister. One of them simply wrote
to the officials of his department: "Impose silence on opponents if any are
met with." Another was going so far as to interdict the publication and
posting of circulars and declarations of opinion on the part of non-official
candidates. The prefects set their newspapers violently not only against the
enemies of the government, but against those of its friends who might permit
themselves to dispute the ground with the official candidates. In presence
of this attitude of the government agents the peasants said simply: "Why
should we trouble ourselves to nominate deputies?" The government might
as well nominate them itseK. The opposition had assuredly no chance of
depriving the government of its majority. It might attempt protests and
obtain some partial success. There were eager debates between the repub-
licans concerning the course to pursue.
The elections took place the 20th of June. Of the eight deputies of Paris
the opposition gained five — Camot, Goudchaux, Cavaignac, OUivier, and
Darimon; two republicans were nominated at Lyons and at Bordeaux. The
struggle became almost impossible in the departments; meanwhile, in the
large cities, a strong minority, sometimes even a majority, had declared
itself in favour of the opposition.
The Chambers reopened on the 28th of November. Of the five repubhcan
deputies of Paris, one, Cavaignac, had died; two refused the oath, Carnot
and Goudchaux; OUivier and Darimon took it. The session of 1857 to 1858
seemed destined to be uneventful, when a tragic incident suddenly disturbed
everjrthing and added gravity to the situation.
ORSINl'S ATTEMPT TO KILL THE EMPEROE
The evening of the 14th of January, 1858, at the moment of the arrival
of the emperor and empress at the opera, three explosions were heard. Three
bombs had been thrown at the emperor's carriage. Cries of grief and horror
resounded on all sides. The bursting of the projectiles had injured ntore
than one hundred and forty persons, some of whom were mortally wounded.
The carriage of the emperor was broken and one of the horses killed. A
terrible anxiety filled the opera house as the royal pair entered their box;
both had escaped injury.
The police arrested four Italians. It was seen immediately that three of
them were but instruments; the fourth, Orsini, was remarkable in every
way. His father had perished in 1831 in the insurrection against the pope
m which Napoleon III and his elder brother had taken part. The son since
his childhood had taken part in all the national Italian conspiracies.
In its form the attempt on Napoleon III recalled that of Fieschi under
Louis Philippe; but in reality there was a wide gulf between the Corsican
LOUIS NAPOLEON AS PEESIDENT AND EMPEROE 133
[1858 A.D.]
bandit of 1835 and the Roman conspirator of 1858. In spite of the horror
of a crime which took aim at its object across so many indifferent and un-
known victims, Orsini inspired in all those who saw and heard him during
his trial an interest which it was impossible to withstand. This man had
been actuated solely by an impersonal passion; he was under the spell of a
misdirected patriotism. He had chosen as his counsel Jules Favre, who de-
fended him as he wished to be defended, by endeavouring to save, not his
head, but his memory as far as it could be saved. A profound impression
was made on the audience when Jules Favre, by permission of the emperor,
read aloud a letter addressed to the latter by Orsini. The criminal did not
ask mercy for himself; he asked freedom for his unhappy country, "the
constant object of all his affections." He did not go so far as to demand
that the blood of Frenchmen should be shed for the Italians, but only that
France should interdict the support of Austria by Germany — "in the strug-
gles which are perhaps soon to begin. I adjure your majesty," he wrote,
"to restore to Italy the independence which her children lost in 1849 by the
fault of the French themselves (by the war of Rome). Let not your majesty
repulse the last wish of a patriot on the steps of the scaffold!"
Orsini and his accomplices were condemned to death on the 26th of
February. Orsini thanked the emperor for having authorised the publica-
tion of his letter. His second letter was not less moving than the first. He
formally condemned political assassination and disavowed "the fatal aber-
ration of mind" which had led him to prepare his crime. He exhorted his
compatriots to employ only their abnegation, their devotion, their union,
their virtue to deliver their country. He himself offered his blood in expia-
tion to the victims of the 14th of January. The question of the commutation
of the penalty was energetically agitated by those about the emperor. Na-
poleon would have judged such mercy politic if so many victims had not been
struck by the instrimients of death intended for his own person. Orsini was
executed on the 14th of March, with one of his accomplices. He died without
display as without weakness, crying, " Vive I'ltalie! Vive la France!"
His death was. soon to bring forth happy results to Italy. Before that
his crime had had deplorable ones for France. In 1801 the first consul had
made the affair of the infernal machine prepared by some royalists a pretext
for proscribing a host of republicans. Napoleon III imitated and surpassed
his uncle.
THE "new terror" OF 1858
At the reopening of the chambers, a few days after the attempt of the
opera (14th of January), the emperor delivered a speech which began with
a splendid picture of the public prosperity. He called on the legislative body
not to permit the renewal of "the scandal" of the refusals of the oath by
elected candidates, and to vote a law which should oblige all those eligible
for election to take the oath to the constitution before standing for election.
Finally he appealed to the assembly of the representatives of the country to
"find means to silence factious opposition." The meaning of this threat was
soon made known. On the 1st of February a bill was presented to the legis-
lative body; it punished with an imprisonment of from two to five years and
a fine of from five hundred to ten thousand francs, whoever should have pub-
licly incited to the crimes mentioned in articles 86 and 87 of the penal code
(sedition, insurrection, etc.) when that provocation had not resulted in action.
It punished with an imprisonment of one month to two years and a fine of
134 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1858 A.D.]
from one hundred to two thousand francs whoever should have niancEuvred
or entered into negotiations either at home or abroad with the object of dis-
turbing the pubhc peace. Every person sentenced for one of the above
misdemeanours or for certain others also mentioned in the bill, including the
detention of arms, seditious assemblies, etc., should as a measure for the. gen-
eral safety be incarcerated in France or Algeria or expelled from French ter-
ritory. This same measure for the general safety could be applied to any
person who had been either condemned, incarcerated, expelled, or trans-
ported on the occasion of the events of May and June, 1848; of June, 1849;
or December, 1851, and whom "grave facts should again mark as dangerous
to the public safety."
This was to deliver a multitude of citizens to the most lawlessly arbi-
trary treatment; the wide field covered by the categories and the vagueness
of the definitions made anything possible. A man might be deported for
having a musket in his possession!
The government was perfectly aware that the republican party had noth-
ing to do with the isolated crime of Orsini; but this calumny had seemed
necessary to serve as a motive for what was to follow. !]&mile OUivier made
his d^but as a political orator in contesting this bill. A few conservatives
joined him, alarmed to see that a return to the 2nd of December was being
made in a time of complete public tranquillity. Many deputies voted with
reluctance and with a sense of shame; there were 227 voices for the law:
twenty-four had the courage to vote against it. When the law was brought
before the senate, whose mission it was to examine whether the laws adopted
by the legislative body were conformable to the constitution, there was but
a single vote against this so-called "Law of Suspects"; it was that of Greneral
MacMahon. History should give him credit for it.
The law was monstrous, its execution was worse. The new terror of
1858 did not echo so far as that of the 2nd of December; as no one resisted
or could resist there were no fusillades, no massacres; but the absence of all
struggle and of all peril to the persecutors rendered the persecution so much
the more revolting. This time it was no longer, as on the 2nd of December,
triumphant conspirators striking in fury at fallen adversaries to prevent
them from rising; it was an absolute power which, in order to produce an.
effect of intimidation and to discourage a few attempts at legal opposition,
proscribed in cold blood hundreds of victims, not for their acts but for their
opinions. Even before the law had been presented to the legislative body,
citizens had been carried into exile.
Immediately after the despatch of his circular the new minister of the
interior "and of the general safety," as he styled himself, had sent for all
the prefects to Paris. He received each by himself. He had in his hand a
list in which the departments were inscribed with figures opposite their names.
"You are prefect of such a department," he said: "so many arrests." "But
who is to be arrested?" questioned the prefect. "Whoever you like! I
have given you the number; the rest is your affair."
That so many high functionaries should have consented to make them-
selves the executors of such instructions is perhaps the most shameful fact
in eighty years of revolutions. Besides some political adversaries who were
still capable of and disposed to action, the government caused to be torn from
their families and their professions a host of republicans who, while retaining
their own opinions, sought only to court oblivion and had taken refuge in
their work and in silence. When one was not to be found another was taken
at haphazard; Espinasse and his delegates had to make up their number. A,
LOTUS ISTAPOLEON" AS PRESIDENT AND EMPEROR 135
[1858-1859 A.D.]
special attack was directed against a select number of active bourgeoisie:
merchants, lawyers, doctors, notaries were mingled with honest and indus-
trious working men; the old, the sick, mothers of families, were dragged to
prison and thence to exile. The agents forced their way into houses, like
nocturnal malefactors, carried off the appointed victims without allowing them
time to provide themselves with money and clothing or to bid farewell to
their families, and threw them into prison vans which did not stop tiU they
reached the port of embarkation. Of about two thousand persons arrested
more than 420 were transported to Africa. Arrived there the exiles received
some miserable subsidies, scarcely sufficient to prevent them from dying of
hunger until they could procure the means of subsistence; then those who
did not find work were left to the care of such of their companions as were a
little less unfortunate.
The aim of the new terror was not attained: the government had not
succeeded in stifling the opposition, which on the contrary increased in the
legislative body — if not in numbers at least in talents; of three seats left
empty amongst the deputies of Paris, the Parisian electors filled two with
republicans. Jules Favre and Ernest Picard formed, together with OUivier,
Henon, and Darimon, that celebrated bench of the " Five " which held its own,
for several j'^ears, against almost the whole assembly.
In this imperialist quasi-unanimity on the part of the legislative body,
a considerable number of the members asked no better than to put some
reserve into their devotion, and did not regard the course of events as entirely
for the best. In the session of 1858 the law of military exemption was brought
up. It was proved that this law had only aggravated the burden of the ser-
vice to the detriment of the population, and the profit of the exchequer, which
was in reality the beneficiary of what was called the endowment of the army.
The law, instead of being mitigated, was rendered more onerous by the inter-
diction of substitutions except among relatives. Exemption by state inter-
vention cost double what it had cost before; free substitution was forbidden,
and fellow soldiers from the same canton were no longer authorised to change
their numbers at the drawing of lots.
As to laws of social interests, the government presented one which con-
tained penalties against the usurpers of titles of nobihty. Napoleon III had
restored the nobility by a decree which declared it one of the institutions of
the state. The parodists of the past were still more ridiculous in 1858 than
in 1814, when the ultras at least were the natural heirs of the old regime.
Most of those who voted the law were ashamed of it; a small number took
these things with a grotesque seriousness.^
WAE IN ITALY: SOLFERINO (1858-1859)
As Russia was pressing on Turkey, so Austria was pressing on Italy. She
had played an equivocal part during the Crimean War, whilst the kingdom
of Sardinia, the only independent and constitutional state in Italy, had not
feared to join her young army to the Anglo-French troops. This circum-
stance had made France the natural protectress of Piedmont, and by conse-
quence of Italy, of which this little kingdom was the last citadel. Thus when
the emperor of Austria, Francis Joseph, in defiance of European diplomacy,
passed the Ticino as the emperor Nicholas had passed the Pruth, France
once more found herself face to face with this new aggressor and on the side
of the oppressed.
In this war the emperor Napoleon resumed the secular poUcy of France,
136 THE HISTORY OF FEANCE
[1859 i..D.]
which consists in not suffering the preponderance of Austria or Germany in
Italy— that is to say, on the French southeastern frontier. A French army
reappeared on that soil where three centuries before the arms of France had
left so many glorious traces. Europe looked on with keen attention; Eng-
land as a well-wisher, Russia and Prussia amazed. Austria and France were
left alone facing each other. The war lasted scarcely two months.
After the brilliant affair of Montebello, which defeated an attempted
surprise on the part of the Austrians, the Franco-Piedmontese army concen-
trated round Alessandria; then by a bold and
skilful movement turned the right of the Aus-
trians, who had already passed the Ticino, and
compelled them to recross that river. Caught
between the army corps of General MacMahon
and the guard at Magenta, the Austrians lost
7,000 killed or wounded and 8,000 prisoners
(Jime 4th). Two days later the French regi-
ments entered Milan.
The enemy, astounded at so rude a shock,
abandoned his first line of defence, where, how-
ever, he had long been accumulating powerful
means of action and resistance. He retired on
the Adda, after vainly making a momentary
stand at the already famous town of Marignano
and on the Mincio, behind the illustrious plains
of Castighone and between the two fortresses of
Peschiera and Mantua; then he took up his posi-
tion, backed by the great city of Verona as an
impregnable base. The emperor of Austria,
with a new general and considerable reinforce-
ments, had arrived there to await the French
army.
The Austrians had long studied this battle-
field; there were 160,000 of them ranged on the
heights with their centre at the village and
tower of Solferino, and ready to descend on the
French in the plain. Napoleon III had scarcely
140,000 men available, and was obliged to fight
on a line extending over five leagues. Whilst
the right whig was struggling against the enemy
An OFnoEB OF infantbv in the plain in order to prevent itself from
being turned, and King Victor Emmanuel with
his Piedmontese was bravely resisting on the left, the centre delivered a vigor-
ous attack, and after a heroic struggle successively carried Mount Fenile, the
mount of the cypresses, and finally the village of Solferino. The enemy's
line was broken; his reserves, before they could come into action, were reached
by the balls from the new rifled cannon of the French. All fled in frightful
confusion; but a fearful storm, accompanied by hail and torrents of rain,
stopped the victors and permitted the Austrians to recross the Mincio; they
left twenty-five thousand men put out of action. In the evening the emperor
Napoleon took up his headquarters in the very room which Francis Joseph
had occupied in the morning (June 24th) . Twice a conqueror, the emperor
suddenly offered peace to his enemy. Italy was freed, although a portion of
Italian territory, namely Venetia, still remained in the hands of Austria.
n
5. I
o (?
K §
»:)
O
CO
O
<
o
CQ
n
<!
W
LOmS NAPOLEON" 'AS PRESIDENT AND EMPEEOR 137
[I860 A.D.] »
Europe, bewildered by these rapid victories, allowed her awakening jeal-
ousy to appear. The emperor thought he had done enough for Italy by push-
ing Austria, so recently established on the banks of the Ticino, back behind
the Mincio, and at Villafranca he signed with Francis Joseph a peace, the
principal conditions of which were confirmed at the end of the year by
the Treaty of Zurich. By this peace Austria resigned Lombardy, which
France added to Piedmont that she might make for herself a faithful ally
beyond the Alps. The Mincio became the boundary of Austria in the penin-
sula, where the various states were to form a great confederation under the
presidency of the pope. But all those concerned rejected this plan, and the
revolutionary movement continued. The emperor confined himself to pre-
venting Austria from intervening. Then those governments of Parma,
Modena, the Roman legations, Tuscany and Naples, which ever since 1814
had been merely lieutenants of Austria, were seen to fall to pieces successively,
and Italy, minus Venice and Rome, was about to form a single kingdom,
when the emperor thought himself called upon to take a precaution necessary
to the security of France; he claimed the price of the assistance he had given
and by the Treaty of Turin, March 24th, 1860, obtained the cession to himself
of Savoy and the coimty of Nice (Nizza), which added three departments
to France and carried her southern frontier to the summit of the Alps.
For the first time since 1815 France, not by force and surprise but as the
result of a great service rendered to a friendly nation, by pacific agreement,
and according to the solemn vote of the inhabitants, had overstepped the
limits traced round her at the period of her reverses. Europe dared not
protest.
EXPEDITIONS AND WARS IN SYRIA, CHINA, COCHIN CHINA, AND MEXICO
Europe can no longer isolate herself from the other continents; with the
progress of civilisation, commerce, and the general relations of the peoples,
it is the duty of France, the second of the maritime nations, to carry her eyes
or her hand beyond the seas wherever her honour or her interests may be
engaged. It is the first time that, with or without the support of England
and often under her jealous surveillance, she has done so with so much inde-
pendence and firmness.
In 1860 the massacre of the Christian Maronites by the Druses of SjTia
demonstrated anew the Ottoman Empire's powerlessness to protect its sub-
jects, and excited the mterested complaints of Russia. France, which was
the first to move, had the honour of being charged by the great powers to
send and maintain a body of troops in Syria to aid the Turkish government in
punishing the guilty parties. The following year a diplomatic conference,
assembled at Constantinople, regulated the government of Lebanon in such
a manner as to avoid the return of these deplorable catastrophes. This
apparition of the French flag in the East was not without utility in the pursuit
of a great enterprise begun by M. de Lesseps imder the auspices of the French
government, namely the establishment at the isthmus of Suez of a canal
which was to join the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, and put Europe in
direct communication with the Far East.
The same year, at the other extremity of Asia, France and England had
been obliged to direct an expedition against China, who had violated the
conditions of a treaty previously made with her. In less than six months
the allied fleets had transported fifteen thousand men and the whole of an
immense equipment a distance of six thousand leagues from the French
138 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1860-1863 A.D.]
coast, to the shores of the Peiho. The emperor of China sent seventy thou-
sand men to meet those whom he called barbarians. This army and the
forts accumulated on the road to Pekin did not stand before the small Euro-
pean force commanded by General Cousin-Montauban. The mouths of the
river were forced, and the forts which defended thein carried by an energetic
and brilliant attack, after which the allies marched resolutely on Pekin. The
Chinese court tried to deceive them by feigned negotiations, to which some
of the envoys fell victims, and to surprise the troops which won the battle of
Palikao. The city of Pekin, being laid open to attack, was bombarded;
the summer palace had already been taken and given up to pillage. Prince
Kong, the emperor's brother, made up his mind to treat seriously (October
25th, 1860). The allied armies entered Pekin to receive the ratifications of
the treaty, in virtue of which the Chinese government pledged itself to admit
English and French ambassadors to the capital, paid an indemnity of 120,-
000,000 francs, opened the port of Tientsin, guaranteed advantageous com-
mercial conditions to the conquerors, and restored to France the churches
and cemeteries belonging to the Christians. The Celestial Empire was opened
and, by way of consequence, the empire of Japan also, which, having in 1858
made treaties of commerce with the prhicipal European states, was disposed
by dread of a similar lesson to observe them better.
The French government took advantage of its strength in these regions
to complete the expedition against the empire of Annam in Cochin China, an
expedition begun two years before in concert with the Spaniards. It was
impossible to obtain from this government security for French missionary
and commercial relations. France had resolved to form a settlement at the
mouths of the great river Mekong, and had taken possession of Saigon in
order to make it the capital. But the French lived there in continual dis-
quiet. Vice-Admiral Charner, who had returned from China with his troops,
defeated the Annamites in the plains of Ki-Hoa and seized Mytho. Admiral
Bonnard in his turn took Bien-Hoa and imposed on the emperor Tu-Duc a
peace signed in 1863 which stipulated respect for missionaries, an advantageous
treaty of commerce, and the possession of three provinces at the mouths of
the Mekong, in a wonderfully fertile country between India and China, and
within reach of the Philippines and the Moluccas. "The settlement of Sai-
gon," an English traveller had said not long before, "might change the di-
rection of trade and become the nucleus of an empire which perhaps might
one day equal that of India."
Thus France, which it had become too much the custom to regard as an
especially continental power, was carrying her activity to all the shores of
the ocean. She was at the same time called to another end of the world.
France, England, and Spain had long had injuries to avenge and claims to
vindicate against the anarchical government of Mexico. At the beginning of
the year 1862 the three powers came to an understanding to act in common,
as the French had done in China with the English, in Cochin China with the
Spaniards. The expedition was already on the way to be carried into effect
when the cabinets of London and Madrid, in consequence of misunderstand-
ings, renounced the enterprise. France, left alone, persisted in avenging the
common injuries, A check having called in question the honour of the flag,
the mistake was committed of declaring that France would not treat with the
president Juarez; so that the French were condemned either to import a
foreign government into the country or to conquer its immense solitudes.
Instead of the six thousand men who had first started, it was necessary
to send as many as thirty-five thousand soldiers. Puebla made a heroic re-
LOTJIS NAPOLEON AS PEESIDENT AND EMPEEOR 139
[1863-1867 A.D.]
Bistance; but the keys of Mexico were there and the army took them (May
18th, 1863). A few days later (June 10th) it entered Mexico, and the popula-
tion, prompted by France, proclaimed as emperor an Austrian prince, the
archduke Maximilian. After the departure of the French troops in 1867
[owing to the forcible protest of the United States '] the unfortunate prince
was taken and shot by the republicans after the mockery of a trial. This
imprudent and ill-conceived expedition was a grave check to French politics
and finance.'^
»
THE RISE OF PRUSSIA
The Crimean and the Italian wars having been carried out to a triumphant
issue, the French had come to regard themselves as the foremost nation in
Europe. But from the middle of the '60's Napoleon's fortune had begun to
turn. During the American Civil War he had embarked, as we have seen,
on the adventurous undertaking in Mexico, where he attempted to establish
an empire, dependent upon himself, under Maximilian, the unfortunate
brother of Emperor Francis Joseph ; but after wasting immense sums of
money and thousands of human lives, he was compelled to evacuate that
country, and the bloody ghost of Maximilian, who was deserted by Napo-
leon's army and executed by the republicans, stood forth as the accuser of
his guilty ambition.
In France itself the voice of the republicans rose ever higher against
Bonaparte, while the victories of the Prussians over the Austrians [at Sadowa
or Koniggratz, July 3rd, 1866, and elsewhere], as unexpected as they were
overwhelming, weakened his position in Europe. Napoleon had hoped that
Prussia would be defeated, or that a civil war of long duration would be
started in Germany; in either case he had hoped to intervene as a peace-
maker, taking as the reward of his labours certain Rhenish and Belgian
districts, and bemg enabled, in addition, to play the role of protector over
Germany and arbiter of the destinies of Europe. But it was fated otherwise;
Prussia acquired a military reputation almost rivalling that of the first
Napoleon, and Germany stood forth, not weak and disrupted, but more
firmly united and stronger than ever before. And though Napoleon him-
self was far too prudent to venture on a military demonstration against the
successes of Prussia, yet the French nation, and especially the French army,
could not tolerate that another people should excel it in the honours of war,
while statesmen of the type of Thiers upbraided Napoleon for permitting the
union of North Germany. "Revenge for Sadowa!" became the general cry.
The French government made demands for " compensation" to France in the
shape of cessions of German frontier territory, but these were rejected by
Prussia. Under these circumstances the latter country had to be prepared
every moment for an attack.^
FYFFE ON napoleon's NEW POLICY
The reputation of Napoleon III was perhaps at its height at the end of
the first ten years of his reign. His victories over Russia and Austria had
flattered the military pride of France; the flowing tide of commercial pros-
perity bore witness, as it seemed, to the blessings of a government at once
firm and enlightened; the reconstniction of Paris dazzled a generation
[' For fuller accounts of this affair, see iu later volumes tlie histories of the United States
and Mexico.]
140 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1863-1867 A.-D.]
accustomed to the mean and dingy aspect of London and other capitals before
1850, and scarcely conscious of the presence or absence of real beauty and
dignity where it saw spaciousness and brilliance. The political faults of
Napoleon, the shiftiness and incoherence of his designs, his want of grasp on
reality, his absolute personal nullity as an administrator, were known to some
few, but they had not been displayed to the world at large. He had done
some great things, he had conspicuously failed in nothing. Had his reign
ended before 1863, he would probably have left behind him in popular
memory the name of a great ruler.
But from this time his fortune paled. The repulse of his intervention on
behalf of Poland in 1863 by the Russian court, his petulant or miscalculating
inaction during the Danish war of the following year, showed those to be
mistaken who had imagined that the emperor must always exercise a con-
trolling power in Europe. During the events which formed the first stage
in the consolidation of Germany, his policy was a succession of errors. Simul-
taneously with the miscarriage of his European schemes, the enterprise which
he had undertaken beyond the Atlantic, and which seriously weakened his
resources at a time when concentrated strength alone could tell on European
affairs, ended in tragedy and disgrace.
From this time, though the outward splendour of the empire was undi-
minished, there remained scarcely anything of the personal prestige which
Napoleon had once enjoyed in so rich a measure. He was no longer in the
eyes of Europe or of his own coimtry the profound, self-contained statesman
in whose brain lay the secret of coming events; he was rather the gambler
whom fortune was preparing to desert, the usurper trembling for the future
of his dynasty and his crown. Premature old age and a harassing bodily
ailment began to incapacitate him for personal exertion. He sought to loosen
the reins in which his despotism held France, and to make a compromise
with public opinion which was now declaring against him. And although
his own cooler judgment set little store by any addition of frontier-strips of
alien territory to France, and he would probably have been best pleased to
pass the remainder of his reign in undisturbed inaction, he deemed it necessary,
after failure in Mexico had become inevitable, to seek some satisfaction in
Europe for the injured pride of his country. He entered into negotiations
with the king of Holland for the cession of Luxemburg, and had gained his
assent, when rumours of the transaction reached the North German press,
and the project passed from out the control of diplomatists and became an
affair of rival nations.?
FRENCH AND PRUSSIAN DISPUTE OVER LUXEMBURG
Luxemburg was a small province the western portion of which had be-
longed to Belgium since the revolution of 1830, whilst the eastern portion
formed a grand duchy belonging to the king of Holland. Napoleon HI
wished to buy the grand duchy, which had no natural tie with Holland
and was of a certain importance to France on account of the town of
Luxemburg, which had been strongly fortified by Vauban; this fortress
would have protected a part of the French frontier. The grand duchy had
been annexed to the German confederation by the treaties of 1815, and was
gaiTisoned by Prussia in the name of the confederation. Prussia, having
violated the treaties and split up the confederation in her war with Austria,
had no longer any right to occupy Luxemburg. There had seemed no doubt
LOUIS NAPOLEON" AS PRESIDENT AND EMPEEOE 141
fl867A.D.]
before the war as to the handing over to France of this stronghold; the fortress
had already been evacuated by the Prussians. Neither after the war had
Bismarck changed his tone in the matter. After having evaded the signing
of the treaty about Belgium, he had promised to oppose the inclusion of Luxem-
burg in the northern confederation; he had advised the French government
to treat with the king of Holland withoiit including Prussia, and to excite
in the grand duchy manifestations which might be taken as indicating the
people's desire to become French. He also reconmiended them to put the
matter through before the parliament of the new confederation met. It is
possible that on this occasion he may have been sincere.
The goyermnent did not even understand how to profit by this advice
and act quickly. Bismarck's advice was given at the beginning of September;
it was not imtil the early days of February, 1867, that Napoleon's govern-
ment sounded the Dutch government as to a contingent cession of the grand
duchy. They demanded from the king, WiUiam III, a total abandonment
of his sovereign rights, in consideration of a stun of several millions; then a
vote was taken among the populations. The propaganda of the French
agents was very well received in Luxemburg; the inhabitants, albeit the
majority were German-speaking, inclining to France rather than to Germany.
The idea of a double treaty was advanced as a start. The one would guaran-
tee to Holland Limburg, which, like Luxemburg, had been united to the
German confederation, and which Holland dreaded to have claimed by
Germany; a defensive alliance with France would thus be assured to Holland.
The other treaty would cede Luxemburg to tl'e French.
Had there not followed so much delay the French would have been taken
at their word. But there was general hesitation. The royal family was
divided as to the policy of an alliance. Doubts were entertained as to the
emperor's health and the future of his djoiasty. Then, too, great uneasi-
ness was felt at the seemingly equivocal attitude of Prussia, who continually
increased the strength of her armaments. Bismarck at Berlin, and Goltz,
the ambassador at Paris, reiterated their advice for prompt and direct treat-
ing between France and Holland. It is true that Bismarck did not bind him-
self by any direct promise, and his king still less; however, the king of Prussia
had the appearance of also allowing France to make her own arrangements
■with the king of Holland. But the attitude of the press, the army, and the
Prussian diplomats, beyond the Rhine, became more and more spiteful and
provoking towards France at this time.
It was while all this was going on that the stormy sittings of the legislative
body took place, and the publication of the secret treaties between Prussia
and South Germany. This alarmed the king of Holland. He proposed that
the question of the ceding of Luxemburg should be submitted to the powers
that had signed the treaty of 1839, and had definitely settled the dispute
between France and Belgium. Therefore the French government tried to
obtain the direct consent of the king of Prussia to the cession, but did not
succeed. The Prussian government maintained its attitude of reserve; but
the new parliament of northern Germany, that is to say the Prussian majority
"which dominated it, did not show the same reserve. This majority showed
itself most violent and arrogant towards the representatives of Frankfort
and the other annexed countries, for the strongest reasons very hostile to
France. Imperative questions had been framed as to whether Luxemburg
and Linaburg were to remain united to Germany.
The king of Holland, on his side, put the question to the king of Prussia.
To him, as to France, an equivocal answer was given. However, the reply
142 THE HISTOEY OP FEANCE
[1867 A.D.]
was interpreted in the sense that haste must be made to bring the matter to
a conclusion. Finally the king of Holland acceded to the proposals made
by France and signified the same to the emperor by his son, the prince of
Orange, on the 30th of March. The two acts of guarantee and of cession were
on the point of being signed, when the Dutch minister, Van Zuylen, detected
an irregularity and demanded that the signature should be postponed till the
morrow. . , . n ^-j t i
In Paris the decisive despatch was awaited m all confidence, in place
of the representative of the king of Holland, it was Herr von der Goltz,the
Prussian ambassador, who presented himself at the house of the French
foreign minister. He had hurried to Moustier to urge him to break off all
negotiations, because the transaction, as he pretended to have foreseen, was, ,
he said, presenting the worst possible aspect to Germany. As a fact Goltz
had always represented the transaction to Paris as assured, and had not
ceased and to the end did not cease to play a double game. In Pans, he was
the friend of France and on an intimate footing at the Tuileries, attentively
listened to, and, above all, an attentive listener, surprismg the badly kept
secrets of the court; in his correspondence with Berlin, he was the enemy of
France and in connivance with the war party.
Indignant and astonished, Moustier replied that he came too late, that
the French had been decoyed mto a trap, but that they would not draw back.
There is every evidence that the "irregularity" which had delayed the sign-
ing of the double treaty was not an accidental one, and that Prussia had
checked the king of Holland by promising on behalf of Germany to renounce
all claims over Limburg on condition of Luxemburg not being ceded to
France.
During this time Bismarck was addressing recriminations to the French
ambassador, Benedetti, in which, according to his usual practice, he inverted
their respective roles. It is easy to perceive that if the negotiations had been
more rapidly opened and concluded he would have claimed his share of credit
in them. But he was now pressed between the equally warlike Prussian
military party on the one side and the parliament of the northern confedera-
tion on the other, and, knowing that Germany was ready and that France
was not, he asked nothing better than to involve France in a quarrel.
On the 1st of April, Bennigsen, leader of the national liberal party, which
had become the devoted instrument of Bismarck, revived the questions ad-
dressed to this minister on the subject of Luxemburg, and demanded war in
preference to allowing "a prince of a German race (the king of Holland) to
traffic in a country of German origin and s3Tnpathies." These pretended
German sympathies were not at the moment manifesting themselves in Lux-
emburg, except by popular demonstrations in favour of union with France —
demonstrations which the Prussian governor of the fortress lamented bitterly.
Bismarck's reply to Bennigsen was measured as to its form: he would not
for the world have the air of provoking the French government; but, as a
fact, he sheltered himself behind public opinion and the parliament, which
was the mouthpiece of that opinion. The sense of his reply was, indeed, that
Luxemburg ought not to be given either to the northern confederation or to
France, but not, however, that it should be evacuated by Prussia. Without
explicitly saying so, he was awaiting an opportunity to claim for Prussia a
pretended right of garrison which he intended to extract from the convention
of the Great Powers in 1839. He began again to protest his good intentions
to Napoleon III; but at the same time that the minister at the Hague in-
sisted on the signing of the treaty, and that the king of Holland seemed on
LOUIS Is'APOLEON AS PEESIDENT AND EMPEEOE 143
[1867 A.D.]
the point of acquiescing, the Prussian minister at the Hague received orders
to announce to the Dutch government that the Prussian government would
be driven by pubhc opinion to consider the ceding of Luxemburg as a decla-
ration of war.
The Prussian troops were already massing themselves on the Dutch
frontier, with the evident intention of ignoring the Belgian neutrality. Hol-
land thereupon drew back, and did not sign the treaties. It was a humili-
ating check for Napoleon III, crowning the series of diplomatic defeats
which began on the morrow of Sadowa.
The minister for foreign affairs did not sit still under the blow. Moustier
was a judicious and skilful diplomatist who merited association with a differ-
ent government. He made great efforts to palliate this reverse and to help
France to make a dignified exit from the position into which she had been
beguiled. Moustier knew that she was not in a position to have recourse to
arms; though the war minister, Marshal Niel, in public uttered the contrary
opinion, in the cabinet he was the first actively to discountenance the taking
of the offensive.
Since Sadowa Prussia had completely re-organised her forces, and now,
with her northern confederation, could command close upon nine hundred
thousand men; and this irrespective of the engagements towards her under-
taken by the southern states. The French had not half this number at their
disposal. Their forts were in the worst possible state; their magazines
empty. A circular of Bismarck's, derogatory to all the diplomatic propri-
eties, dragged the emperor personally into the matter. He pretended that
the emperor had been forced into war in spite of himself, and represented
Prussia as all for peace and France as only thirsting for war. Napoleon III,
who had not moved when he might and should have moved, had been on the
point of hurling himself into action when it was too late; but Moustier and
Niel succeeded in preventing him from yielding to the calculated provoca-
tions of Berlin. Moustier employed a most ingenious ruse. He maintained
the validity of the king of Holland's pledges, but left the question of the
cession of Luxemburg in suspense, and referred to the powers which had
signed the treaty of 1839 the question of Prussia's pretended right to garrison.
On April 26th Bismarck resigned himself to giving the consent demanded
from him by the Russian ambassador to open negotiations in London, having
the neutrality of Luxemburg as their object. Neutrality, guaranteed by the
European powers, implied evacuation. This made the Prussian press shout
more loudly for war. Not only Alsace and Lorraine, but Holland also, were
now coveted, Bismarck, accused by the war party of moderation, some-
times flung away, sometimes clung to his daily papers. He delayed by sev-
eral days the opening of the negotiations, through his claims and acquire-
ments as to the formalities of the conference and the secm-ities resulting from
it. Russia intervened in this matter between Prussia and England, and the
conference at last took place in London on May 7th. AVhile the negotiations
were in progress Bismarck made fresh efforts to goad France into some im-
prudent action by his aggravating conduct.
The French minister did not however fall into the trap, and the treaty
for the neutralisation of Luxemburg was signed on the 16th of May. Bis-
marck executed a brusque about-face. The Prussian official organs had
orders to alter then- tone. Napoleon, whom the evening before they had
insulted, they now covered with flowers, and they announced the impending
visit of King William to the Universal Exhibition. On the 14th of May, 1867,
Moustier communicated the tieaty to the chambers. The neutrahsed grand
144 THE HISTOEY OP FEAFCE
[1869-1870 A.D.J
duchy of Luxemburg remained under the sovereignty of Holland. The
Prussian government pledged itself to evacuate the fortress, and the king-
grand duke was to see that it was dismantled. The Prussians did effect a
military but not a commercial evacuation of Luxemburg. The ties between
the grand duchy and the German Zollverein were not severed.^
NEW FRICTION WITH PRUSSIA
By the superiority of its army Prussia had attained the preponderance in
Europe and was preparing the complete unity of Germany. The other great
powers were not resigned to these two revolutions, which were a menace to
the old European balance of power. But Austria was discouraged, England
powerless, the czar pacific. France alone believed herself strong enough to
stop Prussia and re-establish her own preponderance. Opinion had become
blimtly hostUe to German imity. In Prussia the national pride, exalted by
success, manifested itself in threats against the "hereditary enemy." But
on both sides these belligerent sentiments were counterbalanced by the fear
of a war which all could foresee would be terrible.
Secret negotiations were carried on, the extent of which has been vari-
ously estimated, but which did not accomplish any practical result. The
occasion was the affair of the Belgian railways which had been purchased
by the French eastern company. The Belgian government interdicted the
sale (February, 1869) ; the French government attributed this check to Bis-
marck. Napoleon, in irritation, proposed to Austria and Italy a triple
alliance to stop the encroachments of Prussia and restore to Austria her
position in Germany (March). The negotiation was conducted between the
ambassadors. Austria accepted a defensive alliance, but reserved the right
to remain neutral if France should be obliged to begin war (April). The
Italians demanded the withdrawal of the French troops from Rome; they
were satisfied with Napoleon's promise to withdraw them as soon as possible,
but when it came to the ratification of the project, the Italian ministry
demanded evacuation and a declaration that France recognised the principle
of non-intervention. Negotiations were suspended, the three sovereigns
merely promising to conclude no alliance without previous notice. Then
Napoleon accepted a parliamentary ministry whose head, Ollivier, had de-
clared in favour of peace and conciliation with Germany. This ministry
took up again (January, 1870) the project of giving security to Europe by
bringing about the disarmament of both France and Prussia; England
agreed to transmit the proposal. France offered to diminish her military
contingent by ten thousand men. Bismarck refused on the ground that the
reorganisation of Prussia made any disarmament impossible.''
THE MINISTRY OF OLLIVIER
When Emile Ollivier rose to power, he brought with him men who had
long been considered members of the opposition; the best known of these
was Buffet. The party which had formed the imperial government was set
aside. Everything seemed changed. The so-called liberal royalists, the
Orleanists, rose in a body. All the staff of 1830 reappeared in the official
salons. An attempt was going to be made to carry on the government of
the 2nd of December by the methods of Louis Philippe.
Suddenly a sinister piece of news was announced. Pierre Bonaparte, a
cousin of the emperor, living at Auteuil, had challenged Henri Rochefort
LOUIS NAPOLEON" AS PEESIDENT AND EMPEROE 145
[1870 A.D.]
to fight a duel. _ The journaUst-deputy had sent him his seconds, Ulrich de
Fonvielle and Victor Noir; the latter, who was quite young, was a rising and
very popular journalist. The two seconds went to the prince's house at
Auteuil. Suddenly shots were heard, Ulrich de Fonvielle rushed out of the
house, and the corpse of Victor Noir bathed in blood was seen lying before
the door. Pierre Bonaparte had fired on the seconds sent by Rochefort.
The pubhc indignation was extreme. The funeral took place on the twelfth.
Beneath a sullen grey sky a sombre crowd of two hundred thousand persons
passed along the streets of Neuilly, following the corpse to the cemetery,
and returned to Paris in a long procession through the Champs Elysees, sing-
ing the Marseillaise and led by Rochefort. The government had called out
the troops, and a trifle would have sufficed to turn that day into one of revo-
lution or of a terrible massacre. When
the crowd reached the place de la Con-
corde, where the police were drawn up,
it dispersed on the advice of those who
had most influence over it.
Soon afterwards, Pierre Bonaparte,
who was tried by a special court (the high
court of Tours), was acquitted. The death
of Victor Noir and the acquittal of Prince
Pierre formed an inauspicious opening for
the liberal empire. However, the decree
was being prepared which was to make
known what reforms had been made in
the constitution in the interests of lib-
erty. These reforms went no further
than giving the senate and the legisla-
tive body the right of taking the in-
itiative in matters of legislation; fixing
the categories whence the emperor might
draw the new senators; regulating the
order of succession to the throne; and de-
ciding that any change in the constitution
should be made by a plebiscite. To begin with, the decree itself was to be
submitted to the vote of a plebiscite on universal suffrage.
The nature of these reforms alienated from the liberal empire some of those
who were inclined to support it, and led to the resignation of two ministers,
of whom one was Buffet. Nothing seemed to them more opposed to liberty
than the imperial plebiscites; that is, the popular vote on a question proposed
by the emperor. The people could only say yes or no, and no meant a revo-
lution. It was equivalent to putting the government into the hands of one
man. So nothing was really changed and the government was stiU a personal
government. After heated debates, in the course of which Gambetta de-
livered what was perhaps his most eloquent speech, the plebiscite was pro-
ceeded with. The empire, so to speak, put itself to the vote. There were
7,500,000 affirmative against 1,500,000 negative votes. The public considered
that the empire was firmly established, and it was destined to fall in two
months and four days! The government had perhaps a clearer insight. To
ask of the peace-loving people who compose the mass of the country, "Yes
or No, do you wish to overthrow me?" is a sure way of gaining the votes of
many people, whose support in time of peril would be more than doubtful.
Only detf^rmined and invincible enemies will vote against you. In fact, a
B. Wi— VOL. XUI, Ii
Smile Ollivier
146 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1870 A.D.]
million and a half contrary votes out of a total of 9,000,000 was a large per-
centage. It is said that the emperor was very anxious about the votes of
the army, which had included a great many noes.
CAUSE OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR
The plebiscite had the most unexpected results — the imperial govern-
ment determined to seek in victory the power it had lost. The idea was to
render the dynasty strong enough to ensure to the son the inheritance of his
father's empire. "This is my war," said the empress. So the conflict be-
tween France and Prussia, which had been threatening Europe for four years,
broke out. The immediate cause was as follows: There had been a revolu-
tion in Spain, and Queen Isabella had been expelled. General Prim, how-
ever, had no intention of establishing a republic, and soon it became known
that the crown had been offered to a HohenzoUern, a prince of the Prussian
royal family. This would be a most unacceptable addition to the power of
Prussia. France protested.' Prussia gave way and the prmce renounced
tlie crown, or rather his father renounced i+ for him.
The whole affair seemed ended when suddenly a rumour was spread that
the king of Prussia had grossly insulted the French ambassador, Benedetti.
The king had refused to receive him. This was stated on the authority of
a German paper.e Benedetti had been sent to wring from the Prussian king,
at Ems, not only a promise that the prince should not take the Spanish crown,
but also a positive order forbidding him to do so. This was too humiliating
to endure, and the king refused. Benedetti was then sent to demand a per-
sonal letter of good will to France. William, angered, refused to receive him
at aU. An oral tradition states that the king's language was such, according
to Seignobos,*' that no one would even dare to publish it.«
The French ministers, fimile OUivier and Gramont, declared in the chamber
that war was necessary. Thiers and the republicans strongly protested. In
the midst of the tumult they repeated that France shotild have satisfaction,
and demanded the telegram ^ in which her ambassador stated that he had been
insulted. The majority overwhelmed them with abuse, especially Thiers, who
persisted energetically in his protests. They called him "^migr6!" and
"traitor!" amid scenes of incredible violence and disorder. Commissioners
were appointed who alone were to ask and hear the necessary explana-
tions. They returned, asserting that they had seen evidence that war was
inevitable and declaring that the army was in a good state. It was proved
later that they had seen nothing at all. Marshal Leboeuf, when asked, "Is
the army ready?" replied: "There is not so much as the button of a gaiter
wanting." The war was voted.
Bismarck had led France to the point he wished. Thoroughly acquainted
with the wretched state of her army, and knowing what passions and what
interests at the Tuileries would be sure to urge on a war, he had been suf-
ficiently artful to persuade the king of Prussia to yield to her on one point
after another, so as to incite her government to declare war, after having,
in the eyes of Europe, deprived her of all reasonable pretexts for such a course.^
' It was said that France could not tolerate the revival of the empire of Charles V. The
Germans protested that the sovereignty was a private family affair of the Hohenzollerns.
P It is now deiinitely known that Bismarck himself had this telegram sent, and suppressed
certam modifying words purely for the purpose of goading France to make the first declaration
of war.]
CHAPTER VI
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR
[1870-1871 A.D.]
The catastrophe of 1870 seemed to those who witnessed it to tell
of more than the vileness of an administration ; in England, not less
than in Germany, voices of influence spoke of the doom that had
overtaken the depravity of a sunken nation ; of the triumph of simple
manliness, of God-fearing virtue itself, in the victories of the German
army. There may have been truth in this ; yet it would require a
nice moral discernment to appraise the exact degeneracy of the French
of 1870 from the French of 1854 who humbled Russia, or from the
French of 1859 who triumphed at Solferino ; and it would need a very
comprehensive acquaintance with the lower forms of human pleasure
to judge in what degree the sinfulness of Paris exceeds the sinfulness
of Berlin. Had the Frencn been as strict a race as the Spartans who
fell at Thermopylae, as devout as the Tyrolese who perished at
Sadowa, it is quite certain that, with the numbers which took the
field against Germany in 1870, with Napoleon III at the head of affairs
and the actual generals of 1870 in command, the armies of France
could not have escaped destruction.
The main cause of the disparity of France and Germany in 1870
was in truth that Prussia had had from 1863 to 1866 a government so
strong as to be able to force upon its subjects its own gigantic scheme
of military organisation in defiance of the votes of parliament and of
the national will. — Fyffe.*
It might be asked if any nation has the right to say to another nation:
"You shall not place such and such a person at your head because it is con-
trary to my interests." Doubtless not, if the principles of international right
are strictly observed. But in practice this veto has been frequently exercised
imder the old regime and since the Revolution. It was used in 1815 against
Napoleon and all the members of his family; in 1830 against the duke de Ne-
mours, elected king of the Belgians by the congress. The imperial govern-
ment was in fact justified in opposing an election that it considered dangerous
to itself. But was this danger worth avoiding at the risk of war with Ger-
147
148 THE HISTORY OF PRAKCE
[1870 A.D.]
many? A serious question this, that could only be answered by casting a
glance at the respective positions of the different European states.
The time had gone by when France was cited as the most considerable of
the European powers, when the vast German Confederation represented
only inert strength and when neither Italy nor Germany existed. The past
sixteen years had seen many changes. United Italy and Umted Germany
now formed two states of the first rank to the east and southeast of France,
and Austria was no longer a counterbalance to the aggrandisement of Prussia.
These changes were enough to engage the serious attention of the imperial
government. France— with England in the north, Prussia in the east, and
Italy in the southeast, three not very reliable friends— had had till now noth-
ing to fear on her southwestern frontier; for it was not probable that in case
of war Spain would go against her. Would matters be the same after the
realisation of Prim's plan? With a HohenzoUem on the Spanish throne
would not France be obliged in case of war to keep a standing army of one
hundred thousand men at the foot of the Pyrenees? This contingency
threatened the interests of France too much for her government to neglect
making great efforts to obtain the abandonment of the candidature of Prince
Leopold of HohenzoUem. Doubtless Napoleon III could have attained his
end had he simply submitted the question to the great powers in diplomatic
form, but it was evident from the beginning of this question that the emperor
had two ends in view : that of suppressing the candidature, and that of ob-
taining a moral advantage over his adversary — in fact, of humiliating him.
THE PREPAREDNESS OF FRANCE
Was France as ready as the minister of war had said? The Situation de
I'Empire, distributed among the deputies the 1st of November, 1869, is the
best answer to this question.
This document gives the effective of the army on the 1st of October as
follows: Home troops, 350,000 men; Algiers, 64,000 men; Papal States, 5,000
men; total, 434,000 men, from which must be deducted men absent for leave
for various causes, about one hundred thousand of whom would reduce the
available number to 325,000. The effective of the reserve was 212,000 in all,
for the standing army, and the reserve 617,000 men. The mobile national
guard, whose duty it was to defend the fortresses and the interior, included
five classes, of which the effective amounted to 560,000 men. These added
to the regulars and the reserves gave, on paper, a grand total of 1,200,000
fighting men, but on the lists were a large number of non-capables. The
mobile national guards did not know how to use a gun, and the organisation
of the staffs was in a very primitive stage. At the beginning of the campaign,
the emperor could only rely on the standing army and the reserve, forming
an effective of 547,000 men, according to the Situation de I'Empire; but ac-
cording to the war office, 642,000, from which must be deducted the 75,000
young soldiers of the 1869 contingent who were not incorporated until the
1st of August.
The number of men at the immediate disposition of the government was
567,000: 393,500 with the flags; 61,000 ex-soldiers in the reserve having on
an average four months' drill in the barracks, but who, for the greater part,
had not had sufficient time to familiarise themselves with the handling of
the chassepot} The total of 393,500 men with the flag furnished by the war
[' The chassepot was a breechloading rifle which had been recently introduced."]
THE FEANCO-PEUSSIAN WAK 149
[1870 A.D.]
office had been formally contested by Le Constitutionnel on the morning of
the plebiscite. It was in vain that the government organ, Le Peuple Frangais,
invoked against the assertions of its fellow journal "our admirable rules of
accounts which do not admit of fictitious expenses figuring on the budget."
Very little trust was placed in these imaginary rules when it was seen that
immense sums, such as those expended for experiments in the workshops of
Meudon, and for the construction of official resiaences for marshals at the
centres of the great military commands, had been spent without leaving
any trace in the budget. The government cut short the polemic between
Le Constitutionnel and Le Peuple Frangais on this delicate question. But
it was none the less proved, even in admitting the exactitude of the min-
isterial statement as to the number of men with the flag, that the total number
of forces that France could bring into the field in the first months of the war
would not exceed 567,000, from which it was necessary to deduct 36,000
absent from the ranks, including those undergoing punishment, those in the
remount department, with the ambulance corps, 13,000 of the armed poHce,
28,000 in military depots, 78,000 in garrison in the fortresses, 50,000 in Algiers
— that is, 231,000 for the interior and Algiers. There remained 336,000 men
to oppose the 500,000 whom Prussia could bring into the field at the beginning
of hostilities. Nevertheless, Marshal Leboeuf continually repeated that the
army was quite ready. This inexplicable and fatal assurance caused despair
to those who knew the truth and who vainly did all they could to make it
known.<;
The eminent field-marshal Von Moltke d estimates the French army as not
more than about three hundred thousand men, who intended to make surprise
attacks on various portions of Prussia, but who were prevented by impos-
sibUities of transportation, and compelled to fight on their own soil and in
great disorganisation and unfitness for the field. He sets the German force
at a total of 484,000, of which 100,000 were not for the first three weeks
available owing to the lack of transportation facilities. Von Moltke describes
his guiding principles as a determination to keep his forces compact and
numerically superior wherever engaged, and to strike for the heart of France
— Paris.
Fuller details of the Prussian side of the war will be found in a later vol-
ume on German history. The swift movement of the unprepared French
troops was not permitted to upset Von Moltke's plans, nor the first minor
French success to cause any discouragement in the great victory planned so
long and with a scientific completeness that has since remained as the model
for modern warfare."
OPENING OF THE WAR (JULY, 1870)
On the 20th of July, OUivier read before the legislature the declaration
of war. The enthusiasm had already begun to abate. The majority re-
mained silent. In the evening a large crowd of men descended to the place
de la Bastille, crying: " Vive la paix!" A struggle occurred on the boulevard
Borme-Nouvelle between this party and the crowd who were crying "A
Berlin!" The police intervened and made several arrests.
The emperor conferred the regency on the empress as in 1859 at the com-
mencement of the war with Italy. But under what different circumstances!
In 1859 Napoleon III had left the Tuileries in an open carriage in the midst
of an enthusiastic, ardent crowd who greeted him with acclamations for the
first and last time since the re-establishment of the empire. In 1870, on
July 28th, he left St. Cloud, going round Paris without entering it, and taking
150 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1870 A.D.]
the route to Metz. He dared not at this solemn moment face the people,
who, he pretended, had forced him into the war. He was even then out of
the fight, in spirit as well as in body, and seemed to have a presentiment that
he would never return.«
Engagements between outposts and scouting parties had already begun
on July 19th. They were particularly severe at Saarbriicken on August 2nd,
where 1,000 men (1 battalion of fusiliers and 3 squadrons of ulans) were
stationed under Lieutenant-Colonel von Pestel. In order to reconnoitre the
strength of the enemy and to be able to send a telegram of victory to the
impatient Parisians, Napoleon commanded the advance of General Frossard's
corps and began on the 2nd of August the so-called battle of Saarbriicken
with 30,000 men against 1,000. The latter were commanded on that day by
General Coimt Gneisenau. Napoleon himself and his son were present during
this engagement. Napoleon desiring to judge for himself the superiority of
the chassepots and the effectiveness of the mitrailleuses. The French, being
massed on the heights of Spicheren which surround the left side of the valley
of the Saar, opened fire with 23 guns on the imfortified town and the troops
began to advance. General Gneisenau withdrew in order, after three hours'
resistance, to the right bank of the Saar, and went into bivouac several miles
northwest of Saarbriicken, having placed a small force at the town of Sankt
Johann, and at the railway station. Towards evening General Frossard
entered Saarbriicken,^ but soon returned to the heights, not daring to
venture pursuit. The Prussians lost in this battle, in which mainly the
artillery took part, 4 officers and 79 men; the French, 6 officers and 80 men.
A telegram annoimcing victory was immediately sent off to Paris, telling of
the "baptism of fire" of the prince imperial and his wonderful calmness and
presence of mind. Paris was insane with joy, the press adding to the general
exultation by fantastic perorations, describing the army of the Rhine as
already before Mainz, and greeting this "glorious military achievement as a
sign of the beginning of a new period in history."
The dream was soon at an end; on the 4th of August the crown prince of
Prussia crossed the French borders and attacked Weissenburg on the little
river Lauter. Here stood the advance-guard of MacMahon, General Abel
Douay's division defending the town and the well-fortified Gaisberg with 11
battalions and 4 batteries. The town was carried by combined Prussian and
Bavarian batteries, and the Gaisberg by 16 batteries composed of Prussians
alone. General Douay was killed. The loss on the French side was about
1,200 dead and wounded, and 1,000 not wounded taken prisoners, among
whom were 30 officers. What was left of the French contingent retreated
to Worth. The Germans lost 91 officers and 1,460 men. The regiment of
royal grenadiers alone lost 23 officers and 329 men. The greatest prize
captured was one French cannon.^
THE BATTLES OF WORTH AND SPICHEREN
On the 5th of August MacMahon occupied Worth and began to fortify
the heights to the west of Saarbriicken as well as the villages of Froschweiler
'The town was left in ruins; the Germans remembered this later on to justify their
incendiarism. — Dblord." -
• *J ^1"^^ j'"™ 1^1 ™^''*^ ^^^"^ °* ^^^^ "'^^l German victory, the Lauter line was thenceforward
m their hands and the door of Alsace wide open. The death of the intrepid Abel Douay also
produced a most profound impression over the wLole country.— Bohdois/
THE FRANCO-PEUSSIAN WAR 151
[1870 A.D.]
and Elsasshausen. Here he intended to repulse the advance of the crown
prince, which he expected about the 7th of August. In order to be able to
do this he tried to add to his force that of General Felix Douay stationed at
BeKort and Mulhausen, and that of General Failly stationed at Bitsch. But
only one division of the former arrived in time; and of the other, the division
sent to his aid arrived on the battle-field on the evening of August 6th, after
MacMahon had-been defeated, and it could only be used in partially covering
his retreat. This left MacMahon with only 45,000 men to oppose to the
entire army of the crown prince.^
It had been the intention of the crown prince not to force the decisive
battle before _ the 7th of August, because he could not make a concerted
attack with his combined five corps before that time. But when on the fore-
noon of the 6th of August the advance-guard of the fifth corps became en-
tangled in a most violent engagement with the enemy, while a Bavarian
corps on the right and the 11th corps rushed to the rescue, there seemed no
alternative but to continue the battle and throw as many troops as possible
into the menaced positions. In this manner the decisive battle of Worth
resulted from a skirmish of scouts of the advance-guard, in which gradually
every other corps or division except the Baden division took part. The
battle raged most fiercely round the well-fortified village of Froschweiler
after Worth and Elsasshausen had been taken. After this also had fallen
and the attack of the French cuirassiers had been repulsed, MacMahon's
army, panic-stricken, fled — part to the passes of the Vosges, part towards
Strasburg and Bitsch. The fugitives were closely pursued on this and the
following day. Many were the trophies of the day: 200 officers and 9,000
men taken prisoners, 1 eagle, 4 Turco banners, 28 cannon, 5 mitrailleuses,
23 wagons of guns and other arms, 125 other wagons, 1,193 horses, and the
military chest containing 222,000 francs in gold. About 6,000 men were
killed on the French side. The Germans lost 489 oflSicers and 10,153 men.
Among the severely wounded was Lieutenant-General von Bose, commander
of the 11th corps; while Lieutenant-General von Kirchbach, commander of
the 5th corps, had a less serious woimd. On the battle-field where the vic-
torious army bivouacked arose during the night the melody of the hymn,
"Nun danket Alle Gott," sung by thousands of voices and played on hundreds
of instruments.
The fugitive Marshal MacMahon arrived with part of his army in Zabern
on the morning of August 7th and marched thence to Chalons, whither also
the corps of Generals Douay and FaiUy were drawn. A new army was to be
formed here. Northern Alsace lay defenceless before the victorious army of
the crown prince. The Baden division was ordered to proceed to Strasburg.
The cavalry of that division had already taken Hagenau on the 7th of August;
on the 8th and 9th of August the whole division was massed before the citadel
of Strasburg and the commander. General Uhrich of Pfalzburg, asked to
surrender. Upon his refusal a special beleaguering corps were formed, com-
prising the Baden division, one Prussian reserve division, and the Garde-
Landwehr division. They were placed imder the command of General Werder
and closely surrounded the city from the 14th of August. On the 8th of
August the crown prince withdrew with the remainder of the third army, and
marched through the undefended passes of the Vosges. He also had the
small neighbouring fortifications of Lichtenberg and Liitzelstein taken by the
Wiirtemberg troops, and that of Marsal by the Bavarians; Bitsch and Pfalz-
' According to Canonge » lie liad less than 38,000 against the crown prince's 115,000.
152 THE HISTOEY OP FRAlirCE
[1870 A.D.J
burg were blockaded. He entered Nancy on August 16th, where he remained
several days awaiting definite news of events on the Saar and Moselle.
A second victory was achieved on August 6th, at Spicheren. This battle
was also not the result of strategic manoeuvres, but of a misunderstandmg.
According to Moltke's plan, Frossard's corps, stationed on the heights of
Spicheren, was to be forced to retreat by a simultaneous attack in the rear
by the 1st and 2nd armies at Forbach and Saargemiind. Should it resist,,
it was to be crushed by the overwhelming forces. When, in the forenoon
of August 6th, generals Kameke and Rheinbaben of the 1st and 2nd armies
arrived with their troops, relying on the reports
of the scouting troops that Frossard's corps
was retreating, they, wishing to harm the de-
feated army as much as possible, made an
attack, drove the enemy back to the steep,
wooded heights of Spicheren, and saw only
then that they had the whole of the hostile
corps before them. As they did not hold it com-
patible with honour to surrender the territory
once taken and to retreat to the other bank of
the Saar, Kameke's division had to contend for
three hours against three divisions of the
French, which had a strong artiUery and were
favoured by a remarkably good position. Not
until three o'clock did reinforcements of the
two armies gradually arrive on the battle-field,
after which twenty-seven thousand Germans
fought against forty thousand French. Finally
several battalions were successful in climbing
the heights and even bringing twelve cannon
with them. The determination and endurance
of the soldiers was wonderful. The Branden-
burg regiment of grenadiers alone lost thirty-
five oflicers and 771 men. The battle seemed
to centre at the summit of the heights. Sud-
denly Gliimer's division advanced on the left
wing and completely routed it, menacing the
line of retreat of the enemy which now took
place, culminating in panic in some instances.
The corps withdrew by way of Forbach and
Sankt Avoid or by Saargemiind towards Metz.
Bazaine's corps, which was stationed only
seven or eight miles from the scene of action, did the same, without coming
to Frossard's assistance. In consequence of their imfavourable position the
victors had greater losses than the vanquished. The Germans lost 223 oflicers
and 4,648 men, while the French according to their own account lost 249
officers and 3,829 men, of whom about two thousand were captured.
The victors advanced on the 7th of August, seizing great quantities of
provisions in Forbach, besieged Sankt Avoid, makmg incursions almost as
far as Metz. The army of Prince Charles also marched, traversing the Rhine
Palatinate partly by way of Saarbriicken, partly via Saargemiind, in the di-
rection of Metz. Receiving the news of this victory, the king of Prussia left
Mainz on August 7th, arriving in Saarbriicken on the 9th, and in Sankt Avoid
on the 11th, and issued a proclamation to the French nation in which he
Officer of Hussaes (French)
THE FEAFCO-PEUSSIAN WAR 153
[1870 A.D.]
declared that he was carrying on war with the army of France, not with her
citizens, whose persons and belongings should be secure as long as they them-
selves refrained from practising hostilities against the German troops^
BAZAINE AT METZ
The general opinion in the circle of Marshal Bazaine and the emperor was
that the idea of giving battle in Lorraine must be abandoned, the Moselle
repassed as quickly as possible, MacMahon's army rallied, and Metz, reduced
to its own forces, must stop a part of the German troops, whUe a mass of
250,000 men must oppose the invasion either at Verdun, Chilons, or even
nearer- to Paris. Would this plan,
certainly a most prudent one, have
saved France? Well-known German
authorities are agreed in thinking it
would have been very dangerous for
Germany; that Moltke was much
occupied in preventing it; that Mar-
shal MacMahon and the general
officers who commanded in Paris
thought the plan good, and that in
any case the danger of allowing the
only French organised army to stay
near Metz was obvious.
In the campaign we are entering
on, the chief problem for the French
was to recross the Moselle imme-
diately and rapidly overtake the
Prussians on the Verdim and Chalons
route; for the Germans, to hinder
the enemy's march, to cross the Mo-
selle to the south of Metz, and to
occupy the approach by which Mar-
shal Bazaine must unite his troops
with those of Marshal MacMahon.
Time was lost between the 11th
and 13th discussing the possibilities
of a battle or retreat. On the latter
date Bazaine took definite command and decided to retreat. But, whether
owing to physical fatigue, incapacity, or criminal indifference, he did not
devote all his energies to hastening the passage of the Moselle and the occu-
pation of the Verdun route. The curious incertitude of his projects, his
mysterious attitude, give support to the belief that he had determined from
the beginning to allow himself to be blockaded near Metz. But with what
object? Had he even an object? ^
It is difficult to imderstand the extreme prudence of the armies of Stein-
metz and Frederick Charles (nephew of the king of Prussia) after the battle
of Spicheren. It must be supposed that this easy victory surprised the Ger-
mans, and that at the beginning of the campaign the system of spies was
[' Tlie French view of his conduct is that he meant to keep this army intact in order that
afterwards, in conjunction with the Germans as his accomplices, he might secure, with a fresh
military coup d'Stat, the imperial rule over Prance. Whatever he may have meant, the Ger-
mans had no intention of intrusting the fortress of France to him. — Kitchik.']
Marshal Bazaiite
154 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1870 A.D.]
less well organised than at the end. It was only on the 13th of August that
the grand army, with the king and Von Moltke, arrived at Hemy, on the
route from Falkenberg to Metz, and Prince Frederick Charles had scarcely
left Saargemiind. The advance-guard of the first army bore, on the morning
of the 14th, towards Pange, and saw that the French army, in part at least,
was stiU on the right bank of the Moselle. Then Von Moltke stopped the
manoeuvres, which might have destroyed or at least annulled "the French
army of the Rhine," as Bazaine's army was henceforth called.
On the 14th the passage of the French army began at last; generals Goltz
and Manteuffel attacked Castagny's division of the 3rd corps, which was still
at Colombey. But to all appearances the combat was favoiu-able to the
French, who attributed to themselves a victory which they called the battle
of Borny or Pange. The Germans, however, equally considered the victory
theirs, an assumption founded on the fact that the French army had been
delayed crossing the river. The battle on the 14th had allowed Frederick
Charles to hasten his march, and in the evening his advance-guard reached
Pont-§,-Mousson — that is, the point where the second German army crossed
the Moselle, a crossing made practicable by the incredible carelessness of the
commander-in-chief, who had left the bridges standing. The Prussians had
lost nearly 5,000 men; the French 3,600.
However, the French could now continue their march without interrup-
tion; it was not concluded till the morning of the 15th on the trunk road of
the two Verdun routes. The staff did not know that two other roads forked
off between Conflans and RezonviUe. So the highroad from Metz to Grave-
lotte, between two rows of houses, was the scene of inextricable confusion;
innumerable wagons encumbered the route and the emperor's household
constantly interrupted the march. The uncertainty in commands had a
very clear influence in these disastrous delays.
BATTLE OF MAES-LA-^OUR
Marshal Bazaine did not seem very anxious to leave Metz. All his move-
ments were directed, greatly to the astonishment of those around him, so as
to keep open commimications with that city, and he did not seem to consider
it possible that the Prussians would intercept his route to Verdun. The
retreat was not really begun again imtil the morning of the 16th of August.
Marshal Bazaine had been warned of hostile parties towards Gorze, but
he did not verify this, finding himself confirmed in his suspicion that the
Prussians wanted to slip in between the French army and Metz. He
therefore kept the imperial guard at Gravelotte, with General Bourbaki, so
as to fortify his left, which still lay at Metz at Fort St. Quentin. The halt
having been called, the generals De Forton and Murat of the advance-guard
at Mars-la-Tour had prepared for breakfast, when suddenly shells fell in the
midst of their men. The disorder caused by this surprise had a deplorable
result; it allowed the Prussians, in spite of inferior numbers, to occupy both
sides of the Verdun route. Then the Prussian corps, directed by Frederick
Charles, turned back on Vionville, where Canrobert, by his energetic resist-
ance, supported by Frossard, stayed the onslaught which gave to the Prussians
possession of Mars-la-Tour and Tronville. But Marshal Canrobert, left to
his own resources, was obliged to give up Vionville to the enemy. Neverthe-
less he remained imshaken at RezonviUe.
The centre of the French army now found itself in a very favourable
position, aad towards three o'clock General Ladmirault succeeded in sweeping
THE FEANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 166
[1870 A.D.]
the Verdun route between Rezonville and Vionville. But at this moment
several of Steinmetz's fresh divisions bore down on Gravelotte — that is, on
Bazaine's left. The attack was so sudden and unforeseen that Marshal
Bazaine ran personal risks and was only saved by a charge of his staff. Fear-
ing to have to support the assault of an entire army on this side, he entirely
stopped the offensive movement on his right.
At half past four, two fresh corps, commanded by Frederick Charles in
person, came out from Gorze in front of Rezonville, forming an assaulting
line of eighty thousand men. The capture of Rezonville would have ended
the battle and would have led to the dispersion of Bazaine's army — perhaps
its capitulation; but, after three hours of repeated attacks, the Prussians
renounced the idea of overthrowing Canrobert and Ladmirault, and at nine
o'clock in the evening Prince Frederick Charles ordered the firing to cease.
The magnificent moonlight which succeeded this terrible twelve hours'
battle shone on twenty thousand dead in a line of ten kilometres. The
Prussians lost about ten thousand men; the French nearly as many. At
Mars-la-Tour and at Tronville, the Germans held the road from Verdun
to Fresnes-en-Woevre; but, in spite of the mistakes of the head of the French
army, they had not been able to concentrate a sufficient force to render their
advantage decisive.
BATTLE OF ST. PEIVAT
But to carry out the necessary operations, which had become so difficult.
General Bazaine required abnegation, audacity, and energy to inspire his
soldiers, who were fatigued by a terrible battle but ready for any sacrifice
when supported by the moral superiority of their chief.
The whole army was prepared to make a new move forward early on the
17th. The fatigues of the day sufficiently explain the inactivity of the night,
although the Prussians were taking advantage of the respite to accumulate
forces beyond Mars-la-Tour. It was, then, a cruel disappointment for the
soldiers to be ordered to go back to Metz.
These positions, defended by 120,000 men of tried valour, by forts, and
500 cannon, were excellent with regard to Metz, but of little value if it was
intended to take the first opportunity of leaving the town in order to escape
the blockade — which was the enemy's evident intention. The 17th was
occupied entirely in taking up their position, and the Prussians profited by it.
The two German armies had thrown eight corps to the north of Mars-la-Tour,
180,000 infantry, 25,000 horses, and 700 cannon. Instead of rushing in
pursuit of the French after the battle of the 16th, they had continued syste-
matically and without disorder their flanking movement.
The inaction of Marshal Bazaine allowed them to continue their march
imtil mid-day on the 18th, and when they attacked the French positions
from Gravelotte to Roncourt, the army of the Rhine no longer had simply to
keep open its last issuing point, but to reopen it in the midst of an innumerable
mass of men. Marshal Bazaine did not believe in a serious attack. All that
day he remained at headquarters without rejoining in the battle. He would
not admit that the Prussians could so rapidly throw on his extreme right
sufficient forces to obstruct the Montm^dy road on the north.
But Marshal Moltke joined the king at Ste. Marie-aux-Ch6nes and con-
centrated all his energy on the position of St. Privat-la-Montagne, defended
by Marshal Canrobert. There for two hours, from five to seven in' the evening,
the marshal repulsed most furious attacks from the Germans; thrusting them
headlong from the heights and decimating, under William's very eyes, one of
156 THE HISTOEY OP FEANCE
[1870 A.i>.]
the regiments of the Prussian guard — that of the queen — conunanding on
foot in the foremost ranks, and forcing Moltke himself to take command of
the Pomeranian fusiliers to prevent a panic caused by the rout of a part of
his cavalry. But, at seven o'clock, Marshal Moltke, anxious for the conse-
quences which the prolonged resistance of Canrobert might bring about,
united 90,000 men at St. Privat, and by a long and winding march led the
12th corps (Saxons) to Roncourt, northeast of the position occupied by the
6th corps of the French; 240 cannon immediately opened a terrible fire on
these 25,000 heroic soldiers, who, since two o'clock, had supported the prin-
cipal fire of the enemy. As so often happened in this imhappy war, ammu-
nition was lacking to the 6th corps; Marshal Canrobert, however, remained
at his post, and when the Saxons appeared on the northeast to combine their
attack with that of the Prussians, they were obliged to support a terrible
fight before seizing St. Privat.
Then the marshal was obliged to beat a retreat; Bazaine, informed of this,
could not contain his astonishment. Instead of a battle of the advance-
guard, he had sustained a complete defeat. He could hardly believe the
reports, and gave orders to the Picard brigade of the imperial guard to go to
the front. But it was too late. The necessary movement at last ordered
could not prevent the Prussians from passing Axnanvillers; they had, more-
over, lost 20,000 men; the French 18,000, of whom 2,000 were made prison-
ers. Nothing now could hinder Marshal Moltke from interposing a circle of
250,000 men between the only organised army of France and the rest of the
country.
This conclusion of the battles \mder the walls of Metz had another dis-
astrous result — that of leaving MacMahon exposed to the crown prince's
army, which was now free from all anxiety with regard to Bazaine./
CONFUSION AT PARIS
The news of the battles before Metz produced great confusion in Paris.
On the 17th of August, following the advice of General Schmitz, the emperor
appointed as governor of Paris General Trochu, who alone could prevent
a revolt which threatened. A new army had been forming at Chalons, of
which MacMahon took command. Count Palikao ' wished MacMahon to join
Bazaine, but MacMahon telegraphed the minister that he did not know where
to find Bazaine and that he wished to remain at Chalons. The following day,
on account of a false rumour, he suddenly left Chdlons and took the route to
Rheims.
A council of war took place at Rheims in which Rouher took part and
insisted on the relief of the army at Metz. The empress and Pahkao wished
this; and in accordance with their desires MacMahon marched towards the
Maas, where he would join Bazaine at Stenay if the latter could break through
the enemy's chain. MacMahon, through delays and the failure to receive
despatches, did not reach Stenay in time. The Germans had occupied it,
and on the 27th and 29th engagements took place at Buganzy, Novart, and
Voncq. The surprise of Failly at Beaumont on the 30th, and the retirement
of Douay before the Bavarians on August 6th (causing him to be replaced by
General Wimpffen), forced MacMahon to retreat to Sedan. On the hills about
[' This was General Cousin-Montauban who was born in 1796 and won his title from his
victory over the Chinese at Palikao in 1860 ; he had become prime minister as well as minister
of war on the fall of Ollivier, August 9th, 1870, due to the failure of the army. He kept Ms
portfolio only until September 4th, when the disaster of Sedan overthrew the Second Empire.]
EH
IB
? a
o
N
w ^
« I
° I
EH a
;^ a
^ I
H
H
EH
O
W
>
THE FKANCO-PEnSSIAN WAR 157
[1870 A.D.]
Sedan, MacMahon drew up his forces, with Lebrun commanding the right at
BaBeilles; Douay the left at Illy and Floing; Ducrot the centre at Moncelle
and Daigny; and Wimpffen the reserve in the Garenne forest. Against these
the Prussians and Bavarians advanced with full confidence.''
THE BATTLE OF SEDAN (SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1870)
Facing all ways, that is, no way, the French army was apparently pro-
tected on the west by the opening on to the Maas which was soon to enclose
its ruins. _ Towards MeziSres and south of this road, the road to safety, there
was nothing, not even a handful of cavalry, to watch the way so clearly indi-
cated towards Donchery.
At half past six in the morning of September 1st, Marshal MacMahon,
who had gone in the direction of La Moncelle, was severely woimded and had
to relinquish the command. As he knew nothing of the orders given to
General ^¥impffen, he appointed Ducrot to replace him; the latter did not
hear of his appointment until nearly half past seven.
The new commander-in-chief Ducrot? declares that he "had received no
instructions whatever from the marshal." He was in entire ignorance of his
intentions — even of whether he intended to engage in a defensive or offensive
battle. Having to decide at the soonest possible moment, he gave immediate
orders for the army to concentrate on the plateau, whence it would march on
Mezieres. The retreat was to be carried out in echelon beginning from the
right.
Between half past eight and nine in the morning, when in fact the move-
ment was in course of execution. General Wimpffen claimed the chief com-
mand. Misled by the success of the 12th corps, which, nevertheless, was
reduced to the defensive; not believing, from want of knowledge of the pre-
ceding days, in the serious danger that the flanking movements threatened,
he stopped the retreat on Mezieres. General Ducrot vainly emphasised the
importance of retaining the plateau of Illy, when a question of life and death
was at issue. He was imable to convince his interlocutor: "It is not a
retreat we want, but a victory!"
The new commander-in-chief recalled the 12th and 1st corps back to their
respective positions and ordered "a vigorous forward offensive movement
on our right." He hoped, as he afterwards said, to crush the enemy's left,
formed of the two Bavarian corps; and then, having beaten him and driven
him back on the Maas, to return with the 12th and 1st corps, and, with the
whole army combined, fight the German right wing. What about the enemy's
left wing? As a general rule, such a scheme is as a last resom-ce possible when
on both sides the forces are equal; it ought not so much as to be dreamed of
in face of an army flushed with victory, well led, and with a numerical
superiority of over one hundred thousand men.
In addition, in this particular instance, the real danger threatened from
the north (the enemy's left), and the 7th corps in spite of a vigorous resistance
was powerless to overcome it, more especially as the ruins of the 5th corps
scarcely counted as a support. The clearest result of the course of action
taken by General Wimpffen, at a moment when minutes were as precious as
hours, was a loss of time which assured the ruin of the army by robbing it of
all chances of escape. Anything was better than Sedan.
The important village of Bazeilles, situated at the crossing of the Douzy and
Sedan roads, by Balan, was destined to play an important part in the defence
of the valley of the Givonne. Repulsed at first, the Bavarians, reinforced,
158 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1870 A.D.]
returned to the attack; from seven o'clock in the morning the battle concen-
trated around the villa Beurmann and in the western end of the village. The
defenders were compelled to give way little by little before superior numbers,
and before the conflagrations started by the Bavarians. They withdrew to
Balan; but not all retired. To the north of Bazeilles, in an isolated house
scarcely fifty metres from the villa Beurmann, a handful of men, belonging
mostly to the marine infantry, prolonged a hopeless resistance, and for a long
while braved the furious assaults of the enemy, who ended by bringing up
artillery. This glorious defence was organised by Commandant Lambert,
supported by captains Ortus and Aubert. Ammimition being exhausted,^
Lambert had the doors thrown open, and with a view of saving the survivors
offered himself to the Bavarians. Incensed at their losses, they were about
to fall upon him, and he owed his life only to a captain who made a rampart
of his own body.
The defence of Bazeilles, in which the troops of the Grand-Champ division
co-operated, cost the marine infantry alone thirty-two officers killed, of whom
one was lieutenant-colonel and four were battalion leaders. Three officers
were shot by the Bavarians after defending a house to the veiy last. "To-
wards mid-day," the German account says, "Bazeilles was almost entirely in
flames." Not content with using the torch, the Bavarians dishonoured their
tardy victory by cruelties which they have vainly attempted to excuse.^
From Bazeilles the struggle extended to Balan. The 4th Bavarian divi-
sion (2nd corps) occupied that village only after repelling a particularly stub-
born resistance from the Carteret-Tr^court brigade, the struggle taking place
chiefly in the park.
From ten in the morning, Moncelle, which the French had neglected to
defend seriously, was in the hands of the Saxons. Supported by a battery,
which at nine o'clock included no less than ninety-six guns, they endeavoured
to debouch from La Moncelle. The whole morning was taken up with these
attempts, which were vigorously opposed by the Lacretelle division. The
Saxons succeeded in taking it, and by eleven o'clock, at the moment when
Bazeilles was falling, they had gained a permanent footing on the right bank
of the Givonne, whose crest was quickly occupied by their artillery. An hour
earlier Daigny had also fallen into their power. While the German artUlery
was crushing the French batteries and the defenders of the heights, their
infantry waited under cover; when the moment came for action it scaled the
heights and took possession of them with insignificant loss.
All these subordinate engagements are dominated in importance by the
general movement of that part of the 3rd army entrusted with the envelop-
ment of the French army. Towards seven o'clock in the morning, the fog
having lifted, the crown prince had ascertained with certainty, from the
point of observation he had occupied for the past hour, that the French
appeared to project the retention of Sedan, on the east of the curve formed
by the Maas. He issued his orders.
The German artillery, in keeping with its principle, boldly outstripped the
infantry. It established itself on the knoll south of St. Menges between it
[' This Is the scene of De Neuville's famous picture, "The Last Cartridge."]
[' It is impossible to describe or even to sketch with any precision the series of confused
engagements in the woods of Garenne. Cannon without wheels, caissons abandoned, a flag
whose bearer perished gloriously, hundreds of men and horses fell into the power of the enemy •,
the forest was attacked at the same time on the north, the east, and the west. Only one French
cannon still fired. It was taken when all its men were lost. A cloud of enemies, surging in
from all sides, enwrapped this little wood, and all it contained were slain or taken. It was no
more a battle ; it was a man-hunt. — Rotjsset,"']
THE FEANCO-PRTTSSIAN WAR 159
[1870 A.D.]
and Floing, opened fire, and nearer and nearer, by additional arrivals, the
battery advanced in echelon in the direction of Fleigneux. The French were
subsequently driven from Floing.
Towards eleven o'clock General GaUiffet received orders from General
Margueritte to charge, with the squadrons of chasseurs d'Afrique, the com-
panies which, coming down from Fleigneux, had just crossed the stream
Illy. These were momentarily checked in their advance. Towards mid-
day the envelopment was in fuU progress. Towards eleven o'clock in the
evening the 11th corps took Cazal; seventy-one German batteries (426 guns),
massed m four different places, swept in every direction the plateau of Illy
and subjected the defenders to a cruel experience.
Not a moment was to be lost. General Ducrot had to act as commander-
in-chief. He collected all the available artillery on the plateau, and turned
it in the direction of Fleigneux; he replaced the Pell6 and the H^riller divi-
sions on the heights; and lastly ordered the commandant of the division of
cavalry reserve to charge.
It was a question of charging in echelon towards the left, and then, after
having overturned all that were met, to turn to the right in such a way as to
take all the enemy's line in flank. This was at about two o'clock. At the
moment when General Margueritte moved forward to recoimoitre the ground
and the enemy's position, he was severely wounded. His tongue was in-
jured, and when he arrived at the head of his division, he could only point
with his arm to indicate the direction of the movement. Led by the gesture,
the cavalry hurled themselves on Floing.
Thereupon, under the shelter of the artUlery, heroic charges succeeded
one another. These movements were carried out imder the most deplorable
disadvantages of ground but "with remarkable vigour and entire devotion,''
according to the Prussian account. The first charge came to grief — another
was inmiediately made: "The honour of the army demands it," said General
Ducrot, and new squadrons dashed forward. But in vain. Sabred, for the
moment dispersed, the enemy's skirmishers fell back on the second line.
Against this, complete and supported on its wings by squares, the reiterated
desperate efforts of the squadrons were utterly broken, and their ruins dis-
persed in all directions.
We may easily miderstand and repeat the exclamation, "What brave
men!" which King WUliam made at this splendid sight. The Prussian
account itself has said: "Although success did not result from the efforts of
these brave squadrons, although their heroic attempts were powerless to
thwart the catastrophe in which the French army was already irretrievably
involved, that army is none the less entitled to look back with legitimate pride
on the fields of Floing and Cazal, on which, during that memorable day of Sedan,
its cavalry succumbed gloriously beneath the blows of a victorious adversary."
These glorious charges have as an epilogue the heroic attempt with which
the name of Commandant d'Alincourt is associated. Towards three o'clock
in the afternoon he attempted to cut a way through the enemy's lines, with
a squadron of the 1st regiment of cuirassiers. 'The valiant troop set out
from the M^zieres gate and charged into the suburb of Cazal, overturning the
German soldiers stationed there. But, the alarm once given, the Germans
barred the road with the help of carriages and shot down the cuirassiers,
whose noble attempt proved abortive; nearly three-quarters of them fell
here. This is, with the exception of the vigorous attempt on Balan, the only
real attempt which was made to pierce the circle of iron from the moment
when it first became complete.
160 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1870 A.D.]
All that still remained flowed back under the concentric movement to-
wards Sedan, which had already engulfed part of the army. The fire of the
Prussian batteries was concentrated on the town, torn in all directions by
the shells.
At three o'clock, the emperor Napoleon III, who had remained on the
battle-field until half past eleven, hoisted the white flag. Two hours before,
General Wimpffen had written to him requesting him to put himself at the
head of his troops, who would make it a point of honour to cut the way out
for him. Still following his idea of opening a road in the direction of Carignan,
the general, who with great trouble had gathered together five or six thou-
sand men, led them forward and with splendid dash threw himself for the
first time upon the Bavarians, driving them out of the village of Balan.
Towards four o'clock he received a suggestion from the emperor to treat with
the enemy. He declined, and at the head of two or three thousand men,
this time accompanied by General Lebrun, he made a fresh attempt. He
could not deploy beyond Balan and finally fell back on Sedan. The imfor-
tunate army was done for.fl'
In deciding to hoist a flag of truce. Napoleon III understood all the
gravity of the responsibility he was incurring, and foresaw the accusations
of which he would be the object. The situation appeared before his eyes in
all its gravity, and the recollection of a glorious past arose, to augment the
bitterness by its contrast with the present. How would it be believed that
the army of Sebastopol and of Solferino had been obliged to lower its arms?
How could it be understood that, enclosed within a narrow space, the more
numerous the troops the greater the confusion, and the less possible was it
to re-establish that order which is indispensable in battle? "The prestige to
which the French army was rightly entitled was about to vanish all at once,
in the presence of a calamity that has no equal; the emperor remained alone
responsible in the eyes of the world for the misfortunes that war brought in
' its train! '
THE SURRENDER OF NAPOLEON III AND THE ARMY
At five o'clock all was ended. The emperor sent the following letter to
the king of Prussia by one of his aides-de-camp:
Monsieur mon frJike :
Not having succeeded in dying in tlie midst of my troops, nothing remains for me but to
deliver my sword into your majesty's hands.
The king replied:
While I regret the circumstances in -which We meet, I accept your majesty's sword and beg
you to be so good as to name one of your officers furnished witli full powers to make terms for
the capitulation of the army which has fought so bravely under your command. On my side,
I have named General von Moltke for this purpose.
Napoleon III could surrender his person — he was no longer a general; it
was not his work to surrender the army. Another was to be entrusted with
this mission. Wimpffen, with despair at his heart, was obliged to submit to
it. He went over to the enemy's headquarters, to the castle of Bellevue, near
Donchery. For three long hours Wimpffen struggled in vain to obtain some
modification of the conditions which Moltke had fixed. This cold and in-
flexible calculator, who had reduced war to mathematical formulas, was as
incapable of generosity as of anger. He had decided that the entire army,
with arms and baggage, should be prisoners.
THE FEANCO-PRUSSIAF WAE 161
[1870 A.I).]
Bismarck took part in the conference. He made one remark which has
an historical importance — General Wimpffen*; has noted it in his book on
Sedan: "Prussia will exact as terms of peace, not only an indemnity of four
billion francs, but Alsace and German Lorraine. We must have a good,
advanced strategical line." ''Demand only money," replied Wimpffen,
you will be sure of peace with us for an indefinite period. If you take from
us Alsace and Lorraine, you will only have truce for a time; in France, from
old men down to children, all will learn the use of arms, and millions of soldiers
will one day demand of you what you take from us." The speech which
Wimpffen relates shows the mistake of
those who have believed that Bismarck
did not agree with the military party
on the question of Metz and Strasburg.
If his political genius had once hesi-
tated, it hesitated no longer. One of
General Ducrot's aides-de-camp, who
was present, has quoted Bismarck's
remark somewhat differently; but, if
the words differ, the sense is the same.
On September 2nd, at seven o'clock
in the morning, Wimpffen called to-
gether in a council of war the com-
manders of the army corps and the gen-
erals of division. The council recognised
that, " face to face with the physical im-
possibility of continuing the struggle,
we were forced to accept the conditions
which were imposed on us." Not only
were they totally enveloped by forces
which were now treble their own (220,-
000 men against 80,000), but they had
food only for one day. Wimpffen car-
ried his signature to the Prussian head-
quarters.
Napoleon III had left Sedan before
the sitting of the council of war; he
hoped to see the king of Prussia before
the capitulation was signed and per-
suade William to grant some conces-
sions; but the king avoided this inter-
view; the emperor only encountered Bismarck, with whom he had a conversa-
tion in a workman's small house, near Donchery. This was the conclusion of
the Biarritz interviews! Napoleon was then sent, with an escort of cuirassiers
of the Prussian guard, to await his conqueror in a chS,teau on the banks of
the Maas. There he repeated to William what he had just said to Bismarck:
that he had not desired war; that public opinion in France had forced it upon
him.
The shame which the defeated emperor brought on himself by excusing
himself at the expense of France in the presence of her victorious enemy was
the true expiation of December 2nd. No head of a state had ever shown
such absence of dignity. The solemn contradiction which Thiers made to
this shameful speech some months later at Bordeaux is weU known. The
imperial captive was sent into Germany to the castle of Wilhelmshohe, near
Napoleon III and William I
H. TT. — ^voL. xxn. M
162 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1870 A.D.]
Cassel; it was the former residence of his uncle Jerome, during the existence
of the short-lived kingdom of Westphalia.' Napoleon III at Wilhelmshohe
inevitably recalls Napoleon I at Malmaison after Waterloo.^ There was one
common feature between these two men, otherwise so dissimilar: they seemed
far less two human souls mortally wounded in the reality of their moral life
than two actors who had played their parts and resigned themselves to quit
the stage.«
The army with all its material was made prisoner of war. Nearly five
hundred officers consented to give their parole. The others, marshals and
generals at their head, were left to share in captivity the fate of their soldiers.
The army awaited, in unspeakable privation, on the peninsula of Iges, so
well named the Camp of Misery, the moment of departure.
In round figures the French losses total thus: killed, 3,000; wounded,
14,000; prisoners taken in battle, 21,000; prisoners by capitulation, 83,000;
disarmed in Belgium, 3,000; total, 124,000 men. The Germans captured
besides, one flag, two ensigns, 419 guns and mitrailleuses, 139 garrison guns,
1,072 wagons of all descriptions, 66,000 rifles, and 6,000 horses fit for service.
The German army lost 465 officers, of whom 189 were killed, including General
von Gersdorff, and 8,459 men, of whom 2,832 were killed.?
THE THIRD REPUBLIC PROCLAIMED (SEPTEMBER 4TH, 1870)
Sedan gave the final blow to the empire. Not even a push was required
to complete its overthrow. How did the news reach Paris? Nobody knows.
A vague rumour was spread on the afternoon of. September 3rd. In the
evening one hundred thousand Parisians paraded the streets and went to the
house of the governor of the city. General Trochu. The chamber held a sitting
during the night. There could be nothing more tragic than this sitting. A
deathly silence prevailed among those official representatives of the empire.
Jules Favre in his voice of brass read out in the midst of this silence a propo-
sition of forfeiture. Not a sound, not a murmur was heard. A few hours
still remained to the empire in which some extreme measure might be tried,
but nobody thought of such a thing.
A compact mass of people thronged the place de la Concorde. The bridge
was guarded and the police of the empire were using their weapons for the
last time. The crowd, partly by its own force, partly owing to the complicity
of the soldiers, managed to clear a passage. A few moments after, the cham-
ber was invaded; for the fourth time the people entered the Tuileries.
The republic was proclaimed at the H6tel-de-Ville, and also a provisional
government under the name of "government of national defence." The
government consisted of deputies elected in Paris: Jules Simon, Picard,
Gambetta, Pelletan, Garnier-Pages, Cr^mieux, Arago, Glais-Bizoin, and
Rochefort, with General Trochu as president, Thiers having refused this
office. The senate had been forgotten, just as in 1848 the chamber of peers
had been. It was not remembered till the next day. In the evening, in
spite of the threatened invasion, a profound relief was felt. The boulevards
were crowded. Improvised chariots bearing inscriptions, and groups of
soldiers mingling with the citizens were cheered as they passed. The police
had disappeared. One of the most festive occasions during the days that
P September 4tli the empress Eug&ie fled from Paris and in five days landed on the coast
of England, where she was joined by her son. They took up their residence at Chiselhurst
near London, where Napoleon III joined them March 20th, 1871, and where he died January
9th, 1873.]
THE PEANCO-PEUSSIAN WAE 163
[1870 A.D.]
followed was the return of the exiles. All the great men who were welcomed
back by their country, Victor Hugo, Louis Blanc, Edgar Quinet, and Ledru-
Rollin, came to Paris. The return of Victor Hugo was a regular triumph.
When the empire fell, France was left unprotected. Of the two armies
one had been captured at Sedan, and the other was shut up in Metz, whence
it was to be delivered by treachery. The Germans thought they had nothing
to do but to make a military excursion into France.
They were arriving at Paris from two directions — from Soissons and from
Chilons. They looked upon Paris as their last remaining obstacle, and did
not believe any resistance would be offered. In 1814 and 1815 Paris had
been given up after a few days' struggle. They could not believe that the
capital would endure the horrors of a siege. It was said to be provisioned
for one month only, and in 1814 and 1815 the possession of Paris had meant
the possession of France. Thus the war seemed finished; but it was really
only begun.
THE SIEGE OF PARIS
The government took up its quarters in ,the capital, resolved to sustain
the siege. It had sent away only its two oldest members, Cremieux and
Glais-Bizoin, who had gone to Tours. In Paris they were hastUy preparing
the defence of the ramparts and the forts, which had been left by the empire
in a very inefficient state. The national guard was consolidated and pro-
vided with guns. An attempt was made to reorganise the troops which were
returning; General Vinoy's corps, which had reached Sedan too late and had
made a rapid retreat, some sailors, some of the mobiles, and soldiers from
here, there, and everjrwhere were to form the Parisian army. Trochu was
commander-in-chief and had under him General Ducrot, who had escaped
after Sedan, Vinoy, and at the head of the artillery General Fr^bault, who
had presented to the navy some fine cannon which were now to be of great
service in the defence of Paris.
Preparations were hardly completed when the enemy arrived. On the
heights of Chdtillon, which was a valuable position for Paris, the Germans
found no opposition except from some troops who were already demoralised,
being, so to speak, composed of the tail-end of defeated regiments. A panic
ensued and the Germans gained possession of the heights, which enabled them
to bombard Paris.
But a change was near. Paris was determined to make a defence. First
Jules Favre went to Ferrieres to find out what conditions Germany meant
to propose. Bismarck wanted some of the French provinces, and Jules
Favre replied: "Not an inch of our territory, nor a single stone of our for-
tresses!" Paris during the siege was a noble spectacle. The city of light
laughter and sparkling merriment, the centre of elegance and fashion, had
been transformed into a military stronghold. One thought occupied all
minds, one passion possessed all hearts, the whole town had but one soul —
and that was filled with the noble enthusiasm of patriotism.'^
Indefatigable zeal was displayed by the various authorities — the ministry
of commerce, the prefecture of the Seine, which was in the hands of a member
of the government, Jules Ferry, the mayoralty of Paris, the mayoralties of
the arrondissements; but these complicated wheels within wheels hindered
each other, their functions not being clearly determined.
From September 26th a central victualling committee regulated and com-
bined these various operations, and rendered valuable services. The gov-
164 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1870 A.D.]
emment of. national defence succeeded in adding to the resources already-
obtained more than four hundred thousand hundredweights of flour, which
represented provisions for two months.
It was not sufficient to have corn; it must be ground. After surmounting
enormous difficulties, the trade of miller was successfully organised in Paris.
All trades connected with food were established in the great city as well as
all those concerned with warfare.
Was this the case with the military organisation? It must first be ad-
mitted that there, more than in any other department, the difficulties were
appalling. There were crowds of men, there were no real soldiers, or scarcely
any; too few arms, and few good arms; the new chassepot rifles, already
insufficient in number by half, had been stored in quantities at Metz and
Strasburg, and there were not enough in Paris. As for the fortifications,
since Palikao had become minister and the defence committee had been
formed, to which Thiers had been elected, they had worked feverishly to
repair, as far as possible, the negligence of the imperial government. Muni-
tions had been stored; the enceinte of Paris and the forts had been put into
good condition; from the various ports more than two hundred immense
naval guns had been brought to supply the bastions of Paris, together with a
picked set of seamen set at liberty by the disarmament of the fleet, which
had been unable to make an effort in the Baltic for want of troops to land;
there were nearly fourteen thousand brave sailors, commanded by half a
dozen vice-admirals and rear-admirals. This was the strongest element of
defence, and the general officers of the naval army were charged with the
defence of the greater number of the divisions of the fortifications — the
secteurs, as they were called.
On the 9th, the 13th corps entered Paris, led back from M^zieres by Gen-
eral Vinoy. The 14th corps, which was being formed, was placed by Trochu
under command of General Ducrot, who had escaped from the hands of the
Prussians. On September 13th there were 60,000 soldiers of the line, the
greater number of them raw recruits, 110,000 mobiles, 360,000 national
guards. This last number was purely nominal, the greater number of these
guards being neither in uniform nor armed, and many not even capable of
bearing arms. They finally succeeded in arming 250,000. A large mmiber
of the mobiles also were neither equipped nor armed.«
The appearance of the town was curious. Guns glittered under the trees
on the boulevards, and the sound of trumpets was everjrwhere. Theatres
were changed into hospitals and the railway factories were busy casting can-
non. There were no carriages and no gas; at night all was in darkness.
Instead of the boulevards, the ramparts became the centre of Parisian life;
here everyone, workmen and citizens alike, assembled gim in hand to guard
the town. The inhabitants were blockaded. A few himdred yards from
the fortifications an invisible circle of trenches enclosed the town. Commu-
nication with the outer world was impossible, except by balloons which were
sent out of Paris or by the carrier pigeons which retiu-ned there pursued by
Prussian bullets.
Provisions might fail, so the Parisians were placed on rations.* Cab
horses furnished them with meat during the siege. As for bread, towards
the end they wore out their teeth against a strange compound of corn, maize,
oats, and pulverized bones. They ate anything that could be found, even
the animals from the Zoological Gardens. Everybody endured hunger cheer-
[' Meat was apportioned from the 1st of October at one hundred grammes to each person ;
after the 25th at sixty ; and this on the 36th was to be reduced to fifty grammes." ]
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 165
[1870 A.D.]
fully. Later on cold weather set in. Winter was early that year and un-
usually severe. People were terribly cold in the frozen trenches.
At last bombardment brought the siege to an end. The Prussians launched
enormous shells, larger than any that had yet been known, into the town, on to
the monuments which are the pride of civilisation, on to the hospitals, on to
the schools where sometimes the dead bodies of five or six children would be
found. They fell, not on the ramparts, but in Paris. All through the night
these huge masses of metal, whose fall meant death and destruction, were
heard whizzing through the air. But the whole town only became the more
enthusiastic, everyone was eager to fight, and not an angry word was heard,
unless anyone spoke of surrender.
The generals were not so eager as the people. Trochu did not think it
was possible to break through the Prussian circle of trenches. The generals
of the empire, discouraged by repeated disasters, had but little confidence
that this improvised army composed of the remnants of different regiments
would be able to conquer the Germans, who had beaten their organised army.
There were a few skirmishes during the early days in order to recover the
neighbouring villages, then an attack was made with a few soldiers near
Garches; these were the only military incidents of the first few months. The
moment when Trochu would resolve to act was awaited with feverish im-
patience. He had said that he had a definite plan.'^ Among the many
isolated instances of defence we cannot quote many. Let the following
account be taken as a type of that unavailing resistance France made in
many directions :«
GIRAED'S account of CHATEATJDUN (OCTOBER, 1870)
Paris, isolated, blockaded, suffering already, waited, listened, and asked,
"Where is France?" When the name of Chateaudun resounded, when that
brave resistance became known, when the echo of that gallant struggle struck
the great, attentive, and already anxious city, then Paris in this time of
public mourning gave vent to an almost joyful cry, and said to herself, " France
is arising! France is hastening! France lives, for she knows how to die!"
The little town of Ch&teaudun, which for weeks had attracted attention by
its energy and its defensive dispositions, showed France and the world how
a few thousand brave men could hold in check a whole army, provided they
were willing to sacrifice their lives. The defence of Chateaudun is all the
more admirable because it represents the heroism of the humble and miknown,
heroism without ostentation where, from the highest to the lowest in the city,
all did their duty. The defence of Chateaudun was entirely civilian, and the
defenders, the national guards of Beauce, grain-sellers of peaceful mode of
life, francs-tireurs of Paris, Nantes, and Cannes, all were simple valiant citizens.
The news of the occupation of Orleans by the Prussians had just arrived.
Defence, it was thought, would be madness. But the news of this peaceful
resolution was ill received by the people who were already determined on
resistance; and ulans having appeared not far from the railway, some work-
men had attacked them, armed only with their tools. The enemy was ap-
proaching. He had already reached Varize and Civey, which he had burned
to punish the inhabitants for their resistance ; while Chateaudun was erecting
barricades made of sharp stones, supported by hewn logs and furnished with
fascines and sacks of earth. On October 18th, a Tuesday, the sentries at
St. Val^rien noticed towards mid-day the enemy's approach!
Chateaudun had for its defence but 765 francs-tireurs, and 300 of the
166 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
ri870 A.D.]
Dunois national guards; not a gun nor a horse-soldier. At the most twelve
hundred men all told; and against them the entire 22nd Prussian division
was advancing. The German documents pretend, and the official despatch
of Blumenthal dated from Versailles affirms, that the defenders of Chateau-
dun numbered 4,000.^ Once again it may be declared, there were not 1,200
of thejn. The Prussian division was 12,000 strong, and had the use of 24
pieces of artillery.
Without takmg into consideration the artillery, whose fire was so con-
tinued and so deadly, each Frenchman fought against ten. At nightfall,
driven back on every side, the defenders of Chateaudun collected in the mar-
ket-place, and, black with powder, excited by the battle, drunk with patriot-
ism and passion, under a sky already red with conflagrations, they chanted
the powerful verses of the Marseillaise.
The Germans attacked again and again. The fighting was hand to hand
and in the dark. There was stabbing and throat-cutting, and the black
stream of Prussians rushed through the streets. Torch in hand, they already
invaded the captured houses — pillaged, stole, and burned. The last defenders
of Chateaudun, while retiring, fired murderous volleys from aU sides on the
square where the Prussians swarmed; then they withdrew still fighting, whilst
the Prussians, seeing enemies on aU sides, shot each other by mistake in the
darkness in the streets strewn with the dead.
Then the pillage began ;^ and horrified eyes beheld the atrocious and dis-
graceful spectacle of troopers breaking, shattering, daubing with petroleum
doors and walls, bm-ning, insulting, and yelling. History here records teiTible
things. A paralysed man was burned alive in his bed by drunken soldiers.
An old soldier was killed for having said to. some Bavarians, "That is bar-
barous." Generals had the hotel bm-ned down in which they had dined
gaily and toasted their bloody victory. They treated themselves to a spec-
tacle of conflagration and devastation. These disciples of Hegel witnessed
the sight of two hundred and twenty-five burning houses, and houses still
inhabited ! In one cellar alone ten human beings perished, suffocated.
Chateaudun paid dearly for its devotion to its country, but German corpses
strewed the streets, and the ruin of France was bought with German blood.
Thirty officers and nearly two thousand men were killed. With the Germans
everything must be paid for. Fire was not enough, the town was requisi-
tioned. These executioners must be clothed, fed, and sheltered — and that
after so tmparalleled a pillage. The Dunois were decimated. They were
ruined. Not one made the smallest complaint. All lived on in their ruined
city, proud of their disasters, holding up their heads after having dearly
bought the right to call themselves citizens of the little town, lowing well
that one must pay for the right of making a living town into an eternal
example.
The government of Tours decreed that Chateaudun had well deserved
the country's thanks. The name of Ch&teaudun was soon famous even in
besieged Paris. Poets have been inspired by its sacrifice. The mayor of
Paris, Arago, gave the name rue de Chateaudun to the rue Cardinal Fesch.
Victor Hugo had his Chdtiments read for the benefit of the subscription for
guns and asked in a superb letter that the first gun should be called Chateau-
dun. Lastly the enemy himself bowed before the heroism of the defenders
of the little town, and a historian and one who took part in this drama relates
[' Von Moltke"* sets the number of defenders at 1,800.]
"Von Moltke" simply says that the French soldiers retired " leaving the inhabitants to
their fate, and these, though having ta'sen part in the struggle, were let off with a fine,"]
THE FEANCO-PEUSSIAN WAR 167
[1870-1871 A.D.]
the words of Prince Charles at Varize : " General, have those francs-tireurs
well treated; they are soldiers from Chateaudun."o
CONTINUED GERMAN SUCCESSES
Gambetta, who considered more the quantity of the troops than their
quality, was very hopeful, particularly as a simultaneous sortie out of Paris
was planned for November 30th and December 1st. He continually urged
General Aurelle to begin offensive operations. But
neither the attacks on the right wing of the German
army at Ladon on the 24th, at Beaune-la-Rolande
on the 28th of November, nor those on the right wing
near Lagny and Poupry on December 2nd were of
any avail . On December 3rd Prince Frederick Charles
assumed the offensive, and repulsed the enemy in a
sweeping assault; continuing the fight on the 4th, he
stormed the railroad station as well as the suburbs of
Orleans, and at ten o'clock in the evening the grand
duke [of Mecklenburg] entered the city, which had
been evacuated by the French. The Germans gained
more than twelve thousand prisoners of war, sixty
cannon, and four gun-boats. The enemy's line of re-
treat was along the Loire, partly up and partly down
the stream. Gambetta, who was dissatisfied with
the way General Aurelle had managed affairs, re-
moved him from command and divided the army of
the Loire into two parts, which were to operate sep-
arately or in conjunction, according to circumstances.
The first army of the Loire, consisting of three corps,
was stationed at Nevers, and was commanded by
General Bourbaki; the second, of three and one-half
corps, at Blois, commanded by General Chanzy.
Prince Frederick Charles sent a part of his army
down the Loire to meet General Chanzy. Meung,
Beaugency, Blois, and the chateau of Chambord were
garrisoned, over seven thousand prisoners taken, and
several guns captured. The government of delegates
at Tours, not feeling secure any longer in that city,
removed to Bordeaux on December 10th. General
Chanzy retreated to Vendome and from there further
westward to Le Mans. Prince Frederick Charles placed one corps in Vendome
to watch any further movements on the part of General Chanzy. In the
latter part of December he sent the remainder of his troops into quarters,
for rest and re-equipment. On January 6th, 1871, upon orders from head-
quarters, he broke camp with 57,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry, and 318 cannon,
and marched out to meet Chanzy, who had meanwhile been quiet at Le Mans
with 100,000 men.
Nobody knew where Bourbaki's army was, nor what were its plans —
whether it proposed to join Chanzy at Le Mans, or to advance toward Paris
by way of Montargis and Fontainebleau; or whether it had already gone
eastward to the relief of Belfort. In order to be prepared for any emergency,
the Hessian division remained in Orleans after the departure of the prince;
Gien and Blois remained garrisoned; tJie 2nd corps under FransecKy was
French Cuirassieb
168 THE HISTOEY OP FEANCE
[1870-1871 A.D.]
stationed at Montargis, and the 7th under Zastrow at Auxerre to the east-
ward of this place. The march of the prince through the so-called "Perche"
in frost, snow-storms, and thaw was most difficult. The troops advanced
by three roads towards Le Mans, skirmishing daily, and were on the point of
cutting off the enemy's retreat. Suddenly, on the morning of the 12th of
January, Chanzy left Le Mans, retreated in haste towards Laval and Mayenne,
and in the evening the Hanoverians marched into Le Mans. The prince took
up his headquarters in the town, and sent troops in pursuit of Chanzy, some
to Laval, some to Mayenne. The deserted camp of Conlie was occupied,
and great quantities of suppUes were seized. The grand duke of Mecklenburg
marched with thirteen corps via Alengon to Rouen, to give the troops of the
German army of the north an opportunity to strike a decisive blow. Nothing
was to be apprehended from Chanzy in the near future; he had been forced
back into Brittany, and was not in condition to imdertake important opera-
tions. In the interval from the 6th to the 12th of January, 18,000 of his men
had been taken prisoners and he had lost 20 gims and 2 standards. The
number of killed and wounded could only be conjectured. Prince Frederick
Charles lost 180 officers and 3,470 men, killed and wounded.
In the same manner in which the armies of relief were annihilated in the
south and west of Paris, they were wiped out in the north. These latter were
commanded successively by Generals Farre, Bourbaki, and Faidherbe; the
last-named took command on December 3rd. The fortresses in the north,
Arras, Cambray, Douai, and Valenciennes, were favourable as bases of opera-
tion as well as places of refuge. For the moment, only one army corps was
equipped, and with this General Farre was stationed to the south of Amiens.
General Manteuffel with the first army was to operate against him. But he
was obliged to leave one corps behind to maintain Metz and besiege Thion-
ville and Montmedy; the two remaining corps, numbering 38,244 infantry
and 4,433 cavalry, with 180 guns, had to be reduced by several detachments
for the siege of the northern fortresses. Manteuffel left Metz on November
7th, arrived near Compiegne on the 20th, and met the enemy at Moreuil on
the 27th. He defeated him, took Amiens, and forced the citadel of the place
and the smaller fortress of La Fere to capitulate. Hereupon Manteuffel
turned toward Normandy, taking Rouen on December 5th, Dieppe on the
9th, and destroyed several army detachments at different points of the
Seine.
Faidherbe, however, had meanwhile equipped a second army corps and
marched southward, seizing the little fortress of Ham. Manteuffel therefore
turned back, attacked the enemy on December 23rd at the little river Hallue
(or near Quernieux), and forced him to retreat to Douai. The fortress of
Peronne was obliged to capitulate on January 9th. General Bentheim, who
remained in Normandy, had in the meantime had several skirmishes with
detachments of the French army, numbering from fifteen thousand to twenty
thousand men, and had forced them to retreat towards Le Havre; he had
also stormed the chateau "Robert le Diable," and blocked the way of the
men-of-war going up the Seine from Havre, by sinking eleven large vessels
near Duclair. Among the sunken vessels were six English coal barges, the
owners of which received indemnity. On January 3rd, Faidherbe, who was
beginning operations again, attacked a division of the 18th corps at Bapaume,
but was repulsed. The commander of the 8th corps, General Goben, was
given command of the first army, when Manteuffel was appointed to the com-
mand of the army of the south. For the third time Faidherbe advanced,
being ordered by Gambetta to assist at the great attempt to break out of
THE FRANCO-PEUSSIAN ^AR 169
[1870-1871 A.D.]
Paris, planned for the 19th of January, and stationed himself with between
fifty and sixty thousand men near St. Quentin. General Goben attacked him
on January 19th with about thirty thousand men, threw the French army out
of all their positions after a battle of seven hours, and seized ten thousand
prisoners and six guns. The enemy fled in wild confusion towards Cambray,
and was for several weeks as incapable of action as the army of Chanzy.
A third army of relief appeared in the east. After the surrender of Stras-
"burg, General Schmeling, with a division of reserve, had forced the fortresses
of Schlettstadt and Neu Breisach to capitulate on October 24th and Novem-
ber 10th, while General Tresckow with another reserve division had sur-
rounded Belfort, the southern key to Vosges, from November 3rd. These
two divisions and a third reserve division formed later belonged to the 14th
corps, commanded by General Werder. This latter general broke up from
Strasburg in October with the Baden division and the division of troops of
General von der Goltz, crossed the Vosges, reached Epinal and Vesoul, after
daily skirmishes, defeated the troops of General Cambriels on October 22nd
and forced them to retreat to Besangon, and sent General Beyer of Baden off
to attack Dijon. After a fierce combat and a short bombardment this town
was forced to capitulate. The whole of General Werder's corps took position
at that place in November.
Garibaldi, affected by the republican chimera, arrived in Tours on October
9th, having been appointed commander-in-chief of the Volunteers of the
Vosges by Gambetta. He advanced with an army of twenty thousand men
from Autun and was beaten back on November 26th and 27th at Basques.
In the same manner a division under General Cremer, advancing toward
Dijon, was obliged to take flight near Muits, by a part of the Baden division
under General Gliimer, on December 18th; while other divisions of the hostile
army were thrown back into the fortress of Langres by General von der
Goltz. Just then, General Werder heard that large masses of troops were
assembling between Lyons and Besangon and that a tremendous coup against
Belfort was contemplated. Upon this news he evacuated Dijon, and sta-
tioned himself at Vesoul from December 30th imtil January 9th. He had
33,278 infantry, 4,020 cavalry, and 120 field guns; this little army awaited
the advance of General Bourbaki with about 150,000 men. Bourbaki had
been commissioned by Gambetta to make a magnificent diversion in the
rear of the German headquarters at Versailles, and had brought the 3rd
army corps to Besangon in the middle of December, drawn a fourth to himself
from Lyons, and also joined Cremer's division to his army. His plan was,
having such an overwhelming force, to annihilate Werder's corps, relieve
Belfort, penetrate into Alsace, interrupt the commtmication of the German
armies with their bases of supply, and perhaps even undertake a campaign of
revenge in South Germany. Belfort and the rear of the German beleaguering
army were in no little danger. As soon as Moltke was apprised of the situation
he at once, on the 6tli of January, ordered the formation of the army of the
south, composed of the 3rd, 7th, and 14th corps (of General Werder), made
General Manteuffel commander-in-chief, and gave him personal instructions
at Versailles on January 10th. The 2nd and 7th corps left Montargis and
Auxerre, and met on January 12th at Ch^tillon-sur-Seine.
As soon as General Werder realised that Bourbaki's next aim was not
Vesoul but Belfort, he left Vesoul, interrupted Bourbaki's advance on Jan-
uary 9th by an attack at Villersexel, and arrived in good time at the famous
defensive position southwest of Belfort. To strengthen this position, ten
thousand men and thirty-seven siege-guns were taken from the besieging
170 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1871 A.D.]
army at Belfort. The line of defence was drawn from Frahier, past H^ri-
court and Montb^liard, to Delle on the Swiss frontier, and was bounded in
front by the river Lisaine and the swampy valley of the Allaine. Whoever
should storm this position and seize the road to Belfort would first have to
cut down the whole of Werder's corps; for the German troops, well recognising
the danger menacing the fatherland, had raised the historical rallying-cry,
"We dare not let them through, not for the world!"
Outside conditions, not considering the fourfold greater numbers of the
enemy's troops, were most unfavourable. The supply of provisions was small,
the ct)ld was intense (17°), and the river Lisaine was frozen. But the sense
of duty of the German soldiers overcame all difficulties. Bourbaki did not
understand how to make the best use of his superior forces, and either to
break through the centre or surround the feeble right wing cS his opponent.
All his attacks in the three days' battle of Belfort, or Hericourt, on January
15th, 16th, and 17th were repulsed. He was only able to take for a few
hours the feebly garrisoned village of Chenebier; and he had to evacuate and
begin his retreat on January 18th. He was influenced to this step by the
news of the approach of General Manteuffel. The loss of the French in this
battle and in the skirmishes on their retreat were 6,000 — 8,000 killed and
wounded and 2,000 taken prisoners. General Werder lost 81 officers and
1,847 men. On the 19th he followed the enemy, who was retreating toward
Belfort and intended to march from there to Lyons. But unless he were
very expeditious he would reach neither Lyons nor Belfort.
General Manteuffel, who had taken command of the army of the south
on January 12th, was approaching by forced marches. He marched through
the mountain chains of the Cote d'Or, thence between the fortresses of Langres
and Dijon, without molestation from Garibaldi, who had occupied Dijon
with 25,000 men after Werder's evacuation. On the news of Bourbaki's
retreat he turned towards the southeast with his two corps, 44,950 infantry,
2,866 cavalry and 168 guns in all, in order to block the way of the enemy
towards Lyons. He wished to force the enemy to choose between a battle
by his demoralised troops, a surrender without battle, or a crossing of the
Swiss frontier. On January 23rd the road to Lyons was occupied, the first
skirmishes began; the 2nd and 7th corps crowded in from the south and west,
that of General Werder from the north. No way remained open but to the
east. Bourbaki tried to commit suicide on the 26th of January.
At the same time a telegram from Gambetta arrived, superseding Bourbaki
and putting General Clinchant in his place as commander-in-chief of the army
of the east. But he was no less unable to realise Gambetta's projecat of march-
ing the army southward, and was obliged to retreat to Pontarlier. He hoped
to make use of the news of the truce of Versailles as a sheet anchor; but it was
soon evident that it did not apply to the seat of war in the east. Thus the
catastrophe could not be averted. On February 1st the last mountain pass
toward the south was blocked, Pontarlier stormed, and the retreating foe
was pursued as far as the two border fortresses of La Cluse; 90,000 men and
11,787 horses crossed the Swiss frontier at La Verri^res, were disarmed there
and scattered through the different cantons. During these days the Ger-
mans took more than 15,000 prisoners and seized 2 standards, 28 cannon
and mitrailleuses, and great numbers of wagons and weapons.
Garibaldi meanwhile had been held in check by 6,000 men under General
Kettler, during which battle the enemy foimd a "German flag under a heap
of corpses. He evacuated Dijon on the night of February 1st on the report
that stronger forces were approaching, withdrew southwards, and soon after-
THE FRANCO-PEUSSIAN WAR ni
[1871 A.D.]
wards returned to the island of Caprera. The fortress of Belfort, defended
by Colonel Denfert-Rochereau, had so far held out, as the conditions of the
surrounding territory were so favourable. The assault on the two forts of
Upper and Lower Perche was a failure; it was renewed on February 8th and
then with success. After this Belfort could not hold out much longer. In
order, however, to obtain control of the fortress before the conclusion of the
truce. King William consented to an extension, only on condition of the
surrender of Belfort. On February 18th the garrison, still 12,000 men strong,
marched out with military honours, and Belfort was taken possession of by
Tresckow's division. Other fortresses, such as Soissons, Verdun, ThionvUle,
Pfalzburg, and Montm^dy, had already in 1870 been forced to surrender;
only Bitsch remained in possession of the French until March 26th.
After the annihilation of all the armies of rehef, Paris had nothing more
to hope for, unless the groimds for hope were in the city itself. A grand
sortie had been planned with Gambetta for the 30th of November. General
Ducrot, with about fifty thousand men, was to break through the eastern
line of the beleaguering army, march to Fontainebleau, join the army of the
Loire, and with it return to the relief of Paris. While demonstrations were
being made at other points, Ducrot advanced towards Champigny and Brie
on the Marne, drove back the Wiirtemberg division, of which a part repulsed
an attack near Bonneuil and Mesly, and also an incomplete Saxon division
out of the villages of Champigny and Brie; but he could advance no further
on account of the stubborn resistance of the German troops.
On December 2nd the two divisions, assisted by the 2nd army corps and a
brigade of the 6th corps under General Fransecky, advanced and after a hot
fight retook half of Champigny; whereupon the French evacuated the other
half of the place and Brie, and returned with all their troops to the right bank
of the Marne. The Wiirtembergers lost, in these two days of battle, 63
officers and 1,557 men; the Saxons, 82 officers and 1,864 men; the Pomera-
nians, 87 officers and 1,447 men; the loss of the French was about 10,000 men,
among which were about 1,600 prisoners. .The sorties against Stains and
Le Bourget on December 21st and 22nd were also repulsed. Mont Avron,
which had very heavy guns, was abandoned by the French after a bombard-
ment of two days, and the bombardment of the eastern forts was begun.
On January 5th after the arrival of the siege-park the bombardment of the
southern forts was begun; their fire was soon silenced; and on January 9th
began the bombardment of Paris, in which the left bank of the Seine princi-
pally suffered, although not to any great extent.
Two facts soon became apparent: sorties of the Parisians, seeking to re-
pulse the besiegers, broke through their lines and operated in their rear; and
the formation of armies in the provinces, which were intended to go to the
relief of the capital, and in conjunction with the Parisian troops, forced the
German headquarters to raise the siege. This latter measure was particu-
larly urged by Gambetta, who had left Paris in a balloon on October 6th for
Tours, where an external government had been established. Here he took
charge of the ministry of war as well as that of the interior, and finally
usurped the dictatorship of France. He aimed to stir up the national hatred
of the French for the Germans, and to call to the defence of their flag all the
able-bodied men of the harassed country; he gathered large forces on the
Loire, others to the north and west of Paris, and finally succeeded in causing
alarm to the besiegers for the safety of their line of retreat. Thus he had
indeed the credit of prolonging the war, but he incurred also the responsi-
bility of its taking on a more sanguinary character and of the country's
172 THE HISTORY OF PRAISTCE
• [1870 A.D.]
receiving still deeper wounds. The generals of Gambetta were not equal in
strategy to those of Moltke, and the discipline of their soldiers was not much
better than that of the garde mobile in Paris.
After the capitulation of Sedan the headquarters of King William was
fixed in Rheuns on the 5th of September; in Meaux on the 15th; in the Villa
Ferri^res of Rothschild near Lagny on the 18th. From here he went to Ver-
sailles on October 15th. Many important diplomatic documents and oral
transactions date from this period. In a circular letter of September 6th,
Favre declared that since the fall of the empire the king of Prussia could have
no pretext for continuing the war; that the present government never de-
sired the war with Germany, but if the king insisted, would indeed accept it,
but would make him responsible for it; and in any case, no matter how the
war might result, not a foot of land, not a stone of a fortress would be ceded.
Bismarck's answer to this, in a circular letter of September 13th, was that
since the representatives, the senate, and the press in France had in July,
1870, almost unanimously demanded the war of conquest in Germany, it
could not be said that France had not desired it, and that the imperial gov-
ernment alone was responsible for it. Germany would have to expect a war
of revenge on the part of France, even though she should demand no surrender
of territory and no indemnity, and should be content with glory alone. For
this reason Germany was forced to take measures for her own safety, by
setting back somewhat her boundaries, thus making the next attack by the
French on the heretofore defenceless south-German border more difficult.
The neutral powers, with the exception of Russia, were in favour of France,
and seemed to be inclined to interfere in any possible negotiations for peace,
and to hinder any oppressive measures against France. As Thiers was at that
time making his tour through Europe for this very purpose, Bismarck issued
a second circtdar letter on September 16th, in which he advised the powers
not to prolong the war by fostering in the heart of the French nation the hope
of their intervention; for since the German nation had fought this war alone,
it would also conclude it withojit assistance, and would submit to no inter-
ference from any side whatever. The German governments and the German
nation were determined that Germany should be protected against France
by strengthened frontiers. The fortresses of Strasburg and Metz, until now
always open to sorties against Germany, must be surrendered to Germany,
and be for her defence henceforth.
The Parisian government, which since the annihilation of the French
armies had been so much in favour of peace, now wished to know under what
conditions King William would consent to a truce. Favre demanded a meet-
ing with Bismarck, and had several interviews with him on this subject in
the Villa Ferrieres, on September 19th and 20th. He declared that the most
France could consent to was to agree to pay an indemnity, but any cession of
territory was out of the question. In order to decide this, a national assem-
bly must be convened, which would then appoint a regular government, and
to facilitate these measures a truce of from fourteen to twenty-one days was
necessary; and he now asked for this favour. Bismarck replied that such a
truce would be not at all to the military interest of Germany, and could only
be conceded on condition of the surrender of Metz, Toul, and Bitsch. As the
Parisian government would not consent to these conditions, negotiations were
stopped, and Favre and other French diplomats issued new circular letters
in which they deplored the intention of Prussia to reduce France to a power
of the second degree. The absurdity of such an assertion — that a state of
thirty-eight million inhabitants, or including Algeria forty-two miHion, could
THE PEANCO-PETJSSIAN WAR 173
[1870 A.D.]
by the loss of a territory containing about one and one-half millions be re-
duced to the condition of a second-rate power — was exposed in its entire
falsity by Bismarck in his despatch of October 1st.
Nevertheless, a few weeks later, negotiations were once more resumed;
Thiers, who had returned from his tour, appeared at Versailles on November
1st as the new negotiator. Here also the first question to be discussed was
the cessation of hostilities; and when Bismarck asked in surprise what France
had to offer as a return for all these concessions, Thiers absurdly enough
imagined he was very ingenious when he answered that she had nothing: and
upon this, these negotiations also feU through. The republican government
was, as was plainly to be seen, animated by a childish stubbornness — con-
sumed by the idea of its own importance. In every war in which France was
victorious, the hardest possible conditions were imposed upon the vanquished
enemy, who was never permitted to escape territorial concessions. Even
quite recently, in the Italian war of 1859, after the two victories of Magenta
and Solferino, the surrender of Lombardy was demanded. That in case of
French victory the whole left bank of the Rhine would be lost to Germany
was disputed by no intelligent person in Europe. And yet France had the
effrontery to demand from the same opponent from whom she had taken so
many territories in former decades, and from whom she as victor had just
taken her fairest provinces, that the entirety of the French frontiers should
be respected as sacred, and that no attempt should be made to recover the
lost provinces. Such arrogant pretensions could be answered only by new
defeats. Humiliations must be much deeper, distress especially in Paris
much more bitter, before France could realise that every nation, consequently
even the French, must suffer for its sins.
So the cannon had to speak again, and times were very lively before Paris,
as well as at other points. Immediately, on the first day of investment, the
19th of September, the Parisians made a sortie with forty thousand men
against Chatillon. But they were defeated by the Prussian and Bavarian
troops, and fled in shameful disorder. The Parisians fared no better in their
sorties of September 30th and October 13th and 21st. Although they suc-
ceeded in taking the thinly garrisoned village of Le Bourget north of Paris on
October 28th, they were driven out of it again by a division of the guards on
the 30th. Much dissatisfaction was felt in Paris on account of these constant
defeats. The social democrats took advantage of this to overthrow the gov-
ernment and substitute the commune. They created an uprising on October
31st and on November 1st took possession of the Hotel-de-VUle for a few
hours, but were soon ejected. Rochefort, who was greatly compromised, was
obliged to retire from the government.
The Parisians now placed all their hopes on the arrival of the armies of
relief, and aUowed themselves a few weeks of quiet. The earliest relief was
to come from the Loire. General de la Motterouge was stationed there with
an army corps and was advancing from Orleans towards Paris. The first
Bavarian corps under General von der Tann, the Wittich division of infantry,
and two divisions of cavalry, were sent to meet him. The French were de-
feated at Artenay and other points, on October 10th and 11th, and on the
evening of October 11th General von der Tann entered Orleans. The Bava-
rians held the city, the other divisions of the army took Ch^teaudun, Chartres,
and Dreux, northwest of Orleans, and dispersed the gardes mobiles and francs-
tireurs who were stationed there. Gambetta, in coimcil on military subjects
with an ex-mining engineer, Freycinet, called to arms all men between the
ages of twenty and forty, ordered the formation of five new army corps and
174 THE HISTORY OP FRANCE
[1870 A.D.]
had them drilled in special instruction camps. He deposed General de la
Motterouge, and made General Aurelle de Paladines commander-in-chief of
the army of the Loire. The latter crossed the Loire with two corps and
advanced toward the road of Paris, in order to cut off the line of retreat of
the Bavarian general. Von der Tann, however, left Orleans at once, on the
report of the advance of large masses of troops, and on the 9th of November
had a stubborn fight while retreating and established himself at Tours, in
order to block the way of the enemy. A division of infantry was sent to his
assistance from Versailles under command of the grand duke of Mecklenburg.
Against these forces, strengthened by three corps under Prince Frederick
Charles, General Aurelle with his poorly equipped troops, now reduced to
four corps, did not dare to venture an attack, much as Gambetta urged him
to do so. He intrenched himself before Orleans, and awaited the attack.
Thus he was lost, and the headquarters at Versailles and the besieging army
at Paris were freed from all danger.
In the eastern part of France, meanwhile, great successes had been attained
[by the Prussians], important partly in themselves, partly on account of the
possibilities of new and magnificent operations. The fortress of Toul sur-
rendered on September 23rd, by which means the railroad between Strasburg
and Paris was opened again. Strasburg, the ancient imperial German city,
capitulated on September 28th. Since the bombardment of August 24th
to 27th did not bring the commander General Uhrich to terms, a regular
siege was begun. Everything was ready for assault and success was certain.
The commander did not wait for this, but surrendered, and he and 451 officers
and 17,111 men became prisoners of war. Joy in Germany was very great
on the news that Strasburg, lost through treachery on September 30th, 1681,
was once again German.
The capitulation of Metz on October 29th left the beleaguering army free
for most urgent purposes. The 2nd corps under General Fransecky marched
off toward Paris, to strengthen the army of the crown prince of Prussia. From
the remaining 6 corps, a first army under General Manteuffel and a second
under Prince Frederick Charles were formed, each consisting of three corps
and one cavalry division. Prince Frederick Charles, with 49,607 infantry,
5,000 cavalry, and 276 guns, set out on November 2nd from Metz and on the
14th was able to join in operations on the Loire. The troops of the grand
duke of Mecklenburg, some divisions of which had repulsed the army of the
west under General Keratry and occupied Dreux and Ch^teauneuf, joined the
troops of the prince, and formed their right wing. There were about 105,275
men and 556 guns in all, to whom the task had been appointed to force General
Aurelle de Paladines's well-equipped army of 200,000 men out of its strong
position, drive it over the Loire, and retake Orleans.''
MARTIN ON THE SURRENDER OP METZ (OCTOBER 27TH, 1870)
Before descending the sorrowful road that leads to the supreme catastro-
phes, it IS necessary to recount the fall of Metz. Metz presents a most extra-
ordinary and revolting spectacle, a picture never before seen in history— that
of a military chief voluntarily sterilising the powerful means of action which
he held in his hands, embarrassing himself by tortuous combinations, falling
into traps of his own making, and in the end delivering to the enemy without
a struggle a large army and a large unconquered place; accomplishing his
own ruin and the ruin of his country. It is not easy to imderstand this man
and his actions, to discover any plan, any intention in this series of contra-
THE FEANCO-PEtJSSIAN WAR 175
[1870 A.D.]
dictions, lies, and inexplicable mistakes, viewed not only from the stand-
point of his duty but of his own interest. It would seem as though Bazaine,
like Napoleon III, was born to ruin that which it should have been his duty
to save.
Wishing to stay at Metz, why did not Bazaine provision the place for a
long sojourn? If Bazaine had strategic motives for not leaving Metz, he
should, with the large force at his disposal, have harassed the enemy. Dur-
ing the fifteen days which followed the battle of Noisseville, August 31st and
September Ist,^ he took no action, either against the enemy or to provision
the place. The criminal negligence of Bazaine produced its results. After
neglecting all chances of breaking through the enemy's ranks, allowing Metz
to be reduced to famine and the army to become demoralised, Bazaine sur-
rendered. The capitulation was signed on the 27th of October.«
The capitulation of Metz is one of the greatest blots on French history.
It has led many almost to forget how completely uncharacteristic it was of
French warrior type of that or any other time. It is in reaUty only a proof
of how largely warfare is a matter of good or bad commanders. At Metz
197,326 Prussians received the surrender of 6,000 French officers, 187,000
men (including 20,000 sick), 56 imperial eagles, 622 field and 2,876 fixed guns,
72 mitrailleuses, and 260,000 small arras. It is small wonder that even
Moltke ^ credits Bazaine with some ulterior design in trying to keep from
battle so large a force, and hints the same motive previously alluded to —
the hope of being chosen by the Germans as king of the French. The fact
that Bazaine was not overthrown by his own men was perhaps due to the
utter disgust with which Napoleon III was now regarded. His was a poor
cause to die for, and there was no other immediate object in viGVifl
THE UPRISING OF PARIS
Paris had been thrilled with excitement at the news that her troops had
by a sortie taken Bourget from the Germans, October 21st. But a few days
afterwards three pieces of news arrived simultaneously: Metz had surrendered;
Bourget was retaken, October 30th; and Thiers was going to negotiate.
Paris, already very imeasy at the slow progress of operations and resolved
to hold out to the bitter end, was enraged. On the 31st of October crowds
of people from all parts and whole battalions of soldiers assembled in front
of the H6tel-de-Ville, filling the square with a seething, swaying mass of
humanity. Soon they invaded the H6tel-de-Ville; the members of the gov-
ernment were collected in one room; they were guarded and even threatened.
The leaders of the extreme party, Blanqui, Flourens, and Delescluze.
formed a new government. At six o'clock in the evening the government
of the 4th of September seemed overthrown; some of its members who were
prisoners refused to resign. The news spread. A reaction took place. In
the morning the calmer among the people did not act. In the evening, how-
ever, they assembled before the H6tel-de-Ville; but this time it was to pro-
test against the new government. Trochu had called out the army.
[' The French had had about 100,000 men engaged out of the 120,000 who took part in the
attempt at a sortie. The Germans opposed them, on the 31st of August, with 36,000 men, 4,800
cavalry, and 138 guns ; on the 1st of September, with 69,000 men, 4,800 horses, and 290 guns.
They had contrived with far inferior numbers to get the best in a defensive action, waged, it
must be said, under the most advantageous conditions. If we put aside the conditions which
the nature of the ground imposed, we see that in spite of the vigour of the attack everything
failed, owing to the weakness and irresolution of the commander-in-chief : these were carried to
such an extreme that one is justified in assuming that he had no intention of breaking through
the investing lines, and that he did not care to engage in a big battle. — ^^Canonge.?]
176 THE I-IISTOEY OP PRANCE
[1870-1871 A.D.J
The palace, shut up and barricaded, was completely surrounded by soldiers,
and bayonets were bristling as far as the eye could see. The new occupants
began to be disheartened, but at last Ferry entered by a subterranean pas-
sage at the head of a company of gardes mobiles. No fighting took place;
one side promised an amnesty, the other abandoned its resistance, and they
all left the building together. The government of the 4th of September
made an appeal to the people to confirm their power, and this was done by
an enormous majority."
PARIS SUFFERS FROM COLD, HUNGER, AND BOMBARDMENT (dECEMBER-JANUARt)
The torture caused by cold and hunger was terrible. The daily ration
had to suffice; this consisted of indescribable bread, made of residues and
bad bran, and thirty grammes of horseflesh; for the government, having in
its guilty improvidence allowed provisions of aU kinds to be wasted at the
beginning of the siege, was compelled, in spite of solemn promises, to resort
to rationing. Those who possessed neither wealth, nor a gun of the national
guard, nor a recognised state of poverty, could no longer warm nor feed
themselves. The mortality every week reached the enormous total of three
thousand six hundred; epidemics which had broken out in the city, almost
from the beginning of the siege, raged more furiously every day; and small-
pox especially, from September 18th, 1870, to February 24th, 1871, the date
of the armistice, claimed 64,200 victims — 42,000 more than during the cor-
responding period of 1869-1870. As for the mortality of infants, it was
appalling, and attained in one single week, the last of the siege, the frightful
total of two thousand five hundred!
The Parisian women, no matter to what class of society they belonged,
proved themselves admirable. The wealthy, whose emblazoned carriages
remained in the coach-houses for want of horses, went on foot each day to
the sheds in the Champs-Elys^es, or to the ambulance in the Grand Hotel,
to take part in the clinics of N^laton, Ricord, and P6an, of all the famous
men of the school of medicine, and to make the most nauseating and occa-
sionally the most dangerous dressings. Others went to the scene of action in
company with the ambulances of the society for the succour of the wounded.
Actresses lavished their care on the wounded soldiers, nm-sed them in their
theatres now transformed into hospitals; and all, young, old, and celebrated
alike, played the part of sister of mercy with the same ardour which they had
lately displayed in winning their triumphs.
And if the devotion of fortune's favourites was praiseworthy, how much
more admirable was the stoical courage of the women of the people, the
bourgeoise, the workwoman, forced to wait during the icy hours of early
dawn, in the cold, adhesive mire, lashed by the wind and rain, for a meagre
ration of siege bread and a piece of horseflesh! How they must have suffered,
those poor creatures, drawn up in file, benumbed with cold, crushed by the
burden of their poor housekeeping, and torn between the cares of material
life and the mortal anxiety which consumed them at every cannon-shot.
Great astonishment was felt when, in the afternoon of January 5th,
several shells were flung into the southern quarter of the city. As they
seemed to be thrown here and there without any definite aim, it was thought
that they were the result of ill-regulated firing, or the fault of some gunner,
for the Parisians refused to believe that the German armies could, by an act
worthy of Vandals, seriously intend to destroy with their shells the capital
of the civilised world. But soon the persistence and progressive regularity
THE FEANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 177
[1871 A.D.]
of the discharges left no room for illusion, and one was forced to yield to
evidence. It most certainly was upon Paris that the soldiers of King William
were levelling their cannon.
The attempt at intimidation essayed by the foe as their last resource was
merely useless cruelty. They even received that light ridicule which is
always attached to great measures producing but slight results. As for
the fall of Paris, it was not hastened by a single day. Neverthe-
less, from January 6th, all the monuments on the left bank were bound to
suffer more or less. The districts of St. Victor, the Jardin des Plantes, the
Staff College, the Pantheon, the Invalides, the Library of Ste. Genevieve, the
Luxembourg Gardens, wherein were the ambulance quarters, the Ecole
Polytechnique, and the convent of the Sacred Heart were ploughed with
shells, occasionally causing conflagrations which were hastily extinguished.
By an aggravation of barbarity, the hospitals seemed to be the centre of
the circle attacked. The lunatic asylum of Montrouge received 127 pro-
jectiles between January 5th and 27th, the Val de Grace hospital 75, the
Salpetriere 31. It will be seen that the bombardment was methodical; it
cost the civil population 396 victims (of whom 107 were women, children, or
old men), who were instantly killed. But, notwithstanding these most re-
grettable effects, the only immediate result was a certain emigration of the
inhabitants of the left bank to the right bank. Others "flocked in crowds
to the bombarded districts to contemplate with curiosity the curve described
by the shells, fragments of which were picked up and sold by urchins for five
centimes up to five francs, according to the size." As the Germans threw
altogether ten thousand projectiles, it may be assumed that the receipts must
certainly have been profitable.™
THE LAST SOETIE
Still the bombardment had not attained its object. Its odious and useless
barbarity had not brought the fall of Paris one day nearer. Steel and fire
could effect nothing; famine was the only adversary capable of conquering
the great city. Before succumbing to it the supreme effort had to be tried,
the battle of despair to be fought which might still save everything. Did not
Gambetta's despatches give grounds to hope for the march of Chanzy on
Paris and a victory by Bourbaki in the east?
At all costs it was necessary to preserve the honour of four months of
constancy and concord, and not to plunge into civil war in the presence of
the enemy. The storm was rising in Paris and the blame of her misfortunes
was laid on the military authorities. On the 5th of January one of the
chiefs of the revolutionary party, Delescluze, mayor of the 20th arrondisse-
ment, had endeavoured to bring the mayors to vote a violent address de-
manding the dismissal of Trochu.
He had not been listened to, and had resigned; but two days later a great
sortie which had been prepared, being countermanded because the enemy had
learned or divined the plan of attack, the agitation was extreme. The violent
cried treason, the masses cried out at the incapacity of the commanders.
They began vehemently to demand the supersession of the governor of Paris.
On the 15th of January the council of government decided on a last effort
against the Prussian lines. The next day the coimcil of war accepted this
decision; the military chiefs yielded to the necessity, but without confidence.
Ducrot had no longer any of the dash exhibited at Champigny. Clement
Thomas, the commander of the national guard, declared that the regiments
H. yr. — VOL, xm. n
178 THE HISTORY OF PRANCE
[1871 A.D.]
of foot of the mobilised Parisians would furnish fifty thousand men. In this
there was an ardour which the troops no longer possessed.
Troops of the line, gardes mobiles, and mobilised national guards were
set in motion during the 18th. It had been decided to put into action sixty-
thousand men who would be supported by a reserve of forty thousand. The
attack was made in the direction of Versailles. The enemy, who had been
so greatly alarmed by a former sortie on the same side, three months before,
had strongly fortified himself there.
The French army had been divided into three corps under generals Vinoy,
Bellemare, and Ducrot. The routes were few in number and were moreover
confined at various points by barricades which left only narrow passages.
The three generals not having concerted together on the matter of time, the
various corps jostled one another and
became mutually entangled in this pain-
ful night-march. But the day began
well.
The cannon of the French, which
they had at last managed to mount to
the right of Montretout, swept the ranks
of the assailants. They gave way; the
summit was at last in the hands of the
French. The fire of the enemy relaxed,
then ceased.
The line of the German outposts re-
mained in the hands of the French; might
they hope that the next day they would
be able to force that second and formi-
dable line against which they had flung
themselves? The leaders thought not.
Trochu had hurried from Mont Valerien
to that ridge of Montretout which had
been victoriously retained. He judged
it useless to renew the effort and ordered
the retreat. The Germans made no at-
tempt to harass the retiring forces.
It was as at Champigny, a half victory terminated by a retreat; but this
time it was impossible to begin again. Little confident in the morning,
Trochu was wholly discouraged by the evening. On hearing of the retreat
Jules Favre felt with Trochu that all was lost. At most the means of ward-
ing off starvation were only sufficient for twelve or thirteen days. It was
calculated that it would take ten to collect new supplies. That same night
the government received two despatches, one of which announced the un-
fortunate issue of the battle of Le Mans; in the other, written before Chanzy's
reverse was known at Bordeaux, Gambetta called on his colleagues in Paris
to give battle, threatening to inform France of his sentiments on their inaction
if they still delayed. The painful irritation of this letter testified that the
writer felt the supreme hour was approaching. The fight he demanded had
just been ended; the cautious general at Paris had fought like the bold general
of Le Mans: both had failed.
A minority of the members of the government at Paris once more stiffened
themselves against the terrible necessity. They demanded another general
if Trochu refused to make a new effort. The line and the garde mobile de-
manded peace-, the national guard alone wished to fight again. Jules Favre
Jules Favre
THE FRANCO-PEUSSIAN WAE 179
[1871 A.D.]
despatched to Gambetta a melancholy message which was to be the last of
the siege. "Though Paris surrender, France is not lost; thanks to you, she
is animated by a patriotic spirit which will save her; in any case we will sign
no preliminaries of peace."
Eventually the members of the government contrived that Trochu should
resign the military command while binding him to remain president of the
council. This was the greatest token of self-abnegation and devotion that
he could give. In so doing he resigned himself to going back on his word by
signing the capitulation.
Vinoy succeeded m the command. His succession was inaugurated by
an insurrection. Several persons were killed in the crowd. This was the
first act of civil war after four months of siege. After two conferences with
Bismarck, Jules Favre agreed to the capitulation of Paris, concluded with the
condition that the German army should not enter Paris during the duration
of the armistice. The convention of Paris was concluded on January 28th.«
THE END OF THE WAE
An armistice of three weeks was agreed to, although this did not include
the three eastern departments in which the destruction of Bourbaki's army
was just taking place. During this time a national assembly was to be chosen
to decide on the question of war or peace; all the forts of Paris and the war
supplies were handed over to the German troops; the garrisons of Paris and
of the forts were taken prisoners and had to give up their arms, although they
still remained in Paris and had to be supported by the town authorities. One
division of twelve thousand men was to be kept to maintain order and the
same exception was made in the case of the whole national guard, against
Moltke's will and at the desire of Favre, who repented of it later. The city
of Paris had to pay a war tax of two hundred million francs within fourteen
days, and was allowed to provision itself. On the 29th of January the sur-
render of the twenty-five larger and smaller forts to the German troops took
place and the black-white-and-red flag was raised on them.
This convention was very unwelcome to Gambetta. However, he thought
he might use the respite of three weeks to equip new troops and hoped by
controlling the impending elections to bring together a radical national assem-
bly, resolved to continue the war h I'outrance. For this purpose he pub-
lished a proscription list on the 31st of January, according to which every-
one who had received a higher office or an official candidacy from the imperial
government was declared ineligible. Bismarck and the Parisian government
protested energetically against such an arbitrary act and insisted upon free
elections. In the German headquarters it was decided to take the most
extreme measures, and new plans of operations were already drawn up.
Gambetta, being abandoned by the other members of the representative gov-
ernment, resigned on February 6th. On the 8th of February elections were
held throughout France, and on the 12th the national assembly was opened
at Bordeaux. Thiers was chosen chief of the executive on the 17th, formed
his ministry on the 19th, and on the 21st, accompanied by the ministers Favre
and Picard, he went to Versailles, commissioned by the national assembly,
to begin the peace negotiations.''
CHAPTER VII
THE THIRD REPUBLIC
[1871-1906 A.D.J
Perhaps the most general feeling throughout the civilised world
with regard to French history in the nineteenth century is that it is a
chaos of revolutions, one government after another being set up and
pulled down in obedience to the fluctuating impulse of the mob. It
may well be maintained, as against this view, that nowhere in history
is visible a more logical and consistent operation of cause and effect,
the whole forming a struggle to solve the problem, which indeed
underlies all the history of popular government — how to establish an
executive strong enough to govern, and yet not strong enough to
abuse its power. — Gamaliel Bradford.*
France and Paris had so long been separated that, when they again met
face to face, they did not recognise each other. Paris could not forgive the
provinces for not coming to her rescue, the provinces could not forgive Paris
her perpetual revolutions and the state of nervous excitability in which she
seemed to delight. While the provinces, crushed, requisitioned, worn out
by the enemy, were hoping for rest which would enable their wounds to heal,
Paris, like an Olympic circus, was re-echoing more noisily than ever to the
sound of arms and warlike cries. It was the intermediate time between a
government which had ceased to exist and a government which was not yet
formed; executive bodies were hesitating, not knowing exactly whom to obey,
not daring to come to any decision under any circumstances: dissolution
was general and indecision permanent.^
That it was a costly mistake for the Germans to insist on the spectacular
parade through so inflammable a city as Paris, is emphasised in the recent
work of Z^vort'*; and Jules Favre« describes the earnestness with which
Thiers pleaded with Bismarck and Von Moltke against the project. The
Prussians insisted, however, either on keeping the city of Belfort, or on the
180
THE THIED EEPtTBLIC 181
tl8lCl A.D.]
glory of the triumph in Paris. Thiers protested against the seizure of Belfort
in the following words:''
" Well, then, let it be as you will, Monsieur le comte — these negotiations
are nothing but a pretence. We may seem to deliberate, but we must pass
under your yoke. We demand of you a city which is absolutely French: you
refuse it: that amoimts to confessing that you are resolved on a war of ex-
termination against us. Carry it into effect: ravage our provinces, bum our
houses, slaughter the inoffensive inhabitants — in a word, finish your work.
We will fight you to the last gasp. We may succumb; at least we shall not
be dishonoured!"
Herr von Bismarck seemed disturbed, says Favre. The emotion of Thiers
had won him over. He answered that he understood what he must be suffer-
ing, and that he should be happy to be able to make a concession, if the king
consented.
It is an unlooked-for spectacle — a Bismarck almost melted and a Moltke
almost sentimental, preferring a barren honour, the entry of their troops into
Paris, to the possession of a French town, and succeeding in making their
master share their point of view. We also see for ourselves that Thiers,
though he was weU known to be a determined advocate of peace, only ob-
tained the very slender concessions that were made to him by threatening to
struggle to the last gasp, and we repeat that a less pacific chamber and ne-
gotiators, animated by the same spirit as Gambetta, might, to all appearance,
have obtained less hard conditions.*
After the end of the siege there may be said to have been hardly any gov-
ernment in Paris. General Vinoy, who was in command, had, like all the
military leaders, lost his whole prestige during the siege. The army by mix-
ing with the people had imbibed the same spirit, and the government did not
interfere in anything. The news of the entry of the Prussians exasperated
the people, who were burning with the fever of despair. Tumultuous demon-
strations took place at the Bastille; at the same time the crowd seized the
guns which had been left in the part of Paris which the Prussians were to
occupy. At first they wished to keep the conquerors from getting possession
of them; then they kept them, and the most distrustful of the people took
them up to Montmartre. The entry of the Prussians nearly brought about a
terrible conflict with these crowds, which were burning with fury. This mis-
fortune was, however, avoided. But the march of the conquerors through
Paris was not of a tri\miphal character. Restricted within the space which
leads from Neuilly through the Champs-Elysees to the Louvre, they were
defied by the street boys of Paris, and were met at every turning by
threatening crowds who pursued them with yells. The second day they
were obliged to beat a dejected retreat.
Meanwhile the advanced republicans were organising their party; they
expected to have to fight the monarchical assembly by force. The law
against Paris, the law of echeance, caused great indignation. The name of
Thiers recalled his struggle against the republic after 1848 and his services as
minister imder Louis Philippe. All this was too far distant to enable people
to judge of the new r61e he intended to play. The repubhcans of the min-
istry, Jules Favre, Picard, and Jules Simon, had, after the siege, lost all
influence in Paris. A great many men who inspired confidence, left the
assembly. Victor Hugo, whose speech had been shouted down by the pop-
ulace, and Gambetta had resigned. A severe conflict seemed immment.
Though Thiers wished on the one hand to control the royalists of the as-
sembly, he was determined on the other to deprive of weapons the republicans
18* THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1871 A.D.J
of the large towns. He made a pretext for doing this by demanding the
restitution of the cannon which had been seized. Some of the radical dep-
uties intervened to prevent civil war. They had twice almost succeeded m
obtaining the restitution of the cannon, and were making further efforts to
do so. Paris, too, seemed gradually calming down, when Thiers decided to
employ force. On the 18th of March, at daybreak, the troops, under the
orders of General Vinoy, ascended the slopes of Montmartre and took pos-
session of the cannon. But things had been so badly managed that the
people were aware of what was happening. The sight of those who had been
wounded in the morning enraged the crowd; the troops were surrounded and
dispersed: there was not even a struggle. The soldiers no longer obeyed
their officers, but mingled with the populace.
All Paris was in arms: instantly barricades were raised in every direction.
Thiers had for a long time held that when a rebellion is serious it is best to
abandon the revolting town and only re-enter it as a conqueror. He com-
manded a retreat to Versailles. During the night the H6tel-de-Ville was
evacuated by the government. The insurrection had been inaugurated with
terrible bloodshed. General Leconte, who in the morning commanded part
of the troops at Montmartre, had been detained by the crowd with some other
prisoners, and the republican CMment Thomas, who had conimanded the
national guard in 1848 and during the siege, had been recognised and ar-
rested on the boulevard. These prisoners had been dragged from place to
place. At last they were brought to the rue des Rosiers where a committee
from Montmartre was sitting. A crowd of infuriated people assailed the
house, and in the midst of a scene of wild confusion the two generals, Leconte
and Clement Thomas, were pushed against the walls of the garden and riddled
with bullets. This slaughter made a bloody stain on the proceedings of
the day.
THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
Among the numerous organisations formed in Paris during the two pre-
ceding months, the most active and enterprising was that which was known
as "The central committee of the national guard," although it was com-
posed of very obscure men. The central committee had taken as large a
part as it possibly could in the doings of the 18th of March. It now installed
itself in the deserted H6tel-de-Ville, posted up a proclamation, and thus be-
came the government of the rebel party.
The following day the party of the popvilation of Paris, who had done
nothing on the 18th of March, but had remained passive, now began to resist
the movement. The deputies of Paris and the mayors elected during the
siege joined this party of the people, and summoned to their aid the portion
of the national guard led by Admiral Saisset.
Paris was cut in two. A spark would ignite the flame of civil war, nego-
tiations were opened. The central committee offered to retire in favour of
men chosen by the city; they were willing to stand for election, but only in
order to continue the Revolution and not for the purpose of restoring legal or-
der. Meantime they were governing the part of Paris which belonged to them.
Arrests were made at the railway stations, and they threw General Chanzy
and Floquet into prison. A series of abortive measures led up to the elections
of the 23rd of March. In general members of the central committee, well-
known socialists and partisans of the Revolution, gained enormous ma-
jorities.
THE THIED REPUBLIC 183
[1871 A.D.]
THE COMMUNE OF 1871 ORGANISED
The commune — this was the name assumed by the insurgents in whose
hands Paris had just placed the government — took possession of the whole
town, except a corner of the 16th arrondissement, and Mont Valerien, which
remained in the power of the army of Versailles, increasing day by day by
reinforcements from all directions, and which Thiers placed under the com-
mand of Marshal MacMahon, the man who had been defeated at Worth and
Sedan.
At Versailles, Paris was looked upon as the refuge of scoundrels and mad-
inen. Thus, in both of these centres, a spirit of civil war seemed part of the
air men breathed. On the 2nd the army took possession of the barricade on
the bridge at Neuilly. On the 3rd a united attack on Versailles was led by
Gustave Flourcns.
The first volleys from Mont Valerien threw the crowd into disorder.
Flourens, deserted and in hiding at Rueil, was killed by a sabre woimd in-
flicted by an officer of police. Next day near Chatillon the federals were
repulsed in the same way, and, amongst others, their leader Duval was taken
prisoner.
After this it was impossible for the commune to think of threatening
Versailles. Driven back into Paris, it was about to be besieged there. From
the first the prisoners were put to death. General de Galliffet had had two
of the national guards placed against a wall and shot. Duval was executed
without any formal trial.
The commune responded by a decree that all prisoners and partisans of
the assembly who were arrested and condemned were to be kept as the " host-
ages of Paris," and that three of them should be shot each time that one of
the federal prisoners was shot by the army. The effect produced by such a
terrible threat may be imagined. After this no prisoners were executed on
either side till the troops re-entered Paris. The struggle continued during
the months of April and May without any fresh battle in the open. The
army could only succeed in taking Neuilly street by street, slowly, after a
month's fighting. The fort of Issy was defended with desperate determina-
tion. Meanwhile Thiers was having Paris bombarded from St. Cloud. The
shells poured down upon the Champs-Elysees, reaching as far as the place
de la Concorde.
And what was being done by the commune, the mistress of Paris? These
were the plans the communists desired to carry out, and which represented
the doctrines and political significance of the movement known as "the
revolution of the 18th of March" — inside the fortifications the following
measures had been proclaimed: the separation of Church and State; the
suppression of the ministerial officials, who were all absent; the suppression
of night-work for bakers, and a manifesto tending to bring about home rule
in every commune in France, for each was to be a distinct state having its
own army, its own laws, and its own system of taxation.
The violent measures taken by the commune had soon alienated most of
the people from it. It confiscated and destroyed the house of Thiers, seized
his collections, and then demolished the Vendome column. The papers
which opposed it most firmly were suppressed one after the other. Arrests
and the searching of houses often took place simply on the authority of any
officer of the national guard who chose to command them. In this way a
large number of priests, monks, police officers, and former magistrates had
184 THE HISTOBY OF FRANCE
[18?! a.dJ
been arrested, and with them, republicans hke Chaudey. The commune was
divided into two parties. The most celebrated man in the commune, Deles-
cluze, did not belong to either party. The commune was without money and
had recourse to the bank in order to raise funds.
THE EBCAPTURE OF PARIS
Paris had an unusual appearance: the national tricolour had disappeared
and was replaced by the red flag. Strange uniforms were seen in the streets.
Certain churches where the services had been put a stop to were used for
holding public meetings, and orators of both sexes discussed socialistic ques-
tions from the pulpit. The wealthy parts of the town were deserted. The
distant thunder of the cannon never ceased night or day. The commune had
not succeeded in inciting other towns in France to rise in rebellion, except St.
Iltienne, Lyons, and Toulouse; there was also a rising in Aude: but these
had either failed or been speedily suppressed. The municipal elections took
place throughout the country in April and resulted in a victory for the dem-
ocratic party. From all directions delegates from the new municipalities
were sent to Versailles to try if possible to avert a civil war. It was in dealing
with these delegates that Thiers first clearly and definitely pledged himself
to a republican policy. On the 21st of May the army entered Paris unex-
pectedly, making an entry by the left bank of the river. Then began that ter-
rible battle which lasted nearly a week, when Paris was retaken street by
street amid scenes of indescribable horror./
The powers of resistance of which the insurrection could dispose after its
victory of March 18th must have been considerable, to enable it to sustain
two months of constant fighting and the great seven days' battle in Paris.
Its artillery consisted of 1,047 pieces. Deducting the guns employed on the
outposts, the forts, and the walls, 726 were used in the streets when the regu-
lar troops at last penetrated into Paris. The cavalry was ineffective and
never counted more than 449 horses; but, on the contrary, the infantry was
very numerous. Twenty regiments, consisting of 254 battalions, were divided
into active and stationary parts: the first set in movement 3,649 officers and
76,081 soldiers; the effective of the second was 106,909 men led by 4,284
officers, which produced a total of more than 191,000 men, from which must
be deducted 30,000 individuals who always found means to escape service.
Briefly, the commune had an army of from 140,000 to 150,000 soldiers,
which it commanded both outside and inside Paris.
To this already imposing mass must be added twenty-eight free companies,
very independent in conduct, which acted according to the fancy of the
moment and obeyed no one. Their very fluctuating contingent rose, to-
wards the middle of the month of May, to the number of 10,820 followers, led
by 310 officers. There were among them men of every origin and of every
description, who chose the wildest names — Turcos of the commune, Bergeret's
scouts, children of Paris, Father Duchgne's children. Lost Children, Lascars,
Marseillais sharpshooters, volunteers of la colonne de Juillet, and avengers of
Flourens.'^
From the beginning it was evident that the conquerors would be impla-
cable. Hardly had the army entered the city, when the executions began.
Some of the vanquished, feeling they need hope for no mercy, soon began
the criminal work which was to electrify the world. In the evening of the
23rd, volumes of flame and smoke enveloped the city. Massacres on the one
side were avenged by arson and murder on the other. No poet, not even
THE THIRD EEPtJBLlC 185
[1871 A.D.]
Dante, when he was piling horror upon horror in his Inferno, ever imagined
such a ghastly spectacle as was presented by Paris during the whole of that
week. At the barracks people were shot down by the dozen. Whole districts
were depopulated by flight, arrests, and executions. In the part of Paris
which was still held by the federals, the fury of the populace became more
violent as defeat became more certain.
On the 24th, at La Roquette, Raoul Rigault and Ferre had six "hostages "
massacred. These included the archbishop of Paris and the cure of the
Madeleine. On the 25th the Dominicans of Arcueil, in a terrible and almost
incredible scene, were driven forth, torn almost limb from limb, and killed
near the Gobelins. Some of the Paris guards and some priests were massa-
cred in the rue Haxo. Other victims also suffered at La Roquette. When
the troops reached the chateau d'Eau, Delescluze, wearing a frock-coat and
carrying a walking-stick, walked all alone, with his head held high, straight
into the thick of the firing; his corpse was found there riddled with bullets.
It was at the taking of the last federal strongholds, Belleville, that the slaugh-
ter was most terrible, while in the parts of Paris already taken the summary
shooting of prisoners was going on steadily.
Meanwhile long processions of prisoners (forty thousand had been taken)
were journeying with parched throats, blistered feet, and fettered hands along
the road from Paris to Versailles, and as they passed through the boulevards
of Louis XIV's town, they were greeted with yells and sometimes with blows.
They were crowded hastily into improvised prisons, one of which was merely
a large courtyard where thousands of poor wretches lived for weeks with no
lodging but the muddy ground, where they were exposed to all the inclemency
of the weather, and whence they were despatched by a bullet in the head
when desperation incited them to rebel. The Germans, from the terraces of
St. Germain, were watching the spectacle of the taking of Paris, and at night
saw the great city which was the glory of France decked with its hideous
crown of fires.
Certain it is that if such sights as these have not made the country hate
the very idea of civil war, if they have not taught France what a crime it is
to set armed Frenchmen against each other, it seems as if the lessons taught
by history were indeed useless. On the 29th of May the conquest of Paris
was complete. A terrible day of reckoning succeeded the misfortunes which
the city had endured while the fighting was going on. Nearly ten thousand
convictions were pronounced by the courts martial. New Caledonia was
peopled with convicts. Besides these a large portion of the population had
taken flight; and thus many industries, which had hitherto been exclusively
Parisian, were introduced into foreign countries.
Anger was so bitter against the refugees that the right of other nations to
afford an asylum to them was disputed and Belgium even promised to give
them up to France. The famous poet Victor Hugo was at that time in Brus-
sels, and published a letter in which he stated that all refugee rebels would
find a shelter in his house. The following night an attack was made on his
house, which was pelted with stones. Immediately afterwards, the Belgian
government expelled "the individual named Victor Hugo." But neither
Belgium nor any other coimtry could give the exiles of the commime back to
France./ ... , .
History has rarely known a more unpatriotic crime than that of the m-
surrection of the commime; but the punishment inflicted on the insurgents
by the Versaifles troops was so ruthless that it seemed to be a counter-mani-
festation of French hatred for Frenchmen in civil disturbance rather than a
186 THE HISTOEY OP FEANCE
[1871-1872 A.D.]
judicial penalty applied to a heinous offence. The number of Parisians kilied
by French soldiers in the last week of May, 1871, was probably twenty thou-
sand, though the partisans of the commune declared that thirty-six thousand
men and women were shot in the streets or after summary court-martial.
It is from this point that the history of the Third Republic commences.
In spite of the doubly tragic ending of the war the vitality of the country
seemed unimpaired. With ease and without murmur it supported the new
burden of taxation called for by the war indenmity and by the reorganisation
of the shattered forces of France. M. Thiers was thus aided in his task of
liberating the ferritory from the presence of the enemy. His proposal at
Bordeaux to make the essai loyal of the republic, as the form of government
which caused the least division among Frenchmen, was discouraged by the
excesses of the commune, which associated republicanism with revolutionary
disorder. Nevertheless, the monarchists of the national assembly received
a note of warning that the country might dispense with their services unless
they displayed governmental capacity, when in July, 1871, the republican
minority was largely increased at the by-elections. The next month, within
a year of Sedan, a provisional constitution was voted, the title of president of
the French RepubHc being then conferred on Thiers. The monarchists con-
sented to this against their will; but they had their own way when they con-
ferred constituent powers on the assembly in opposition to the republicans,
who argued that it was a usurpation of the sovereignty of the people for a body
elected for another purpose to assume the power of giving a constitution to the
land without a special mandate from the nation. The debate gave Gambetta
his first opportimity of appearing as a serious politician. The fou furieux
of Tours, whom Thiers had denounced for his efforts to prolong the hopeless
war, was about to become the chief support of the aged Orleanist statesman
whose supreme achievement was to be the foimdation of the republic?
THE ADMINISTRATION OF THIEES (1871-1873)
The French government had two immediate ends in view — to rid the coun-
try of foreign occupation as speedily as possible, and to improve the military
organisation on a Prussian model. Since the liquidation of great sums of
money was necessary for attaining both these ends, a great demand was put
on the taxable strength of the coimtry. The object to be gained by the second
aim was not to increase the defensive power of the land, since an imaggressive
France had to fear no attack, but to prepare for a war of revenge against
Germany. The shattered military glory was to be restored, the lost provinces
were to be given back, or some compensation, perhaps in Belgium, was to be
obtained for them. All parties in France, the monarchists as well as the ex-
treme republicans, were filled with this idea, voted funds after funds for mili-
tary purposes in the national assembly, and even oJBfered the government
more money than it asked for.
Thiers, who had been made president of the French Republic on August
31st, 1871, by the national assembly, negotiated a loan of two thousand five
hundred million francs for the payment of the first two milliards of the war
indemnity in Jime, 1871, and a loan of more than three milliards for the pay-
ment of the rest in July, 1872. The "financial miracle" was then enacted
— namely, forty-four milliards was registered in the public subscription list,
in which German banking houses also participated disgracefully. Even if
this sum were not intended in earnest, it was nevertheless aa extremely
favourable testimony to the French credit.
THE THIED REPtJBLIC 187
[1871-1875 A.D.]
By the military law of July 28th, 1872, universal compulsory service was
introduced, providing that one part of the community was to serve for five
years, the other in periods of six months' drill. This law was completed by
the organisation law of July 24th, 1873 — which fixed the number of the regi-
ments and divided them into eighteen army corps — and by the cadre law of
March 13th, 1875. This latter increased
the battalion cadres by creating a new
fourth battalion for every three which
already existed, so that now instead of
the regiments of three battalions with
a maximum strength of three thousand
men, there were regiments of four bat-
talions, which brought the maximum
strength of the regiment up to four
thousand men. After this law had
been carried out, the French infantry,
consisting of 641 battalions, numbered
269 field battalions more than in the
year 1870, and 171 field battalions more
than the German army in time of peace.
This cadre law caused such a sensa-
tion that in the spring of 1875 it was
generally reported that there was an-
other war " in sight" ; that the German
Empire wished to declare war on France
before these colossal preparations were
carried mto effect. Nevertheless, the
war did not go beyond diplomatic in-
quiries. The "great" nation tried to
put all the responsibihty for the mili-
tary disgrace in the late war upon Mar-
shal Bazaine, who, it must be said,
had signed the capitulation of Metz
at a very convenient moment for the
Germans. He was brought before a
military tribunal and condemned to
death on December 10th, 1873, but
this sentence was commuted to twenty
years' imprisonment. He began his
period of captivity on December 26th
in a fort on the island of Ste. Margue-
rite, but he escaped on August 10th,
1874, with the help of his wife, and fled
to Spain.
The national assembly, divided into
parties which were bitterly opposed
to each other, developed a very meagre legislative activity. On one side
stood the three monarchistic parties of the legitimists, the Orleanists, and
the Bourbons, each of which had its pretender to the throne; on the other
the republicans, who were divided into a moderate and an extreme Left.
Between them stood a group of parliamentarians, who could be satisfied with
either form of government, if only the constitutional system were preserved.
It is true that the monarchists held the majority, but in the course of the next
MacMahon
188 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
[1873-1875 A.D.]
few years they lost considerable ground through the supplementary^ elections,
and they were so disunited among themselves that m the most important
questions frequently a fraction of the Right voted with the Left, and the
majority thus became a minority. The "fusion," i.e. the union of the legiti-
mists and Orleanists into one single party, did not succeed.
Thiers preferred the actual republic to any one of the three possible
monarchies, and for that very reason the monarchists were very much dis-
satisfied with him. When, at the re-formation of the ministry on May 18th,
1873, he wholly disregarded the monarchistic majority and recruited his
cabinet entirely from the moderate Left, the monarchists moved a vote of
censure upon Thiers. This was carried on May 24th, 1873, by a vote of 360
against 344.
Macmahon becomes president
Thiers and his ministry resigned; whereupon, in the same sitting, MacMa-
hon was elected president of the republic. The duke de Broglie held the place
of vice-president under him. In order to strengthen the position of the presi-
dent the national assembly voted on November 19th. 1873, to fix the term
of his service at seven years. The Broglie ministry could not long succeed in
this difficult art of steering safely between the parties. It was compelled to
retire on May 16th, 1874, through the result of the ballot on the electoral
law, and on May 22nd the war minister, Cissey, took over the presidency of
the cabinet.
But when the government seemed to favour the Bonapartists and a choice
between the republic or a third empire was imminent, the moderate Orleanists
separated themselves from the government; from the left and right Centre
a new majority was formed, which, on the motion of the delegate Wallon, by
its final vote on February 25th, 1875, established a republic with regular presi-
dential elections, and with a senate and second chamber. Thereupon the
formation of the Buffet ministry followed on March 10th, the most prominent
member of which belonged to the right Centre.''
MARTIN ON the CONSTITUTION OF 1875
The constitution was formed as foUows: at the head of the executive a
president, named in advance by the 1871 assembly, to hold office for seven
years, with power to dissolve the chamber of deputies subject to agreement
by the senate. He had also a more formidable right — that of suspending
both chambers for one month, though not more than twice in a session; that
is, he was to be sole and uncontrolled governor in case of disagreement be-
tween himself and the direct or indirect representatives of the nation. The
senate was composed of two hundred and twenty-five members appointed by
the departments and the colonies for nine years, and seventy-five appointed
by the national assembly; these last for life. The others were elected by a
departmental circle composed of deputies, councillors-general, suburban coun-
cillors, and delegates, one from each municipal councU.
So it came about that the smallest French commune, haAong hardly
enough electors to compose a municipal council, played as considerable a
part in the goyernment as Lyons or Marseilles. This meant the subordina-
tion of republican towns to country districts, over which the government
hoped to exercise a powerful influence. An elector in a tiny commune
weighed in the electoral balance as much as two or three thousand electors in
large cities. At bottom it was an election of senators in the hands of village
THE THIED EEPUBLIC 189
[1876 A.D.]
mayors, under governmental influence. This was a very different thing from
the declaration of rights — "All men are equal in the eyes of the Law."
There remained the chamber of deputies elected by imiversal suffrage. It
was elected by borough balloting, but it was not included in the articles of
the constitution. This chamber shared the introduction of laws with the
senate and the president of the republic. It was named by a mode of ballot
that diminished its importance and threatened it with dissolution on the
slightest disagreement with the assembly, which was chosen by restricted
suffrage. The constitution, however, gave it a supreme prerogative — a su-
preme means of making the national will triumphant: the introduction of
financial laws, the key of the money chest! The chamber of deputies had
the most weight in matters of taxing, a prerogative which is not only a re-
publican right but one which is also exercised in all constitutional monarchies.
This right the chamber of deputies did not even know how to uphold and
defend.
The Versailles assembly, which was imenthusiastic, monarchical, and far
more clerical, was principally concerned in promoting in the new constitution
the interests of the higher classes above those of democracy, of crushing
imiversal suffrage which it was unable to suppress under the feet of limited
suffrage, and fettering as far as possible every liberal or democratic reform.
At the end of ten years its entire work still existed and in this sense one may
say that the assembly of 1871 was successful.
From the 22nd to the 24th of February the Wallon proposition was dis-
puted foot by foot, word by word, by the Right, who rained a shower of
amendments on it. They wanted universal suffrage; an appeal to the people;
the declaration of the sovereignty of the people; the interdiction of princes
as presidents of the republic. Everything was commenced, but to little pur-
pose. The republicans turned a deaf ear, maintained a staunch resistance
and, from the highest to the lowest, kept the promise made in their name.
On the 24th of February the senate law and the transmission of the presi-
dent's powers had a majority. On the 25th of February the bill relative to
the organisation of public powers was carried in a third and final debate by
425 against 254. The republic was complete!''
n
Simon's ministry
This constitution, the fourteenth since 1789, was the result of dissensions
among the monarchists, who preferred republican candidates to their rivals
in the legitimist or Orleanist ranks. After this unexpected aid, the republi-
cans gained a large majority in the elections to the chamber, thanks largely
to the efforts of Gambetta, who was not, however, rewarded with representa-
tion in the cabinet. The first minister imder the new constitution was
Dufaure, formerly in Louis Philippe's cabinet; late in 1876 he retired, and
the new premier was Jules Simon. Simon was of deeply Catholic sympathies
and aided in a movement to interfere in Italian affairs for the restoration of
the pope to temporal power and the control of Rome."
During Simon's ministry the struggle, from being political, suddenly be-
came a religious one between the republicans and the conservatives.^ Some
incidents of external politics in Italy and Germany, whose reverberations ex-
tended to France, a demand for the authorisation of conferences, presented
to the minister of the interior by the ex-pere Hyacinthe, the aggressive
ardour of archbishops and bishops and the anti-religious violence of a part
of the radical press, all united to set lay society and the clerical world in
no THE HISTORY OP PRANCE
[1878 A.D.]
opposition to one another and to provoke in parliament a formidable crisis
— in the country an agitation which might have produced first a revolution
and afterwards war.
Gambetta set himself against the clerical party and demanded that the
Concordat should be interpreted as a two-sided contract, obligatory and
equally binding on both parties; and he ended by repeating the words of
Peyrat: "Clericalism, that is the enemy!" (Le clericalisme, voilb, Vennemi!)
It has been said that this war-cry was too sweeping, because it included all
the members of the clergy amongst the enemies of society. But from that
time the epithet "clerical" designated rather the laity than the ecclesiastics,
including all those who mingle religion and politics, who wish to use spiritual
matters for temporal ends and take their electoral cue elsewhere than in
France.*^
There was strong feeling against the agitation meant to ferment a reli-
gious war and embroil France in ultramontane politics. Simon declared that
he had done all in his power to repress the spirit of war for Catholicism. But
votes on two bills only indirectly related to clericalism went againsc the policy
of the minister and were made a pretext for an unusual step.
THE COUP d'etat OF MAY 16TH
On the 16th of May President MacMahon published in the official organ
an open letter of rebuke to his minister. This strange act has been called
the coup d'etat of May 16th. <■■
The president's letter closed as follows :»
The attitude of the chief of the cabinet raises the question as to whether he has preserved
that influence over the chamber which is necessary to make his views prevail. An explanation
on this head is indispensable ; for, if I am not, like you, responsible to the parliament, I have
a responsibility towards France which 1 ought now more than ever to consider.
Accept, Monsieur le president du conseil, the assurance of my high esteem.
Le President de la Republique,
Mabkchal de MacMahon.
On this strange document Zevort comments severely:
Before studying the real meaning of this letter it will be well to estimate
what the very (sending of it implied, the unheard-of proceeding to which the
marshal had recourse to rid himself of a president of the coimcU who had rep-
resented him to the parliament as the model of parliamentary and constitu-
tional chiefs. The letter specified nothing. If Jules Simon had wished to
play a close game with his unskilful antagonist, he might indeed have either
presented himself before the chamber, procured a vote of confidence, and
thus demonstrated that he had preserved that infiuence which was necessary
to make his views prevail; or he might have waited till the approaching
council of ministers, and had that explanation with the marshal which the
latter declared indispensable. In either case the president of the republic
would have found himself in a position of cruel embarrassment, and the con-
flict he had raised would perhaps have received, on the 17th or 18th of May,
1877, the solution which it was to receive only in the month of January, 1879.
Like all timid persons the marshal dreaded nothing so much as an explanation
with those he had offended; and his letter, in its prodigious clumsiness, was
very skilfully drawn up, if he wished to avoid an interview in the council with
the ministers so cavalierly dismissed.
As to the pretexts devised to separate him from the cabinet of the 12th of
December, they were really altogether too frivolous. However inexperienced
THE THIRD REPUBLIC
idi
(1876-1879 A.D.]
the marshal might be, he was not ignorant of the fact that a law under dis-
cussion is not a law passed.
The question as to whether Jules Simon had sufficient authority over the
chamber was either a premeditated insult or the proof of a singular defect of
memory; and had not Jules Simon — in the most weighty divisions, on the
4th of May, 1877, and the 28th of December, 1876, when the prerogatives of
the chamber were themselves at stake — had more than two-thirds of the
voters with him, and was the law of majorities no longer, as on the 26th of
May, 1873, the supreme rule of parliamentary governments?
" I am responsible to France," said the marshal, who had been elected by
390 deputies, thus borrowing the phraseology of Napoleon III, who had been
chosen by five million electors; and was not France directly and regularly
represented by the senate and the chamber of deputies, and had not the
constitution (Article 6) already indicated
the single case La which the president of
the republic is responsible — namely, the
case of high treason?
Such was that document of the 16th
of May, which left everything to be feared
because it went beyond all measure,
which did not exceed the bounds of
legality but which exhausted it at the
first blow. The marshal was about to
declare in his speech, in his Orders of
the Day, that he would go to the farthest
bounds of this legality, whose utmost
limit he had attained with one leap.
The constitution of 1875 had assured
him a quasi-royalty: yet he was now
going to put himself outside or above
the laws, under pretence of the higher
interests of the public safety, that facile
pretext for all dictatorship; he was
about to engage, haphazard, in a for-
midable venture, ignorant of what
might result from his victory or his de-
feat.'^
The coup d'etat of the 16th of May was from its inception condemned
throughout Europe. MacMahon was neither sufiiciently ambitious nor im-
scrupulous to institute a military dictatorship. The most important events
in the political calendar were the electoral campaign and Gambetta's noted
speech at Lille, on the 15th of August, when he wound up with, " Believe me,
gentlemen, when France has once spoken with her sovereign voice there will
be nothing left but submission or resignation" (se soumettre ou se demettre).
The jingle caught the popular ear and Marshal MacMahon on the 13th of
December submitted unconditionally.
jojES or^vy
GRBVY BECOMES PRESIDENT (1879)
Gambetta, it is generally conceded, was at this period the foremost poli-
tician in France. A thoroughly republican ministry was formed vmder
Dufaure, president of the council and minister of justice, with Freycinet as
minister of public works. President MacMahon in his message "accepted
192 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[1878-1879 A.D.]
the will of the country." Gambetta now sagaciously expressed his wish that
MacMahon should be permitted to complete his term; and thus the advantages
of republican rule might be the better demonstrated by his duly and peace-
fully elected successor. The great exposition of 1878 brought MacMahon
some prominence, but the old soldier found hunself isolated, and utterly
sick of the part he had to play.
On the 28th of January, 1879, MacMahon, finding himself unable to agree
with his ministers and hopeless of forming a new ministry conformable to his
views, resigned and in his last acts con-
ducted himself with such dignity as to
wring even from Zevort '^ this commen-
dation;
" From the beginning of the govern-
mental crisis the marshal had con-
ducted himself as a man of honour, and
preserved an attitude the most correct
and most deserving of respect, and em-
ployed the simplest and most becoming
language. From the moment that the
politician had vanished, the honest man,
the good citizen, the successful soldier
had reappeared, and the lofty dignity
of his retreat made men forget the errors
for which he was only half responsible."
What part Gambetta acted in the
crisis of January, 1879, _ when Mac-
Mahon's ministry feU, it is difficult to
decide. At the critical juncture he
appears to have absented himseK from
Paris. He abstained from speaking in
the debate on the policy of the ministry,
neither did he vote in the final division.
There is every reason to believe that,
had he willed, he might have contested
the presidency of the republic success-
fully. But he waived his claims in favour of Jules Gr^vy, who was elected
president on the 30th of January, 1879, by 536 votes against 99 for General
Chanzy, Gambetta becoming president of the chamber and Waddington the
prime minister.
Leon Gambetta
THE LAST DAYS OF GAMBETTA,* ASCENDENCY OF FERRY
The deputies were united now as " the national assembly," and the legis-
lature returned from Versailles to Paris. Both executive and legislature were
now thoroughly republican.
Prominent in Gravy's cabinet was the minister of education, Jules Ferry,
who was strongly anti-clerical in his views and advocated an educational bill
excluding the Jesuits and all "unauthorised orders" from acting as teachers
in France. Jules Simon secured the rejection of the bUl by the senate, but
the unauthorised orders were disbanded and many priests and nuns expelled
amidst public feeling embittered by the wrath of the clerical party and the
zeal of the anti-clericals. The Bonapartist cause suffered when the young
THE THIED EBPUBLIC 19S
(1879-1886 A.D.]
prince imperial was killed by the Zulus. Waddington resigned the ministry
to Freycinet and he to Ferry, who still kept Gambetta from office.
Gambetta now began to fight for power and. to gather republican senti-
ment^ about him untU it was necessary to caU him to the prime-ministry.
The jealousy of his magnetism or "occult power," as it was called, and his
distribution of the portfolios succeeded in shortening his lease of power to
ten weeks. Gambetta, in the days of his power, advocated all measures that
would tend to place France in the position she occupied before the war. He
approved of the expedition to Timis, for he desired to extend her influence in
the Mediterranean. And he upheld the dual action of France and England
in Egypt. To quote his own words in almost the last speech he ever made:
" For the last ten years there has been a western policy in Europe represented
by England and France, and allow me to say here that I know of no other
European policy likely to avail us in the most terrible of the contingencies we
may have to face hereafter. What induced me to seek for the English alli-
ance, for the co-operation of England in the basin of the Mediterranean and
in Egypt — and I pray you mark me well — what I most apprehend, in addition
to an ill-omened estrangement, is that you should deliver over to England
and forever territories, and rivers, and waterways where your right to live
and traffic is equal to her own."
On the 81st of December, 1882, Gambetta died at the age of forty-four
from an accidental wound. Thus ended prematurely the strange career of
le grand ministre, as he was called ironically, less memorable for what he did
than for what everyone felt he might have done.
In the first month of the same year (January, 1882) another new ministry
had been formed with Freycinet president of the councU and minister for
foreign affairs. This ministry lasted only half a year, being succeeded by
that of Duclerc, during which all the members of royal families were exiled
from France in consequence of a campaign of placards waged by the son of
Jerome Bonaparte of Westphalia. The brief premiership of Fallieres gave
way to that of Jules Ferry who, though a former rival of Gambetta's, imited
with his disciples to form the so-called "opportunist" party.
During Ferry's comparatively lengthy tenure of office of over two years,
some revision of the constitution was accomplished in uncharacteristic peace-
fulness. The typical volatility of the people, however, was revealed by the
explosion. of rage over the news of a check received by the French army at
Tongking. The bitter speeches of the cynical C14menceau brought about
Ferry's resignation and Brisson became prime minister. A reaction now
grew against the republican administration, and the elections of 1885 were
forty-five per cent, monarchical. The alarm over this dangerous weakness
put a momentary end to republican internal factions, and Gr6vy was re-elected
president December 28th, for a second septennate.
Freycinet formed a new ministry, his third, giving the portfoho of war to
General Boulanger — a curious figure neither whose past nor whose future
justified the remarkable prominence he acquired. His first acts were sen-
sational in that he erased from the army list all the princes of royal families
and exiled his first patron, the duke d'Aumale; he also repressed all the army
officers of reactionist sympathies. The populace showered on Boulanger the
favour it withdrew from the president, and he became powerful enough to
unseat Freycinet, who was succeeded by Goblet. Boulanger took a spectac-
ular position on the arrest by the Germans of a French officer named Schnae-
bele, and showed great energy in preparing for a war with Prussia. Goblet
resigned. Rouvier followed, and sent Boulanger to an army post. In 1887
H. -w.— VOL. xm. N
194 THE HISTOEY OF FRANCE
[18T8-1894 A.D.]
scandals arose concerning the sale of Legion of Honour decorations, in which
a deputy named Daniel Wilson was implicated and in which it was shown that
he used the president's residence as a sort of office. This provoked an out-
cry before which Gr^vy resigned.
In his nine years of administration, President Gr6vy had had eleven
ministers — in itself a proof of lack of policy or at least of power to carry out
a policy. In the first period, from 1879 to March 20th, 1885, however, much
had been accomplished for the establishment of pubUc liberties— the freedom
of the press being assured in 1881, the municipal councils given the right to
elect their mayors in 1882, and the laws of divorce replaced in the civil code
whence the Restoration had removed them. The schools had also been
rendered secular, as we have seen.
The application of these reforms, reductions in the taxes, coinciding with
bad years and the ruin of the vintage, pro-
duced the most serious difl&culties with re-
gard to the budget — difficulties which were
still further augmented by the participa-
tion of France in the colonising movement
then attracting all Europe. The Ttmis
expedition (1880-1881), that of Tongking
(1883-1885), the first Madagascar expedi-
tion (1883-1885), the foundation of the
French Congo (1884), and the advance
towards the Sudan belong to this period.
In the second period parliament and pub-
lic opinion are in a state of profound dis-
turbance after the 30th of March, 1885, and
anarchy reigned in the ministries, the par-
liament, and public opinion.*^
In this critical situation, when Frey-
cinet and Floquet, aiming for the radical
vote, are said to have had a secret agree-
ment to restore Boulanger to power; when
the monarchists were planning to vote for
sadi cabnot Ferry in the hope that his unpopularity
would provoke one of those mob disturb-
ances which had so often brought back the monarchy, Cl^menceau skilfully
secured the nomination and election of an unexpected figure — Sadi Carnot, a
man of unassailed reputation, whose grandfather was the great Carnot to
whom France had owed her magnificent military organisation during the
revolution.
THE PRESIDENCY OF CARNOT (1887-1894)
Sadi Carnot, though perhaps not a great man, displayed as president of
the republic the same qualities of conscientiousness, diligence, and modesty
for which he had been noted in those more humble days when he buUt bridges
at Annecy. These years were imexampled in France for the virulence of
political passion and the acrimonious license of the press. The decoration
scandal, the Boulangist movement, and the Panama affair filled this period
with opprobrious accusations and counter-charges.
Carnot chose Tirard for his premier; under him Wilson was sentenced to
two years for fraud, and Boulanger was deprived of command for absenting
himself from his post without leave. Wilson appealed, and the higher courts
THE THIED EEPUBLIC 195
[1887-1894 A.D.]
reversed the decision against him. As he was a relative of Gr6vy, this pro-
voked public suspicion, which was aggravated when Boulanger was elected
a deputy by an overwhelming majority and was immediately expelled from
the army.
Tirard's ministry fell and Floquet succeeded, with Freycinet as mmister
™ ^^''•. .^ ^^'^^ ensued between Floquet and Boulanger, in which, singularly,
the civilian, who was also of advanced age, wounded the doughty general in
the throat. None the less, Boulangism increased rapidly and was enlarged by
the royalist vote. The time was ripe for a coup d'etat, but the general did
not move; indeed, he denied ia his speeches any ambition for dictatorship
and actually withdrew to Brussels, April, 1889, when he heard that Tirard,
who had_ been recalled as premier, was about to arrest him. He was now
found guilty of high treason and the senate sentenced him to life imprisonment.
He went to Jersey and lived there
quietly, while Boulangism died of inani-
tion. In July, 1890, his mistress, Mme.
deBoimemain, died, and September 30th,
1891, he blew out his own brains on her
grave. This last act was consistent with
his whole career, both in its strong emo-
tionalism and in its weakness. He was
a man idolised by his soldiers, whom he
treated with great democracy and even
tenderness; he was thrilled with a pas-
sion to revenge France on Prussia, a
passion bound to be popular then in
France; he was a smart soldier and on
his black horse made a picturesque figure;
a popular time added to his vogue — " C'est
Boulanger qu'il nous faut" ; and it might
have proved a " Qa ira" of insurrection,
but he lacked the courage — or shall we not
more mercifully and justly say, he lacked
the villainy? — to lead a revolution. While
he missed the glory of a Napoleon, he also
escaped the bloody crimes of that despot.
Boulangism having committed suicide, it suffered disgrace from the mo-
narchic coalition, and reform went on peacefully. In 1890 Freycinet added
the premiership to the war ministry, and 1891 saw no change of cabinet.
Conciliation with Rome was the policy of both France and the Church; and
in February, 1892, Leo XIII recognised the republic in an encyclical. Frey-
cinet resigned the premiership and Emile Loubet became premier.
Now the Panama scandal came to shock all the world with the revelations
of official corruption, of wholesale blackmail, and of the abuse of funds largely
subscribed by the poorer masses. The trials were peacefully conducted, and
while only one former minister was convicted and a sentence was passed on
De Lesseps, the engineer of the Suez Canal and also of the Panama venture,
the deep disgust of the public did not take the usual recourse to riotous
expression. Loubet was followed in December, 1892, by Ribot and he later
by Dupuy. Casimir-P^rier, grandson of the famous statesman, succeeded
for a time, to be followed again by Dupuy. June 24th, 1894, President
Carnot was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist named Caserio.
Casimib-Peribr
196
THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
[1894-1899 A.]>.]
THE PRESIDENCIES OF CASIMIR-PERIEE AND FAURB
Casimir-P^rier, who like Carnot bore a name unsullied by scandal, was
elected by the congress June 27th, 1894, but he could not endure the attacks
of opposition newspapers; and January 15th, 1895, he resigned on the ground
of overburdensome responsibiUties without adequate powers.
F61ix Faure was chosen to succeed him; he was of humble origin and a
successful merchant. Ribot was his first premier, L^on Bourgeois his second,
and M61ine the third; M61ine's ministry lasted from April, 1896, to June 28th,
1898, the visit of the czar, and the sealing of the Franco-Russian alliance
giving it distinction. Dupuy came back as premier, but February 16th, 1899,
President Faure died of apoplexy
and the then president of the sen-
ate, Loubet, was elected in his
place. The Dupuy ministry held
over till Jime, when Waldeck-
Rousseau became premier and
managed by a combination of firm-
ness with an effort at conciliating
the various parties to carry France
through the violence of anti-Sem-
itism and its culmination in the
two trials of the Jewish captain
Alfred Dreyfus.
THE DREYFUS TRIAL
In January, 1895, Dreyfus had
been sentenced to life imprison-
ment on Devil's Island off French
Guiana, the charge being that he
>ad sold military secrets to Ger-
iany. The dramatic ceremonies
Felix faubb of his degradation and his earnest
denials of guilt attracted the atten-
tion of the world, and it was claimed that he was the innocent scape-goat
of anti-Jewish rancour and of true guilt among Gentile officers. The efforts of
certain French officers, writers, and editors, notably Colonel Picquart and
Emile Zola, to reopen the case were vain for some time. Colonel Picquart
being imprisoned and Zola driven into exile. In 1898 new proofs against
Dreyfus were produced, but Colonel Henry confessed to forging these and
committed suicide.
After a ferocious newspaper war in which the foreign press joined with
vmusual vigour, Captain Dreyfus was brought back for retrial in August, 1899.
It is difficult for a foreigner to decide on the merits of the case, as the sin-
cerity of both factions was only too evident, and the charges of militarism
and anti-Semitism against the anti-Dreyfusards were met by charges of ve-
nality and of purchase by Jewish gold. Even the new president, Loubet, was
accused of this. The new court, by a majority of five to two, again found
Dreyfus "guilty of treason with extenuating circumstances," and sentenced
him to ten years' detention. The curious wording of the sentence, as well
as certain methods of court procedure, amazed the foreign world, in which
THE THIED EBPUBLIC 197
[188^1800^0.]
the opinion is practically unanimous that the evidence published has no
value at all in proving Dreyfus guilty.
The French government, however, put a stop to the agitation by pardon-
ing the prisoner and recommending a general amnesty. This was perhaps
the wisest course, though hardly satisfactory as an example of fearless justice.
Every nation has its judicial scandals, but no other has had so imiversal an
airing, and a prejudice has been excited against the whole French people
as a result of this affair. A British writer, J. E. C. Bodley,^ has thus
summed up its manifold phases:
" The Dreyfus affair was severely judged by foreign critics as a miscarriage
of justice resulting from race-prejudice. If that simple appreciation rightly
describes its origin, it became in its development one of those scandals sympto-
matic of the unhealthy political condition of France, which on a smaller scale
had often recurred under the Third Republic, and which were made the
pretext by the malcontents of all parties for gratifying their animosities.
That in its later stages it was not a question of race-persecution was seen La
the curious phenomenon of journals owned or edited by Jews leading the
outcry against the Jewish officer and his defenders. That it was not a mere
episode of the rivalry between republicans and monarchists, or between the
advocates of parliamentarism and of military autocracy, was evident from
the fact that the most formidable opponents of Dreyfus, without whose
hostility that of the clericals and reactionaries would have been ineffective,
were republican politicians. That it was not a phase of the anti-capitalist
movement was shown by the zealous adherence of the socialist leaders and
journalists to the cause of Dreyfus; indeed, one remarkable result of the
affair was its diversion of the socialist party and press for years from their
normal campaign against property.
" The Dreyfus affair was utilised by the reactionaries against the republic,
by the clericals against the non-Catholics, by the anti-clericals against the
Church, by the military party against the parliamentarians, and by the
revolutionary sociahsts against the army. It was also conspicuously utilised
by rival republican politicians against one another, and the chaos of political
groups was further confused by it. The controversy was conducted with
the unseemly weapons which in France have made parliamentary institutions
a by-word and an unlicensed press a national calamity; while the judicial
proceedings arising out of it showed that at the end of the nineteenth cen-
tury the French conception of liberty was as peculiar as it had been during
the Revolution a hundred years before."
COLONIAL WARS (1882-1895)
Foreign affairs in France have been marked by various small wars, notably
the war in Tongking, where in 1882 the successful commandant Riviere was
killed. Admiral Courbet, however, retrieved these disasters by vigorous
action and won a treaty, August 25th, 1882, by which the French protec-
torate over Annam and Tongking was acknowledged. General MUlot now
took control of the land forces and Courbet by means of his fleet secured
from Li Hung Chang a recognition of the Tongking protectorate, after bom-
barding certain ports and destroying two Chinese cruisers.<»
The joy caused by the signing of peace with China was disturbed by the
news of the death of the man to whom peace was due. Admiral Courbet died
on June 11th, 1885, from the effects of an illness against which he had long
struggled. Although he felt he was dangerously ill, he would not leave his
198 THE HISTOKY OF FEANGE
[1861-1900 A.D.]
post. He understood perhaps that no one could have replaced him. All
France felt the blow; a magnificent funeral was given the sailor who had
raised the glory of his flag in the extreme East.?
In 1892 there was a short and successful war with Dahomey. It has been
summed up by Lanier*; as follows: "This glorious campaign, where two
thousand soldiers had had to struggle against twenty thousand natives,
admirably suppHed with implements of warfare, taught and trained to the
offensive, not to speak of jungles, swamps, dysentery, and fevers, had lasted
just three months, and cost France ten miUion francs. It reflected the great-
est honour on the general who commanded it."
Disputes had been of frequent occurrence between France and Mada-
gascar since 1642, when the French destroyed a Portuguese settlement. In
1861 a treaty between France, Great Britain, and Madagascar was signed.
But in 1864 again there were disputes be-
tween the French and Hovas; to be followed
in 1877 by a serious quarrel respecting cer-
tain lands given to one Laborde, a missionary,
which the Hovas now reclaimed. In 1882
the French claimed the protectorate of part
of northwest Madagascar by virtue of a treaty
made in 1840-41. This resulted in an appeal
^ to the British government; a native embassy
V was also sent to France to protest. Peaceful
measures failed; and Admiral Pierre with a
French fleet, in the year 1883, bombarded and
captured Tamatave. From that time for-
ward there was constant warfare; sometimes
one side and sometimes the other gaining
indecisive victories. On the 12th of Decem-
ber, 1895, Madagascar was attached to the
French colonies.
In 1899 the poet Paul D^roulede vainly tried to prevail on General Roget
to leave President Faure's funeral and march to evict President Loubet from
the Elys6e palace. A like failure attended the effort to provoke a war with
England over the Fashoda affair, in which Major Marchand with a handful
of men claimed a right over territories he had explored for France. The
British government treated him and his claims with small respect and French
pride was injured, but fortunately no further steps were taken.
In 1900 the world's exposition failed to have a political effect, and was not
a financial success. A great sensation was caused by the revelation that the
French birth-rate was on the decrease, but similar statements concerning
England were later made. When the nineteenth century began, France had
one-fifth of the total population of Europe ; at the beginning of the twentieth
century she has hardly a tenth. In that time her population has increased
only forty-six per cent., while that of Great Britain and Ireland has increased
one hundred and fifty-six per cent.
llMTLB Loubet
THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
The years 1901-1905 were remarkable for the contest between state and
church in France, culminating in the final disestablishment of the latter.
Under the terms of the famous Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon I and
Pius VII the French government paid the salaries of the clergy and had the
THE THIED REPUBLIC 199
right of nominating bishops, an arrangement which worked smoothly for the
greater part of the ensuing century. After the estabUshment of the Third
Kepublic,_ however, the influence of the church, and especially of certain
orders in it, had been frequently exerted against the government. When this
friction became threatemng. Pope Pius IX gave counsels of moderation,
recommending the French Catholics to recognise the government de facto,
that is, the Republican regime.
Possessed of a vast amount of wealth which escaped taxation, these
orders, whose leaders were in many cases foreigners, independent of French
authority, and often living abroad, inclined to a monarchial form of gov-
ernment, and not infrequently assisted the royalists in promoting their
propaganda. As the education of a large part of the youth of the country
was in their hands, they constituted a distinct menace to the Republic.
Actuated by a desire to lessen this danger, and perhaps also by a more gen-
eral hostihty to the ecclesiastical system, the Waldeck-Rousseau ministry
in 1901 secured the passage of an act requiring religious associations to
secure legal authorisation from the government. This act appears to have
been intended rather in the nature of a weapon in reserve, but the Waldeck-
Rousseau ministry resigned in June, 1902, and the new ministry of M.
Combes at once entered on an extreme anti-clerical policy. Despite violent
resistance in some parts of the country, particularly in Brittany, the law was
rigidly enforced, and a vast number of associations were broken up. In 1904
events occurred which increased the tension still further. In the early part
of the year President Loubet, when visiting the King of Italy, failed to pay
a visit to the Pope. The Papal authorities protested against this omission
in a secret note, which was communicated by a German diplomatist to M.
Jaur^s, the socialist leader. The publication of this note .caused great indig-
nation among Republicans and did much to embitter relations between the
Quai d'Orsai and the Vatican. Later in the year the Pope ordered two
bishops of Republican tendencies to resign their sees. Angered by this
attempted interference on the part of the Pope, the government recalled its
embassy from the Vatican and informed the Papal nuncio at Paris that his
presence was superfluous.
In January, 1905, the Combes ministry resigned, but that which followed
under M. Rouvier pursued the same policy with regard to the church, and
on December 6th the bill for the disestablishment of the church finally passed
the senate. Under this law, the churches were separated from the state,
members of all creeds were authorised to form associations for public worship,
and the state was relieved from the payment of salaries. In January, 1906,
the legal formality of taking inventories of church property began, and in
many places the military had to be summoned to overcome the organised
resistance to inspection. The general election of May resulted in the return
of a large Republican majority. The Nationalists were badly defeated, and
no doubt remained as to the country's approval of the Separation Law. In
January, 1907, a supplementary law was passed, dealing with the situation
created by the main act.
THE "entente CORDIALE" AND THE MOROCCAN QUESTION
The entente cordiale, or agreement with England, was one of the chief
characteristics of this decade. The diplomatic seal was set to it by a visit
of MM. Loubet and Delcass^ to London in 1903, and a convention with
England in 1904, by which either power recognised respectively the other's
199A THE HISTOEY OP FEANCE
[1001-1007 A.D.]
predominance in Egypt and Morocco. This agreement was apparently
accepted by Germany, and Prince Buelow explained to his critics in the
Reichstag that German commercial interests were not menaced in Morocco.
In 1905, however, Germany decided to intervene. Whatever was her aim in
so doing, the motive generally credited to her was a desire to disturb the
Anglo-French entente which M. Delcass^ had done so much to bring about.
On March 31st the Emperor of Germany landed at Tangier and met the
representatives of the Sultan of Morocco, whom he is believed' to have en-
couraged in resistance to France. In response to this move. King Edward
saw M. Loubet in Paris and subsequently visited Algiers. Exchange visits
between the English and French fleets were also arranged. Buta furious
attack on M. Delcass6 began in the German press and was carried on by
German agents in France. War was hinted at if he were not removed, and
it was even said that Germany's peace terms were already arranged. England
was of course bound to support France in a quarrel arising out of the Anglo-
French understanding, and, according to articles subsequently published in
Le Matin, she expressed herself not only as ready to co-operate with her
whole fleet, but also as prepared to land 100,000 men in Kiel harbour. The
French government, however, resolved to remove M. Delcass6 on the ground
that he had not notified the Anglo-French convention to Germany, and his
place was taken by M. Rouvier, who entered on a series of concessions to
Germany and agreed to a conference on the Morocco question.
This conference met at Algeciras in January, 1906, its object being to
discuss the question of reforms in Morocco. Although France and Germany
were the nations most directly affected, yet the importance of the questions
at issue naturally caused lively interest on the part of other European nations,
especially England and Spain. The principal delegates were: For France,
M. Revoil; for Germany, Herr von Radowitz and Count Tattenbach; for
England, Sir Arthur Nicolson; for Spain, the Duke of Almovodar, who was
chosen to preside; for Italy, the Marchese Visconti Venosta; for Austria,
Count Welsersheimb; and for the United States, Mr. Henry White.
The two subjects of dispute on which France and Germany were most
opposed to each other were those of the organisation of the police, and, in a
minor degree, of the State Bank. It was not until April 7th that an agree-
ment on these questions was finally reached. The object of Germany in
contending for the internationalisation of the police was to place France on
the same level as other powers, and so to deprive her of her predominant
position in Morocco. France, on the other hand, claimed a mandate to
herself and Spain. Germany's final proposal, to which she held to the last
moment, was the appointment of the suggested inspector of police in com-
mand at Casablanca. This proposal, however, was resisted, not only by
France and Spain, but by England and Russia, and on Austria's suggesting
its withdrawal, Germany gave way; the concession of an internationally
controlled State Bank being made to her in return.
Thus the differences that had at one time threatened to develop into an
open quarrel were settled. The "jiderstanding with England had been
tested and found true, and though Germany had shown that she could
effectually oppose such arrangements if made without her consent, she had
nevertheless discovered that an aggressive policy on her part was not likely
to be supported by any European power.
Many evidences were shown during 1906 that the crisis had strengthened,
instead of weakening, the entente. In February the London County Council
paid a visit to the Municipal Council in Paris. In June King Edward visited
THE THIRD REPUBLIC 199b
[1901-1907 A.D.]
the President on his journey to and return from Biarritz, and in October the
Lord Mayor of London was enthusiastically received in Paris. Other signs
of the movement were the reception of representatives of the French univer-
sities in England, and the special invitation to Sir John French, the eminent
British cavalry officer, to attend the French army mancsuvres.
RELATIONS WITH JAPAN AND GERMANY
France also realised, since the Russo-Japanese War, the advantage of
an entente with Japan for the maintenance of the territorial status quo in the
Far East. After the war, France had felt some solicitude with regard to her
colony of Indo-China, but through the efforts of French and Japanese diplo-
matists all danger had passed. In WO? M. Pichon, the French foreign
minister, thought that the moment was opportune for a definite agreement
with Japan. It had been known for some time that such an agreement was
in progress, but it was not until June 10th that it was finally signed. This
was the complement, and, in a measure, the result of the Anglo-Japanese
agreement of 1905, and, though not implying a formal alliance, was directed
toward the same purpose, the maintenance of peace in the Far East; its
main principle being respect for the independence and integrity of China.
The agreement was well received in Russia, where a similar convention with
Japan was subsequently entered upon. At the same time some desire was
shown for a detente — to use Prince Buelow's expression during an interview
in July, 1907 — a slackening of the old strained relations with Germany. The
Kaiser's words of welcome to M. Jules Cambon, the new French ambassador
in Berlin, and the latter's visit to Prince Buelow at Norderney, were especially
noticeable as tending in this direction.
SEQUEL TO THE DREYFUS CASE
The sequel to the Dreyfus case culminated on July 12th, 1906, when the
Cour de Cassation, after a long investigation, finally and completely exon-
erated Major Dreyfus of all the charges brought against him. The contrast
between the attitude shown towards Dreyfus in 1899 and 1906 was char-
acteristic of the French people. He was now reinstated in the army, received
by President FaUieres, and appointed a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
Nor were his two champions of 1899 forgotten. Colonel Picquart was re-
stored to the active list. It was too late to do anything for Emile Zola, but
as a posthumous honour his remains were transferred to the Pantheon.
M. FALLIERES CHOSEN PRESIDENT
On January 17th, 1906, M. Clement Armand FaUieres was chosen presi-
dent to succeed M. Loubet. The retiring president had won the respect of
the world by his sterUng qualities, and his term of office was m<irked by
national progress. In it there had been a decided reaction from militarism,
as is evidenced by the fact that in 1904 the length of the term of miUtary
service was shortened to two years, and that the idea of a revanche on Ger-
many occupied much less attention than formerly. In fact, France was
seldom in a more contented, sane, and wholesome condition than when,
under her worthy peasant-president, she devoted her best efforts to extending
and sohdifying her prosperity.
i990 THE HISTORY OP PRANCE
[1901-1907 A.D.]
WINE GROWERS AND THE ADULTERATION LAW
During 1907 grave disturbances took place in the wine-growing districts
of the south of France, owing to the distress caused by economic conditions.
The over-production, arising from the increase of vineyards after the dis-
appearance of the phylloxera, had combined with the free import of the
Algerian product to make the wine of the H^rault district almost unsaleable.
But the peasantry considered that the cause of their miseries was to be found
in the adulteration of wine and the manufacture of artificial wine by means
of sugar — malpractices which they suspected were carried on in the district.
In May disturbances broke, out at Narbonne, at B6ziers, and at Perpignan.
Agitation was set on foot against the government, under the lead of a wine-
grower, M. Marcellin Albert; threats were held out of resisting the payment
of all taxes until the government had applied some remedy, and there was
even some wild talk of setting up a rival republic in the south.
On May 23rd the government adopted a bill against adulteration, but the
disturbances continued. In June many southern mayors resigned, all admin-
istrative employees were compelled to cease work, and the non-payment of
taxes was threatened. This direct challenge to the central government led
to a conflict between M. Clemenceau, who in the preceding October had
formed a new ministry, and the committee of Argeliers. Legal proceedings
were instituted against many of the latter, and troops were sent against the
revolted districts, but the danger was increased by the disaffection which
existed among many regiments. On June 28th, however, the bill for the
suppression of adulteration was finally passed. The revolt had been weakened
meantime by the fall of M. Marcellin Albert from popular favour, and by July
the measures taken for enforcing the law had almost restored peace.
FURTHER TROUBLES IN MOROCCO
In spite of the Franco-Spanish demonstration in December, considerable
hostility was manifested by the natives towards French subjects in Morocco
during the early part of 1907, culminating in the murder of Dr. Mauchamp,
a French physician, in Marakhesh, on March 24th. This murder caused
much indignation in France, where it was broadly hinted that the fanatics
had been encouraged to rely on German support. The French government
immediately issued a list of demands, including the punishment of Dr.
Mauchamp's murderers and the payraent of an indemnity, and announced
its intention of occupying Ujda until those demands should be complied
with. The sultan issued ambiguous proclamations with the intention of
gaining time, but the firm attitude of France ensured the granting of practi-
cally all her demands.
But France's troubles in Morocco were not yet by any means over;
in July the anti-European, or rather anti-French, feeling was again
exemplified in an attack on Europeans in Casablanca, ostensibly arising
from opposition to the construction of a harbour, but really due to religious
fanaticism, in which eight members of various nationalities were killed. A
naval expedition was immediately sent out under Admiral Philibert, which
proceeded to bombard Casablanca. Later, the French government presented
a note to the powers, stating what had been done, and explaining what
further measures had been decided upon, showing the necessity of organising
the police force in Morocco, and affirming the determination of France to
maintain the authority of the sultan and the integrity of his empire.
THE THIRD EEPUBLIC 199D
[1901-1908 A.D.]
But there was a peculiar difficulty about France's task. While the
in,terests of other nations were in her keeping, notably of the British, whose
loss of property in Casablanca had been severe, yet there was a danger that
the advance from the coast of a body of troops strong enough to prove an
adequate defence might be construed by unfriendly critics as exceeding the
terms of the Act of Algeciras. The gravity of the situation was made manifest
by General Drude's urgent demand for additional troops on August 21st; it
having been repeatedly stated throughout the month that no reinforcements
would be necessary. The British colony in Tangier petitioned the British
government for the protection of a warship; stating that the French and
Spanish arrangements were inadequate. It was also evident from reports that
there had not been hearty co-operation between the French and Spanish
troops, although an official contradiction was given to the statement that they
had differed on the question of an expedition into the interior. The difficulty
was increased by the lawless state of the country. Mulei Hafid, the sultan's
brother, was set up as a rival sultan in Marakhesh, while the pretender ruled in
the north-eastern part of the kingdom. In addition to these opponents of the
legitimate authority, the brigand chief Raisuli exercised practically sovereign
power in the neighbourhood of Tangier, and several fanatics wandered about
the country proclaiming a holy war. Although Mulei Hafid and his brother
were both reported to be favourable to Europeans, yet it was plain that each
depended for his success on siding with the great mass of the people on the
question of a religious war, which meant a general war on Christians and Jews.
During August there was occasional skirmishing around Casablanca, and
on September 3d several thousand Moors fanatically charged the French
troops and their native allies, but were repulsed with great slaughter. A few
days later General Drude drove the enemy out of a camp six miles from the
city. Discouraged by their defeats, several tribes sued for peace. Others
continued the struggle, and on October 19th another conflict occurred. Nego-
ciations were entered into with the sultan, but, owing to the rival authorities,
aeace and quiet are not yet restored."
CHAPTER Vin
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTION OF FRANCE SINCE 1815
Wkittbn Spbcllllt fob the Present Wobk
By ALFRED RAMBAUD
Member of the Institute
THE LABOUR QUESTION
DuBiNG the period that was ushered in by the fall of Napoleon I, if a
social question existed it was no longer an agrarian-social question as had
been the case in the past — it was above all a question of labour. The tillers
of the soil had at last come into realisat'on of the hopes and dreams of so many-
centuries; the land belonged to them freely, fully, without any biu-den of
rents or taxes beyond that whicn was necessary for the public support. Thus
rural democracy became what it wiH long remahi, the most truly conserva-
tive of the nation's elements.
The great importance of the labour question may be accurately estimated
by a glance over the field of mdustry from which we wUl cull a few figures
to obtain a correct idea of the progress made.
In 1815 the imited French industries did not consume more than a mil-
lion tons of coal; in 1831 the quantity had increased to two millions and in
1847 to seven and a half millions.
In 1829 France produced 205,243 tons of brass, 145,519 of iron, and 4,914
of steel; in 1847 these figures had increased respectively to 472,412, 276,253,
and 7,130. Thus in twenty-two years the production had not quite doubled.
In 1815 the use of machines in the different branches of industry had not
become general, textile industries being practised among families in the home
rather than in factories. In the manufacture of cotton fabrics but ten mil-
lion kilogrammes of raw cotton were consumed; inetallurgic industries were
still in a primitive state, scarcely any fuel but wood being used in the manu-
facture of brass and of articles of iron ware.
Th6 most marked development is to be observed diu-mg the thirty-three
years from 1815 to 1847. In the latter year the cotton industries consimied
55,000,000 kilogrammes of raw cotton, and employed 116,000 looms and
3,500,000 spindles; they produced to the value of 416,000,000 francs. The
consumption of wool increased from 46,500,000 kilogrammes in 1812 to
89,000,000. Philippe de Girard left France in 1815, having lost all hope of
ever being able to introduce the machine for spinning flax that he had in-
vented; twenty years later the manufacture of linen employed 200,000
spindles, 40,000 of which were in the department of the north. Similarly
the Jacquard machine was not taken into use until 1827 by the silk-mills
of Lyons which twenty years later had arrived at full prosperity. The city
alone employed both for spiiming and weaving 60,000 out of the 90,000
looms contained in all France,
200
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTION OF FEANCE SINCE 1815 201
In 1846 (the first year concerning which any reliable statistics exist) the
urban population of France comprised only 8,646,743 inhabitants, or 24.4
per cent, of the entire population. The remamder, more than three-quarters
of the nation, composed agricultural France.
Let us again take up for the present epoch certain of the figures already
given. In 1897 the consumption of coal has increased to 37,000,000 tons
or thirty-seven times what it was in 1815. In metals the production is
2,484,000 tons of brass, 784,000 of iron, and 995,000 of steel; thus since 1848
the production of brass and iron has doubled, that of steel has increased a
hundredfold. In all other industries a corresponding advance is to be ob-
served, our entire industrial production representing to-day a value of over
15,000,000,000 francs. _
What has been the increase in urban population up to the present time?
In 1896 there were 15,000,000 inhabitants of cities as against 23,487,000
rural inhabitants, a proportion which had altered from 24.4 per cent, at the
close of the parliamentary monarchy to 39.5 per cent.* Great cities which
are the direct creations of industry have come into existence, such as Creusot,
Saint Etienne, Roubaix, Tourcoing, towns which were formerly stagnant
have revived to bustling activity, and lastly a large number of industrial
plants have become established in the country, mostly by the side of water-
falls whose power has enriched the national industries with another variety
of fuel, "white coal."
It becomes apparent from an iaspection of the foregoing figm-es that the
social question pertaining to labour was of no more importance under the
Restoration than at the time of the first constituent assembly; that it had
risen to a certain prominence during the monarchy of July; that from 1848
on it was destined to grow with great rapidity; that universal suffrage to-
gether with free and obligatory education, by assuring workingmen a certain
share of influence in public affairs, hastened the arrival of the time when
the Utopian ideas in vogue among them, when their prejudices and their
passions would all tend to dominate in the interior, eventually even in the
exterior policy of France.
Under the Restoration the working-classes as a body caused the govern-
ment very little trouble, but individuallj' the workingmen were in a large
part hostile to it. It cannot quite be said that they were republicans; rather
the republicanism they professed was confounded with their worship for
the "Little Corporal." During the reign of Napoleon the working-classes
had had very little cause for satisfaction, but many of them had served in
his armies, thus gaining the name of "veteran," and the glory of tne con-
queror had swallowed up all memory of the legislator's harshness towards
them.
They detested the Bourbons, principally because the reigning dynasty
was of that house, and because it seemed to lean with special confidence on
the clergy. The law of 1814 which made obligatory Sunday rest (although
they might have been idle Monday as well as Sunday), the law of 1816 abol-
ishing divorce (they had not the slightest use for the institution of divorce),
the law of 1826 upon sacrilege (notwithstanding that it was never put into
effect), the interior "missions" organised by over-zealous priests and religious
workers, but above aU the executions of the "four sergeants of LaRochelle,"
' Let us bear in mind that in England this proportion has for some time been reversed ; it
is still reversed in Germany after the expiration of a quarter of a century. These two nations
have become chiefly industrial ; France still remains a rural nation, and has cause to congratu-
late herself on the fact.
202 THE HISTORY OF FEANCE
who have remained popular heroes to this day— these were the principal
grievances of workingmen, particularly Parisian workingmen, against the
governments of Louis XVIII and Charles X. It was possibly during this
period that the popular mind received that decided bent towards blind and
irrational anti-clericalism that has characterised it ever since, and that still
leads it to the commission of the most dangerous follies.
Sad State of the Working Classes
French workingmen— particularly those of Paris — were to play a leading
part in the battle of the trois Glorieuses which placed the younger branch
of the house of Bourbon on the throne. For this branch itself the workman
cared but little; he had bdieved the conflict to be in the cause of a Napoleon
or of the republic: Louis Philippe was to him simply the king of the botu--
geois, that is to say of the employers. He had hoped much of this revolu-
tion, but was soon to see that it had profited him but little; for the landed
aristocracy had been substituted an industrial bourgeoisie, or rather the latter
had been called to have a share in the power, and no notice at aU was taken
of the "heroes of July," or the "people with the bare arms."
Yet there was so much that could have been done for the workingman!
Upon him fell the full weight of all the shocks, the disappointment, the sus-
pense that mark the beginning of a great industrial transformation. He
suffered from the introduction of machines which had for effect, before the
great reparatory impulse set in, diminution in wages, the dismissal of many
workmen, and utter ruin for the artisan who had set up in business for him-
self. The troubles resulting from this cause in France cannot, however, be
compared to the riots of the Luddites, or "machine breakers" in England,
notably during the year 1816.'
French manufactiu-ers, less experienced — consequently more timorous than
those of to-day — showed a tendency to depress wages at the least appearance
on the horizon of a menace of failure for their markets or of the establish-
ment of a formidable rival. It was the workman who bore the brunt of this
cruelly prudent policy, nor were any adequate measures taken to protect him
against the accidents incident to labom*. In the factories defectively in-
stalled machinery and in mines the almost total absence of ventilation, the
rarity and ignorant use of the Davy lamp, the insufficient precautions taken
against fire-damp resulted in a multitude of victims.
The employer found it to his advantage to raise up competitors by the
side of the workman Ln the latter's own wife and children, and no more limit
was set to the work of women and children than to that of adult men. Some-
times an entire family would exhaust its forces and destroy its health for
a total gain that was only equivalent to the salary that the husband and
father ought rightfully to have earned.^ In cotton-goods factories there
were frequently to be seen children of six, even of five years working four-
teen and fifteen hours together tying threads.
In the great industrial centres the employer took no notice at aU of the
' Spencer Walpole, History of England from 1815, vol. I, pp. 401-434.
• ViUenn^, TablecM de I'Stat physique et moral des ouvriers employes dans les ma/nufactwres
de coton, de laine et de soie, 3 vols., 1840. Jules Simon, L'Ouvriire, 1861 ; Le Travail, 1866 ;
L'Ouwier de huit ans, 1867 . E. Levasseur, Eistoire des classes ouvriires en France depuis 1789,
2 vols., 1867. See also publications of L'ofice du travail, founded in 1871, instituted by the
ministry of commerce; particularly Statistique des graves; Les associations professionnelles
ouvrieres; Statistique gSnSrale de la France ; Foisona industriels; Ligidatim ouvrike et
sociale en Ausiralie et Nav/uelle ZMande, etc.]
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTION OF FEANCE SINCE 1815 203
maimer in which his workmen were lodged. The families herded together
in damp cellars, in garrets that were stifiingly hot or bitterly cold according
to the season, in insalubrious dens that received neither air nor light and
were provided with no conveniences whatever.^ A single room, sometimes
a single bed was. the home of an entire family, and half of the new-bom chil-
dren died before the age of fifteen months. There thus grew up a generation
of working people feeble in mind and body, without morality or education —
schools were in any case rare at that epoch; which represented just so much
lost energy and power to France.
Much of this suffering was caused by the indifference, one may say the
inhumanity of the employers; but a large part also resulted from the neces-
sity of utilising old,' tumble-down buildings, from the inevitable hazards and
difficulties surrounding industries at their birth, from the over-rapid growth
of these industries in France precluding amelioration in the conditions of
either factory or home. That this is so is proved by the superior accommoda-
tions provided for workmen in the new centres of industry in Alsace and in
the north. There factory workers were lodged in clean, airy houses, as was
likewise the case at Roubaix and Tourcoing. At Morvillars (Alsace) the
employer rented to the employ^ for thirty-six francs a year a commodious
apartment with a small garden attached.
Under the old regime it had been common to compare the life of the
French peasant with that of the negro in the colonies, and to esteem that the
latter was the happier of the two; now it was the workers in cities who were
given the name of "white negroes," and who in many respects would have
been justified in envying their dark-skinned brothers to whom at least food,
fresh air, sunlight, and the sight of sky and trees were free.
In the main, however, the lot of the French workmen was the same as
that of the workers in every great industrial country, particularly in England,
where the investigation started by Thomas Sadler in 1831, having in view
the limitation of hours of work for children, had revealed a horrible condition
of things.
Between the bourgeoise monarchy which seemed insensible to so much
suffering and the sufferers themselves (the workers in the cities), strife could
not fail to arise.
Early Strikes and Revolts
In October, 1831, the silk weavers of La Croix-Rousse at Lyons demanded
an increase in wages. The prefect offered to mediate, an action for which he
was afterwards bitterly censured by the oligarchy of employers. The mayor
convoked an assembly of twenty-two delegates each from the workingmen
and from the' employers, that a minimum tariff of wages might be fixed upon.
The employers' delegates refused to make any concession, and after a meet-
ing that followed, the weavers descended in a body from La Croix-Rousse and
poured silently into the place de Bellecour and the square before the pre-
fectiu-e. The prefect succeeded in inducing them to disperse, that the tariff
might not seem to have been imposed by force. The weavers nevertheless
signed the agreement: but the prefect having been disavowed by his govern-
ment, the tariff was not put into effect. Immediately La Croix-Rousse rose
in insurrection, erected barriers, and raised a black flag bearing the mscrip-
tion, "We will live working or die fighting." The insurgents m a struggle of
' The lodgings of this sort to be most severely condemned were : at Lille the Saint Sauveui
quarter and the cellars of the rue des Etaques, at Mtilhausen the cellars of the ' ' white negroes,
at Bouen the Martainville quarter, etc.
804 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
two days (21s1>-22nd of November) repulsed the mtioiml guard, which did
not make any great display of courage, forced General Roguet and the three
thousand soldiers of the garrison to retreat, and for ten days remained ab-
solute masters of Lyons. They committed no excesses — nay, even detailed
some of their number to keep guard over the houses of the rich. On the 3rd
of December they offered no resistance to the entrance of an enlarged body
of troops headed by Marshal Soult and the duke of Orleans, eldest son of the
king. The workmen were disarmed, the national guard was dismissed, and
the tariff abolished. What especially characterised this first Lyons insior-
rection was that politics, properly speaking, had absolutely no share in it;
the movement from first to last revolved around a question of wages.
It was different in Paris, where a aeries of insurrections burst forth, the
most terrible of which were those of the 5th and 6th of June, 1832, on the
occasion of the funeral of General Lamarque. These uprisings were the work
of certain republican associations, secret or avowed, and the working people
in general had but little share in them. Nevertheless it was the working
people at whom the government aimed when it passed the law of 1834 on
associations (26th of March).
The month of April, 1834, was marked by agitation. Troubles arose at
Saint Etienne, Grenoble,. Besangon, Arbois, Poitiers,- Vienne, Marseilles,
Perpignan, Auxerre, Chdlon-sur-Saone, Epinal, Ltin^ville, Clermont-Ferrand,
etc.; but the only really serious demonstrations were the second Lyons in-
surrection and the new revolt in Paris.
In Lyons a change had been brought about in the spirit of the working-
classes by the operations of several secret societies. The question of wages
was, as before, paramount; but it was no longer immingled with political
feeling. A new idea had arisen for which to do battle, the republican idea.
The news of the vote deciding the passage of the law on associations stirred
the chiefs to declare revolt. This time the struggle lasted five days — from
the 9th to the 13th of AprU. The workingmen of Lyons displayed a coin-age
so desperate that at one time General Aymar thought seriously of retreat, but
in the end the royal troops were victorious.
The Lyons insurrection had not been completely quelled when, on the
13th, broke forth in Paris the revolt that had the church and cloister of Saint
Merri for its centre. Fighting continued the whole of that day and the next,
but the movement was finally put down by the numerous force employed
against it — forty thousand soldiers of the line and of the national guard.
The explosions that shook simultaneously fifteen or twenty cities of
France had for result the monster trial called " trial of the April offenders."
The accused, to the number of 121, of whom 41 belonged to Paris and 80 to
the departments, were arraigned before the chamber of peers, which was
formed for the occasion into a high court, presenting a total of 88 judges.
Utopian Philosophies
A last echo of these conflicts was the law voted on the 9th of September,
1835, concerning freedom of the press. From that time forth through a
period of twelve years the monarchy enjoyed comparative peace without
presage of the fresh revolution that was brewing, a revolution of a character
both political and social. The political phase lasted but a single day, tiie
24th of February; the second or social phase was of longer duration and of a
nature more serious and sanguinary. The French workman, however, owed
to the monarchy of July the law of March 22nd, 1841, on child labour in
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTION OF FEANCE SINCE 1815 205
factories, aiming to protect the children of working people against both the
weakness of their parents and the greed of employers. The principle of this
protective measure was combated by Gay-Lussac who denounced it, in the
nanie of the right of all to work and make contracts, as the beginning of
" Saint-Simonism or Phalansterianism." His argimients were a succession of
sophistries unworthy of a great mind and masking but imperfectly the ego-
tistical spirit of resistance that animated employers. The law applied only
to such industrial establishments as employed mechanical motive power or
fires that were never allowed to go out, and gave occupation to twenty or
more workers. It interdicted the employment in factories of children under
twelve years of age; authorised elsewhere only eight hours of labour a day
broken by a rest for children of from eight to twelve, twelve hours of labour
from twelve to thirteen, and no night work at all for those under thirteen.
Up to the age of twelve years the apprentice, in his leisure hoiu-s, was sup-
posed to attend school. Legal sanction was given by a corps of inspectors
who had the right to impose fines for any contravention on the part of em-
ployers.
It was under the monarchy of July that the crude and vague ideas of
which labour socialism was composed began to assume some definite shape
and to issue forth as systems. Saint-Simon, the author of the "New Chris-
tianity," had died in 1825, but he left behind him a sort of lay congregation,
the members of which practised obedience to a single chief, and the holding
of all things in corrmion. They were called Saint-Simonians, and at one
time under Enfantin engaged in the practice of mysteriously mystic rites,
at another in conjunction with the financier Pereire and the economist Michel
Chevalier set out to reform the entire economic world. In 1832 the Saint-
Simonians, accused of having violated public morality, were arraigned be-
fore the court of assizes, where they appeared in the full uniform of their
sect (blue timic, white trousers, and varnished leather belt) ; three of their
number, one of whom was the "father" Enfantin himself, were sentenced to
a month's imprisonment. After that the "family" became "secularised" —
that is, it dispersed.
Other chiefs and other doctrines arose: Fourier, with his theory of the
suppression of property and communal life in his Phalansteries; Cabet, with
his dream of Icaria, the blessed isle whereon the state, sole proprietor, pro-
ducer, and dispenser, was to lay down for its subjects their daily tasks, to
prescribe the cut of their garments and the menu of their repasts; Pierre
Leroux, with his books on Equality and Humanity, in which mysticism was
blended with socialism; Louis Blanc, who in his Labour Organisation (1844)
advised the state's absorption of all agricultural property and industrial
establishments. These various theories shared one trait in common: they
all professed communism or collectivism, which simply means suppression
of proprietary rights and of individual initiative.
Proudhon departs radically from this idea. Like the other theorists he
objects to individual holding of property and sums up his views in a. phrase
borrowed from Brissot de Warville, one of the most illustrious of Girondins:
"What is property? It is theft." Ownership is unjust because it creates
inequality, equahty is exact justice. _ But Proudhon opposes communism
with equal energy; according to him it is contrary to the primordial as well
as to the noblest instincts of humanity.
He would not only do away altogether with state intervention, even
where the state is communistic — he demands the total abolition of the state,
of its diplomacy, its armies, its frontiers. The principle he advocates is
806 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
an-archy in the etymological sense of the word, that is to say the suppression
of all authority save that of the father. The only social force that he admits
is the force that springs from the free association of workingmen.
The sincere and ardent republicans who, on the 24th of February, formed
the provisory government, promised to assure the workingman, to whose
courage was due the success of the Revolution, an improved position in
society. They conferred upon him the right of suffrage and free admission
into the national guard, which was thus changed from a body of fifty or sixty
thousand men to one of two hundred thousand.
In restoring absolute Eberty of association and of the press, the provisory
government made two very dangerous gifts to the excitable and profoundly
ignorant Parisian workingmen who, in consequence of the general perturbation
caused by the sitting of February 24th, found themselves suddenly without
work. Idleness and want made them accept as the wisest counsels the
seditious utterances of the newspapers and of the demagogues at the clubs.
As early as the 25th of February a crowd of armed workmen bearing
the red flag as symbol of republican socialism assembled at the H6tel-de-
Ville. It required all Lamartine's eloquence to induce them to discard their
unworthy emblem and raise in its place the tricolour, which had already
made the " tour of the world." ^
The situation of the workers soon assumed an aspect too serious to admit
of any delay in providing relief. But was it possible to succour all the suffer-
ing toilers who were deprived of work? The attempt was made. Orders were
given to the bakers and butchers to supply with bread and meat any of the
armed citizens who had a requisition from their chief. All the articles pledged
at the Mont-de-Pi6t6 since February 1st upon which had been advanced a
loan of not over ten francs were to be returned to their former owners. The
palace of the Tuileries was thrown open to receive invalided workmen, and
the government proposed to "restore to the workingmen, to whom they
rightfully belonged, the million francs that were about to fall due from the
civil list." To these acts of gross flattery towards the men of the people were
added declarations of the utmost gravity. The government took upon itself
to "guarantee the existence of the workman by means of work," that is to
"guarantee work to every citizen." Twenty-four battalions of "mobile
national guard" were created, each soldier of which was to receive a daily
pay of thirty sous. At the same time were opened the " national workshops"
which cost enormous simis to support and which completed the demoralisa-
tion of the artisan by exacting from him a merely nominal return in work
for a daily wage of one and a half or two francs. Also followers of the finer
crafts, such as jewellers, clockmakers, engravers, etc., were frequently to be
seen spoiling the delicacy of their hands by pushing a wheelbarrow or digging
ditches.
The National Workshops and Their Consequences
The government determined to effect still more. It instituted in the
palace of the Luxembourg " a governmental conmiission" for working people,
of which several workmen were elected members, and which was given a
president and vice-president ui the persons of two members of the govern-
ment, Louis Blanc and the workman Albert. Louis Blanc in addition to
his other duties undertook to explain to the workers just what was meant
[' Concerning Lamartine, the politician, a very interestine book appeared in 1903 by M.
Pierre Quentin-Bauchart.j
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTION OP FEANCE SINCE 1815 207
by the "organisation of labour." Thus by lectures and fine speeches the
government sought to make the people forget their miseries.
The many secret societies and professional demagogues (Blanqui, Barb^s,
and F^lix Pyat had already made for themselves a wide reputation) profited
by the inexperience of the labouring classes and drew them into all sorts of
dangerous manifestations. Such for instance was the movement of the 17th
of March, which demanded the withdrawal of the troops from Paris, and
that of the 16th of April, so menacing for the government that it ordered
out the national guard into the square before the H6tel-de-ViUe. The work-
ingmen, incited by their leaders to mingle in matters that did not concern or
even interest them, were beginning to make of themselves an intolerable
nuisance, while the Bonapartist or royalist agents that took an activfe part in
their manifestations constituted a grave peril to the republic.
Another source of danger, and one that threatened more seriously day by
day, was the workshops. In the beginning the number of workers they con-
tained was but a few thousand; a short time after, the total had risen to
110,000. The strikes, encouraged by the commission of the Luxembourg,
multiplied without any apparent reason; the participants doubtless pre-
ferred the dolce far niente of the national workshops to any serious toil else-
where. Instead of breaking up these workshops into groups more or less
widely distant from each other, their director, Emile Thomas, allowed them '
to become concentrated in the single district that to-day forms the Pare
Monceau. He had instituted in these workshops an almost military discipline
and organisation. By such measures the government hoped to raise up for
itself a great power of defence; but it was soon found that the vast assemblages
of workmen furnished nearly all the recruits for the popular manifestations.
When the constituent assembly came together (the 4th of May) the
gravity of the situation was revealed to it by the audacious action of the
labour leaders. On the 15th of May, under pretext of presenting a petition
on behalf of Poland — many workmen believed that that very evening a relief
expedition was to be imdertaken in favour of the "France of the North" — a
mass of people, nearly two thousand imarmed men, led by Blanqui, Raspail,
Quentin, Huber, and Sobrier, made irruption into the assembly. Huber
proclaimed it to be dissolved. After that the rioters were expelled without
bloodshed by the mobile guard. They proceeded at once to the H6tel-de-
Ville, but were dispersed by Lamartine, who followed them at the head of
the mobile guard.
The assembly showed less disposition to forgive this criminal aggression
than had the governments of the H6tel-de-Ville. It proceeded at once to
close several clubs, decreed the arrest of Barbfe, Blanqui, Sobrier, Quentin,
and even Albert, the former member of the provisory government. It broke
with Louis Blanc, and made minister of war a tried republican and valiant
African general, Eugene Cavaignac. Lastly it formed a commission solely
to investigate the matter of the national workshops and render a report.
Unfortunately the person charged with making this report was one of the
most ardent members of the legitimist and clerical Eight, the apologist of
the terrible pope-inquisitor Pius V, and future author of the law of 1850 on
public instruction, Alfred de Falloux. The assembly, acting on blind im-
pulse, adopted his conclusions. It displayed as great an inexperience in
closing the national workshops as that revealed by the governments of the
H6tel-de-Ville in creating them and allowing them to develop. It had not,
however, the excuse of the latter in the eyes of posterity— their profound
pity for the sufferings of the people.
208 THE HISTOHY OP FEANCE
One circumstance which was certain to produce bloodshed in Paris was
the precipitate haste of the enemies of the national workshops in carrying out
their measures of repression. On the 29th of May, by means of an arbitrary
warrant that recalls the lettres de cachet, Emile Thomas was arrested and
taken to Bordeaux.
The watchword of the reactionists was "An end must be made at once."
In his report Falloux, with odious h3^ocrisy, denounced the national work-
shops as the agency which had worked the "saddest deterioration in the
character formerly so pure and glorious of the Parisian workman."
On the 22nd of June a decree, pubhshed in Le Moniteur and signed by
Minister Goudchaux, declared that "all workmen between the ages of seven-
teen and twenty-five must on the following day enlist in the army under pain
of being refused admission to the workshops." On the 23rd barricades were
erected all over the city and firing commenced. Eugene Cavaignac, "chief
of the executive power," was in supreme command, having imder him several
of the ablest and bravest generals of the African service. The battle between
the workmen and the regular state forces raged with unparalleled fury for
four whole days; the troops had the task of tearing down himdreds of bar-
ricades. On the 25th General Damesme was fatally wounded, the generals
Brea and de Negrier were assassinated, and Monseigneur Affre, archbishop
of Paris, was killed.
The assembly now saw the mistake it had committed and voted three
millions for the relief of needy workmen; the greater part of the insurgents,
however, never even heard of the measure. The struggle ended on the 26th
by the bombardment and captm-e of the faubourg St. Antoine. The work-
men of this quarter had taken up arms on hearing the rumour that the royal-
ists were attacking the republic; what was their surprise to see the troops,
the national guard, the mobile guard — the latter composed entirely of work-
men—all scaling the barricades to cries of " Vive la r^puUique." During that
series of wretched misunderstandings which have come down to us as the
"days of June," French blood was shed in streams. There were in all six or
seven thousand wounded. The government troops, which went imcovered
to the attack of the barricades, behind which were sheltered the insurgents,
counted fifteen hundred dead, and among them seven generals. The in-
surgents lost but half that mmiber. Of the rebels who were taken captive,
3,376 were transported to Algeria, where many of them founded colonies.^
The recognition of the "right to work" and the faulty organisation of
the national workshops have cast a great weight of blame on the memory
of the provisory government; but still severer condemnation attaches to
the assembly and to those political intriguers who made it do their wiU;
who showed themselves so woefully ignorant of the psychology of the mass
of workers, and so forgetful of their devotion on the 24th of February.
It was the republic that had to suffer by the mistakes made on every
side. The remembrance of the "days of June" had due weight on the occa-
sion of the presidential election on the 10th of December, 1848. The name
of Louis Napoleon was cast into the urn by citizens eager for peace, and by
workingmen who hoped to obtain through the nephew of the first emperor,
through the author of L'Extinction du paupirisme, a signal revenge.
[' Alexandre Quentin-Bauchart, Rapport de la Commission d'enquSte sur U IB Mai et
Vinsurredion de Juin, 1848. 3 vols, in 4. See also the apologies of fimile Thomas, Histoire
des ateliers nationaux, 1850. Eistoires de la Bholution de I84S, which are likewise apologies,
by Lamartine, Qarnier-PagSs, and Louis Blanc]
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTIOi;r OF FRANCE SIKCE 1815 209
The Working Classes under Louis Napoleon
_ The two republican assemblies, the constituent and the legislative, were
neither of them capable of offering a final solution to the labour problem;
the first because of its brief term of existence, the second because of its in-
ternal divisions and over-conservative tendencies. The laws they passed
were merely those of the 18th of Jime, 1850, on superannuation funds; of
the 15th of July, 1850, on mutual aid societies ; and of the 22nd of February,
1851, abolishing certain limitations — a survival of the old regime — to the
number of apprentices. The law of the 27th of November, 1849, on coali-
tions of working people simply reproduces certain provisions of the Penal
Code of Napoleon. The humiliating formality of the livret and Article 1,781
of the Civil Code were also allowed to remain in force.
Moreover, both republican assemblies, but especially the legislative, which
more directly felt the pressure of the Napoleonic executive power, had de-
parted widely from the principles of well-nigh absolute liberty promised
by the provisory goverimient as the foundation of the new republic. The
constituent assembly by the enactment of July 28, 1848, which aimed partic-
ularly at secret societies, restricted liberty of meeting and association, and
the legislative interdicted, for a period of time which was afterwards renewed,
all clubs and public meetings. It did not venture, however, to re-enforce
either Article 291 of the Penal Code or the law of 1834.
About the same course was pursued in regard to freedom of the press.
That a stop might be put to the multiplication of subversive journals the
constituent assembly redemanded the former security; then it pronounced
penalties against writers who should attack any of the existing institutions —
the national assembly, the executive power, the constitution, property-rights,
the principles of universal suffrage or the sovereignty of the people, liberty
of worship, the family, etc. The- legislative reissued almost all the provi-
sions of the law of 1835, then re-established the stamp-tax in addition to the
obligatory security.
Finally the legislative committed the supreme foUy of exacting, in the
law of May 31, 1850, not six months' but three years' residence as qualification
for the right to vote, which was virtually to exclude the whole body of work-
ingmen, forced as they are by the exigencies of laboin- to frequent changes of
habitation. Thus the assembly struck an annihilating blow at the very-
system to which it owed its existence, universal suffrage. No enemy ani-
mated by the most perfidious designs could have counselled it to a more
self-destructive act. The proclamation of the usurper-president had now,
in order to make sure of the workingmen's neutrality, but to include this
simple declaration: "Universal suffrage is again established."
To sum up, the republic — provisory goverrmient or assembly — had given
so little satisfaction to the masses of the people whether urban or rural, had
fallen so far short of fulfilling, not their dreams but their most legitimate
hopes, that it was an easy matter for any new rule, however autocratic, to
establish its sway over them. The act of perjury and the massacres in which
this dawning power took its rise might render inimical to it a certain high
element among the people ; it none the less succeeded in flattering the inter-
ests and thereby gaining the sympathies of the great majority of the nation.
Its first display of ability was in recognising that it was above aU a gov-
ernment of universal suffrage and that its most pressing need was to con-
•iliate the masses. All new laws must be framed with these facts in -view;
H. W.— VOI<. 2UI. F
210 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
they were the kej'-note that dominated the policy both at home and abroad.
For how, if universal suffrage had not existed in France, could they have
instituted a plebiscite before taking possession of Savoy and Nice, and have
demanded of the king Victor Emmanuel that he confirm by a plebiscite his
Italian conquests?
The rule that followed upon the coup d'etat, bearing first the name of
decennial presidency, then that of empire, had the support of the rural classes,
which the provisory government had alienated by establishing the impost of
45 centimes — that is, increasing direct taxation by 45 per cent. It was easy
enough for Napoleon III to win the favour of village inhabit;ants by building
dwellings for the mayors, erecting churches, and cutting new parish roads;
and to capture their suffrage by means of a cleverly executed system of
official candidateship. A series of fuU crops and harvests completed the
general well-being in the country, and the superstitious peasant was inclined
to attribute all to the magic name of Napoleon. Even now old inhabitants
love to recall the times when grain and cattle "sold so high."
Napoleon III also rendered inestimable services to the workers in cities; in
him indeed may be seen the organiser, hesitating at times, without full knowl-
edge of the work he was accomplishing, of that great power, urban democ-
racy. His autocratic rule brought to realisation what none of the liberal
monarchies or republican assemblies had even dared to attempt. The nephew
of the great emperor in his law of the 25th of May, 1864, struck out of the
Code Napoleon Articles 414, 415, and 416 which interdicted coalitions, abro-
gated at the same time the law of 1849 and put an end to a system which
forced the tribunals to judge each year an average of seventy-five trials re-
sulting from strikes. The new law recognised the right of workingmen to
concert for the purpose of obtaining an increase of wages, and to make use
of the means most effectual for this end, the strike. It punished only those
offences which brought about simultaneous cessation- of labour by means of
acts of violence, menace, or fraud. The government made it a point of
honour to protect as fully the labourer's right to cease work as his right to
work. Freedom so imrestrained might become, according to the use it was
given in the hands of workingmen, either a powerful instnmient for their
material improvement or the most dangerous weapon that was ever turned
against both themselves and the industries of the nation. Was it to be hoped
that they would always use it wisely? Led away by the ardour of pohtical
feeling, they were frequently guilty of unwarrantable acts that brought them
into violent contact with the public authorities charged with protecting
liberty of labour. From such encounters resulted sanguinary episodes like
that of the Ricamarie "massacre" (1869), in which were killed eleven persons,
two of whom were women.
By the law of the 2nd of August, 1868, the government abrogated Article
1,781 of the Civil Code. In 1854 more timidity had been shown, as for in-
stance when the livret was insisted upon with greater rigour, and it was ob-
ligatory upon each new employer to have it endorsed by the police. The
evils resulting from this practice becoming more apparent as time went on,
an inquiry was ordered in 1869, which was about to end in the suppression of
the livret when the Franco-Prussian War broke out. Hospitals were multi-
plied for the labouring classes, and asylums for infants and old people. The
empress took under her especial patronage all these works of public charity,
and one of the asylums on the Seine was given the name of Prince Imperial.
The species of popularity which Napoleon III enjoyed among Parisian
workingmen was founded on the abimdance of work provided by the recon-
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTION OF FRANCE SINCE 1815 211
struction of a large part of the capital by Haussmaim, the prefect of the
Seine. The people were fond of saying in presence of this gigantic haicss-
mannisation, "When the building trade flourishes everything goes well."
The number of workmen employed in building alone was almost doubled —
71,240 instead of 41,600. The total number of labourers employed in all the
twenty districts of Paris had increased from 342,530 to 416,811, of which
285,861 were men, and the rest were women, girls, and yoimg boys. Besides
these, 42,028 people were employed in the public establishments and by the
great companies, 26,242 were sub-contractors, and 62,199 were engaged in
work on their own account. The whole made up an army of more than
500,000 Parisian workers.
The labour delegates that the emperor had allowed to be sent to the
Universal Exhibition of London in 1863 noted the liberty enjoyed by the
English labourers, and studied the working of their trade unions. Some
returned affiliated to the dangerous International Association of Workingmen;
others, more practical, merely brought back a deep veneration for the prin-
ciples of mutuality. In the report of the typographers is to be read : " Asso-
ciation is the truest and most efficacious method of promoting the peaceful
and progressive emancipation of the working-classes." Moreover, the in-
fluence was widely felt in France of the siiccess obtained in Germany by
Schulze-Delitzsch, who had created the workmen's mutual credit system
and the people's banks. Soon in every part of France — naturally with the
authorisation of the government — co-operative societies in the fields of con-
sumption, production, and credit began to multiply. The progress of the
urban working-classes was also shown by the great number of mutual aid
societies that arose among them: five years after the passage of the law of
July 15th, 1850, there were no less than 2,695 of these associations.
In 1853 the manufacturer Jean DoUfus of Miilhausen founded the Miil-
hausen Society of Labour Settlements, which not only assured the workman
comfortable and salubrious quarters, but permitted him to own his home
after the lapse of a few years by the payment of a small sum annually. This
example was shortly followed in every part of France.
The Commune of 1871
The fall of the second empire, occurring as it did when a foreign war was
at its height, was preceded and followed by revolutionary movements. After
war had been declared it was found necessary all over the country, in order
to supply the deficiency of troops of the line, to muster in the "mobile guards,"
the "mobilised troops," and the "national guard," which altogether made
up a force that held discipline in contempt and, being also without military
training or instruction, could render effective service — glorious service it was
sometimes — only in case of siege.
In Paris, especially, nothing had been accomplished save to organise an
armed conflict between political opinions of the bitterest and most fervid
character. Those members of the "government of the national defence"
who remained shut up in Paris soon had an opportimity to distinguish be-
tween the "good battalions" and the "bad battalions.' ^ The latter were
in general quite as active in opposing the German invasion as the others, but
imder all their patriotism lay the ulterior purpose of making the republic
that was proclaimed on September 4th, and acknowledged throughout France,
' Depositions before the committee investigating the acts of the government of the national
defence, preceded hy the leport of the Count Daiu.
212 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
a socialistic republic. Many of these "bad battalions" were under the direct
influence of leaders who had gained fame in previous revolutions, Blanqui,
F^lix Pyat, or certain new demagogues who, with the exception of Flourens
or Delescluze, were for the most part unknown. Among the "bad battal-
ions" there were many "worse" ones, for example those of Belleville who
tore up the flag given them to raise on their march towards the enemy, but
who were always in the lead when any rioting took place.'
In reality the famous "commune" existed when Paris was still in a state
of siege. The events of October 1st, 1870, when the government was penned
up for fourteen hours in the H6tel-de-Ville by riots which fortunately ter-
minated without bloodshed, also those of the 22nd of January, 1871, when
firing broke out in the square of the H6tel-de-Ville between the "mobiles"
of Brittany and the 101st battalion of the national guard, were all the work
of the commune.
After Paris had capitulated, nearly one himdred thousand men belonging
to the well-to-do classes, hence to the "good battalions," hurried to rejoin their
families and the field was left free to the revolutionists, who imtil then had
not been in the majority. It was at this juncture that they assumed the
name of "federates." Upon the temper of this populace possessing 450,000
rifles, 2,000 cannon, and innumerable stores of powder, upon the spirit of men,
already tried by the sufferings of the siege — sufferings that had resulted in
enormous infant mortality — and a prey to the hallucinations of the "siege
fever," and of patriotism exasperated by defeat, a number of incidents that
now took place acted with disastrous effect. On the 1st and 2nd of March
the Parisians saw the German troops march, according to the terms of capitu-
lation, from the Arc de Triomphe to the garden of the Tuileries; they also
had reason to believe that the national assembly, now in session at Bordeaux,
was acting disloyally to the republic, and learned on the arrival of the repre-
sentatives at Versailles that the royalist majority had received with violent
hostility the complaints of the Paris mayors.
Finally, the dearest interests of all were attacked when the assembly gave
forth that the notes which had been allowed to lapse through the whole dura-
tion of the siege were now demandable within forty-eight hours, such a decision
being equivalent to paralysing Parisian commerce and plunging its leaders
into bankruptcy. The episode of the cannon of Montmartre on March 18th
caused the insurrection to burst forth with a fury that resulted in the shameful
assassination of two generals. The revolutionists of Lyons rose at the same
time and assassinated the prefect of Loire, and in Marseilles the riots were
not put down without much bloodshed. M. Thiers resolved to evacuate
Paris that he might obtain possession of it again the more surely. Though
justifiable from a strategic point of view, this kction virtually delivered Paris
over to the tyranny of mob rule, with all its attendant chances of piUage,
burning — perhaps even of total destruction.
Taking up his position at Versailles with a body of troops, small at first
but growing in number as the prisoners from Germany returned, M. Thiers
for two months held Paris in a state of siege, visiting terrible reprisals on
those "communard" battalions which ventured out into the plain. On the
21st of May the Versailles troops took by surprise the gate of Saint Cloud
and poured into Paris; after which commenced the "week of blood" or the
"battle of seven days," which as far exceeded in horror the terrible days of
June, 1848, as the latter surpassed the uprisings of 1831, 1832, and 1834.
[' Jules Ferry, deposition before the committee of investigation on the IStli of March, 1871,
reproduced in vol. 1, page 549, of his Diaeowa et (ypimoni.]
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTION OF FKANCE SINCE 1815 213
The "proletariat" manifested its new-found power in an ever-growing thirst
for destruction. The whole centre of Paris — Legion of Honour, court of
Accounts, Tuileries, Ministry of Finance, Palais Royal, Palais de Justice,
Prefecture of PoUce, and H6tel-de-Ville, that marvel of the Renaissance —
formed but one cauldron; everywhere insurgents of both sexes were going
about making use of petroleum. The cannon of the Versailles artillery and
those of the communards opened fire on each other from one quarter to
another of the very heart of Paris. Unable to hold out longer, the commune
ordered the massacre of the "hostages," among whom were the archbishop of
Paris, Monseigneur Darboy, and the president, Bonjean. The last of the
federates were finally crushed among the tombs of Pere-Lachaise.
Of the members of the commune, Delescluze had found death on a barri-
cade, Jacques Durand and Varlin had been executed, the ferocious Raoul
Rigault had been killed by a pistol in the hands of a policeman, and five
others had received wounds. All the rest had taken to flight.
It was upon the poor devils, the himible members of the various national
guards who were for the most part unwitting instruments, that the punish-
ment fell most heavily. Seventeen thousand of these participants perished
during or after the combat, and 37,000 were driven on foot through torrid
heat to Versailles, where they were arraigned before a comicil of war. This
trial resulted in 26 executions, 3,417 deportations, 1,247 detentions, 332
-banishments, 251 condemnations to penal servitude, and 4,873 diverse pen-
alties. " Paris has cruelly expiated the error into which it was plimged by
certain guilty and irresponsible men; surely after the sufferings endured and
the heroism displayed during the siege the city did not deserve a destiny
so hard." ^
For more than two months the commune ruled supreme over one of the
greatest capitals of the world, and to this day the collectivists, the anarchists,
the unruly, and the lawless of every country on the globe celebrate that brief
triumph as the most splendid manifestation of the power of the people that
the world has ever seen.
It cannot be denied that the commune was guilty of monstrous crimes.
To offset these crimes, what social ideals did it realise, what doctrines or
plans of reform did it hand down to posterity, what guiding signs did it
place along the route of succeeding generations or what foundations lay
ready for the future constructions of humanity? The truth is that the com-
mune distinguished itself for nothing so much as a complete dearth of ideas,
a prodigious inability to do anything but repeat certain terrorist proceedings
of '93, to strut about under the same stripes and dignities as those worn by
the citizen-governors. The "central committee of the commune" was made
up in the beginning of very ordinary individuals, who were obscm-e at the
time of their selection and remained so even while wielding a power that
was practically unlimited. Bound together by no common ties and for the
most part grossly ignorant, these men had not even a true conception of the
principles they represented; hence were utterly incapable of arranging, either
singly or in concert, any plan for united action.
The central committee was supposed to consist of a hundred members,
but rarely did more than twenty or thirty come together at a sitting. "The
records of these meetings reveal the strange body to have been after aU little
more than a makeshift; instability is always apparent, as well as great con-
fusion and a lack of sequence in ideas. Certain successful candidates suddenly
* Gabriel Hanotaux (former minister of foreign afEairs), Sistoire de la France contemporaine,
vd. I, Paris, 1908.
214 THE HISTOKY OF FEANCE
relinquished membership, others abstained from attending any of the sittings,
while yet other individuals, without having been elected, presented themselves
in company with a friend and took part in the deliberations until a comjjlaint
was made and both were expelled." '
An all-powerful commune (using the word in its true sense), holding
universal sway by virtue of the terror it inspired, demanding of all provi-
sions, bravery, and wiUing arms, was a legend rather than a fact. In reality
a few audacious men both within and without the committee, such as Rossel,
Flourens, the "generals" Duval and Bergeret, Raoul Rigault, and Delescluze,
arrogated to themselves the greater part of the power and abused it shame-
fully. So long as lasted the commune the conditions under which men gov-
erned, tyrannised, fought, killed, and themselves found death were those
of pure anarchy. Were it otherwise, had any serious organisation or system
existed, would it have been possible for the Versailles troops to enter Paris
and pass through the gate of Saint Cloud without discharging a shot from
their rifles?
The suppression of the Paris revolt might — so hoped the assembly's Right
— wipe out the republic itself, but this hope was not fulfilled. Democracy,
though vanquished, was stiU formidable, and the republic in whose name it
had been subdued retained such an appearance of power that M. Thiers,
in whose hand lay the destinies of France, accentuated his evolution towards
the Left. Moreover, the rural populations and the bourgeoisie of 1871 dis-
played more reason and self-possession than had characterised similar classes
in 1848. Far from hastening to set over themselves a master, as had the
latter, they gave all their support to the aged statesman who was doing his
utmost to place the republic in a position of safety.
Recent Legislation for the Betterment of Labour
It was now universally comprehended that a republic should exist for
the good of all classes of the nation, should be res publica in the full mean-
ing of the words; whereas former revolutions had furthered the interests of
one class alone. The assemblies which succeeded each other after 1875,
having greater wisdom, more time for deliberation, and wider experience
than those of the second repubhc, elaborated so many useful laws that a
complete change was brought about in the situation of the workingman.
Powerful as was the instnmient of emancipation put into the hands of
working people when universal sxiffrage was proclaimed in 1848, the gift
needed another to complete it — free and obligatory education for the masses
as provided by the Ferry laws; also the adult schools, complementary to
the primary school system, and technical instruction of all sorts.
The law of the 21st of March, 1884, on syndicates, borrowed the best
features of early labour organisation in France and at the same time guaran-
teed, it was hoped, full liberty to the individual. The law of July 2nd, 1890,
suppressed the obligation of the workingman to carry a Kvret, or certificate.
The law of the 8th of July, 1890, provided for the appointment of delegates
of miners^ who were to be elected by their comrades and charged with se-
curing safe conditions of labour. The law of the 27th of December, 1892,
instituted optional arbitration in litigations between employers and em-
ployed. The law of the 9th of April, 1898, awarded an indemnity to work-
men injured while performing any ordered task, even when the injury could
[' Camille Pelletan, Le OomiU central de la Cotmmim, New Edition.]
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTION OF FEANCE SINCE 1815 215
be shown to be the result of their own unprudence. In case of death from
such a cause the indemnity is to be paid to the wife and children of the de-
ceased. The law of the 30th of June, 1899, extended to agricultural labourers
this same right of indemnity La cases where an accident was caused by the
use of machines worked by inanimate forces (steam or electricity) and not
by men or animals. The laws of the 19th of March, 1874, and of the 2nd of
November, 1892, interpreted by numerous decrees, were intended as revisions
of those elaborated by the chambers imder Louis Philippe; but so compli-
cated is_ the matter owing to the endless diversity of professions that it is
found difficult to formulate a good general law. The many provisions and
prohibitions come near to being vexatious, even ruinous, to the workingman
himself.
By a law of 1883 commissioners and inspectors of chUd-labour are also
charged with the enforcement of the law of May 17th, 1851, regulating the
number of hours of work a day for adults.
The progress of the working-classes can always be estimated by the rate
of advance of certain allied institutions. Thus the mutual aid societies,
which in 1853 numbered 2,695, had attained in 1899 a total of 12,292, with
1,725,439 active members, 292,748 honorary members, and a capital of
312,000,000 francs.
The superannuation funds, including the "national" fimd of that name
founded in 1850, also entered upon a period of great development. The laws
of Jime 25th, 1894, and July 16th, 1896, organised similar institutions for the
benefit of miners, and the French parliament is constantly entertaining pro-
jects looking to the further extension of the idea.
In 1847 the savings banks contained in deposits only 358,000,000 of
francs, in 1869 the amount had increased to 711,000,000, and in 1882 to
1,754,000,000. At the beginning of 1899 the banks had received in deposits
4,000,500,000 francs, represented by 7,000,000 bank-books.
The free medical aid system was established by the law of January 22nd,
1893; that of free judicial aid, created by the law of January 22nd, 1851,
was reorganised by the law of July 8th, 1901.
It is evident that the working people, not wholly but in great part, com-
pose the mutual aid societies, contribute to the superannuation fimds, and
own the three or four thousand mUlion francs deposited in the savings banks
of France. It is equally apparent that to them falls the largest share of the
benefits arising from prosperity. According to calculations the consumption
of meat has almost doubled since the beginning of the nineteenth century,
the consumption of wine has doubled, that of coffee trebled, of sugar increased
tenfold, and of beer augmented in the proportion of 70 per cent. Now the
rich man hardly consumes a greater quantity of meat, wine, beer, coffee, and
sugar than does the labourer, nor is the economical rural worker given to
using half as much of these commodities as his urban brother; hence it wUl
be seen that the general increase of prosperity has benefited most of all the
labourers in cities.
The workingman of to-day is better fed, better clad, better housed, more
generously provided in every way with worldly goods than was the working-
man of thirty years ago. He profits by all the inventions of a philanthropic
legislature, enjoys for himself and his children free medical service and judi-
cial aid, but can it truly be said that he is happier than his congener of fifty
or sixty years ago? And if it is true, wiU he admit it? It is ingrained in the
nature" of man to let his sufferings for the lack of certain things outweigh his
happiness in the possession of others. French workingmen are not inclined
216 THE HISTOEY OF FEANOB
to seek comparisons in bygone times, they refuse to take into accoimt any
period but the present, to see anything but the existing difference between
their own and their employer's condition. They display a greater animosity
to-day toward the bourgeois class, that has made for them many sacrifices,
than was ever cherished by their forerunners against the egoistical employers
of 1830. Many among them would think it quite right to work only eight
hours a day for high wages,' and to have funds established for them to which
they themselves would not have to contribute. Others also, who are de-
positors in savings banks and mutual aid societies, and in receipt of the in-
come assured them by these institutions, give themselves airs of " proletarians"
after the fashion of the workingman of 1830 whose only capital was a pair of
shrunken arms. If they vote it is very often in favoiu- of some extremist
candidate, as though they had a horror of public tranquillity, and were not
themselves the first to suffer from any disturbance of the peace. Furthermore
they are beset by solicitations to join one or more of the many socialistic
organisations — the Blanquists or the Allemanists — whose avowed mission it
is to foment hatrect between the classes, to prepare the way for a " universal
strike," and whose favourite counsel to the workingman is to "study the
chemistry of revolution."
Present-day Doctrines
We have left far behind us the days of Saint-Simon, of Enfantin, of
Fourier, of Cabet and other mild Utopians, of Proudhon, and of Louis Blanc.
The new masters to whom socialists swear allegiance are more terrible ones
whom they have foimd across the Rhine; from Ferdinand, but more especially
from Karl Marx, proceed the most radical coUectivist and the most destructive
internationalist doctrines that have ever been uttered. Among the French
disciples of Karl Marx a certain set of fanatics acknowledged as their leader
Jules Guesde, the high priest with the wasted visage, who styles himself
" chief of the French laboiu- party " ; others, who are the truly clever ones, call
themselves independent, and, in company with MUlerand and Jaures, have
enjoyed more than one foretaste of the bliss they promise the people in a
more or less distant futin-e.
Many workingmen were carried away by the formula, lately fallen into
disuse, of the "three eights" (eight horns for labour, eight for relaxation,
eight for sleep). Its inventors concerned themselves but little with those
trades or professions that are marked by alternations of activity and stagna-
tion. Other labourers— forming not a tenth part of the mass of French
workers — allowed themselves to be drawn into the so-called professional
sjmdicates which, in violation of the law of 1884, were diverted from their
original purpose and transformed into agencies for strikes. Fortunately
there arose against the despotism of strike leaders and "red" syndicates the
powerful association of "yellow" syndicates, which dared show themselves
independent even in the face of revolutionary tyranny.
The coUectivists are hostile to the idea of country, army, imiform, or flag,
and their bitter hatred of the priesthood leads them into complete forgetful-
ness not only of the nation's interests but of their own. This is what makes
the management of public affairs so easy for unscrupulous politicians: one
good campaign against religion will take the place of ever so many social
reforms, even those that have been declared the most urgent.
The power gained by the labouring classes, now the " fourth estate," has
by no means contributed everything towards the general welfare; it ha* pro-
THE SOCIAL EVOLUTION OP FEANCB SINCE 1815 217
moted neither the pubUc peace, continually disturbed by so-called "social
reclamations," nor the industrial prosperity of the country, repeatedly en-
dangered by unjustifiable and sanguinary strikes such as those of 1898 and
1899; while it has as certainly not added to France's glory in the eyes of the
world, since all her institutions of national defence are the subject of the
most -hostile and annihilating criticism.
The old regime of France with its kings and nobles counts fourteen cen-
turies of a glory whose origin is lost in the legends of antiquity; the pre-
dominance of the bourgeoisie during the revolution, the first empire, and
the parliamentary monarchies was marked by splendid progress, victories,
and expansion of ideas; just what will distinguish the era ushered in by
socialism in every country of the globe it is difficult to conceive, nor is it
easier to foretell the future lot of humanity when the coUectivist state shall
have become an accomplished fact.
We are frequently assured that if every country were to disband its armies
the peace of the world would be secured. Who can guarantee, though, that
all the inhabitants of any given country would calmly consent to relinquish
their property, bow their necks to the heaviest bureaucratic yoke that has
ever been imposed (for many more officials would be required to run such
an enormous phalanstery of a state than are employed to-day), and endure
without rebelling the wearisome, monotonous, and depressing existence that
would be theirs under the sway of the least enlightened classes of the nation?
Nor would the suppression of the states do away either with the different
ethnological groups that form their support, nor with the inclination of these
groups to live their own life, to speak their own tongue, to draw inspiration
from the legends of their own past, to feel themselves in a word separate and
distinct from all the other groups around them. There have been innu-
merable wars in former times between those national personalities calling
themselves in the present France, Germany, England, Spain, and Italy —
feudal wars, monarchical wars. Jacobin wars, bourgeois wars, and tariff wars,
wars for pillage, wars for principles, and wars for display. It is not clearly
apparent how any of these wars could have been averted had each of the na-
tions participating been ruled by a coUectivist autocracy and bureaucracy.
And again, who can assert that the diplomacy of the future will be as skilled
in avoiding causes of conflict as the diplomacy of the present ? The coUecti-
vist state, moreover, having assumed control in each country of all the agri-
cultural, industrial, and commercial interests, wiU be iU inclined to brook
that a neighbour shall hinder its traffic in grains and other produce, or shaU
contend for the markets in its possession. Evidently a custom-service wUl be
a necessity, with a regiment of officials, and frontier-lines wUl again come
into prominence. Thus, with a police force on land to guard against sedition
by malcontents, and warships on sea to protect its counting-houses, the
coUectivist state's institutions of defence wUl offer a very close paraUel to the
standing army of to-day.
The future that has been pictured for us in such glowing colours may,
after aU is said and done, be simply a repetition of the present with a few
worse features thrown in. There wUl doubtless stUl be wars, but the war-
fare wUl rage about a singularly diminished object; in the poverty-stricken
commonwealths that wiU succeed to the opulent_ nations of to-day there wiU
be no doing battle for glory or for the propagation of ideas, the inhabitants
wiU seek to exterminate each other on account of a few sacks of rye. The
citizen wars of the Revolution and the empire were marked by a fiercer
spirit than had characterised any of the previous monarchical wars; it ia to
218
THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
be feared that the "labour" wars will exceed them all in ferocity and hate,
will in fact turn the world back again to the modes of living and degree of
civilisation of the cave-dweUers. Let us hope, however, that the men of the
"fourth estate" will discover before it is too late the vanity, the danger, the
absurdity of the coUectivist utopia; it is not well to serve as a springboard
for ambitious men who, without believing in the possibility of the realisation
of their utopia, understand marvellously well how to exploit it.
BEIEF KEFEEENCE-LIST OF AUTHOEITIES BY CHAPTEES
[The letter " is reserved for Editorial Matter.]
Chapter I. The Bouebon Restoration (1815-1824)
* Thomas Erskine Mat, Democracy in Europe. — "Charles Seignobos, Histoire politique
de V Europe contemporaine, 1814-1896. — "* Alphonse de Lamaetine, History of the Restoration
of Monarchy in France. — « P. Guizot, Memoirs of my own Time. —/Henri Martin, Sistoire
de France depuis 1789. — c A. Alison, History of Europe from the Fall of Napoleon, 1815, to
the Accession of Louis Noupoleon, 1852. — ''Charles Lacbetelle, Histoire de France depuis la
Restauration. — <C. Dareste de la Chavanne, Histoire de France. — ^]&mile de Bonnechose,
Histoire de France. — ^ James White, History of France. — ' V. Durut, Histoire de France. —
""Francois R. Chateaubriand, La Monarchic selon la Charte. — »J. B. R. Capefioue, His-
toire de la Restauration.
Chapter II. Charles X and the July Revolution
I" A. DE Lamartine, op. cit. — "A. Alison, op. eit. — "^E. de Bonnechose, op. cit. — «H.
Martin, op. cit. — 'C. Dareste de la Chavanne, op. cit. — bJ. White, op. cit. — ''Wilhblm
Muller, Politische Oeschichte der neuesten Zeit. — * Camille Pblletan, De 1815 & nos jours. —
^ Louis Blanc, The History of Ten Years, ' 1830-18 Jfi. — * Maurice Wahl, VAlgSrie. — 'Karl
HiLLEBRAND, Geschichtc Franhreichs von der Thronhesteigung Louis Fhilippes bis zum Falle
Napoleons IIL (In Heeren and Ukert's Oeschichte 3,er europ&ischen Staaten.)
Chapter III. Louis Philippe and the Revolution op 1848
6T. Erskine May, op. cit. — "H. Martin, op. cit. — ''A. Alison, op. cit. — "F. Guizot, op.
eit. — /v. Durut, op. cit. — nW. Muller, op. cit. — ''C. Dareste de la Chavanne, op. cit. —
* Abb£ Girard, Nouvelle Histoire de France. — '3. White, op. cit. — ''C. Pelletan, op. cit. —
'L. DE LoMfiNiE, Oalerie des Contemporains illustres.
Chapter TV. The Republic op 1848
'Gamaliel Bradford, The Lesson of Popular Government. — "A. M. Dupin, MSmoires. —
''Victor Pierre, Histoire de la Repuhlique de 18^8. — "A. Alison, op. cit. — 'H. Maetin, op.
eit. — bMarquis of Normanbt, A Year of Revolution, from a Journal kept in Paris in 1848. —
''V. Durut, op. cit. — *T. Erskine May, op. cit. — ^Hippoltte Castille, Histoire de la Sec-
onde Repuhlique. — ^ Victor Hugo, Napoleon the Little. — 'A. de Lamartine, History of the
French Revolution of ISJjS.
Chapter V. Louis Napoleon, President and Emperor (1849-70)
'H. Martin, op. cit. — "A. Alison, op. cit. — ''V. Durut, op. cit. — 'C. Pelletan, op. eit. —
fp. A. M. P. DE Granibr de Cassagnac, L'histoire de NapoUon IIL—bA. Rastoul, Histoire
de France. — ''V. Hugo, op. cit. — ^FisuREVEijAGoRcti, Histoire du Second Empire. — ■'G.
Bradford, op. cit. — *T. Delord, Histoire du Second Empire. — 'W. Mijller, op. cit. — ""T.
Brskine Mat, op. ot<. — "C. Seignobos, op. cit. — "David MIjller, Geschichtc des Deutschen
Volkes, —p C. A. Fypfe, A Eittory of Modern Europe. — i Eugene TfiNOT, Pa/ris en Dicembre
1861.
S19
220 THE HISTORY OF FEANCE
Chapter VI. The Peanco-Peussian Wae (1870-1871)
'' C. A. Ftppe, op. cit. — ° Taxile Deloed, Histoire illustrie du Second Empire. — <* Cousr
VON Moltke, The Franco-German War of 1870-1871, (translated by Clara Bell and H. W.
Fischer). — 'H. Maktin, op. cit. — /Paul Bondois, Histoire de la Guerre de 1870-1871. — "F.
Canonge, Histoire militaire contemporaine. — ''W. Mdllee, op. cit. — * George W. Kitchin,
article on " France" in the Encyclopmdia Britannica. — 1 A. A. Duceot, La Journee de Sedan.
— *B. F. WiMPFFEN, Sedan. — 'B. Ambeet, Histoire de la Guerre de 1870-1871. — ""L.
RoussET, Histoire ginerale de la Guerre Franco- Allemande. — "C. Pbllbtan, op. cit. —
» Hemei Gibabd, Histoire illustrSe de la Troisiime Mepublique.
Chaptee VII. The Thied Republic (1871-1903)
s G. Bradford, op. cit. — "Maxime du Gamf, Les Convulsions de Paris. — ''E. Zbvoet,
Histoire de la Troisiime R&puhligue. — « Jules Fatee, Le Gouvemement de la Sdfense nation-
cle. — fC. Pelletan, op. cit. — "J. B. C. Bodley, article on " France" in the New Volumes of
the EncyclopcBdia Britannica. — '' W. Mijlleb, op. cit. — * H. Martin, op, cit. — i A. Rastoul,
Histoire de France depuis la revolution de Juillet Jusqu'd nos Jours. — *M. L. Lanier'
L'Afrique.
A GENEEAL BIBLIOGEAPHY OF FEENCH HISTOEY
BASED OHIEFLT tTPON THE WORKS QUOTED, CITED, OE CONSULTED IN THE
PEEPAEATION OF THE PRESENT WOEK ; "WITH CEITICAL AND
BIOGEAPHICAL NOTES
Abbott, J. S. C, The History of Napoleon, New York, 1858, 2 vols. — Abrantea, duchesse
d', Mdmoires, Paris, 1831-1834, 18 vols.; new edition 1893. — Adams, C. K., Democracy and
Monarchy in France, New York, 1875. — Alembert, J. L. d', (Euvres litteraires, Paris, 1805,
18 vols. ; 1831-1823, 6 vols. — Alison, A., History of Europe from Commencement of the
French Revolution to the Restoration of the Bourbons, London and New York, 1849-1850,
14 vols. ; History of Europe from Fall of Napoleon, 1815, to Accession of Louis Napoleon, 1852,
Edinburgh and London, 1853, 7 vols. — Ambert, J., Histoire de la Guerre de 1870-1871, Paris,
1873 ; Le Mar^chal de Vauban, Tours, 1888. — Ampere, J. J., Histoire littdraire de la France
avant le douziSme siecle, Paris, 1839 ; Histoire de la France avant Charlemagne, 1867, 2 vols. —
AngoulSme, duchesse d' (Madame Royale), Memoires du Temple, new edition, Paris, 1893. —
Anquetil, Louis P., Histoire de France, Paris, 1805, 14 vols. — Antommarchi, C. F., Les derniers
moments de Napoleon, Paris, 1835. — Argenson, Eene Louis, marquis d', Essais, Amsterdam,
1785 ; reprinted as Memoires in Collection des Memoires relatif s & la Revolution, Paris, 1885. —
Arneth, Alfred and Gefiroy, M. A., Marie Antoinette, Paris, 1874, 3 vols, — Arsac, J. d', Me-
morial du silge de Paris, Paris, 1871. — Aubertin, Ch., Histoire de la langue et de la litterature
frangaise au moyen Sge, Paris, 1876-1878, 3 vols. — Aubign4, Theodore Agrippa d', Memoires,
Paris, 1854 ; Histoire universeUe, 1886. — Aumale, due d', Histoires des princes de CondS,
Paris, 1869, 2 vols.
Babeau, A. A., Le Parlement de Paris h Troyes en 1787, Paris, 1871 ; Le village sous
I'ancien regime, Paris, 1877 ; La ville sous I'ancien regime, Paris, 1880 ; La vie militaire sous
I'ancien regime, 1890, 3 vols. — Bachaumont, Louis, Memoires secrets pour servir & la repu-
bllque de lettres, Paris, 1777, 6 vols. — Bailly, Antoine, Histoire financiere de la France, Paris,
1830, 2 vols. — Baird, C. W., History of the Huguenot Emigration to America, New Yorli, 1885,
2 vols. — Baird, H. M., History of the Rise of the Huguenots of France, New York, 1879,
3 vols.; The Huguenots and Henry of Navarre, New York, 1886, 2 vols. — Barante, G. B. de,
Histoire des dues de Bourgogne de la Maison de Valois, Paris, 1884-1826, 3 vols. ; Histoire de
la Convention Nationale, Paris, 1851, 6 vols.; Histoire du Directoire, Paris, 1855, 3 vols. —
Barbarouz, Charles, Memoires, In Memoires relatifs k la Revolution, Paris, 1828. — Barbier,
Edmond Jean, Journal du r§o;ne de Louis XV, Paris, 1851-1857. — Bardouz, A., La Bourgeoisie
franjaise, 1789-1848, Paris, 1886. — Barlee, E., Life of Prince Imperial, London, 1880. — Bami,
J., Napoleon et son historien M. Thiers, Geneva, London and Paris, 1869. — Barras, P., Me-
moires, avec une introduction par G. Duruy, Paris, 1895-1896. — Barriere et De Lescure,
BibliothSque des M&noires relatifs k I'Histoire de France, Paris, 1855-1881, 37 vols. — Bartsch,
C, Grundriss zur Geschichte der provenzalischen Literatur, Elberfeld, 1873; La langue et la
litterature frangaises depuis le IX jusqu'au XIV siScle, Paris, 1887. — Bassompierre, Frangois
de, Memoires, Cologne, 1665. — Bastard, Le Vicomte de, Les Parlements de France ; essai
historique, Paris, 1858, 2 vols. — Bastard d'Estang, H. B., Les Parlement* de France, Paris,
222 A GENEEAL BIBLIOGEAPHY OF PEENCH HISTOEY
1857, 2 vols. — Batbie, A., Turgot; PUlosoplie, economiste et administrateur, Paris, 1861. —
Baumgarten, H., GescMchte Spaniens zur Zeit der franzSsisclien Revolution, Berlin, 1861 ; Vor
der Bartolomausnacht, Strasbourg, 1882. — Bausset, L. P. de. Private Memoirs of the Court
of Napoleon (trans, from tbe Frencb), Philadelphia, 1828. — Bauterne, de, Enfance de Napo-
leon, Paris, 1866. — Bavelier, A. , Essai Historique sur le droit d'eleotion et sur les assemblees,
Paris, 1874. — Bavoux, E., La France sous NapoMon III, Paris, 1870, 2 vols. — Bayard, Pierre
du TerraU, Seigneur de. La tres joyeuse, plaisante et recreative hystoire composee par le loyal
serviteur des faiz . . . du bon chevalier sans peour et sans reprouche, le gentil seigneur de
Bayart, Paris, 1527; many new editions, by Roman, Paris, 1878. — Bazln, A., Histoire de
France sous Louis XIII, Paris, 1838, 4 vols. — Beauchamp, A. de. Vie du General Moreau,
Paris, 1814. — Beauoourt, du Fresne de, Histoire de Charles VII, Paris, 1881-1891, 6 vols. —
Beaulieu, Geoffrey de. Vita Ludovici Noni, in M. Bouquet's Recueil des historiens des Qaules,
vol. 20, Paris, 1738 ff. — Beaumanoir, Philip de, Coutumes de Beauvaisis, edited by La Thau-
massiere, 1690, also by Beugnot, Paris, 1843, 2 vols. — Begin, A. E., Histoire de Napoleon, sa
famille et son 6poque, 1853 ff, 6 vols. — Beitzke, H. L. , Gesohichte des russischen Krieges im
Jahre 1812, Berlin, 1856. — Bellay, see Du Bellay. — Belleval, Rene de, Nos Peres, Moeurs et cou-
tumes du temps passe, Paris, 1879. — Belloc, A., Les Postes fran(;aises, Paris, 1886. — Benoit, Ch.,
La politique du roi Charles V, Paris, 1886. — Benott, lllie, Histoire de I'ifidit de Nantes, 1693. —
Bernhardi, T. von, Deukwiirdigkeiten aus dem Leben des russischen Generals von Toll, Leipsic,
1865, 4 vols. — Berriat Saint Prix, C, La justice revolutionnaire, Paris, 1870. — Berthezene,
A., Histoire de la 3me republique, Paris, 1880 ; Histoire de cent ans, 1792-1892, Paris, 1893.—
Berthier, A. , Relation des campagnes en Bgypte et en Syrie, Paris, 1800. — Berlin, E., La societe
du consulat et de I'empire, Paris, 1890. — Berville, G. de. Vie du Chevalier Bayard, 1760 ; English
translation by E. Walford, The Story of the Chevalier Bayard, London, 1867. — Bssant, W.,
Studies in Early French Poetry, Cambridge, 1868. — Beaenval, P. V. de, Memoires, Paris,
1805-1807. — Bignon, L. P. E., Histoire de France depuis le 18 Brumaire jusqu'S, la paix de
Tilsit, Paris, 1839-1830, 6 vols. — Bingham, D., The Bastille, London, 1888. — Blano, Louis,
Histoire de dix ans, 1 800-1840, Paris, 1841-1844 ; English translation. History of Ten Years,
1830-1840, London, 1844, 2 vols. ; Histoire de la Revolution f rangaise, Paris, 1847-1862, 12 vols.
— Bodley, J. E. C, France, London, 1898, 2 vols. — Bohtlingk, A., Napoleon Bonaparte,
Leipsic, 1883, 2 vols. — Boisguillebert, Pierre le Pesant, Sieur de, Detail de la France sous
Louis XIV, Paris, 1695. — Boiteau d'Ambly, P., ]6tat de la France en 1789, Paris, 1861.—
Bonaparte, Lucien, Memoires publ. by Jung, Paris, 1882. — Bondois, P., Histoire de la guerre
de 1870-1871, Paris, 1888. — Bonnechose, E. de, Histoire de France, Paris, 1843, 2 vols. —
Bonnemere, E., Histoire des Paysans, Paris, 1856. — Bordier, H. L., Les archives de la France,
Paris, 1854. — Bossuet, J. B., Discours sur I'histoire universelle, Paris, 1681. — Botta, C, Storia
d' Italia dal 1789 al 1814, Paris, 1824, 4 vols. — Bouchard, d'Avesnes, B., Chronique de Flandres,
1835. — Boudin, A., Histoire de Louis Philippe, Paris, 1847. — Bougeart, A., Danton, Paris,
1865, 2 vols.; Marat, I'ami du peuple, Paris, 1865, 2 vols. — Bouillet, M. N., Dictionnaire
universel d'histoire et de geographic, Paris, 1843. — Boullee, M. A., Histoire complete des etats
generaux depuis 1302 jusqu'eu 1626, Paris, 1845, 3 vols. — Bourgeoii, E., Le capitulaire de
Kiersy-sur-Oise, Paris, 1885. — Bourguet, A., La France et I'Angleterre en ifigypte, Paris, 1897.
— Bourrienne, L. A. Fauvelet de, Memoires sur Napoleon, Paris, 1828-1830, 18 vols. — Boutaric,
E., La France sous Philippe le Bel, Paris, 1861. — Bowen, E. E., The Campaigns of Napoleon,
Cambridge, Mass., 1873-1875. — Bradford, Gamaliel, The Lessons of Popular Government, New
York, 1898. — Brandt, G., La Vie de Michel de Ruiter, Amsterdam, 1698, translated into French
by Aubin. — Brant6me, Pierre de Bourdeilles de, Vie des hommes Ulustres et grands capitaines
franjais ; Vie des dames galantes ; both publ. in (Euvres, Leiden, 1666 ; (Euvres completes,
Paris, 1865-1882, 11 vols.
Pierre de Bourdeilles de Brantome was born about 1540, and died in 1614. After fighting
against the Huguenots, Turks, and Moors, he attached himself to the court of Charles IX.
At the death of this monarch he withdrew from active life, retired to his estates, and spent
the last years of his life in writing his memoirs. His works include lives of illustrious men,
of French and foreign captains, lives of illustrious ladies, anecdotes of duels, etc. His writ-
ings can hardly be called historical, but they give an excellent picture of the general court
life of the period, and are written in a quaint, naive style.
Bray, Anna E., Joan of Arc and the Times of Charles VII, London, 1873. — Breton, Guil-
laume le (William of America), Histoire des gestes de Philippe Auguste, in Guizot's Collection
de memoires relatifs &, I'histoire de France, vol. 2. — Broglie, J. V. A., Due de, Le secret du roi:
Correspondance secrete de Louis XV avec ses agents diplomatiques, 1752-1754, Paris, 1879,
3 vols.; Les souvenirs du feu due de Broglie, Paris, 1886-1887. — Browning, 0., Modern
France, London, 1880. —Browning, W. S., "The History of the Huguenots, London, 1829. —
Buchez, P. J. B., et Rouz-Lavergne, Histoire parlementaire de la Revolution f rangaise,
Paris, 1833-1838, 4 vols. — Buchon, J. A., Collection des croniques nationales frangaises, Paris,
1824^1829, 47 vols. ; Choix de chroniques et memoires sur I'histoire de France, Paris, 1836. —
Buckle, H. T., History of Civilisation in England, London, 1871, new edition. — BuUe, C,
Geschichte des zweiten Kaiserreichs und des K6nigreichs Italien, in Oncken's Allgemeine
Qeschichte, Berlin, 1890. — Burette, T., Histoire de France depuis r^tablissement des Francs
dans la Gaule, Paris, 1840, 3 vols. — Burke, E., Reflectiona. on the Revolution of France,
WITH CEITICAL AND BIOGEAPHICAL I^OTES 223
London, 1790, later edition 1890. — Buturlin, D. P., Histoire militaire de la campagne de Russia
en 1812 (translated from the Russian), Paris, 1824, 2 vols.
Cabanis, Pierre Jean Georges, Rapports du physique et du moral de rhomme, Paris,
1802. — Oaddy, F., Footsteps of Joan of Arc, London, 1885. — Caillet, J., L'administration en
France sous le ministlre du Cardinal de Richelieu, Paris, 1860, 2 vols. — Campan, Jeanne L. H.
de, Mfimoires sur la vie priv6e de la reine Marie Antoinette, Paris, 1823, 5th edition, 4 vols. —
Campbell, N., Napoleon at Fontainebleau and Elba, London, 1869. — Oanonge, F., Histoire
militaire contemporaine, 1854-1871, Paris, 1882, 2 vols. — Capefigue, J. B. R., Histoire de la
Restauration, Paris, 1831, 10 vols.; Histoire de la rSforme, de la ligue et du regne de Henri IV,
Paris, 1834-1835, 8 vols.; Richelieu, Mazarin, La Fronde, et le rSgne de Louis XIV, Paris,
1834-1835, 8 vols.; L'Europe pendant le consulat et I'empire de Napollon, Paris, 1839-1841,
10 vols. ; Louis XV et la societe du XVIII sificle, Paris, 18&. — Carloix, Vincent, Memoires de
la vie de Frangois de Scepeaux, Sire de Vieilleville, Paris, 1757. — Carlyle, T., History of the
French Revolution, London and New York, 1837, 2 vols. ; Frederick the Great, London and
New York, 1858-1866, 6 vols.; The Diamond Necklace, in the Essays; Mirabeau, in the
Essays. — Came, Louis Marcein, Comte de, feudes sur I'histoire du gouvernement represen-
tatif de 1789-1848, Paris, 1855, 2 vols. ; La monarchie fran5aise au 18™o sidcle. — Camot, H.,
Memoires sur Camot par son fils, Paris, 1871. — Cassagnac, see Granier. — Castelnau, M. de,
Memoires, in Nouvelle Collection de Memoires pour servir k I'histoire de France, Paris, 1838. —
Castille, C. H., Histoire de la seconde R^publique, Paris, 1854-1856, 4 vols. — Cavalli, Marino,
Relation de Marino Cavalli (ambassador to France from Venice), 1546, Italian and French; in
Collection de documents infidits, etc., 1st series, Paris, 1836 ff. — Chabannea, Adhemar, in
Monumenta Germanise historica, Scriptores, vol. IV. — Chalambert, Victor de, Histoire de la
Ligue, Paris, 1854, 2 vols. — Challamel, J. B., Histoire de la liberte en France depuis 1789,
Paris, 1886. — Chambray, G. de. Vie de Vaujjan; Histoire de I'Expedition de Russie, Paris,
1833. — Chamfort, Sebastien-Roch Nicholas, Caract6res et anecdotes, new edition, Paris, 1860.
-T- Champier, Symphorien, Les gestes ensemble la vie du preulx Chevalier Bayard, etc., in
Cimber's Archives curieuses de rhistoire de France, 1st series, vol. 2, Paris, 1834 fE. — Chaptal,
A. C, Mes souvenirs sur Napoleon, Paris, 1893. — Charlotte, Elisabeth, Memoires sur la cour
de Louis XIV et de la regence, extraits de la correspondance de Madame Elisabeth Charlotte,
Paris, 1823. — Charmes, F. , Etudes historiques et diplomatiques, Paris, 1893. — Charraa,
J. B. A., Histoire de la campagne de 1815, Waterloo, Brussels, 1858, 2 vols. — Chartier, J.,
Chronique de Charles VII, 1476, reprinted Paris, 1858, 3 vols. — Ohastelaln, Georges, Frag-
ment relatif h la Normandie, London, 1850; Chronique des dues de Bourgogne, published
by Buchon, in Collection des chroniques nationales franjaises, vols. 42 and 43, Paris, 1827. —
Chateaubriand, FranQois R., Vicomte de. La monarchie selon la charte, London, 1816. —
Chenier, Andre, Hymne k la France, Paris, 1894. — Cherest, A., La chute de I'ancien regime,
Paris, 1884-1886, 3 vols. — Oheruel, A., Dictionnaire historique des institutions, moeurs, etc.,
Paris, 1855, 2 vols.; Memoires de Fouquet, Paris, 1862, 2 vols.; Histoire de France pendant la
minorite de Louis XIV, Paris, 1880, 4 vols.; Histoire de France sous le ministere de Mazarin,
Paris, 1883, 3 vols, (the last two works are based on the letters and carneta de Mazarin). —
Chevremont, P., Jean Paul Marat, Paris, 1880, 2 vols. — Choisy, F. T. de, Memoires pour
servir i I'histoire de Louis XIV, Paris, 1727, 2 vols. — Cimber, L., and Danjou, J., Archives
curieuses de I'histoire de France, Paris, 1834-1840, 17 vols. — Claretie, J., Camille Desmoulins
et sa femme, Paris, 1882. — Olausewitz, C. von, Der Feldzug von 1796 in Italien, Berlin, 1888.
— Clement, P., Histoire de la vie et de l'administration de Colbert, Paris, 1846; La police sous
Louis XIV, Paris, 1866. — Cochut, A., Law, son systeme et son epoque, Paris, 1853. — Ooignet,
Mme. C. Gauthier-, Fin de la vieille France, Frangois ler, portraits et Episodes du XVIe siecle;
English translation, Francis 1st and His Times, London, 1889; A Gentleman of the Olden
Times, Life of de Scepeaux, London, 1888. — Collier, Admiral G., France, Holland, and the
Netherlands a Century Ago, London, 1861. — OoUin, V., La question du Haut-Nil et le point
de vue beige, Antwerp, 1899. — Colmaohe, Reminiscences of Talleyrand (translation), Lon-
don, 1881. — Comines, Philip de, Memoires, 1523 ; translated into English, London, 1855, 2
vols.
Philip de Comines was born in 1445 at the chSteau de Comines. His godfather was Philip
the Good, and he himself became attached to the service of Charles the Bold. He was entrusted
with diplomatic commissions to Calais, Loudon, Brittany, and Spain. In 1473 he left the service
of Charles, and attached himself to Louis XI, who made him councillor and chamberlain, and
gave him several estates, among them the seigneurie of Argenton. Comines rendered Louis XI
many important services, but fell into disgrace under his successor. For eight months he was
imprisoned in an iron cage for having espoused the cause of the duke of Orleans. He returned
to favour for a time under Charles VII, and again under Louis XII, but he never regained his
old influence. The latter years of his life were spent in comparative retreat, and it was then
that he wrote his memoirs, which cover the period from 1464 to 1483, and from 1488 to 1498.
Hallam says of them : " The memoirs of Philip de Comines almost make an epoch in historical
literature." If Froissart by his picturesque descriptions and fertility of historical invention may
be reckoned the Livy of France, she had her Tacitus in Philip de Comines. He is the first
modern writer who in any degree has displayed sagacity in reasoning on the characters of men.
224 A GENEEAL BIBLIOGKAPHY OF FEENCH HISTORY
and the consequences of their actions, and who has been able to generalise his observation by
comparison or reflection."
Condorcet, Marie J. A. N. C. de, Vie de Turgot, Paris, 1786 ; Vie de Voltaire, London,
1791. — Constant, Benjamin, M^moires sur les Cent Jours, Paris, 1820. — Ooston, F. G. de,
Biographie des premieres aunfies de Napoleon, Valencia, 1840, 3 vols. — Coubertin, P. de,
Etudes d'histoire contemporaine, L'fivolution franQaise sous la 3me Republique, Paris, 1896 ;
English translation. Evolution of France under 3rd Republic, New York, 1897. — Coulatiges,
F. de, Histoire des institutions politiques de I'ancienne France, Paris, 1877. — Cousinot, Guil-
laume, Chronique de la Pucelle, in P. L. Jacob's Bibliotheque Gauloise, Paris, 1857 ff. —
Oretineau-Joly, J., Histoire de la Vendue, Paris, 1841 ; Bonaparte, le concordat de 1801 et le
Cardinal Consalvi, Paris, 1869. — Oroker, J. W. , Essays on the early. Period of the French
Revolution, Loudon, 1857. — Orowe, E. E., History of France, London, 1831, 3 vols. ; 1858-
1868, 5 vols.
Dabney, R. H., The Causes of the French Revolution, New York, 1888. — Dagnet, A.,
Histoire de la Confederation Suisse, NeuchStel, 1851, 2 vols. — Dandliker, Karl, Klelne Ge-
schichte der Schweiz, Zttrich, 1876 ; translated by E. Salisbury, A Short History of Switzerland,
London, 1899. — Dangeau, Philippe de Courcillon de. Journal, Paris, 1854-1861, 19 vols. —
Daniel, Gabriel, Histoire de France, Amsterdam, 1720-1785. — Dareste de la Chavanne, R, M.
C, Histoire de I'administration en France, Paris, 1848, 2 vols.; Histoire des classes agricolea,
Paris, 1854-1858 ; Histoire de France depuis les origines, Paris, 1865-1873, 8 vols.
Rodolphe Madeleine CUophas Dareste de la Chavanne was born at Paris, October 88th,
1830, and died at the same place in 1883. He was professor of history at Grenoble and Lyons
and in 1871 was rector of the Academy at Nancy. On account of his ultramontane views and
intolerance towards the students he was obliged to leave Nancy in 1878. Dareste's history of
France is one of the best of the general histories of that country. It lacks the brilliancy of
Michelet and some of the conspicuous excellencies of Martin, but the author has thoroughly
investigated his subject, his material is well arranged and the narrative is enlivened with
accurate descriptions. The Academy of France twice distinguished the work with the Gobert
Prize.
Daru, P. A. N. B., L'Histoire de la rejpublique de Venise, Paris, 1819. — Dauban, C. A.,
Les Prisons de Paris sous la Revolution, Paris, 1867-1870, 3 vols. ; Histoire de la rue, du club!
de la famine, Paris, 1867-1870, 3 vols.; La ddmagogie en 1798, 1794 et 1795 a Paris, Paris,
1867-1870, 3 vols. — Daudet, E., A President of France, in Cosmopolitan Magazine, New York,
1895. — Davenport, R. A., History of the Bastille, London, 1838. — Davila, H. C, Histoire des
guerres civiles de Prance depuis la mort de Henri II, Venice, 1680. — Dayot, A., Napoleon par
I'image, Paris, 1894. — Delabarre-Duparoq, N. E., Histoire de Charles IX, Paris, 1875.—
Delbriick, Hans, Leben des Feldmarschalls von Gneisenau, Berlin, 1880. — Deloche, M.,'La
trustis et I'antrustion royal sous les aeux premieres races, Paris, 1873. — Delord, T., Histoire
du second empire, Paris, 1869-1875, 6 vols., published with illustrations, Paris, 1880-1883,
6 vols. — Delrau, A. , Histoire de la Revolution de f evrier, Paris, 1850, 3 vols. — Demogeot, J !
History of French Literature, London, 1789. — Depping, G. B., Histoire des expedition's
maritimes des Normands, Paris, 1848. — Des Cars, duke. Memoirs of Duchess de FourzeL
(translation), Cambridge, Mass., 1881. — DesmouUns, Camille, Revolutions de France et du
Brabant, journal published in Paris, 1789-1790, 7 vols.; extracts in Aulard's L'eloquence parle-
mentaire pendant la Revolution franfaise, Paris, 1882. — Doniol, H., Histoire des classes rurales
en France, Paris, 1857 ; La Revolution frangaise et la Feodalite, Paris 1874 Drevss C
Memoires de Louis XIV, Paris, 1859 ; Chrouologie Uuiverselle, Paris, 1873 — Droz, J Histoire
du rSgne de Louis XVI, Paris, 1839-1843. 3 vols. — Du BeUay, G. et M., Memoires, Paris 1588
— Du Camp, M., Les convulsions de Paris, Paris, 1878-1879, 4 vols. — Du Olerca. J M6-
moires, Brussels, 1822. ^ ''
Jacques du Clercq was born in Artois about 1430 and died about 1475. His memoirs begin
at the year 1418 and extend to the death of Philip the Good in 1467, giving a detailed account
of events in Flanders, at court and elsewhere. His narrative is a very personal one, dealing
largely with people, thus giving an interesting picture of the society of the time.
Duclos, C. Pineau, Memoires secrets des rfegnes de Louis XIV et de liouis XV Paris 1791
— Ducrot, A. A., La journee de Sedan, Paris, 1871. — Dumont, E. L., Souvenirs sur Mirabeau!
Paris, 1851. —Dunham, S. A., History of Europe during the Middle Ages, London, 1833-1836.
des droits et If
Louise, 1810- __
Histoire de France, Paris, 1855, 3 vols. ; 20th edition, Paris, 1898 ; Histoire diTmoyen fi,ge"Paris'
1846 ; 14th edition 1806 ; Petite Histoire de France, Paris, 1863. The Histoire de France ani
the Histoire du moyen age form part of the Histoire Universelle, published by a " Society of
professors and scholars," under the direction of M. Duruy.
Jean Victor Duruy hiatoTian minister, and member of the French Academy, was bom at
Pans, September 11th 1811, of a family of artists employed in the Gobelins factories He was
himself at first destined for the same profession and did not commence his studies untU a rather
late date at the Rolhn College, He passed a brUUant examination at the Ecole normale
WITH CEITICAL AND BIOGKAPHICAL IsTOTES 225
SupSrieure, after which, until 1861, he held a number of secondary professorships in history.
During this time he took part in the collaboration of Napoleon Ill's Julius Caesa/r, thus draw-
ing the Emperor's attention to his ability, and in 1863 he was made Minister of Education. He
introduced various reforms into the educational system, among them being the institution of
public lectures, a, course of secondary education for girls, sdiools for higher education, and
laboratories for special research. He suggested making primary education compulsory, but was
not supported in the plan by the Emperor. From 1881-1886 he served on the Conseil supirieur
de I'Instruction Fublique, and in 1884 was chosen to succeed Mignet in the French Academy.
Duruy's greatest work was his history of Rome, for which the author received various decora-
tions and prizes. His history of France is one of the best ever written in such a small compass,
and is of special value to students who wish readable information in a compact form.
Du Saulx, Jean, De I'insurrection parisienne et de la prise de la Bastille, Paris, 1790, in
J. F. BarriSre's Bibliothique des Memoires, 28 vols. — Dussieuz, L. E. , Le Canada sous la domi-
nation frangaise, Paris, 1855; L'armee en France, Versailles, 1884, 3 vols. — Duvergier de
Hauranne, P., Histoire du gouveruement parlementaire en France 1814-1848, Paris, 1857-1872,
10 vols.
Edmee, H., L'ifivasion du Temple du Dauphin, Louis XVII, Paris, 1874. — Eglantine,
see Fabre. — Elliott, F., Old Court Life in France, London, 1873 and 1886, 2 vols. — Ely,
R. T., French and German Socialism in Modern Times, New York, 1883. — Emerson, R. W.,
Napoleon the Man of the World, in Representative Men. — Estienne, H., Les triomphes de
Louis XIII, avec les portraits des rois, princes, etc., Paris, 1649. — Estoile, Pierre de 1', Journal
de Henri III, published by Servin, Paris, 1621 ; by Lenglet-Dufresnoy, Paris, 1744 ; Journal de
Henri IV, most complete edition, Hague, 1744 ; reproduced in Petitot's and Miohaud's Collec-
tion des MSmoires.
Fabre d'Eglantine, P. P. N., Portrait de Marat, Paris, 1793. — Fain, A. J. P., Baron,
Manuscrit de 1813, Paris, 1837. — Fallot, C, Louis XIV et la Hollande, Rouen, 1860. — Fal-
loux, A. P. de, Mlmoires d'un Royaliste, Paris, 1888, 3 vols. — Fantin-Des-Odoarts, A., His-
toire philosophique de la revolution frangaise, Paris, 1796 and 1817, 6 vols. — Fauohet, C, Les
Antiquites gauloises et frangoises, Paris, 1579; L'origine de la langue et de la pofisie frangoise,
Paris, 1581. — Fauriel, C. C., Histoire de la Gaule mdridionale sous la domination des con-
querants germains, Paris, 1886, 4 vols.; Histoire de la po^sie provengale, Paris, 1846; Les
derniers jours du consulat, Paris, 1886, edited by L. Lalanne; English translation. Last Days
of the Consulate, London, 1885. — Favre, J., Le gouvernement de la defense nationale, Paris,
1871-1875, 3 parts. — Fayniez, G., !llltudes sur I'industrie et sur la classe industrielle, Paris,
lg77. — Felibien, AndrS, et Lobineau, Histoire de la ville de Paris, Paris, 1755, 5 vols. — Fer-
rieres, Ch. filie. Marquis de, Memoires pour servir S, I'histoire de I'assemblee constituante et da
la revolution de 1789, Paris, 1799^ reprinted in Collection des Memoires relatifs & la Revolution
frangaise, Paris, 1821. —Ferry, J., La lutte Slectoraleen 1863, Paris, 1863. — Fetridge, W. P.,
Rise and Fall of the Commune, New York, 1871. — Flack, J., Les origines de I'ancienne France,
Paris, 1885. — Flassan, G. R. de, Histoire g6n6rale et raisonnfe de la diplomatic frangaise,
Paris, 1811,7 vols. — Flathe, H. T.,Das Zeitalter der Restauration und Revolution, in Oncken's
Allgemeine Geschichte, Berlin, 1883. — Fleury, L'abbS, Prficis historique du droit frangais,
Paris, 1676. — Foncin, P., Essai sur le ministere de Turgot, Paris, 1877. — Fontrailles, L.
d'Astarao, Marquis de, Relation des choses particuliSres de la cour pendant la faveur de M. de
Cinq-Mars, in Michaud's Collection, 3rd series, vol 3, Paris. — Fomeron, H., Les dues de Guise
et leur epoque, Paris, 1877, 3 vols. — FSrster, P., Der Feldmarschall Blucher und seine Umge-
bung, Leipsic, 1821. — Forsyth, W., Napoleon at St. Helena, 1853. — Fouohe, J., duke of
Otranto, Mlmoires, Paris, 1834. — Foumier, A., Napoleon I, Prague, Vienna, and Leipsic, 1886-
1889, 3 vols. — Fox, Henry R. Vassall, Lord Holland, Foreign Reminiscences, London, 1850. —
Foy! M. S., Comte, Histoire des guerres de la Pgninsule sous Napoleon, Paris, 1837, 4 vols. —
Franklin, A., Les sources de I'histoire de Prance, Paris, 1877. — Freeman, E. A., Teutonic Con-
quest in Gaul and Britain, London and New York, 1888. — Freer, M. W., Henry III, King of
France and Poland: his court and times, London, 1859, 3 vols. ; History of the Reign of Henry
IV, King of France and Navarre, London, 1860, 3 vols. ; Life of Jeanne d'Albret, London, 1861 ;
Married Life of Anne of Austria, London, 1864 ; The Regency of Anne of Austria, London,
1866 • Life of Margaret of Anjou, London, 1884. — Friocius, K., Geschichte des Krieges in den
Jahren 1818 und 1814, Altenburg, 1843. — Freron, L. S., Memoires, Paris, 1796-1834. — Frie-
derich II (King of Prussia), (Euvres posthumes, Berlin, 1788-1789, 15 vols. — Froissart, Jean,
Chroniques de Prance, d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse et d'Espagne, Paris, 1769 ; Brussels, 1870-1877,
25 vols. ; English translation, London, 1839. .
Jean Froissart is the historian of the fourteenth century, as Villehardoum is of the twelfth
and Joinville of the thirteenth. His chronicle includes the period 1338-1400 and treats of
events which took place in France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Flanders, Spain, and other
European countries. The author was born in Valenciennes in 1337 and was early destined for
the church although he put ofE taking orders as long as possible, wishing first to enjoy some
of the pleasures of life. In 1356 he went to England and became clerk of the chapel of Philippe
of Hainault, who encouraged him to describe the great events of his century. For this purpose
226 A GENERAL BIBLIOGEAPHY OP FEENCH HISTORY
he visited Scotland, Brittany, and Bordeaux, and accompanied the duke of Clarence to Italy.
After the death of the queen he entered the service of the duke of Brabant and on liis death
became clerk of the chapel of the count of Blois. The latter encouraged him to continue his
travels for the purpose of continuing his chronicle, and after visiting various places in France
he returned again to England. The last fourteen years of his life were spent in quiet in Flan-
ders. Froissart deals mainly with the deeds of valour and chivalry which took place around
him, telling of tournaments and battle-fields, knights and ladies. As to the deeper problems of
society, the transition stage from the old feudalism which was fast dying out, he is wholly
silent.
Fyflfe, A. C, Modern Europe, 1891-1892.
Oaillard, G. H., Histoire de la rivalite de la France et de I'Angleterre, Paris, 1778 ;
Histoire de la rivalite de la France et de I'Espagne, Paris, 1801 ; Histoire de Charlemagne
suivie de I'histoire de Marie de Bourgogne, Paris, 1819 ; Histoire de Franpois I, roi de Prance,
Paris, 1766-1769, 7 vols. ; 1839, 4 vols. — Oardiner, Mrs. B. M., French Revolution, Loudon,
1883. — Gardner, D., Quatrebras, Ligny and Waterloo, London, 1883. — Gamier-Pages, L. A.,
Histoire de la revolution de 1848, Paris, 1861-1863, 8 vols. — Gasquet, A. , Precis des institutions
politiques et sociales de I'ancienne France, 1885, 2 vols. — Gaudin, M. M. C, Due de Gaete.
Memoires et Souvenirs, Paris, 1826-1834, 3 vols. — Gaulot, Paul, BibliothSque de souvenirs et
recits militaires. — Qautier, L., Epopees fran<;aises, Paris, 1865-1868. — Gautier, T., Les
grotesques, Paris, 1844, 3 vols. — Genlis, Marquise de Sillery, Mme. de, Adele et Theodore ou
lettres sur I'education, Paris, 1783, 3 vols. ; Souvenirs de Felicie, in Barriere's BibliothSque des
Memoires, vol. 14, Paris, 1846 ft.; M6moires, Paris, 1825, 10 vols. — Geruzey, E., Essais
d'histoire litteraire, Paris, 1839 ; Litterature de la Revolution, Paris, 1859. — Geyer, P., Frank-
reich under Napoleon HI, unter 1865. — Gigault, Tie politique du Marquis de Lafayette,
Paris, 1833. — Giguet, P., Histoire militaire de la France, Paris, 1849, 3 vols. — Girard,
Abbe, Nouvelle histoire de France, Paris, 1883. — Girard, H. , Histoire Ulustree de la 3me
Republique, Paris, 1885. — Giraud, Charles, Histoire du droit f rangais au moyeu fige, Paris,
1846, 2 vols. — Glasson, E., Histoire du droit et des institutions de la France, Paris, 1887. —
Godefroy, P., Histoire de la litterature frangaise depuis le 16me siecle, Paris, 1859, 10 vols. —
Godwin, P., History of France, New York, 1860. — Goncourt, E. et J. de, Histoire de la
societe frangaise pendant la rivolution et sous le directoire, Paris, 1854-1855, 3 vols.; Les
maitresses de Louis XV, Paris, 1860, 3 vols. — Goroe, P. de la, Histoire du second empire,
Paris, 1894. — Gouvion-Saint-Oyr, Marquis de, Journal des operations de I'armee de
Catalogue en 1808 et 1809, Paris, 1821; Memoires sur les campagnes des armees du Rhin et
de Rhin-et-Moselle, Paris, 1839 ; Campagnes de 1812 et de 1813, Paris, 1831. — Granier de
Cassagnac, A., Histoire des classes nobles et des classes anoblies, Paris, 1840 ; Histoire du
Directoire, Paris, 1851-1863, 3 vols. ; Histoire populaire de Napoleon III, Paris, 1874. —
Graviere, J. de la, Guerres maritimes sous la republique et I'empire, Paris, 1883. — Gregory
of Tours, in Le Huerou's Histoire des Institutions des Merovingiens, Paris, 1841. — Griffiths,
A., French Revolutionary Generals, London, 1891. — Grolmann-Damitz, Karl W. von, Ge-
schichte des Feldzugesvon 1815 in den Niederlanden, Berlin, 1837. — Gronlund, L., Qa Ira! or
Danton in the French Revolution, Boston, 1888. — Grovestins, S. de, Guillaume III et Louis
XIV, Paris, 1855, 8 vols. — Guenther, R., Geschichte des Feldzuges von 1800 in Ober-Deutsch-
land, der Schweiz und in Ober-Italien, Frauenfeld, 1893. — Guerin, Leon, Histoire de la der-
nifire guerre avec la Russie, Paris, 1860 ; Histoire maritime de France, Paris, 1863, 6 vols. —
Guillois, A., Napoleon, I'homme, le politique, I'orateur d'aprfes sa correspondance, etc., Paris,
1889, 2 vols. — Guizot, F., Collection des memoires relatifs & I'histoire de France, Paris, 1824-
1885, 81 vols., divided in following editions into : Cours d'histoire moderne, Paris, 1838-1830,
6 vols. ; Histoire de la civilisation en Europe, Paris, 1831, and Histoire de la civilisation en
France, 4 vols. ; English translation. History of Civilisation in Europe, London, 1886 ; History
of Civilisation in France, New York, 1860, 3 vols. ; Essais sur I'histoire de France, Paris, 1857;
Memoires pour servir k I'histoire de mon temps, Paris and Leipsic, 1858-1865, 8 vols. ; 1859,
4 vols. ; France under Louis Philippe, London, 1865 ; Last Days of the Reign of Louis
Philippe, London, 1865 ; Histoire de France depuis les temps les plus reculfe, Paris, 1873-
1875, 5 vols. ; translation, Outlines of the History of France from Earliest Times, London,
1873, 8 vols. ; Memoirs of a Minister of State from the Year 1840, London, 1884.
Frangois Pierre Ouillaume Ouizot, statesman and writer, was born at Nlmes in 1787. His
father died on the scaffold in 1794. Young Guizot studied at Geneva, and came to Paris in 1805,
where he busied himself with law and literature. His name is closely connected with the stirring
events in France in the first half of the 19th century, and Guizot alternately took part in politics
and lectured at the Sorbonne. In 1840 he was ambassador to London, where his literary and
political fame, and his works on English literature and history, made him very popular. In
1851 he was obliged to leave France after the coup d'Siat of Napoleon, and on his return he
was made president of the Paris Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, in 1854. Guizot
died in 1874 on his estate in Normandy. Mr. Reeve says of him : " Public life, ambition, the
love of power, and the triumph of debate no doubt shook and agitated his career, and some-
times misdirected it ; but they produced no effect upon the solid structure of his character,
vhich remained throughout perfectly simple, indifierent to wealth, and prouder of its own
WITH CRITICAL AND BIOGEAPHICAL NOTES 227
integrity than of all the honour the world could bestow. M. Guizot will be remembered in
history less by what he did as a politician than by what he wrote as a man of letters, and by
what he was as a man ; and in these respects he takes rank amongst the most illustrious repre-
sentatives of his nation and his age."
Haag, E., La France Protestante, Paris, 10 vols. — Haas, C. P. M., La France depuisles
temps les plus recules, Paris, 1860, 4 vols.; Administration de la France, Paris, 1861,
4 vols. — Hal6vy, L., L'Invasion, recits de guerre, Paris, 1870-1871. — Hallam, Henry, View
of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, London and New York, 1853, 3 vols. —
Hamel, E., Histoire de la RtSpublique frangaise, Paris, 1873 ; Histoire de Robespierre et du
coup d'etat, etc., Paris, 1878, 3 vols. — Hamerton, P. G., Modern Frenchmen; five biogra-
phies, London, 1878. — Hanotaux, G. , L'affaire de Madagascar, Paris, 1896. — Harelle,
Documents inSdits sur les Etats G^neraux, Paris, 1879. — Harrison, F. B., Contemporary
History of the French Revolution (compiled from Annual Register, 1788-1794), London, 1889. —
Hassall, A., Mirabeau, London, 1889. — Hatin, L. E., Histoire politique et litt^raire de la pressa
en France, Paris, 1859-1861, 8 vols. — Hauaser, L., Geschichte derfranzSsischen Revolution 1789-
1799, Berlin, 1867. — Haussonville, J. O. B., de Citron, Comte d', Histoire de la politique
exterieure du gouvernement frangais fle 1830 i 1848, Paris, 1850, 3 vols. ; Histoire de la reunion
de la Lorraine i, la France, Paris, 1854^1859 ; Duchesse de Bourgogne et I'alliance savoyarde
sous Louis XIV, Paris, 1898. — Hazen, W. B., School and Army of Germany (Franco-German
War), New York, 1873. — Hazlitt, W., The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, London, 1853, 4 vols.,
3nd edition. — Heath, J. B., Collection of Letters of Buonaparte Family, Philobiblion Society,
London, 1866. — Helfert, A. von, Maria Luise, Brzherzogin von Osterreich, Kaiserin der
Franzosen, Vienna, 1 873 ; Joachim Murat, Vienna, 1878 ; Ausgang der f ranzosischen Herrschaf t
in Oberitalien, Vienna, 1890. — Helie, P. A., Les constitutions de la France, Paris, 1875-1879. —
Henckel von Sonnersmarok, W., Erinuerungen aus meinem Leben, Zerbst, 1847. — Hettuer,
H., Geschichte der f ranzosischen Litteratur, in his Litteraturgeschichte des 18ten Jahrhunderts,
Brunswick, 1880, 3 vols. — Hillebrand, K., Geschichte Frankreichs von der Thronbesteigung
Louis Philipps bis zum Falle Napoleon III. , in Heeren und Ukert's Geschichte der europaischen
Staaten, Gotha, 1877-1879, 2 vols. — Hippeau, E. G., Histoire diplomatique de la 3me republique,
1870-1889, Paris, 1889. — Holland, Lord, see Fox. — Hortense, Queen, M^moires, Paris, 1834.
— Houasaye, A., La r^gence, Paris, 1890. — Hozier, H. M., Military Life of Turenne, London,
1885. — Hueffer, F., The Troubadours, London, 1878. —Hugo, V., Napoleon le petit, Paris,
1853; Les Miserables, 1863; Histoire d'un crime, 1877. — Hutton, W., Philip Augustus,
London, 1896.
Ideville, Comte d', Le marechal Bugeaud, Paris, 1885.
Jackson, Lady C. C, The Old Regime, London, 1880 ; French Court and Society, London,
1881 ; Court of Tuileries, from Restoration to Flight of Louis Philippe, London, 1883 ; Last of
the Valois and Accession of Henry of Navarre, London, 1888 ; The first of the Bourbons,
London, 1889. — Jahns, Max, Das franzosische Heer von der grossen Revolution bis zur Gegen-
wart, Leipsic, 1873. — James, G. P. R., Mary of Burgundy, London, 1833. — Jamison, D. F.,
The Life and Times of Bertrand du Guesclin, Charlestown, 1864, 3 vols. — Janet, P., Phi-
losophie de la Revolution frangaise, Paris, 1875. — Janin, J. , Paris et Versailles il y a cent ans,
Paris, 1874. — Jean de Troyes, Histoire de Louis XI, . . . autrement dicte La Chronique
Scandaleuse, in Philippe de Comines' Croniqae, Brussels, 1706.
The chronicle of Jean de Troyes is one of the most valuable sources for the history of
Louis XI. The title Chronique Scandaleuse was probably added by some publisher and the
first edition of it gives neither the date nor the author's name. Jean de Troyes relates occur-
rences as the king wished them to be known to the people, without thinking of seeking any
underlying political cause for them. He also gives a great many details which give more than
any other work a deep insight into the inner life of Paris at the end of the fifteenth century.
Unfortunately the chronicler often relates from hearsay, so that his work requires comparison
with other writers.
Jeannin, P., Negociations, Paris, 1656 ; CEuvres m§16es in Petitot's CoEection complete des
memoires relatifs fi I'histoire de France, 1819, ser. 3, vol. 16. — Jerrold, B., Life of Napoleon
III, London, 1871-1874, 4 vols. — Jervis, W. H. , History of France, New York, 1898. — Jobez,
A., La France sous Louis XVI, Paris, 1877-1881, 3 vols. — Johnson, A. H., The Normans in
Europe, London, 1877. — Joinville, J. de. Vie de St. Louis, first edition 1546 ; translated by J. .
Hutton, London, 1868.
The Sire de Joinville was bom in 1334 and was for a time attached to the service of Count
Thibaut of Champagne. He afterwards became the friend and chronicler of Louis IX and
accompanied him on his first crusade to Egypt, fighting at his side and sharing his captivity.
It was not until long after the author's return to his own country, when he was an old man,
that he wrote the biography which has made him famous, writing it, as he says, at the request
of the king's mother Jeanne de Navarre. The narrative is wonderfully attractive, bringing out
clearly the character of the " saint king " for which the history of the crusade forms a back-
ground,
228 A GBNBEAL BIBLIOGEAPHY OF FRENCH HISTOEY
Jomini, H. Baron, Histoire critique et militaire des campagnes de la Edvolution, Paris,
1819-1824, 15 vols.; Vie politique et militaire de Napoleon, Paris, 1830, 4 vols. — Jourgniao de
Saint-M&ard, Fr. de, Mon agonio de 38 heures, Paris, 1792, 6tli edition. — Jung, T., Les pre-
mieres ann^es de Bonaparte, Paris, 1880 ; Bonaparte et son temps, Paris, 1880-1881, 3 vols. —
Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris, edited by Godefroy, and in Bonohin's collection de memoires
relatifs S, I'histoire de France, vol. 40. — Junot, Mme., Memoires, Paris, 1831-1834, 18 vols. ;
Histoire des salons de Paris et portraits du grand monde sous Louis XVI, le Directoire, Con-
sulat, Empire, Restauration et rigne de Louis Philippe, Paris, 1837-1888. — Juvenal des Ursins,
Histoire de Charles VI, published by Godefroy, Paris, 1614; in Michaud's collection, vol. 2.
Eaiser, S., Franzosische Verfassungsgeschichte, Leipsic, 1852. — Kerverseau, F. M. de, et
Olavelin, Histoire de la Revolution de France, Paris, 1792-1803, 19 vols. — King, E., French
Political Leaders, New York, 1876. — Einglake, A. W., The Invasion of the Crimea ; its origin
and an account of its progress down to the death of Lord Raglan, Edinburgh, 1863-1887. —
Kirk, J. F., History of Charles the Bold, Philadelphia, 1846-1868, 2 vols. — Kitchin, G. W., A
History of France, Oxford and New York, 1877, 3 vols.; article France, in Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica, 9th edition. — Knighton, Henry, Chronica de eventibus Angliae a tempore regis Edgari
usque mortem regis Ricardi Secundi, edited by R. Twysden, in Historise anglicanae scriptores,
vol. 10, London, 1652 ff. —Koch, J. B. F., Memoires de Massena, Paris, 1849-1850, 7 vols.
La Bruyere, Jean de, Les caractSres ou les moeurs de ce siScle, Paris, 1688 ; edited by
Chassang, Paris, 1876. — Ijacombe, B. de, Catherine deMedicis, Paris, 1899. — Ijacombe, C. de,
Henry IV et sa politique, Paris, 1877. — Xiacombe, P., A Short History of the French People,
New York, 1875. — Lacretelle, Ch., Histoire de France pendant le XVIII siecle, Paris, 1808, 6
vols. ; 5th ed., 1830 ; Histoire de France depuis la Restauration, Paris, 1829-1835, 4 vols. ; Dix
annees d'epreuves pendant la revolution, Paris, 1842 ; Histoire du Consulat et de I'Empire,
Paris, 1846. — Lady of Rank, Book of Costume, London, 1847. — La Fare, C. A. Marquis de,
Memoires sur Louis XIV, Rotterdam, 1715. — La Payette, Comtesse de, CEuvres, Paris, 1814. —
La Tayette, Marquis de, Memoires, Paris, 1837-1840. — La Marche, Olivier de, Memoires,
Lyons, 1563 ; Paris, 1843, in the Pantheon litteraire; Le Parement et le Triomphe des dames
d'honneur, Paris, 1686.
Olivier de La Marche was born at La Marche in Burgundy in 1436 and died in 1501.' He
lived at the court of the dukes of Burgundy, and describes events there from the year 1425 to
1492. His memoirs are valuable for military history and the general history of the time,
although their style is somewhat dull. He also wrote several works in verse, among them the
second mentioned above.
Lamartine, A. de, Les Girondins, Paris, 1847, 4 vols. ; London, 1868, 3 vols. ; History of the
French Revolution, London, 1849 ; History of the Restoration of the Monarchy in France,
London, 1853, 4 vols.
Alphonse Marie Louis de Lama/rtine, poet, politician, historian, the son of an officer and
himself a member of the guard in 1814, was born in 1790 at MScon. A full-fledged poet, he
was elected a member of the French Academy in 1829. He at once embarked in politics. In
1847 he published the Siatoire des Oirondins, a work which, while at times inaccurate, possessed
brilliant qualities and did much to prepare public sentiment for the republic. He continued
his diplomatic career until the coup d'4tat of the 2nd of December, 1851, forced him into
private life. He continued to produce miscellaneous works until his death In 1869. A brilliant
istylist and word-painter, he is perhaps not the most accurate of historians, and allowances
must be made for his flights of imagination.
LanesHsm, J. L. de, L'Expansion coloniale de la France, Paris, 1886. — Lanfrey, P., His-
toire de Napoleon ler, Paris, 1867-1875, 5 vols.; translation, History of Napoleon I, London and
New York, 1871-1879, 4 vols. — Lanier, L., L'Afrique, Paris, 1884. — Lanoue, Franpois de,
Memoires, in Petitot's Collection complete des memoires relatifs & I'histoire de France, Paris,
1819. — La Popeliniere, L. Voisin de, Histoire de France de 1550 S, 1557, La Rochelle, 1581.—
Larchey, L., Bayard, London, 1888. —La Rochefoucauld, Frangois, Duo de, Mdmoires sur le
rfigne d'Anne d'Autriche, Paris, 1662 ; Maximes, Paris, 1665. — La Rochegaquelein, Mme. de,
Memoires, Bordeaux, 1815. — Las Oases, D., Comte de. Memorial de Sainte-HelSne, Paris, 1823,
8 vols. —La Tour d'Auvergue, H. de (Due de Bouillon), Memoires, Paris, 1666; 1836.—
Lavalette, M. J. de, Mdmoires et souvenirs du Comte de la Valette, Paris, 1831. — Lavallee,
T., Histoire des Frangais, Paris, 1845, 2 vols.; Histoire de Paris, Paris, 1852. — Lavisse, see
Rambaud. — Le Bel, Jean, Les vrayes chroniques de Messire, Brussels, 1863. — Leber, M.,
Essai sur I'apprSciation de la fortune privee au MoyenAge, Paris, 1847. — Lecointe, C, Annales
ecclesiastiques de la France, Paris, 1665-1680, 8 vols. — Lefranc, A., Olivier de Clisson, Paris,
1898. — Legeay, U. , Histoire de Louis XI, Paris, 1874, 2 vols. — Le Goff, F. , The Life of Louis
Adolphe Thiers, New York, 1879. — Le Grand d'Aussy, Histoire de la vie privfie des Frangais,
Paris, 1783 ; 1851, 3 vols. — Le Huerou, J. M., Histoire des institutions mSrovingiennes, Paris,
1841 ; Histoire des institutions carolingiennes, Paris, 1843. — Lemontey, Pierre E., Histoire de
la regence et de la minority de Louis XV, Paris, 1 832. — Lenient, C. , La satire en France, Paris,
1866. — Lesoure, M. F. A. de. La Princesse de Lamballe, Paris, 1864; Jeanne d'Arc, L'hfiroine
de la France, 1866 ; Napoleon et sa famille, 1867. — L'BstoUe, P. de, Memoiteg, Journaux, in
WITH CRITICAL AND BIOGEAPHICAL NOTES 229
Micbaud et Poujalet's Collection, Paris, 1635-1826. — Levasseur, P. E., Recherches histoiiques
Bur le systSme de Law, Paris, 1854 ; Histoire des classes ouvrieres en France, Paris, 1859, 3
vols. — IiSvesque, P. C, La France sous les cinq premiers Valois, Paris, 1788, 4 vols. — Levy,
A., Napoleon intime, Paris, 1893. — Lewes, G. H., Biographical History of Philosophy, Lon-
don, 1845-1846 ; Life of Robespierre, London, 1854. — Lilly, W. S., A Century of Revolution,,
London, 1889. — Linguet, H., Memoires sur la Bastille, London, 1783. — Lissagaray, P. 0.,
Histoire de la Commune de 1871, Brussels, 1876 ; translation. History of the Commune of 1871,
London, 1886. — Littre, E., Histoire de la langue frangaise, Paris, 1863, 3 vols. — Livy, Titus,
T. Livii Foro-Juliensis vitaHenrici Quinti, regis Angliae, Oxford, 1716. — Lockhart, J. G., Life
of Buonaparte, London, 1889. — Lomenie, L. de, Galerie des contemporains illustres, Brussels,
1848. — Londonderry, C. W. S., Marquis of, Narrative of the War in Germany and France in
1813 and 1814, London, 1830. — Longnon, A., Atlas Historique de la France, Paris, 1884. —
Lot, Les derniers Carolingiens, Paris, 1893. — Louis XIV, Memoires, most complete edition by
Dreyss, Paris, 1859. — Lubis, E., Histoire de la Restauration, Paris, 1848, 6 vols. — Luce, S.,
Histoire de la Jacquerie, Paris, 1859. — Luchaire, A., Histoire des Institutions Monarchiques de
la Prance sous les premiers Capetiens, Paris, 1884-1885. — Luynes, Ch. Philippe, Due de,
Memoires, published by Dussieux and Soulie, Paris, 1860-1863, 17 vols.
Mably, G.Bonnot de. Observations sur I'histoire de France, Geneva, 1765. — Macaulay,
T. B., Mirabeau, in Essays. — Macdonnell, J., France since the First Empire, London and
New York, 1879. — Mackintosh, J., Vindicse Gallicae, London, 1791. — Maimbourg, L., History
of the Holy War, etc., translated by Dr. Nalson, London, 1686. — Maintenon, Mme. de, Me-
moires, 1756, 6 vols. — Malleson, G. B. , Eugene of Savoy, London, 1888 ; History of the French
in India, London, 1893. — Mallet-Dupan, J., Memoires, Paris, 1851; Correspondance pour
servir k I'histoire de la Revolution, Paris, 1851 (both published by Sayous). — Marceau,
Sergent, Notices historiques sur le general Marceau, Milan, 1830. — Margaret de Valois,
L'Heptam§ron, Paris, 1559 ; Memoires, Paris, 1638. — Margry, P., Decouvertes et ^tablisse-
ments des Frangais, Paris, 1879-1881, 4 vols. — Marmont, A. F. L. de, Memoires, Paris, 1886-
1837, 9 vols. — Marmontel, J. F., Memoires, Paris, 1799. — Marot, Jean, Recueil de Jehan
Marot de Caen, Paris, 1533. — Martin, H., Histoire de France jusqu'en 1789, Paris, 1855-1860,
17 vols„ 4th edition ; popular edition, 1867-1885, 7 vols. ; Histoire de France moderne, depuis
1789 iusqu'ft nos jours, Paris, 1878-1885, 8 vols., 2nd edition.
Bon Louis Henri Martin was born at St. Quentin (Aisne) in 1810, and died in 1883. He began
his literary career by writing historical novels, but soon turned his attention more exclusively
to history and in 1833 published the first edition of his chief work, "The History of France."
After the second edition the work was completely revised and enlarged, and in 1856 received the
first prize of the Academy. The first work, extending to the Revolution, was supplemented by
his Histoire de France moderne, the two together giving a complete history of France, which
stands perhaps at the head of general histories of that country. It shows profound research
and is characterised by great impartiality, accuracy, and courage in dealing with political events.
Martin was prominent in political life. In 1848 he was a lecturer at the Sorbonne, but was
obliged to retire during the reaction from democratic tendencies. In 1871 he was chosen delegate
from Aisne to the National Assembly, and in 1876 was senator for the same province. Martin
aimed at writing a national history of his country and his work has had a great national influence.
Marx, E., Essai sur les pouvoirs de Gouverneur de Province, etc., Paris, 1880. — Marzials,
F. T., Life of Leon Gambetta, London, 1890. — Masson, F., Napoldon ler et les femmes, Paris,
1893; Napoldon chez lui, Paris, 1894. — Masson, G., Early Chroniclers of France, London,
1879 ; Richelieu, 1884 ; Mazarin, 1887. — Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, edited by Parker,
1571 ; best edition by Dr. Luard in Rolls Series, 1873-1880, 5 vols. — Maupas, C. E. de, Me-
moires sur le Second Empire, Paris, 1884 ; English translation. Story of the Coup d'fitat, London,
1884, 2 vols. — Maxwell, H., Life of Wellington, London, 1893. — Mayj Thomas Erskine,
Democracy in Europe, London, 1877, 2 vols. — Mazarin, Jules, Cardinal, Negociations secretes
des Pyrenees, Amsterdam, 1693 ; Lettres de Mazarin relatives £ la Fronde, published by Tamizey
de Larroque, Paris, 1861 ; Lettres (published by A. Cheruel at the order of the French govern-
ment, in progress), 2 vols. — Meaux, Vicomte de, La Revolution et I'Empire, Paris, 1867; Les
luttes religieuses en France au XVI sifecle, Paris, 1879. — Mercier, L. S., Nouveau Paris, Paris,
1800, 6 vols.; Paris pendant la revolution, Paris, 1862, 3nd edition. — Merimee, P., La
chronique du regno de Charles IX, 1829. — Mettemioh-Winneburg, Prince Clemens, Aus Met-
ternich's nachgelassenen Papieren, Vienna, 1880-1884, 8 vols. — Mezeray, E. de, Histoire de
France, Paris, 1643-1651, 3 vols.; 1839. — Michaud, Joseph, Histoire des croisades, Paris,
1812-1833, 7 vols.; new edition, 1877, 3 vols.; with Foigoulat, J. J. F., NouveUe collection de
memoires pour servir a I'histoire de France depuis le Xllle sidcle jusqu'au XVIHe siecle,
Paris, 1836-1839, 32 vols. —Michel, G., Vie de Vauban, Paris, 1879. — Michelet, J., Histoire
de France, 1837-1867, 16 vols.; last edition 1879, 19 vols.; translated into English, History of
France, by W. Kelly, London, 1846, 2 vols.; La France devant I'Europe, Florence, 1871 ; His-
toire de la Revolution frangaise, Paris, 1889, 5 vols., 4th edition ; Histoire du XIXe si§cle (to
Waterloo), Paris, 1875, 3 vols.
Jules Michelet was born at Paris in 1798 and died in 1874. From 1831 to 1826 he was pro
fessor of history and philosophy at BoUin college, during which period he published the remark-
230 A GENBEAL BIBLIOGEAPHY OF FRENCH HISTORY
able Pricis de I'histoire moderne. He was made member of the Academy in 1838, and succeeded
Daunou in the chair of history at the Collgge de France. He refused in 1848 nomination to the
National Assembly and devoted himself exclusively to his historical labours. The coup d'£tat
of the 2nd of December, 1851, deprived him of his chair in the College de France, and he con-
tinued in retirement his Eistoire de France and Sistoire de la Revolution. A vivid colorist, he
is sometimes called a poetical historian because his imaginative representation is imbued with
the ideals of democracy. He regarded everything from a personal point of view so that every-
thing he wrote is strongly stamped with his'individuality, vrith his violent prejudices and ardent
patriotism. In this respect he is one of the most remarkable of historians. It has truly been
said that there are no dry bones in his writings.
Mignet, F. A., Histoire de la Revolution frangaise, Paris, 1824, 3 vols.; 8th edition, 1861,
2 vols. ; Negociations relatives a) la succession d'Espagne, Paris, 1836-1844, 4 vols. ; Kivalite de
Frangois I et de Charles V, Paris, 1875-1876, 2 vols. ; Vie de Franklin, in Academic des Sciences,
Morales et Politiques, Paris, 1848. — MikhaUowski-Danilewski, A., L'Histoire de la guerre
de 1813, 4 vols. ; Memoires sur I'expddition de 1813 ; Le passage de la Berezina, Paris, 1843 ;
Relation de la campague de 1805, Paris, 1846 ; Complete works published at St. Petersburg,
1849-1850, 7 vols. — Milman, H. H., History of Latin Christianity, London, 1867. —Miot de
Melito, A. E. , Mfimoires, Paris, 1858, 8 vols. — Mirabeau, Marquis de, L'ami des hommes ou
traite de la population, The Hague, 1758, 3 vols. — Moltke, Hellmuth Karl Bernhardt, Graf
von, Deutsch-franzSsischer Krieg von 1871, Berlin, 1891 ; translated by C. Bell and H. W.
Fisher, London, 1891, 3 vols. — Monstrelet, E. de, Chronique, in Buchon's Collection des chro-
niques frangaises, Paris, 1826; English translation ; The^Chronicles of . . .Monstrelet, containing
an account of the Civil Wars between the Houses of Orleans and Burgundy, London, 1867,
2 vols.
Enguerrand de Monstrelet was born of a noble family of Flanders in about the year 1390.
He attached himself to the duke of Burgundy and became provost of Cambray. He died in
1453. His chronicle begins where Froissart left off, at the year 1400, and continues to 1444,
having been continued by other writers until 1516. He describes the events of his time, chiefly
the wars of France, Artois, and Picardy. While his narration lacks the brilliancy of that of
Froissart, it is almost uniformly accurate and is very valuable for the original documents it
reproduces.
Montaigne, Michel de, Essais, Bordeaux, 1580. — Monteil, A. A., Histoire des Fran^ais
des divers Etats, Paris, 1853, 6 vols. ; Histoire Agricole de la France, Paris, 1877 ; Histoire de
rindustrie Frangaise, Paris and Limoges, 1878-1880, 3 vols. ; Histoire financiire de la France,
Limoges, 1881. — Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, Baron de, Pens^es de Montesquieu in
Pieces interessantes et peu connues pour servir k I'histoire et h. la litterature ; Esprit des Lois,
Geneva, 1748. — Montgaillard, Q. H. R., Histoire de France chronologique, 1787-1818, Paris,
1833. — Montholon, Ch. T. de, with General Crourgaud, Memoires pour servir it I'histoire de
France sous Napoleon, ecrits & Ste. Hel^ne sous sa dict^e, Paris, 1823, 8 vols. — Monljoie,
Christophe, F. L., ^loge historique de Marie Antoinette, Paris, 1797. — Montluc, Blaise de
Lasseran Massencome, Commentaires, Bordeaux, 1593. — Montyon, A. de, Particularites et
observations sur les ministres des finances de France, London, 1813. — Morellet, Andre, Md-
moires, Paris, 1881. — Morley, J. Rousseau, London and New York, 1886 ; Voltaire, London
and New York, 1886. — Morris, W. O'Connor, French Revolution and the First Empire, London,
1874. — Motteville, Frangoise Bertaut de, Memoires pour servir k I'histoire d'Anne d'Autriche,
Amsterdam, 1723, 6 vols. — MoufiSe, d'Angerville, La vie priv^e de Louis XV, Paris, 1781. —
Mouskea, P. , Chronique rim^e, Brussels, 1836-1838.
Philip Mouskes was Bishop of Touruay in 1274, aind died about 1383. His metrical chron-
icle begins with the rape of Helen and extends to the year 1343, containing over thirty thousand
lines. A great deal of the work has been borrowed from the old chamsons de geste and belongs
to the realm of fable. His narrative of the period beginning with Baldwin's being elected king
of Constantinople is the only part which can claim to be called history.
Muel, Lion, Gouvernements, ministlres et constitutions de la France, Paris, 1890. —
Miiffling, F. F. K. von, Geschichte des Feldzugs der Armee unter Wellington und Bliicher,
1815, Stuttgart, 1817 ; Zur Kriegsgeschichte der Jahre 1813 und 1814, Berlin, 1837 ; Betrach-
tungen liber die grossen Operationen und Schlachten der Feldziige von 1813 und 1814, Berlin,
1835; Napoleons Strategic im Jahre 1813, Berlin, 1837; Aus meinem Leben, Berlin, 1851.
— MUUer, David, Geschichte des deutscheu Volkes, Berlin, 1900, 17th edition. — Mflller, W.,
Politische Geschichte der neuesten Zeit, 1816-1875, Stuttgart, 1875 ; 4th edition, 1876-1890,
Berlin, 1890. —Murray, E. C. GrenviUe, Leaders of France, 1877.
Nangis, Guillaume de. Vies de St. Louis et de Philippe le Hardi ; Chronique universelle ;
Chronique des rois de Prance.
Very little is known concerning the life of Qu/illcmme de Ncmgis, except that he was a monk
of St. Denis, lived in the thirteenth century and wrote under Philip the Fair. His account of
the French kings was written in French, the other works in Latin. The general chronicle
extends from the creation of the world to the author's own time, and is a compilation of the
works of Eusebius, Saint Jerome, and Sigebert de Gembloux. His history of Pnilip the Bold
is based on personal observations and experience. The chronicle was continued by the monks
WITH CEITICAL AND BIOGEAPHICAL NOTES 231
of St. Denis, notably by Jean de Vinette, who brought It down to the year 1868. It is almost
the only authority for the first sixteen years of Philip the Fair. The chronicle was published
by H. Geraud, for the Soci6t6 de I'Histoire de France, Paris, 1843, 2 vols.
Napier, W. F. P., History of the War in the Peninsula, 1838-1840, 6 vols., new edition,
1851. — Napoleon I, Correspondance de, Paris, 1858-1870, 32 vols.; M^moires de Turenne,
suivis du Precis des Campagnes de Turenne, Paris, 1872. — Napoleon, Prince Jerome, Napoleon
et ses d^tracteurs, Paris, 1887. — Nagica, T., Memoires sur I'enfance et la jeunesse de Napolfon,
Paris, 1852. — Nettement, A. F. , Litt^rature f rangaise sous la restauration et sous la royaut^
de Juillet, Paris, 1854 ; Memoires historiques de S. A. R. Mme. la duchesse de Berri depuis sa
naissance, Brussels, 1837. — Ney, M. Marshal, Mdmoires, Paris, 1833, 2 vols. — Nisard, D.,
Histoire de la litterature frangaise, Paris, 1844-1861, 4 vols. — Noailles, Adrien M. de, Memoires,
published by the Ahh6 Millet, Paris, 1777. — Norman, C. B., Corsairs of France, London,
1887. — Normanby, Marquis of, A Year of Revolution from a Journal kept in Paris in 1848,
London, 1857, 2 vols. — Norvins, Baron J. de, Histoire de Napoleon, Paris, 1827. — Nouvion,
V. de, Histoire du rigne de Louis Philippe, Paris, 1857-1861, 4) vols. — Noyer, Mme. du
(A. M. Petit du Noyer), Letters and Correspondence, translation from the French by F. L.
Layard, London, 1889. — Nys, E., Les theories politiques, Brussels and Paris, 1891.
Odeleben, E. von. Napoleons Feldzug in Sachsen in 1813, Dresden and Leipsic, 1840. —
Oliphant, Margaret, Memoir of the Comte de Montalembert, Edinburgh, 2 vols., 1872. —
O'Meara, B. E., Napoleon at St. Helena, London, 1888. — Ordericus Vitalis, Historia eccle-
siastica, in Duchesne's Scriptores historise Normannorum, Paris, 1619. — Ormesson, Olivier d'.
Journal, published by Cheruel in Documents infidits sur I'histoire de France, Paris, 1856-
1862.
Palgrave, F., History of Normandy and England, London and New York, 1851-1864. —
Paquier, J. B., Histoire de I'unite politique et territoriale de la France, Paris, 1879-1880, 3 vols.
— Fardessus, J. M., Loi Salique, Paris, 1843. — Pardee, Julia, Louis XIV and the Court of
France, London, 1849, 3 vols. ; New York, 1849, 2 vols. ; The Court and Reign of Francis I,
London, 1850, 2 vols.; The Life of Marie de Medicis, London, 1852, 3 vols. — Fare, A., (Euvres
completes, Paris, 1840, 3 vols. — Parkman, F., Montcalm and Wolfe, London and New York,
1886. — Parr, H., Life and Death of Joan of Arc, London, 1869. — Pasquier, F., Louis Dauphin
fils de Charles VII, 1895. — PauUat, L., Madagascar sous Louis XIV, Louis XIV et la compagnie
des Indes orientales de 1664, Paris, 1886. — Pelet, J. J. G., Memoires sur la guerre de 1809,
Paris, 1824-1826,4 vols.; Introduction aux campagnes de Napoleon 1805-1809. — Pellisson-
Fontanier, P., Histoire de Louis XIV, Paris, 1849, 3 vols. — Pelletan, C, De 1815 a nos jours,
Paris, 1892. — Ferefixe, H. de Beaumont de, Histoire du r%ne de Henri le Grand, Amsterdam,
1661. — Perkins, J. B., France under Richelieu and Mazarin, New York and London, 1886,
2 vols. — Perreciot, C. J. , De I'etat civil des personnes et de la condition des terres, etc. , Paris,
1845, 3 vols. — Perreus, F. T., L'eglise et I'etat en France sous Henri IV, Paris, 1872, 2 vols.;
La Democratie en France au Moyen Age, Paris, 1873, 2 vols. — Petiet, R., Du pouvoir Ifigislatif
en France, Paris, 1891. — Petitot, J., et Monmerque, L. J. N., Collection complete des
memoires relatifs 4 I'histoire de France, Paris, 1819-1829, 131 vols. — Philippsohn, M. , Zeitalter
Ludwigs XIV., in Oncken's AUgemeine Geschichte, Berlin, 1880. — Picot, G. , Histoire des fitata
Generaux 1855-1614, Paris, 1872, 4 vols. — Piepape, L. De, Reunion de la Franche-Comte £ la
France. — Pierre, V., Histoire de la Republique de 1848, Paris, 1878, 2 vols. — Pigeonneau, H.,
Histoire du commerce de la France, Paris, 1885-1889, 2 vols. — Pisan, Christine de, Le livre des
fais et bonnes moeurs du sage roy Charles V, in Michaud's collection, 1st series, vols. 1 and 2,
Paris, 1836 fE. — Plotho, C. von, Der Krieg in Deutschland und Frankreich 1813 und 1814,
Berlin, 1817, 3 vols.; Der Krieg des verbiindeten Europa gegen Napoleon in 1815, Berlin, 1818.
— Poirson, A., Histoire du regne de Henri IV, Paris, 1862-1867, 4 vols. — Fontis, Sieur de,
Memoires, Paris, 1676, 2 vols. — Poole, R. L., A History of the Huguenots, London, 1880. —
Poulet-Malassis, P. E. A., Papiers secrets et correspondance du Second Empire, Paris, 1873.
— Pradt, Abbe de, Le Congres de Vienne, Paris, 1815 ; Quatre Concordats, Paris, 1818. —
Pressense, E. de, L'flglise et la Revolution frangaise, Paris, 1864 ; fitndes contemporaines,
Paris, 1880. — Prevost-Paradol, L., La France NouveUe, 1868 ; Essai sur I'histoire universeUe,
Paris, 1890. — Prothero, P. W., Life of Simon de Montfort, London, 1877. — Prudhomme,
L., Histoire des crimes de la Revolution, Paris, 1798. — Puisbusque, A. L. de, Histoire comparee
des litteratures espagnole et frangaise, Paris, 1843, 2 vols.
Quicherat, J., Proems de condamnatiou et de rehabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc, Paris, 1841-
1849, 5 vols.; Histoire du Costume en France, Paris, 1875. — Quinet, E., L'Histoire de la cam-
pagne de 1815, Paris, 1867 ; La Revolution, Paris, 1889, 2 vols.
Rabault, J. P., Precis historique de la Revolution frangaise, Paris, 1826, 2 vols. — Racine,
Louis, Memoires sur la vie de J. Racine, Paris, 1747. — Rsunbaud, A., L'Histoire de la civilisa-
tion frangaise, Paris, 1885-1887, 2 vols.; Histoire de civilisation contemporaine en France, Paris,
1888 ; with E. Lavisse, Histoire genfirale du IVe siecle £ nos jours, Paris, 1892 fE. — Ranke,
L. von, Franzosiscke Qescliiclite, Stttttgait, 1853-1861, 5 vols,; Dei^wiudigkeiteu des gtaats-
232 A GBNEEAL BIBLIOGEAPHY OF FRENCH HISTORY
kanzlera Ftlrsten von Hardenberg, Leipsic, 1876-1877, 5 vols. — Rapine, Florimond, Relation
des Etats de 1614 (Eecueil . . . de tout ce que s'est fait en I'assemblfie ginerale des 6tats . . . ).
Paris, 1851. — Rashdall, Hastings, The Universities of Europe in tlie Middle Ages, London,
1895. — Rastoul, A., Histoire de France depuis la Revolution, Paris and Lyons, 1891-1893. —
Raynouard, F., Histoire du droit municipal en France, Paris, 1839, 3 vols. — Reeve, H., Royal
and Republican France, London, 1873, 3 vols. — Regnault, Elias, Histoire de Napoleon, Paris,
1847 ; Histoire de huit ans, 1840-1848, Paris, 1860, 2 vols. — Regnier, E., Les grands toivains
de la France, Paris, 1870. — Remusat, Mme. de, Memoires, Paris, 1803-1808. English transla-
tion, London, 1880-1881, 2 vols. — Renee, A., Les nieces de Mazarin, Paris, 1856. — Rerum
gallioarum et francicarum Soriptores, Paris, 1738-1887, 23 vols, (compilation commenced by
Bouquet, continued by d' Antine, Haudiquier, Brial , and in later years by the Academy of Inscrip-
tions).— Retz, Cardinal de. Conjuration du Comte de Fiesque, 1825 ; Memoires, in Michaud et Pou-
joulat's Collection, Paris, 1836. — Richelieu, Armand du Plessis, Cardinal de, Memoires, in
Michaud's Collection ; Recueil des testaments politiques du cardinal de Richelieu, Amsterdam,
1749. — Richer, Histoire de son Temps, in publications of the Societe de I'Histoire de France,
Paris. — Richer, A., Vie de Jean Bart, Paris, 1837. — Riels, J. de, La guerre de Madagascar,
Paris, 1896. — Rishanger, Gulielmus, in Prothero's Life of Simon de Montfort, London, 1877.
— Riviere, H. P., Codes fran^aises, etc., Paris, 1884. — Roberts, Campaigns, Franco-German
War. — Robinet, J. E., Le proems des Dantonistes d'aprds les documents, Paris, 1879 ; Danton,
memoire sur sa vie privee, Paris, 1884. — Robiquet, P., Histoire municipale de Paris, Paris,
1880. — Robson, W., Life of Richelieu, London, 1854. — Rocquain, T. F., L'esprit r^volution-
naire avant la Revolution 1715-1789, Paris, 1878 ; translated into English, The Revolutionary
Spirit precedmg the French Revolution, London, 1891 ; L'fitat de la France au 18 brumaire,
Paris, 1874 ; Etudes sur I'ancienne France, Paris, 1875 ; Napoleon ler et le roi Louis, Paris, 1875.
— Roederer, P. L., Louis XII et Frangois I, Paris, 1835. — Romilly, Sir Samuel, The Life of,
written by himself, London, 1840. — Ropes, J. C, The First Napoleon, Boston, 1885. — Rose,
J. H., The Life of Napoleon, London, 1903. — Rosebery, Lord, Napoleon, the Last Phase,
London, 1900. — Rosieres, R. , Histoire de la. societe f rancjaise, Paris, 3 vols. — Rosseeuw
Saint-Hilaire, N. Histoire d'Espagne, Paris, 1844-1879, new edition. — Rousset, L., EHstoire
gSnerale de la guerre franco-allemande, Paris, 1897. — Rflstow, W. F., Die ersten Feldziige
Bonapartes in Italien und Deutschland 1796 und 1797, ZUrich, 1867. — Rymar, Thomas, Foedera,
London, 1704-1735, 20 vols., 3rd edition, London, 1816.
Saint-Albin, A. Rousselin-Corbeau de, Vie de Hoche, translated into English, London,
1799. — Saint-Denis, Chronique des Religieux de, in Collection des documents inedits relatifs
& I'histoire de France, Paris, 1839-1849. — Saint-Pierre, Ch. Castel abbe de, Projet de paix
perpfituelle, Utrecht, 1713 ; Discours sur la Polysynodie, 171 8. — Saint-Prix, fitudes historiques,
la perte de I'lnde sous Louis XV. — Saint-Remy, J. LefSvre de, Chronique, in J. Buchon's
Collection des Chroniques, vols. 33 and 33.
The chronicle of Jean Lefivre de Saint-Remy (1394-1468) is mainly an abridgment of that
of Monstrelet, and extends from 1407 to 1436. Only in the concluding eight years of the period
described does his narrative display any originality.
Saint-Simon, Due de, Memoires, Paris, 1856-1858, 30 vols. — Sainte-Aulaire, L. de, His-
toire de la Fronde, Paris, 1860, 3 vols. — Sainte-Beuve, C. A., Tableau historiqueet critique de
la poesie et du theatre frangais au seiziSme siScle, Paris, 1838, 3 vols. ; Histoire de Port Royal,
Paris, 1840. — Sand, George, Histoire de ma vie, Paris, 1854. — Sarrans, B., Lafayette et la
Revolution de 1830, Paris, 1833. — Sauvage, D., Histoire et chronique memorable de . . . Frois-
sar, reveu et corrigfi par D. Sauvage, 1574. — Savary, Due de Rovigo, Memoires pour servir It
I'histoire de Napoleon, Paris, 1838, 8 vols. — Saxe, Maurice, Comte de,Lettres et memoires, Paris,
1794, 5 vols. — Say, J. B. L., Turgot, Paris, 1887. — Soherer, E. , feudes critiques sur la litt6ra-
ture contemporaine, Paris, 1863. — Scherr, J. , Das rote Quartal. Geschichte der Kommune, 1871.
— Schimpff, G. von, 1813, Napoleon in Sachsen, Dresden, 1894. — Schlosser, Friedrich C,
Geschichte des 18ten Jahrhunderts, Heidelberg, 1836-1849, 3ud and 3rd editions, 7 vols. ; trans-
lated by D. Davison, History of the Eighteenth Century, London, 1843-1853, 8 vols. — Schmidt,
A., Pariser Zustande wShrend der Revolutionszeit von 1789 bis 1800, Jena, 187^1876, 3 vols. —
Schmidt, C, Histoire et doctrine des Cathares ou Albigeois, Paris, 1849, 3 vols. — Schmidt, J.,
Geschichte der f ranzosischen Litteratur seit 1789, Leipsic, 1858, 3 vols. — Scott, J. G., France
and Tonking : narrative of campaign, London, 1885. — Scott, Walter, Life of Napoleon Bona-
parte, Edinburgh, 1837, 9 vols. — Seeley, J. R., A Short History of Napoleon I, London, 1836 ;
Article on Napoleon in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. — Segretain, E. A., Sixte V et Henri IV,
Paris, 1861. — Segur, Philippe de, Histoire de Napoleon etde la grande armee, Paris, 1824;
Memoires, Paris, 1824. — Seignobos, C, Scenes et Episodes de I'histoire nationale, Paris, 1891 ;
Histoire politique de I'Europe contemporaine, 1814r-1896, Paris, 1897. — Seneuil, Courcelle,
L'H^ritage de la Revolution, Paris, 1872. — Senior, N. W., Journals kept in France and Italy
from 1848-1853, London, 1871, 3 vols. — Sevigne, Marie, Marquise de, Lettres, edited by
Perrin, Paris, 1754, 8 vols.; more completely by Monmerque and Saint-Surin, Paris, 1818-
1819, 10 vols. ; and by Regnier, Paris, 1862-1867, 14 vols. — Seyssel, C. de, Les Louenges du
roy Louis XII, Paris, 1508. — Siborne, W., History of the War in France and Belgium in
1815, London, 1848, 2 vols. — Siohel, E., The Household of the Lafayettes, 1897. — BiloMJ,
WITH CEITICAL AND BIOGEAPHICAL NOTES 233
J., Gouvemement de M. Thiers, Paris, 1878, 2 vols., English translation. Government of
M. Thiers, London, 1879, 3 vols. — Sismondi, J. C. L. S. de, Histoire des frangais, Paris,
1821-1844, 81 vols. — Smiles, S., The Huguenots; their Settlements in England and Ireland, Lon-
don, 1880. — Smyth, W., The French Revolution, Lectures on Modern History, London, 1885.
— Sorbin, Armand, Histoire contenant un abrege de la vie, moeurs et vertus du Roy tres chrestien
et debonnaire Charles IX, etc., Paris, 1574. — Sorel, A., L'Europe et la Revolution franjaise,
Paris, 1897, 3 vols. — Soulavie, J. L., Mfimoires historiques et politiques du r^gne de Louis
XVI, 1807. — Southey, R., History of the Peninsular War, London, 1822-1833, 3 vols.—
Spuller, E., Histoire parlementaire de la deuiiSme Republique, Paris, 1891. — Stael, Madame
de. Considerations sur les principaux evenements de la revolution frangaise, Paris, 1818, 3
vols. — Stanhope, Earl, Joan of Arc, in his Miscellanies, London, 1863-1872 ; The French
Retreat from Moscow, London, 1876. — Steevens, G. W., The Tragedy of Dreyfus, London,
1899. — Stephen, J., Lectures on the History of France, London, 1857, 2 vols. — Stephens,
H. M., History of the French Revolution, London and New York, 1886 ; articles on The Dukes
of Orleans, Marat, and Mirabeau, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. — Stern, Daniel (Marie de
Flavigny), Histoire de la Revolution de 1848, Paris, 1850-1853, 3 vols. — Suchet, L. G.,
Memoires sur la guerre d'Espagne, Paris, 1829, 3 vols. — Suger, I'abbe, Vie de Louis VI, (or)
Gesta Ludovici regis cognomento Grossi, in Guizot's Collection de mdmoires. — Sully,
Maximilien de B^thune, Duo de, Memoires in Petitot's collection ; translation. Memoirs
of the Prime Minister of Henry the Great, Loudon, 1856, 4 vols. — Sybel, H. von. Die Erhe-
bung EuTopas gegen Napoleon I. , Munich, 1860 ; Geschichte der Revolutionszeit, Frankfort,
1882, 6 vols. — Symes, J. E., The French Revolution, London, 1842.
Taillandier, R., Maurice de Saxe, Paris, 1865. — Taine, H. A., Les origines de la France
contemporaine ; I'ancien regime, 1867 ; la Revolution, 1878-1884, 3 vols. ; le regime moderne,
Paris, 1880 ; translations. The Ancient Regime, London and New York, 1876 ; The Revolution,
London and New York, 1878-1885. — T^eyrand-Perigord, Prince, Correspondance, Paris,
1881 ; English translation, Correspondence of Prince Talleyrand, London, 1881. — Tatistschefif,
S. S., Alexandre ler et Napollon, Paris, 1891. — Tavannes, Jean de Saulx de, Memoires, in
Michaud et Poujoulat's Collection, Paris. — Tchitchagoflf, Admiral, Memoires inedits del'amiral
T., Campagne de la Russie en 1812, Berlin, 1855. —Tenet, P. P. E., Paris en d^cembre 1851,
Paris, 1868. — Ternaux, M., Histoire de la Terreur, 1793-1794, Paris, 1861-1867, 16 vols. —
Thibaudeau, A. C, Memoires sur la Convention et le Directoire, Paris, 1824; Le consulat et
I'empire, Paris, 1835-1837, 10 vols. ; Histoire des Btats Gen6raux,_ Paris, 1843, 3 vols. —
Thierry, Amfidee, Histoire des Gaulois depuis les temps les plus recules, Paris, 1844, 3 vols. —
Thierry, Augustin, R^cits des temps mSrovingiens, Paris, 1840 ; Formation et progres du Tiers
feat, Paris, 1853 ; Lettres sur I'histoire de France, Paris, 1863 ; Dix ans d'^tudes historiques,
Paris, 1868. — Thiers, A., Histoire de la Revolution franfaise, Paris, 1823-1827, 10 vols.; trans-
lated into English by T. W. Redhead, 1823 ; Histoire du Consulat et de I'Empire, Paris, 1845-
1863, 20 vols.; The Mississippi Bubble: A Memoir of John Law, New York, 1859. — Thou,
J. A. de, HistorisB sui temporis, 1620, 138 vols. ; English translation, History of His Own Time,
London, 1729. — Thureau-Dangin, P., Histoire de la monarchie de Juillet, Paris, 1884^1892, 7
vols. — Tooqueville, A. de, Histoire philosophique du rfegne de Louis XV, Paris, 1846, 3 vols. ;
Coup d'ceil sur le r^gne de Louis XVI, Paris, 1850 ; L'ancien regime et la revolution, Paris,
1857; Memoirs, Letters and Remains of, London, 1861, 3 vols. — Tolstoi, Count, War and
Peace, London, 1886, 3 vols. — Topin, Marius, I'Homme au masque de fer, Paris, 1869. —
Toulongeon, E. vicomte de, Histoire de France depuis la Revolution de 1789, Paris, 1801-1810,
4 vols. — TroUope, T. A. , Girlhood of Catherine de' Medici, London, 1856. — Tuckermann, B.,
Life of Lafayette, London, 1889. — Tuckey, J., Joan of Arc, New York, 1880. — Turner, F.,
General Boulanger, London, 1889. — Tyler, J. E., Henry of Monmouth, or Memoirs of the Life
and Character of Henry I, etc., London, 1838, 3 vols. — Ty tier, Sarah, Life of Marie
Antoinette, 1883.
Ursins, Princesse des, Correspondance aveo Madame de Maintenon, Paris, 1826.
Vandal, A., Louis XV et Elisabeth de Russie, Paris, 1883; Napoleon et Alexandre Jer,
Paris, 1891-1893, 2 vols. — Vandam, A. D., Undercurrents of Second Empire, London, 1897. —
Vanderest, Histoire de Jean Bart, Paris, 1841. —Van Eampen, Geschichte der Niederlander,
Hamburg, 1831-1883, Svols. — Van Laun, H., History of French Literature, London, 1877,
3 vols. ; The French Revolutionary Epoch, Paris, London, and New York, 1878, 3 vols. —
Vaulabelle, A. de, Histoire des deux Restaurations, Paris, 1844-1854 ; Ligny -Waterloo, Paris,
1883. — Vaurin, Jehan de, RecueU des croniques et anchiennes istories de la Grant Bretaigne,
in part edited by L. M. E. Dupont, for the Societe de I'Histoire de France, Paris, 1858-1863,
3 vols. ; translated into English by W. and E. L. C. P. Hardy,A Collection of Chronicles and Ancient
Histories of Great Britain, London, 1864^1891, 3 vols.. Rolls Series. —Vertot, R. Aubert de,
L'Histoire de I'Ordre de Malte, Paris, 1736. - Victor, P., La terreur sous le Directoire, Paris,
1887. — Viel-Castel, H. de, Memoires ... sur le rigne de Napoleon III, Paris, 1883 ; English
translation, London, 1888. — Viel-Oastel, L. de, Histoire de la restauration, Paris, 1860-1878,
234 A GENEBAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FEENCH HISTOEY
20 vols. — Vieusseux, A., The History of Switzerland, London, 1846. — Villani, Matteo and
Jean, Historia Fiorentina, Venice, 1537, in Scriptores rerum italicarum, vols. 13 and 14. —
Villars, Due de, Mfimoires, in Michaud et Poujoulat's Collection, Paris. — Villehardouin,
G. de, L'Histoire . . . de la Conqueste de Constantinople, Paris, 1584; 1738.
Cfeoffroy de Villehardouin was the first great historian to write in French prose. He was
born in Champagne about the middle of the twelfth century and died in Thessaly in 1313. He
took an active and glorious part in the fourth crusade, of which he gives a lively description,
his narrative covering the period between 1198 and 1207. Villehardouin's work is remarkable
not only as being the first of its kind, but for its literary excellence also. It has well been
called the epic of the Crusades or a chanson de yeste in prose.
Villemain, A. F., Cours de litterature fran9aise ; Tableau de la litterature du moyen age,
2 vols.; Tableau de la litterature au XVIIIme Siecle, 4 vols., Paris, 1840. — VioUet, P. M.,
Precis de I'histoire du droit fran5ais, Paris, 1885 ; Histoire des institutions politiques et admini-
stratives de la France, Paris, 1889, 2 vols. — Vizotelly, H., The Story of the Diamond Necklace,
London, 1881. — Vogel, K., Die dritte franzSsische Republik bis 1895. — Voltaire, F. M.
Arouet de, Le sidcle de Louis XIV, in CEuvres completes, Paris, 1817-1819, 13 vols. — Voltaire,
J. A. de, in Foncin's Essai sur le ministere de Turgot, Paris, 1877. — Voyer d'Argenson, M. A.
B. de. Considerations sur le gouvernement de la France, Amsterdam, 1765. — Vuitry, A.,
Etude sur le regime financier de la France avant la Revolution, Paris, 1885, 2 vols.
Wachsmuth, E. W. G., Geschichte Frankreichs im Revolutionszeitalter, Hamburg, 1835-
1844, 4 vols. — Wahl, M., L'Algerie, Paris, 1897. — Wallon, H. A., Jeanne d'Arc, Paris, 1860,
2 vols. ; St. Louis et son temps, Paris, 1875, 3 vols. ; Histoire du tribunal revolutionnaire de
Paris, Paris, 1880-1882, 6 vols. — Walsingham, T., Historia Anglicana, edited by H. T. Riley,
in Rerum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores, London, 1858. — Washburne, E. B., Recollec-
tions of a Minister to France, London, 1887. — Weber, G., Allgemeine Geschichte, Leipsic,
1859-1881, 15 vols. — Weber, J., Memoires concernant Marie Antoinette, in Berville et Barri&e,
Collection des memoires relatifs k la revolution f rangaise, Paris, 1821. — White, H. , The Mas-
sacre of St. Bartholomew, London, 1868. — White, J., History of France from Earliest Times
to 1848, London, 1859. — Wiehr, Napoleon und Bernadotte im Herbstfeldzuge 1813, Berlin,
1893. — Willert, P. F., The Reign of Louis XI, London and Philadelphia, 1876; Henry of
Navarre and the Huguenots in France, New York, 1893. — Williams, Henry Smith, The Story
of 19th Century Science, New York and London, 1900. — Wilson, R. T., Narrative of
Events during the Invasion of Russia in 1812, Loudon, 1860. — Wimpffen, E. F. de, Sedan,
Paris, 1871, 3rd edition. — Witt, Mme. de, M. Guizot dans sa famille et avec ses amis, Paris,
1880. — Woliogen, Ludwig von, Memoiren, Leipsic, 1851.
Tonge, C. D., History of France under the Bourbons, 1589-1830, London, 1866-1867,
4 vols. ; History of France, London and New York, 1879 ; Life of Marie Antoinette, London and
Nfew York, 1886. — York von Wartenburg, Napoleon I. als Feldherr, Berlin, 1885-1888, 2 vols.
— Young, A., Travels in France during 1787, 1788, 1789, London, 1793, 2 vols.
Zevort, E., Histoire de la 3e RSpublique, Paris, 1896-1898. — Ziemssen, Die franzosische
Revolution, Berlin, 1893. — Zurlauben, Baron de la Tour-Chatillon de, Histoire mUitaire au
service de lia. France, Paris, 1751-1753, 8 vols.
A CHEONOLOGIOAL SUMMAET OF THE HISTOET OF
FEANCE, FROM THE TEEATY OF YEEDUN
On the death of Louis le Debonnaire (840) the empire of Charlemagne is dismembered.
The two younger sons of the dead monarch, Charles and Ludwig, dispute the right of
the eldest, Lothair, to supreme authority over all the Franks. War results, and at the
battle of Fontenailles (841) Lothair is completely defeated. This important event leads
to the Treaty of Verdun (843), in which three kingdoms are distinctly marked : for
Lothair, Italy and Lorraine ; for Ludwig, Germany ; and for Charles, France.
THE CARLOVINGIAN DYNASTY FROM THE TREATY
OF VERDUN (843-987 a.d.)
An epoch "in which," says Eitchin, "France passes through a dreary and confused
period of formation."
843 OharlcB (11) the Bald is king of all Oaul west of the Schelde, the Maas, the SaSne, and
the Rhone, down to the Mediterranean, and north of the Pyrenees ; but three states
still resist his authority, Brittany, Septimania, and Aquitaine. The Northmen are now
coming every year, ravaging the coast and ascending the rivers.
844 The diet of Thionville confirms the partition of the empire effected at Verdun.
845 Nomenoe, count (or duke) of Brittany defeats Charles. Pepin of Aquitaine continues
his resistance.
847 Charles and his two brothers conclude an offensive and defensive alliance at Mersen.
848 Brittany made independent by Nomenog, who takes title of king.
850 Pepin of Aquitaine allies himself with the Northmen and Saracens against Charles.
851 Charles defeats and imprisons Pepin and takes possession of Aquitaine.
852 Charles makes peace with Muhammed, the Saracen ruler of Spain, who has sent his gen-
eral, Musa, to invade France.
853 The Northmen capture Nantes and Tours.
854 Pepin escapes from prison and recovers Aquitaine.
858 Ludwig of Germany invades France, but is persuaded to withdraw. The Northmen
settle on the Oise. •
861 Charles makes Robert the Strong count of Paris.
863 Charles confers the duchy of Flanders on Baldwin, who had abducted and married his
daughter Judith. On death of King Charles of Provence (son of the emperor Lothair)
Charles the Bald makes an unsuccessful attempt to seize the kingdom.
865 Charles again captures Pepin and takes Aquitaine.
866 Death of Robert the Strong at battle of Brissarthe against the Northmen.
867 Charles makes his son Louis king of Aquitaine.
870 After the death of Lothair II, Charles divides Lorraine with Ludwig the German.
875 On death of the emperor Ijudwig II, Charles the Bald obtains the imperial succession.
The Northmen take Rouen.
876 Charles fails in an attempt to seize the possessions of the son of Ludwig the German.
877 The pope calls on Charles to drive the Saracens from Italy. Edict of Quierzy, making
hereditary the fiefs of the counts who accompany him to Italy. Death of Charles. His
son Louis (11) the Stammerer king of Aquitaine succeeds.
879 Death of Louis. His two sons divide the kingdom ; Louis III ruling in northern France,
Carloman in Burgundy and Aquitaine.
880 The French and German kings proceed against King Boson of Burgundy, who has
assumed that title. Siege of Vienne.
882 Death of Louis ; Carloman rules over the whole of France.
884 Death of Carloman. The nobles make the emperor Charles the Pat, grandson of Louis
le Debonnaire, king of France. The empire of Charlemagne is reunited.
885 The Northmen under Rollo besiege Paris.
886 Charles buys the Northmen off.
887 Deposition of Charles at diet of Tribur. He retires to Germany.
888 Death of Charles. The nobles, disgusted with the degenerate Carlovingians, elect Eudai
king. He rules over the land between the Maas and the Loire. Beyond the Maas,
236 THE HISTORY OF FRANCE
Amulf of Germany is recognised ; and south of the Loire, Duke Rainulf of Aquitaine
takes the title of king. Louis, son of Boson, founds Cisjurane Burgundy ; and Rudolf
of Auxerre founds Trausjurane Burgundy.
889 Eudes proceeds vigorously against the Northmen. The Saracens settle at Fraxinet in
Provence. Eudes forces Rainulf to renounce his title, but is unable to conquer southern
France. The count of Flanders refuses obedience to Eudes.
892 Victory of Eudes at Montpensier over the Northmen.
893 The opponents of Eudes meet at Rheims and elect Charles (IH) the Simple, natural son
of Louis II, king. Eudes compels Charles to flee to Arnulf.
895 Arnulf makes Lorraine into a kingdom for his son Zwentibold.
896 Eudes recognises title of Charles and cedes him some territory in eastern France.
898 Death of Eudes. Charles the Simple sole king.
THE TENTH CENTURY
911 Northmen under RoUo settle at Rouen. The Lorrainers give their kingdom to Charles.
913 Charles gives Rollo his daughter and the duchy of Normandy for a fief. Conversion of
Rollo to Christianity. He takes the name of Robert. The Northmen are henceforth
the Normans of France.
930 The Lorrainers take back their kingdom.
923 The nobles crown Robert I (brother of Eudes and duke of France) king of France.
Charles proceeds against him.
933 Defeat of Charles at Soissous by Robert. Death of Robert in battle. His son-in-law
Rudolf of Burgundy is elected to succeed. The strife with Charles continues. He is
betrayed and imprisoned. Lorraine is given to Henry the Fowler.
929 Death of Charles the Simple. Rudolf repulses a Magyar invasion.
936 Death of Rudolf. Iiouis (IV ) d'Outre-Mer, son of Charles the Simple, is made king.
938 Otto the Great prevents Louis from seizing Lorraine.
941 Louis is defeated by Hugh the Great, duke of France.
943 Assassination of William Longsword of Normandy.
945 Louis defeated in his attempts on Normandy. He is vanquished and imprisoned by the
national party under Hugh the Great.
946 Otto the Great invades France as far as Rouen. Louis is liberated.
948 Excommunication of Hugh at council of Ingelheim.
954 Death of Louis. His young son liOthEur is raised to the throne.
955 Louis gives Burgundy to Hugh.
956 Death of Hugh the Great ; his son Hugh Capet succeeds to his title. Lothair gives him
Aquitaine.
973 The Saracens are driven from the south of France.
978 Lothair invades Lorraine. Otto invades France as far as Paris, and in retreat loses a
large part of his army.
980 Lothair abandons Upper Lorraine to Otto, but obtains Lower Lorraine and Brabant for
his son Charles. •
986 Death of Lothair. His son Iiouis (V) le Faineant succeeds.
THE HOUSE OF CAPET TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS IX
THE FEUDAL MONARCHY BEGINS (987-1270 a.d.)
987 Death of Louis. Hugh Capet takes the throne supported by some of the nobles. Others
advocate the claim of Charles of Lorraine. Hugh is the first French king in the modern
sense of the word, for as duke of France, count of Paris, Orleans, etc. , he has territories
of his own. The Carlovingiaus ruled as emperors with little or no territorial possessions.
Hugh associates his son Robert on the throne.
988 Charles of Lorraine invades France.
991 Capture and Imprisonment of Charles. Opposition to Hugh by the duke of Aquitaine.
994 Dispute of Hugh and Pope John XV over Archbishop Gerbert.
996 Death of Hugh. His son Robert II succeeds as sole king.
998 The pope forces Robert to repudiate his wife and cousin, Bertha. He marries Constance
of Aquitaine.
THE ELEVENTH CENTURY
1010 Persecution of the Jews in France.
1016 Robert acquires his right to the duchy of Burgundy after a fourteen years' war with the
rebellious Otho William, who had assumed the title of Duke Henry hx 1003.
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMAEY 837
1017 Henry, son of Robert, crowned joint king.
1032 Thirteen Manicbsean heretics burned at Orleans ; the first of these executions.
1028 Robert le Diable .usurps the ducal crown of Normandy. He helps Henry crush the revolt-
ing barons.
1031 Death of Robert. Henry I succeeds as sole king.
1032 Henry gives the duchy of Burgundy to his brother Robert, who founds the first Capetian
house of Burgundy, which lasts until 1861.
1033 Robert le Diable fails in an invasion of England, and ravages Brittany.
1035 Death of Robert le Diable. His son William the Bastard succeeds him. The "Peace of
God " proclaimed.
1041 The ' ' Truce of God " proclaimed. Henry captures his rebellious brother Eudes.
1046 At the battle of Val-&-Dunes, William the Bastard brings his rebellious barons to obedi-
ence. The dukes of Lorraine and Flanders give their homage to the German emperor.
1054 Great victory of WiUiam over Eudes of Anjou, at Mortemer.
1059 Henry makes his son Philip joint king. '
1060 Death of Henry. Philip I sole king. Brittany still independent.
10(i6 The Norman invasion of England.
1069 William the Bastard (the Conqueror) seizes Maine.
1070 The people of Le Mans use the word commune or "municipality " for the first time.
1071 Robert the Frisian invades France and defeats Philip at Cassel.
1075 Philip compels William the Conqueror to raise the siege of Dol in Brittany.
1076 Peace made between Philip and William. Revolt of the commune at Cambray.
1079 Robert, son of William, rebels against his father.
1087 Death of William, Robert succeeds as duke of Normandy ; his brother William Rufus as
king of England.
1090 William Rufus invades Normandy.
1094 Quarrel of Philip and Urban II over the divorce of Queen Bertha.
1095 Henry, son of the duke of Burgundy, receives the county of Portugal from Alfonso VI of
Leon and Castile, and becomes the ancestor of the kings of Portugal.
1096 The first crusaders start from France.
1097 Robert of Normandy joins the crusade, mortgaging the duchy to William Rufus.
1097-1099 Hostilities with William Rufus of England, who claims the French Vexin.
1100 On death of William Rufus, Robert returns to Normandy to resume his rule. Philip
makes his son Louis joint king.
THE TWELFTH CENTURY
The opening of this century is noted for the rapid growth of town liberties.
1104 Henry I of England invades Normandy.
1106 Battle of Tinchebray and defeat and capture of Robert of Normandy by Henry of England.
Normandy once more attached to England.
1108 Death of Philip. Louis VI sole king.
1109 War breaks out between France and England.
1111 The count of Anjou takes possession of Maine.
1112 Beginning of the riots of the commune of Laon,
1119 The war between France and England is ended by the decisive defeat of Louis at Breune-
ville. The cause of WiUiam Clito is lost.
1124 War renewed between France and England over the possession of Normandy.
1127 Marriage of Matilda, daughter of Henry of England, to Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou,
brings the Anglo-Norman domination down to the Loire. Murder of the count of
Flanders. Louis gives that province to William Clito.
1128 Death of William Clito. Louis loses his influence in Flanders.
1129 Peace arranged between Louis and Henry.
1131 The king makes his son Louis joint king.
1136 The marriage of the young Louis to Eleanor of Guienne (Aquitaine) unites that duchy to
the crown.
1137 Death of Louis. Iiouia (VII) the Young sole king. He continues the policy of his
father, and seconds the communal movement. King Stephen of England makes a short
invasion of Normandy.
1140 Beginning of quarrel of Louis with the papacy over the archbishopric of Bourges. Suger
advises Louis.
1142 Louis attacks the count of Champagne and burns down Vitry church.
1144 Louis makes peace with the papacy and promises to undertake a crusade. Louis interferes
in the quarrel of Stephen and Geoffrey Plantagenet. Dismemberment of the Anglo-
Norman monarchy ; Stephen remains king of England and count of Boulogne ; Geoffrey,
duke of Normandy, count of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine.
1146 Death of Geoffrey Plantagenet. His son, Henry of Anjou, inherits his possessions.
1147 Louis departs on the Second Crusade, leaving the kingdom in charge of Suger.
238 THE HISTOEY OP FRANCE
1149 Return of Louis. Queen Eleanor petitions the pope for a divorce.
1162 The pope grants Eleanor's divorce. She marries Henry of Anjou, son of Geoffrey Planta-
genet and Matilda.
1154 Henry of Anjou becomes Henry H of England. Besides his French territory inherited
from Geoffrey, he is, in his wife's name, count of Poitou and duke of Guienne.
1158 Henry H of England adds Nantes to his possessions on death of his brother Geoffrey.
1159 War breaks out between France and England over the possession of Toulouse.
1161 Peace made between Henry and Louis.
1162 Foundation of the Paris cathedral laid.
1167 Louis renews hostilities with England.
1169 Peace of Montmirail between England and Prance.
1171 Brittany passes by marriage to Geoffrey, son of Henry H.
ins Louis supports the sons of Henry II in their rebellion against their father, but is unable
to wrest any territory from the king of England.
1177 Henry seizes Berri and buys the county of La Marche.
ll'j'9 Louis makes his son Philip Augustus joint king.
1180 Death of Louis. Philip (II) Augustus sole king.
1182 Philip banishes the Jews from France, and issues edicts against heretics.
1185 Philip at war with the count of Flanders, during which he obtains Vermandois, Valois,
and the county of Amiens. The duke of Burgundy is reduced to submission.
1188 Philip induces Richard Coeur de Lion to rebel against his father Henry 11.
1189 Henry forced to make a disastrous peace with PhUip, yielding Berri to France. Death of
Henry II marks the beginning of the decline of the Angevin power in France.
1190 Philip leaves for the crusade.
1191 Philip returns to France. He abolishes the powerful ofBce of seneschal.
1192 Phihp breaks faith with Richard, makes alliance with Prince John of England, and invades
Normandy. The garrison of Rouen repels him.
1193 Philip repudiates his new queen Ingeborg of Denmark.
1194 Richard, released from captivity, makes war on Philip.
1196 A truce between Philip and Richard. The former withdraws from Normandy and retains
Auvergne. Philip marries Agnes of Meran.
1198 Battle of Gisors.
1199 Definite peace between Philip and Richard. Death of Richard. England and Normandy
receive John as king. Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Poitou, and Touraine declare for Arthur
of Brittany, son of Geoffrey, under protection of Philip.
1200 Philip seizes Brittany. He makes peace with John. Excommunication of Philip and
Agnes. The pope compels the former to take back Ingeborg.
THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY
1202 The house of Capet prevails. John seizes Arthur of Brittany and puts him to death.
1203 Philip invades Normandy.
1204 Fall of Chfiteau Gaillard. John flees from Rouen to England. Normandy and Brittany
pass to Philip. John retains only La Rochelle and a few places near the coast. Maine,
Anjou, Touraine, and Poitou are also reunited to the royal domain.
1206 John fails in an attempt to capture Angers.
1208 Crusade against Raymond of Toulouse and the Albigenses (Manichsean heretics) begins.
1209 The crusaders under Arnaud Amalric seize Bfiziers and massacre 60,000 inhabitants.
Simon de Montfort takes Carcassonne.
1212 Raymond, defeated at Castelnaudary, goes to Aragon for help.
1213 Battle of Muret. Raymond of Toulouse assisted by Pedro II of Aragon is badly defeated
by Simon de Montfoit. Raymond's possessions are given to Simon.
1214 Philip wins a great victory at Bouvines over a coalition of John of England, Otto IV, and
the count of Flanders. This battle firmly establishes the French monarchy.
1215 The Lateran council ratifies the dispossession of Raymond of Toulouse.
1316 Louis son of PhUip invades England, having been invited there by the barons.
1217 The earl of Pembroke defeats Louis near Lincoln and he returns to France. Toulouse
shuts out Simon de Montfort and recalls Count Raymond.
1218 Death of Simon at siege of Toulouse. His son Amaury continues the war.
1232 Death of Raymond of Toulouse.
1223 Death of Philip Augustus. In his reign he doubled the royal domain and attacked feudal-
ism in many of its vital points. His son Ijouis (VIII) the Lion succeeds. He carries
on the struggles with England and with the Albigenses. Henry HI of England de-
mands the restitution of Normandy and other provinces.
1224 Amaury de Montfort, driven from the south, transfers his claim on Toulouse to Louis.
Lower Poitou taken from England. Capture of La Rochelle. Saintonge, Angoumois,
Limousin, Pdrigord, and part of Bordelais submit. Bordeaux and Gascony alone remain
to England. Louis begins to free the serfs.
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMARY 239
1285 Louis undertak"!s a new crusade against the Albigenses.
1226 The country between the Rhone and Toulouse (lower Languedoc) submits to Louis. Siege
of Avignon. Doath of Louis, succeeded by his young son Iiouis IX or Saint Louis
under regency of the queen, Blanche of Castile. The barons form a coalition, but
Blanche defeats their plans.
1289 The Albigensian War ended by the Treaty of Meaux. The count of Toulouse's daughter
is married to Louis' brother. Upper Languedoc added to the royal domains.
1230 Henry III of England lands in Brittany, but his expedition comes to nothing.
1231 The Treaty of St. Aubin du Cormier between Blanche and the revolting nobles.
1234 Count Thibaut of Champagne, succeeding to the throne of Navarre, sells Sancerre and
other valuable fiefs to Louis.
1236 Louis attains his majority ; end of the regency of Blanche of Castile.
1238 Louis purchases the county of Macon.
1242 Louis attempts to set his brother Alphonse over Poitou and Auvergne, and the unwilling
barons call on Henry III of England. Henry comes to France, but is badly defeated at
Taillebourg and Saintes by Louis.
1243 Henry makes peace with Louis. Raymond VII of Toulouse revolts.
1244 Raymond reduced to submission. The last of the Albigenses perish at Mont Segur.
Louis with his three brothers assumes the cross. Louis forbids his lords to hold fiefs
under both the king of England and of France at the same time. This greatly helps to
develop national feeling.
1245 Provence passes to the house of Anjou on marriage of Charles of Anjou (Louis' brother)
to Beatrice of Provence.
1248 Louis departs for the crusade, leaving Blanche of Castile regent.
1249 Louis captures Damietta.
1250 Battle of Mansurah. Capture of Louis. He is liberated upon restoring Damietta to the
Mohammedans, and retires to Acre.
1251 The crusade ' ' des Pastoureaux. "
1252 Robert de Sorbon founds the Sorbonne.
1253 Death of Blanche of Castile recalls Louis to France.
1354 Return of Louis to France, a disappointed man.
1258 By Peace of Corbeil with King James of Aragon, Louis settles the frontier difficulties and
recognises the independence of the county of Barcelona.
1859 Peace of Abbeville, yielding the Limousin, Perigord, and parts of Saintonge to Henry III,
who renounces all claims on Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and Poitou.
1262 Louis refuses the crown of Sicily, ofEered by Urban IV, and it is accepted by his brother,
Charles of Anjou.
1263 Louis arbitrates in the disputes of Henry III and his barons.
1266 Charles of Anjou acknowledged king of Sicily.
1267 Louis again assumes the cross.
1269 The ' ' Pragmatic Sanction " of Louis lays the foundation of the liberties of the Galilean
church. Its genuineness is doubted.
1270 Publication of the " Establishments." Louis sets out on his crusade, goes to Tunis, and
at the siege of the city dies of the plague. End of the crusading era, and close of the
most remarkable period of the Middle Ages. The power of the king now predominates
over that of the feudal nobles, and the prerogatives of imperial authority have become
reunited to the crown. Roman law has been substituted for feudal justice in many
provinces of France. 'The " Third Estate " has been developed in France, and the con-
test against feudal society, ending in the French Revolution, has begun.
THE DESCENDANTS OF SAINT LOUIS
The Elder ok Philippine Line (1270-1589 a.d.)
1270 Louis succeeded by his son, Philip (III) the Bold.
1871 Death of Alfonso and Joan of Toulouse. Philip inherits the county.
1272 Philip goes to war with the counts of Foix and Armagnac and defeats them.
1273 Philip yields the pope the county of Venaissin and half of Avignon.
1274 On death of Henry I of Navarre, Philip occupies his French possessions, Champagne and
Brie, as guardian of the infant heiress Joan, and places French officials in Navarre. He
buys the county of Nemours.
1276 War breaks out with Castile over the occupation of Navarre. Siege of Pamplona.
Philip's expedition is unfortunate, and a truce is concluded with Castile.
1279 Philip gives some fiefs to Edward I of England.
240 THE HISTOKY OF FEANCE
1283 At the instigation of Charles of Anjou, Philip makes war on Aragon. The pope ofiers
the throne of Aragon to Charles of Valois, son of Philip.
1284 Marriage of the king's son, Philip, to Joan of Navarre.
1385 The war with Aragon continues. Philip captures Elne. His fleet is badly defeated, and
he dies at Perpignan. The Langue d'oil begins to replace the Langue d'oc.
Elder Srcmch of the Philippine I/ine
1285 Philip (IV) the Fair succeeds his father. By his marriage with Joan of Navarre,
Champagne, Chartres, and Blois are united to France. One year's truce made between
France and Aragon.
1287 Edward I of England arranges peace between France and Aragon. Charles of Valois
abandons his pretensions to the crown of Aragon.
1289 The pope induces Charles of Valois to resume his claim to Aragon.
1291 Treaty of Aix, between Prance and Aragon.
1293 War breaks out between France and England. Philip invades Quienne.
1294 The emperor of Germany and the count of Flanders join Edward I against Philip.
1295 John Baliol of Scotland joins France against England.
1296 Philip resists the papal bull forbidding the clergy to pay taxes to princes. He forbids the
exportation of money from France. Boniface VHI threatens excommunication. The
earl of Lancaster invades Guienne.
1297 Philip defeats the count of Flanders at Fumes. Philip and Boniface are reconciled.
1299 Boniface arranges peace between France and England. A marriage between Philip's
daughter and Edward's sou is arranged.
1300 Charles of Valois conquers the count of Flanders ; his lands united to the crown.
THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY
1301 Quarrel with Boniface over the bishop of Pamiers.
1302 The Flemings revolt against Philip, who is badly defeated at Courtrai, "Battle of the
Spurs. " The first states-general convoked.
1303 Philip sends Guillaume de Nogaret to Italy, who, with the aid of the Colonna, captures
and imprisons Boniface. He is thus rid of his worst antagonist.
1304 Fresh revolt of the Flemish, who are defeated at Mons-en-Pev§le. Philip makes peace.
They cede him some territory, and he gives them back their count.
1305 Philip procures the election of Clement V to the papacy.
1306 Revocations of the bulls of Boniface against Philip.
1807 Arrest of the Templars, Jacques de Molay, and other knights.
1309 The holy see is fixed at Avignon.
1310 Trial and condemnation of the Templars. Many are burned alive,
1312 Suppression of the order of the Templars at the council of Vienna. The Beghards and
Beguines of Flanders are condemned. Philip acquires Lyon by purchase.
1314 Burning of Jacques de Molay. Death of Philip the Fair. His son, Iiouis (X) the Quar-
relsome, already king of Navarre, which is now united to France, succeeds.
1315 Execution of Enguerrand de Marigny.
1315-1316 Great famine in France. Louis fails in an expedition against Flanders.
1316 Death of Louis. A posthumous son, John (I), lives only seven days. On account of the
Salic law, the throne of France passes to Louis' brother, Philip (V) the Tall.
1318 The state council established.
1322 Death of Philip. His brother, Charles (IV) the Fair, succeeds. He has constant
trouble in Flanders, and favours the rebellion of Isabella of England and Mortimer.
1324 First historical mention of gunpowder, used by the inhabitants of Metz.
1328 Death of Charles without male issue. The direct line of the Capets comes to an end.
Yownger Branch of the Philippine Line (House of Valois). {Descendants of Philip III through
a Younger Son, Charles of Valois)
1328 Philip (VI) of Valois, cousin of Charles IV, and son of Charles of Valois, succeeds to
the throne of France. Navarre is given to Joan II, daughter of Louis X. Edward III
of England puts forward a claim to the French throne through his mother, Isabella,
daughter of Philip the Fair. Philip defeats the Flemings at CasseL
1329 Edward III gives homage for Guienne and Ponthieu.
1332 Trial and banishment of Robert of Artois.
1334 Edward III, influenced by Robert of Artois, claims the French throne.
1336 The count of Flanders, on Philip's suggestion, arrests the English merchants in Antwerp.
Edward prohibits exports of wool.
1837 The Flemish cities, led b^ Jacob van Aitevelde, pat tbemselyea under the protection of
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMAEY 241
Bngland. Edward sends a fleet to Flanders. The blockade of Cadsand is raised. Be^n-
ning of the Hundred Years' War.
1338 Edward arrives at Antwerp.
1339 Edward assumes title of king of France.
1340 Defeat of the French fleet at Sluys. The English obtain mastery of the British Channel.
Edward besieges Tournay unsuccessfully. Philip seizes Guienne. A truce is concluded.
1341 Death of John III of Brittany without issue. The duchy claimed by his brother, John de
Montfort, and his niece, Joan de Penthievre, wife of Charles of Blois. Philip espouses
cause of Joan, and Edward that of John. Philip captures De Montfort. His wife,
Joan, continues the war. Charles of Blois takes the duchy.
1342 Joan de Montfort besieged in Hennebon, and is relieved by the English. Edward besieges
Vannes, Rennes, and Nantes.
1348 The war in Brittany interrupted by a three years' truce.
1344 Philip invites Olivier de Clisson and other Breton chiefs to Paris, and treacherously
beheads them ; upon which the war with England breaks out afresh. The French
defeated at Bergerac in Guienne. The English invade Perigord.
1345 The French defeated at Auberoche ; the count de Lisle is taken prisoner. Van Artevelde
slain in a riot in Ghent. Edward returns to Bngland.
1846 Edward lands at La Hogue. He and the Black Prince administer a crushing defeat to the
French at Crecy. Edward returns to Calais, which he besieges. Philip recalls his son
from the south, which the English overrun. They take Poitiers.
1347 Charles of Blois captured by Joan de Montfort in the struggle for the duchy of Brittany.
His wife, Joan de Penthievre, continues the war. (S,pture of Calais by Edward.
Philip obtains a ten months' truce.
1348 The Black Death rages in France.
1349 Philip buys Montpellier from James K of Majorca. Humbert II, heir to Dauphine,
concludes treaty with Philip, selling his estates to him on condition that the eldest son
of the French king shall take the name of dauphin. The fief and title given to the
king's grandson Charles. France now reaches to the Alps.
1350 Death of PhUip. His son, John (II) the Good, succeeds. Charles the Bad of Navarre
claims Champagne and Angoumois, but John holds them and seizes Charles' fiefs in
Normandy. Charles passes to the English side.
1351 The first court order, "the Star, " established. True chivalry is being replaced by an
oflicial one.
1352 The Breton war continued. " Battle of the Thirty."
1355 The English renew their ravages. John appeals to the people.
1356 Great defeat of the French at Poitiers. John captured and taken to England. His son
Charles assumes the regency. A two years' truce concluded.
1357 Marcel brings forward his reform measures, restricting royal prerogatives, in the states-
general. Charles of Navarre champions the cause.
1358 Murder of the dauphin's ministers. Revolts of the peasants. ' ' La Jacquerie "is put
down with much bloodshed. Murder of Marcel by the dauphin's party.
1359 Edward again invades France, and besieges Rheims.
1360 Edward advances to Paris. Peace of Bretigny concluded. Edward renounces claim to
French throne, and all territory north of the Loire except Calais, Quines, and Ponthieu
in Picardy. He takes Guienne and adjoining provinces. John ransomed.
1361 Defeat of James de Bourbon by brigands near Brignais. End of the first line of Bur-
gundian dukes with death of Philip de Rouvre. The duchy reverts to the crown.
1363 John returns to England.
1363 John gives Burgundy to his fourth son Philip, who founds the second Burgundian house.
1364 Death of John in London. The dauphin, Charles (V) the Wise, already regent,
succeeds. Charles the Bad sends an army to Normandy to recover his confiscated fiefs.
Bertrand du Guesclin defeats it at Cocherel. End of war of the Breton Succession, by
the battle of Auray, in which Charles of Blois is killed.
1365 By the treaty of Guerande, John de Montfort is recognised duke of Brittany. Charles
of Blois' widow receives Penthievre and Limoges. John does homage to Charles V.
Peace with Charles of Navarre. He exchanges Montpellier for his Norman fiefs.
1366 The English parliament declares the succession of John the Good to have been illegal.
Du Guesclin forms a great company, marches to Avignon, receives a large sum from
the pope, and goes to Castile, expelling Pedro the Cruel from the throne.
1367 The Black Prince sides with Pedro. Battle of Navarrette. Du Guesclin captured and
Pedro restored.
1368 The Gascon nobles appeal to Charles from the Black Prince, now prince of Aquitaine.
1369 The war is renewed. Du Guesclin restores Henry of Trastamara to the throne of Castile.
The states-general declare Guienne confiscated. An English army lands at Calais. The
Black Prince attacks from the south.
1870 Sack of Limoges by the English. The Black Prince is succeeded by the earl of Pembroke.
Du Guesclin made constable of France. A part of the Limousin is conquered by Franca
The count of Auxerre sells his county to the crown.
B. W. — voir. 2UH.B
242 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
1373 Poitiers and La Rochelle retaken by tlie Frencli. England loses Poitou.
1373 The English under John of Gaunt make a futile invasion of France.
1375 A truce concluded between Edward and Charles.
1377 Death of Edward III. Charles breaks the truce and renews the war.
1378 Charles begins a futile attempt to seize Brittany.
1379 Charles of Navarre cedes many places to the French. The Bretons sign articles of con-
federation and recall John IV. Cruelties of Anjou in Languedoc.
1380 Treaty signed between England and Brittany. Death of Du Guesclin, and of Charles.
Bayonne, Bordeaux, Brest, Cherbourg, and Calais alone remain to the English.
Elder Branch of the Mouse of Valois
1380 Charles (VI) the Well Beloved succeeds his father at the age of twelve under the
guardianship of his three uncles — the dukes of Anjou, Burgundy, and Berri. Olivier
de Clisson made constable of France.
1382 Revolt of Philip van Artevelde in Flanders. The French defeat the men of Ghent at
Roosebeke. Artevelde is slain.
1384 At death of Louis de MSle, count of Flanders, that county is united to Burgundy, the
duke of which has married Louis de Male's daughter. Truce witb England.
1385 Peace made with Flanders.
1386 Charles declares war on England, and makes extensive preparations.
1388 Failure of an expedition against Gelderland. Charles begins his rule.
1393 Attempt to assassinate the constable De Clisson. Charles becomes insane. Burgundy
and Berri seize government, setting aside the king's brother, the duke of Orleans.
The great civil discord between Burgundy and Orleans begins.
1395 A twenty-eight years' truce signed with Richard II of England. Charles accepts the
protectorate of Genoa.
1396 Marriage of Richard II with Isabella, daughter of Charles. Great defeat of John the
Fearless, son of the duke of Burgundy, in his crusade against Bajazet at Nicopolis.
1399 Deposition of Richard II destroys the alliance with England.
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
1401-1404 The struggle between the dukes of Burgundy and Orleans continues.
1404 Death of Philip of Burgundy, succeeded by his son John the Fearless.
1405 John the Fearless enters Paris.
1406 The duke of Orleans obtains the duchy of Aquitaine.
1407 Murder of the duke of Orleans at the instigation of John the Fearless.
1408 John defeats the Lilgeois at Hasbain.
1409 Peace of Chartres between the Burgundian and Orleans factions.
1410 The count d'Armagnac — whose daughter married the murdered duke of Orleans' son —
assumes head of the Orleans faction, henceforth known as the Armagnacs. Peace of
BicStre between Burgundians and Armagnacs. Insurrection of the Cabochians in Paris.
1411 The Armagnacs break the Peace of Bicitre, and begin to ravage the north of France.
The Burgundians apply to Henry IV of England for aid. John the Fearless makes
himself master of Paris and Picardy.
1413 The Armagnacs invest Bourges. Peace of Bourges, renewing that of Chartres.
1413 The Armagnacs obtain the ascendency in Paris, the dauphin Louis at their head.
1414 Treaty of Arras between the Burgundians and Armagnacs. Henry V of England prepares
for war.
1415 Henry takes Harfleur, and wins at Agincourt.
1416 The count of Armagnac lays siege to Harfleur, but desists for want of funds.
1417 Henry takes Caen ; makes treaties with Anjou, Brittany, and Burgundy.
1418 Massacre of the Armagnacs in Paris.
1419 Henry captures Rouen. John the Fearless is murdered. His son Philip the Good succeeds
him and joins the English party. Queen Isabella joins the Anglo-Burgundians. Paris
leans towards the English.
1420 The Treaty of Troyes. Henry V recognised as heir to the French throne. He marries
the princess Catherine. All France north of the Loire becomes English.
1431 Defeat of the English by the national party at Baug6.
1422 Death of Henry V. His young son Henry declared king of France with the duke of Bed-
ford as regent. Death of Charles VI two months after Henry's. The dauphin Charles
VII is proclaimed king at Mehun.
1423 Lords Salisbury and SufEolk defeat the French and their Scotch allies at Cravant.
1424 The duke of Bedford defeats the French and Scotch at Verneuil.
1438 The duke of Bedford begins siege of Orleans.
1429 The French badly defeated at Bouvray, "battle of the Herrings," Joan of Axe appears
CHEONOLOGICAL STJMMAKY 243
at Orleans and raises the siege. Englisli defeated at Patay by Joan. She enters Troyes
and the English withdraw. ChSlous opens its gates to the French. Coronation of
Charles at Rheims. The duke of Burgundy founds the order of the Golden Fleece.
1430 The duke of Burgundy acquires Brabant. Joan's success continues until she is captured
by the Burgundians at CompiSgne and sold to the duke of Bedford.
1431 Henry VI crowned king of France at Paris. Execution of Joan of Arc at Rouen.
1433 The French take Chartres from the English.
1434 Revolts in Normandy against the English.
1435 Congress of all the Christian states at Arras to re-establish peace. The duke of Burgundy
joins the French.
1436 The English are permitted to retire from Paris.
1437 Charles enters Paris.
1438 Charles summons council at Bourges. The " Pragmatic Sanction" enacted therein
declares the pope subordinate to a general council and annuls his fiscal rights.
1439 The states-general provides for the establishment of a standing army. The nobles form
an opposition known as the " Praguerie," headed by the dauphin Louis.
1440 The Praguerie overthrown. Louis is sent to Dauphine to govern.
1441 Charles crushes the freebooters in Champagne and drives the English from Pontoise.
1443 Charles and the dauphin repulse the English from Dieppe and suppress the count of
Armagnac in the south.
1444 Two years' truce concluded with England. Marriage of Margaret of Anjou and Henry
VI of England arranged. The French wiu a victory at Sankt Jakob near Bfile. Charles
unsuccessfully besieges Metz.
1445 Organisation of the regular army effected.
1449 The last stage of the Hundred Years' War begins. Surienne seizes FougSres, Many
towns in Normandy and Brittany taken by the French.
1450 Kyriell, with an army from England, is beaten at Formigny. Rehabilitation of Joan of
Arc.
1451 The French attack Gtuienne. Bordeaux and Bayonne captured.
1453 Battle of CastiUon. The English defeated. Charles enters Bordeaux, and the Hundred
Years' War is over. Guienne again a part of France. The English retain only Calais
and two neighbouring towns in France.
1456 The dauphin takes refuge at court of Philip of Burgundy.
1461 Death of Charles ; succeeded by his son Louis XI.
1462 Louis receives Roussillon and Cerdagne as guarantee for a loan to the king of CastUe.
1463 Louis ransoms back from the duke of Burgundy the towns on the Somme given him by
the Treaty of Arras.
1465 Formation of the "league of the Public Weal" nominally headed by Louis' brother,
Charles the dake of Berri, against the king. Louis, besieged in Paris, agrees to the
treaties of Conflans and St. Maur, favourable to the nobles.
1466 Louis takes Normandy from his brother.
1467 Death of Philip the Good of Burgundy; succeeded by Charles the Bold. Edward IV of
England, the kings of Castile and of Aragon, and the dukes of Burgundy and of Brit-
tany form a new league against Louis.
1468 Interview with Charles the Bold at Peronne. Louis signs a treaty similar to that of
Conflans.
1469 Guienne is given to the duke of Berri. Charles the Bold compels Louis to accompany
him on his expedition to punish the men of LiSge. Louis aids Warwick against
Edward IV.
1470 Assembly at Tours declares Treaty of Peronne null.
1471 Coalition of the dukes of Brittany and Guienne against Louis. Truce of Amiens.
1473 Death of the duke of Guienne breaks up the coaUtion. Charles of Burgundy attacks
Louis. Charles makes truce with Louis at Senlis.
1473 Charles the Bold acquires a portion of Lorraine. Arrest of the duke of Alengon. Assas-
sination of the count d' Armagnac.
1474 League headed by the archduke Sigismund formed against Charles the Bold. He
besieges Neuss, but is forced to retire. Louis takes towns in Picardy from him.
Revolt in Roussillon. Louis sends an army to take Perpignan.
1475 Treaty of Picquigny. Truce between Louis and Charles. Charles conquers Lorraine and
enters Nancy.
1476 Charles defeated by the Swiss at Granson and at Morat.
1477 The duke of Lorraine and the Swiss attack Nancy. Charles falls in its defence. As he
leaves no male heir the crown resumes possession of Burgundy. Louis also seizes
Franche-Comtfi. His armies recover Picardy and enter Flanders. Mary of Burgundy
marries Maximilian, son of Frederick III. This transfers Brabant, Luxemburg, Franche-
Comte, Flanders, Hainault, etc., to Austria.
1479 Louis defeated by Maximilian at Guinegate.
1480 Truce with Maximilian. The free-archer army abandoned ; the cities supply money in
place of men. The age of foreign mercenaries begins.
244 THE HISTOEY OF FKANCE
1481 Louis inierits Anjou, Maine, and Provence on death of Charles of Anjou.
1483 Treaty of Arras with the Burgundians. Maximilian gives his daughter to the dauphin
with Artois and Franche-ComtS for her dowry.
1483 Death of Louis. He has crushed feudalism and substituted aristocracy for anarchy. His
young son Charles VIII succeeds, with Anne de Beaujeu as regent.
1485 The duke of Orleans revolts. Orleans is captured, but Francis H of Brittany prepares for
war with France.
1486 Maximilian invades Artois, breaking the Treaty of Arras.
1488 Louis de la Tr^mouille defeats the Bretons at St. Aubin du Cormier. Treaty of Sable.
Death of Francis 11. Anne outwits plan of Maximilian to marry Francis' daughter
Anne of Brittany, and secures her for Charles, who abandons the proposed alliance
with Maximilian's daughter.
1491 Marriage of Charles and Anne of Brittany unites Brittany and the crown of France.
Anne de Beaujeu retires from the regency.
1492 Henry VII of England invades France and lays siege to Boulogne. Maximilian attacks
Artois. Peace of feaples with England.
1493 Treaty of Narbonne with Ferdinand the Catholic. Charles restores Eoussillon and Cer-
dagne to Spain. Treaty of Senlis with Maximilian, who recovers Artois, Franche-
Comte, and Charolais for his son.
1494 Charles invades Italy. The duke of Orleans defeats the Neapolitan fleet at Rapallo.
Charles enters Pisa, Florence, and Rome in triumph.
1495 Charles enters Naples. The Italian princes unite with the pope, the emperor, and Fer-
dinand and Isabella against him. Charles defeats the allies at Pomovo. Treaty of
Novara. Charles cuts his way through to France.
1496 The French garrison at Naples capitulates and returns to France.
1498 Death of Charles VIII with no living heir. The crown passes to the duke of Orleans.
The Younger Branch of the House of Valois [(Valois- Orleans) descended from Charles V
through Louis, Duke of Orleans, his Second Son]
1498 Iiouis XII. His assumption of the crown reunites Orleans and Valois to the kingdom.
In order to preserve the union with Brittany, Louis obtains the pope's permission to
divorce his virtuous but unloved wife Joan of France, that he may marry Anne of
Brittany. Louis in return invests Caesar Borgia with the Valentinois and Diois.
1499 Marriage of Louis and Anne assures the union of Brittany. Louis claims Milan through
his grandmother Valentina Visconti. Alliance with Venice. Louis enters the Milanese
with an army and takes possession of the city. Lodovico Sforza flees to the Tyrol.
1500 The Milanese recall Lodovico. He is betrayed into Louis' hands at Novara, and the latter
takes him to France. Treaty with Ferdinand the Catholic to take the kingdom of Sicily.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
1501 Frederick II of Naples surrenders to Louis' army.
1502 France and Spain begin to quarrel over the partition of Sicily. Hostilities in Naples.
1503 French defeat at Seminara. The duke of Nemours killed at Cerignola. Gonsalvo de
Cordova wins a decisive victory over the French on the GarigUano and the whole
kingdom of Sicily becomes subject to Spain.
1504 Louis signs the three treaties of Blois : the first, an alliance with Maximilian to attack
Venice ; the second, to arrange for the investiture of the Milanese ; the third, to ar-
range the marriage of Charles of Austria with Louis' daughter Claude, giving Brit-
tany, Burgundy, Blois, and the French claims in Italy as dowry.
1505 Louis gives his claim to the kingdom of Sicily to Qermaine de Foix on her marriage to
Ferdinand the Catholic, which breaks the third treaty of Blois.
1506 Loais convokes the states-general at Tours to declare that Brittany and Burgundy cannot
be alienated from the crown.
1507 Louis takes Genoa. He returns to France, giving the city back its laws and liberties.
Interview with Ferdinand at Savona.
1508 Formation of the League of Cambray against Venice.
1509 Louis defeats the Venetians at Agnadello, and soon has possession of northern Italy.
1510 Pope Julius II makes peace with Venice, and allies himself with the Swiss.
1511 The French army surprises the pontifical forces before Bologna. Defeat of Julius at
Casalecchio. Louis convokes a council at Pisa to depose the pope. Julius interdicts
Pisa and summons a new council at St. John the Lateran. Formation of the Holy
League, the pope, Spain, England, the empire, Venice, and the Swiss, one of its objects
being to drive the French from Italy.
1513 Gaston de Foix takes Bologna, Brescia, and wins a brilliant victory at Ravenna, but loses
his life. The French lose Italy. Ferdinand the Catholic invades and conquers Navarre.
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMAEY 246
Henry VIII declares war on France and sends an army to help Ferdinand invade Gas-
cony. The English return home.
1513 Louis continues struggle in Italy. Henry VIII lands an army at Calais. Defeat of La
Tremouille at Novara by the Swiss and Massimiliano Sforza. Genoa frees itself from
French suzerainty. The English and the emperor-elect Maximilian besiege Thfirouanne
and defeat a relief army of the French at Guinegate ("battle of the Spurs "). The Swiss
invade France. Treaty of Dijon between French and Swiss reconciles France with the
holy see. Indecisive naval battle of the French and English off Brest.
1514 Death of Anne of Brittany. Marriage of the princess Claude and Francis d'Angouleme.
They are invested with the duchy of Brittany. Truce of Orleans with the emperor
and Ferdinand the Catholic. Treaty of peace with Henry VIII signed at London.
Louis marries Mary Tudor, sister of Henry.
1515 Death of Louis XII ; succeeded by his son-in-law, Francis I, of the Orleans-Angoulime
family. Francis makes alliance with the archduke Charles (prince of Castile). Francis
invades Italy with a large army, and defeats the forces of the pope, the emperor, and
Ferdinand at Marignano. Genoa places itself in France's hands.
1516 Concordat with Leo X, bartering away the liberties of the French clergy. Francis re-
turns to France, bringing back the ideas of the Renaissance. Treaty of Nyon with
Charles, by which French Navarre is restored to the D'Albrets. Perpetual peace signed
with the Swiss.
1518 Henry VIII sells Tournaisis to France. Foundation of Le Havre.
1519 Death of the emperor Maximilian. Struggle for the imperial crown between Francis,
Charles, and Henry VIII. Election of Charles V.
1520 Meeting of Francis and Henry VIII on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, but Francis fails to
make the desired alliance, which Henry concludes with Charles V.
1531 Charles claims Burgundy. A French army invades Navarre. Capture of Pamplona.
Leo treats with Francis and then deserts him for Charles. The duke de Bouillon at-
tacks Luxemburg. The imperials seize the duchy of Bouillon and invade Champagne.
Bayard drives them from Mezieres. The French lose Tournay. French defeat at
LogroBo. The Spaniards recover Navarre. Lautrec abandons Milan, Parma, and
Piacenza in Lombardy.
1523 Defeat of Lautrec by Prospero Colonna at La Bicocca. Colonna takes Genoa. Francis
goes to the war, leaving the kingdom under the regency of his mother, Louise of
Savoy. The Spaniards forced to raise the siege of Fuenterrabia in Navarre. The earl
of Surrey ravages the coasts of Brittany and Normandy.
1523 The pope, the emperor, Henry VIII, and many of the Italian governments form a league
against France. Secret alliance of the Porte and France. Bourbon joins the Spanish
army in Italy.
1524 The French driven out of the Milanese. The imperials fail in an attack on Picardy. The
constable De Bourbon invades Provence. Siege of Marseilles. Francis goes to Italy
with a large army, reoccupies Milan ; besieges Pavia, to which Francis lays siege.
The pope concludes a secret treaty with France and Florence.
1525 Battle of Pavia. Francis made prisoner and taken to Madrid. The Spaniards masters of
Milan. Henry VIII breaks the alliance with Charles and makes treaty with Louise of
Saxony. First persecution of Protestants in France.
1536 Treaty of Madrid to effect release of Francis, who agrees to give up Burgundy, his ItaUan
claims, Artois, and Flanders. On his return to France he refuses to give up Burgundy.
Formation of a holy league by Francis with the pope, England, Venice, Florence, and
the Swiss, to deliver Italy from the Spaniards.
1587 Capture and sack of Rome by the imperials under the constable De Bourbon, who is
killed. Lautrec takes Genoa and nearly all the duchy of Milan and marches on Rome.
By Bourbon's death, Bourbonnais, La Marche, and Auvergne are united to the crown.
Unsuccessful siege of Naples by Lautrec.
1589 French under Saint-Pol defeated at Landriano. The French driven from Italy. The pope
deserts France and signs alliance with Charles V. The Treaty of Cambray (the " Ladies'
Peace " ) arranged by Louise of Savoy and the emperor's aunt, Margaret of Austria.
1532 Francis makes alliance with Henry VIII, who has quarrelled with the pope, and also with
the Protestant league of Smalkald.
1533 Meeting of Francis and the pope at Marseilles. The friendship of Francis and Henry
VIII is broken up. Francis demands the hand of Catherine de' Medici for his son
Henry.
1534 Francis makes a definite alliance with the Porte.
1535 Francis decides to occupy Savoy on behalf of a claim descending from his mother.
1636 Charles V seizes Milan, and Francis declares war on him. The emperor invades Provence,
loses half his army, and returns to Italy. Sudden death of the dauphin ; suspicions of
poison. Treaty with Turkey.
1537 War continues in Artois. Truce between France and the Netherlands.
1538 Ten years' Truce of Nice with the emperor. Francis holds Hesdin, Savoy, and Piedmont.
1539 Friendly interview at Aigues-Mortes between Charles and Francis.
246 THE HISTOEY OP FRANCE
1541 Francis declares war on Charles and forms league with Denmark, Sweden, and the
Protestant states of Germany.
1542 Siege of Perpignan by the dauphin Henry.
1543 Henry VIH, reconciled to Charles V, concludes an alliance against France. Campaign of
Charles V against the duke of Cleves. A Franco-Turkish fleet besieges Nice, which
surrenders. The Spaniards enter Provence and Dauphine and take Lyons.
1544 The duke d'Enghien wins the battle of Ceresole. Henry VHI lands at Calais, takes
Boulogne, and besieges Montreuil. Charles V takes St. Dizier. Peace of Crespy between
Charles and Francis, giving back their recent conquests. Henry VIH will not agree to
the peace and returns to England.
1545 French fleet threatens England, but is repulsed. Severe persecution of the Vaudois.
1546 Peace with Heuiy VIH, who promises to give back Boulogne in eight years.
1547 Death of Francis, succeeded by his son Henry II.
1548 A revolution against the gabelle in Guienne put down by Anne de Montmorency. Bordeaux
is cruelly chastised. Alliance with Scotland. Mary Stuart affianced to the dauphin.
Marriage of Jeanne d'Albret and Anthony de Bourbon.
1549 Henry II enters Boulogne, while an English fleet is defeated off Guernsey.
] 550 Treaty of peace between France, England, and Scotland. France recovers Boulogne.
1551 Edict of Chfiteaubriant against heretics.
1552 Henry invades Lorraine. He conquers the Three Bishoprics and adds them to the crown.
The emperor besieges the French in Metz.
1553 The French and the Turks take a portion of Corsica from the Genoese.
1554 Andrea Doria recovers the Corsican conquest. Henry II ravages Brabant and Hainault.
1555 Brissac takes Casale.
1556 Truce of Vaucelles between Henry and Charles V. Abdication of Charles. Henry and
Pope Paul IV unite. The pope absolves Henry from the truce.
1557 Emmanuel Philibert, with the help of the English, badly defeats the French at St.
Quentin. Brave defence of St. Quentin by Admiral Coligny. Guise and the pope
defeated at Civitella in the Abruzzi by the duke of Alva. The pope compelled to make
peace with the Spaniards.
1558 Investment of Calais by the duke of Guise. The town surrenders and the English lose
their last inch of French territory. Marriage of Mary, queen of Scots, and the dauphin
Francis. Guise takes Dunkirk, Nieuport, and other coast towns, but is defeated at
Gravelines by Count Egmont.
1559 Peace of Cateau-Cambr^sis, between France, Spain, and England. France retains the
Three Bishoprics and Calais, recovers Ham and St. Quentin. France and Spain secretly
agree to suppress heresy. Henry holds a tournament in honour of the peace, at which
he is accidentally slain. His young son Francis II succeeds. Francis is governed by
his mother Catherine de' Medici, the duke of Guise, and the cardinal De Lorraine.
1560 Failure of a Huguenot plan to abduct the king. The states-general assembles at Orleans
to consider the Huguenot question. Arrest of the prince of Conde and the king of
Navarre at Orleans for complicity in the Huguenot plot. Death of Francis. His young
brother Charles IX, ten years old, succeeds. The Guises are defeated in their plans to
crush the Huguenots in the south.
1561 Mary Stuart compelled to leave France. This marks the fall of the Guises. Conference
of Poissy. Montmorency goes over to the Guises and the triumvirate of Guise, Mont-
morency, and Marshal Saint- Andr6 is formed. L'H6pital convokes the states-general at
Pontoise.
1563 Edict of January favourable to the Huguenots. Massacre of the Huguenots at Vassy
marks the opening of the civil or religious wars. Coligny and Condfi collect an army.
Anthony of Navarre captures Rouen and dies of a wound. English auxiliaries arrive
to aid the Huguenots. They take possession of Le Havre. Defeat of the Huguenots
at Dreux. Jeanne d'Albret encourages Protestantism in Navarre. The French abandon
Turin and other Piedmoutese towns to the duke of Savoy.
1568 Catherine de' Medici makes the Peace of Amboise with Conde, giving the Calvinists free-
dom of worship in the towns they hold. End of the first religious war. Le Havre
retaken from the English.
1664 Peace concluded at Troyes between Catherine and Elizabeth of England. Catherine and
Charles IX visit the provinces in the interest of the struggle against Calvinism.
1565 Conference at Bayonne between Catherine and the duke of Alva, supposedly concerning
the extermination of the Protestants.
1566 L'HSpital issues the ordinance of Moulins for the reformation of justice.
1567 Rumours that Catherine is raising an army to destroy the Protestants leads to the second
civil war. Condfi blockades Paris. Battle of St. Denis, in which the Catholics are
victorious. The Spaniards expel the French colonists In Florida as heretics.
1568 Peace of Longjumeau closes the second war. Peace of Amboise renewed. The third
religious war. Catherine de' Medici issues an edict prohibiting the exercise of the
Huguenot religion.
1569 The Huguenots defeated at Jaruac by Henry of Anjou. Assassination of the captive prince
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMAEY 247
of Condi. The young Henry of Navarre, son of Jeanne d'Albret, named generalissimo
of tlie Calvinist army. Coligny defeated at Moncontour.
1570 Peace of St. Germain closes the third war. It is the most favourable peace the Hugue-
nots have yet won. Charles marries Elisabeth, daughter of Maximilian.
1571 The court makes treacherous advances to the Huguenots. The Huguenots hold the
synod of La Rochelle. Growth of the politique party — the moderate Catholics.
1572 Catherine plans a massacre. Death of Jeanne d'Albret at the court. Henry of Navarre
marries Marguerite of Valois. Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Great slaughter of the
Huguenots in Paris and the provinces. Henry of Navarre and the prince of Cond§ save
their lives by a sudden conversion to Catholicism. The fourth religious war follows.
1573 The cities in the south revolt. The duke of Anjou proclaimed king of Poland. Treaty of
La Rochelle with the Huguenots, allowing them greater privileges than they have yet
attained.
1574 The duke of AleuQon and the politiques join the Huguenots. Death of Charles. His
brother Henry HI resigns the Polish crown to take that of France. The fifth religious
war breaks out.
1575 Marriage of Henry and Louise de Vaud^mont. The king attaches himself to the Guise
party. Compact of Milhaud between the politiques and the Huguenots. Victory of
Guise at Dormans over a German army sent by Conde.
1576 The Peace of Monsieur, concluded by the duke d'Alengon at Beaulieu, ends the fifth war.
It is favourable both for the politiques and the Huguenots. The high Catholic party
forms the league headed by the duke of Guise. Henry of Navarre renounces Catholi-
cism and again heads the Huguenots. The sixth religious war breaks out.
1577 The Peace of Bergerac ends the sixth war.
1578 The duke of Anjou (formerly d'Alengon), having rejoined the court party, deserts it and
makes friends with the Calvinists in the Netherlands.
1579 Henry founds the order of the Holy Ghost. The " Gallants' War," or seventh religious
war, breaks out between Henry of Navarre and Henry III. Reformation of the civil
code by the ordinance of Blois.
1580 Treaty of Pleix closes the seventh war. It is brought about by the mediation of the duke
of Anjou, to whom the United Provinces have offered their sovereignty.
1583 Elizabeth of England refuses marriage offer of the duke of Anjou.
1583 The duke of Anjou fails to capture Antwerp, and retires in disgrace to France.
1584 Death of the duke of Anjou makes Henry of Navarre heir presumptive. Treaty of Join-
ville between the duke of Guise and Philip of Spain to exclude heretics from the throne
of France.
1585 Henry III concludes Treaty of Nemours with the duke of Guise, becoming nominal head
of the league. The " war of the Three Henrys " (the king, Guise, and Navarre), or
the eighth religious war, breaks out. The leaguers are defeated at Qien and in
Touraine. Paris is threatened. The pope attempts to repudiate Henry of Navarre's
claim to the French throne. The English assist Conde, and relieve La Rochelle.
1587 Henry of Navarre wins at Coutras ; the duke of Guise, at Vimory and Auneau.
1588 The duke of Guise marches to Paris. Day of the Barricades. The king is obliged to flee
and appoint Guise lieutenant-general. The king has both the duke of Guise and his
brother, the cardinal, assassinated.
1589 Henry III joins his army with that of the Huguenots to oppose the league, now headed by
the duke of Mayenne. Henry of Navarre takes many towns, and the two kings appear
in sight of Paris. On the eve of the attack Henry III is assassinated.
II
The Younger or Eobbrtine Line (House op Bourbon) (1589-1792 a.d.)
[Descended from Robert de Clermont, Sixth Son of Si. Louis, and Brother of Philip III]
Henry (IV) the Great, king of Navarre, becomes king of Prance, joining his dominions of
Navarre (which include Foix, Perigord, Beam, a portion of Gascony, and the Limousin)
to the crown. His accession is opposed by the politiques and the league, and he has
only the Huguenots at his back. The Guises proclaim Cardinal de Bourbon as
Charles X. The duke of Lorraine and the king of Spain are other claimants. Victory
of Henry over the league at Arques. He is acknowledged in parts of Normandy,
DauphinI, Brittany, Provence, and Langnedoc.
1590 Dissension breaks out in the league. Henry wins at Ivry, and lays siege to Paris.
Philip II sends the duke of Parma to assist the Parisians. Parma besieges Meaux and
relieves Paris. Philip II claims throne for his daughter Elisabeth.
1591 Henry obtains assistance from England and Germany. He takes Chartres, and lays siege
to Bouen. Violent measures of the " Sixteen of Paris."
248 THE HISTOKY OF FEANCE
1593 Parma relieves Rouen. Mayenne loses the leadership of the league. Parma dies at Anas.
1593 The league treats with Spain in the interests of Philip II's daughter. It is proposed to
break the SaUc law. To save the situation, Henry becomes a Catholic. The Huguenots
do not oppose the step.
1594 Coronation of Henry at Chartres. He enters Paris. The leaders of the league give their
allegiance. Henry drives the Spaniards from Normandy and makes peace with the
duke of Lorraine.
1595 Attempt of Chfitel to assassinate Henry leads to the expulsion of the Jesuits from France.
Henry declares war on Philip II. Brave resistance of Henry at Fontaine-Pran5aise.
The Spaniards ravage the Somme, and Cambray submits to them. Henry, reconciled
with the pope, receives absolution.
1596 The duke of Mayenne submits to the king, and receives the government of Burgundy.
This puts an end to the league. The Spaniards take Calais.
1597 The Spaniards take Amiens. Henry recovers it later. The baron de Rosny (after-
wards duke of Sully) is made head of the finances. He makes many urgent reforms.
1598 Henry issues the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of worship and political privileges to
the Huguenots. Treaty of Peace with Spain signed at Vervins.
1599 Death of Qabrielle d'Estr^es, the king's mistress. Divorce of Henry and Marguerite.
1600 Henry marries Marie de' Medici. War breaks out with Savoy over the marquisate of
Saluzzo. Henry takes Montmllian and the duke's possessions on the Rhone.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
1601 Treaty of peace with Savoy. Henry exchanges Saluzzo for Bresse, Bugey, Valromey,
and the Pays de Gex.
1602 Plat of the duke of Biron with Spain and Savoy. Biron is tried and beheaded.
1603 The Jesuits recalled.
1604 Treaty between Henry and James I of England to uphold the United Provinces. Henry
sends Champlain to Canada to found Port Royal (Annapolis). Advantageous commercial
treaty with Turkey.
1606 Submission of the duke de Bouillon completes the reduction of the recalcitrant nobles.
1608 Foundation of Quebec.
1609 Henry assists in the twelve years' truce between Spain and the United Provinces.
1610 Henry is assassinated by Ravaillac. His nine-year-old son Iiouis (XIII) the Just succeeds
under the regency of Marie de' Medici. Henry IV's policy is abandoned.
1614 Revolt of Conde and other nobles against the regency. Marie de' Medici makes the
Peace of Ste. Menehould with them. Concini declares the king's majority. Louis
convokes the States-general (the last before the revolution) at Paris. It accomplishes
nothing, but proves that the third estate has reached a high degree of political
education.
1615 Marriage of Louis and Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip IH of Spain. She renounces
all rights to the Spanish throne. Second revolt of the nobles against the government.
Conde places himself at the head of the discontented Huguenots. Louis inherits the
county of Auvergne.
1616 Peace made with the malcontents at Loudun. The future duke of Richelieu becomes a
member of the council. He causes the arrest of Conde, and troops are sent to put down
the rebels in Picardy, Champagne, and Berri.
1617 Quarrel between Concini and Luynes, the king's favourite. The king has Concini mur-
dered. His wife, Leonora GaligaJ, is beheaded. Marie de' Medici exiled to Blois.
Richelieu is dismissed. Luynes directs the government. Edict by which the Bfiarnais
are bereft of their rights as Protestants. The king takes an army to B6arn to enforce
the edict.
1618 The great power assumed by Luynes drives the nobles over to the side of Marie de'
Medici. The Thirty Years' War breaks out in Bohemia.
1619 Assisted by the nobles, Marie de' Medici escapes from Blois. Richelieu reconciles her
with Louis. She receives the government of Anjou. Cond6 released from prison.
1620 France decides to protect the emperor in the Thirty Years' War. Marie de' Medici aims
to regain her power. The king marches upon Angers and defeats Marie's adherents at
the Ponts-de-CS. Treaty of Angers reconciles the king and his mother.
1631 The Huguenots assemble at La Rochelle, publish a declaration of independence, and raise
an army of which the duke de Rohan takes the head. Luynes proceeds against it. He
is forced to abandon the siege of Montauban, and dies shortly after.
1623 Louis continues the Huguenot war. Montpellier is besieged. Peace made with the
Huguenots. _ The Edict of Nantes is renewed. Richelieu made cardinal.
1624 Richelieu dominates the ministry and begins to map out his policy, which is chiefly
directed to resisting the Austro-Spauish house. He interferes in the Valtelline war and,
sending an army to drive the Spaniards and papal troops from the valley, restores it to
the Grisons. Richelieu makes treaties with the United Provinces, Savoy, and Venice.
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMARY 249
1685 Revolt of the duke de Soubise and the Rochellois. Richelieu wins naval victories.
1626 Temporary peace with the Huguenots. Treaty of Monzon with Spain. Conspiracy to
depose Louis XIH and place his brother Gaston, duke of Orleans, on the throne, Gas-
ton submits to Richelieu.
1687 Richelieu lays siege to La Rochelle.
1628 Surrender of La Rochelle after fifteen months' siege. Peace made with England, which
has espoused the Huguenot cause.
1689 Peace of Alais marks the end of the religious wars. Richelieu intervenes in the quarrel
over the Mantuan succession. Louis XIII and his army force the pass of Susa, and the
Spaniards raise the siege of Casale. Protestant movement in Languedoc put down.
1630 Richelieu leads an army into Savoy, where the Spaniards have reappeared. Richelieu
frustrates the plot of Marie de' Medici and others to overthrow Mm. The " Day of
Bupes." Marie flees to Brussels, Gaston to Lorraine, and the duke of Guise to Italy.
1631 Treaty of Barenwald; alliance with Gustavus Adolphus. Treaty of Cherasco ends the
war in Italy. Treaty with the duke of Savoy, securing Pinerolo to France. Richelieu
made duke and receives the government of Brittany.
1633 The exiled nobles attempt to raise the provinces against Richelieu. The royal army wins
at Castelnaudary. Gaston flees. England returns to France, by treaty, Acadia and
Cape Breton, which she seized in 1639. On death of Gustavus Adolphus, France takes
the flrst place in struggle against the Austrian house.
1633 New treaty of alliance between France and Sweden. Treaty with the United Provinces.
Louis and Richelieu seize Lorraine. Nancy and Bar-le-duc occupied.
1634 Gaston makes treaty with the king of Spain. Gaston submits to France.
1685 The Spaniards seize the archbishop of Treves. Richelieu declares war on Spain. Founda-
tion of the French Academy.
1636 Richelieu narrowly escapes assassination by the machinations of Gaston. This war is
without result in Italy and on the sea.
1637 The invaders are swept out of France.
1638 The Austro-Spanish power seems to be checked. A French fleet destroys mat of Spain
and ravages the coasts of Naples and Spain. Great success of Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar
on the Rhine. Imperials beaten at Rheinfelden and Breisach taken. The birth of the
dauphin destroys the hope of Gaston and his friends. The French forced to raise the
siege of Fontarabia in Spain. Death of Father Joseph, Richelieu's counsellor and agent.
His place is taken by Mazarin.
1639 Death of Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar. The French occupy his conquests, and take over his
army. Richelieu assists the English covenanters with money. Spanish disasters in
Flanders and on the sea. The French army enters Roussillon.
1640 Revolt in Normandy put down. Siege of Arras and conquest of Artois by Louis XIII.
Capture of Turin. Brfee wins naval victory at Cadiz.
1641 Richelieu assists John of Braganza, the new king of Portugal, and the Catalonian rebels.
The Spaniards driven from Catalonia by Harcourt. Conquest of RoussiUon and Cerdagne
by Louis. They are added to France. Gu^briant and Ban6r defeat the imperials and
Piccolomini at Wolfenbflttel. Conspiracy of Cinq-Mars.
1643 Victory of Guebriant over Lamboy at Kempen. The French fleet takes Collioure. Defeat
of the French at Honnecourt. Arrest and execution of Cinq-Mars and De Thou. The
duke de Bouillon forced to cede Bouillon and Sedan to France. Perpignan falls before
the French. Louis XIII recognised as count of Barcelona and Roussillon. Guebriant
goes to Germany and forces the surrender of Leipsic. Death of Richelieu. He has suc-
ceeded in destroying the balance of Austria's power. Mazarin succeeds as prime minister.
1643 Death of Louis XIII; succeeded by his five-year-old son, Louis (XIV) the Great. Anne
of Austria obtains the regency. Mazarin retained as prime minister. The duke d'Eng-
hien (the great Conde) wins great victory over the Spaniards at Rocroi. The friends of
the queen return from exile and form the cabal of the Importamts. They plot to kUl
Mazarin. The queen decides to break with them, and they are again banished. Bnghien
seizes Thionville. The Weimarian army loses its general, GuSbriant. It is defeated by
the imperials at Tuttlingen, but is reorganised by Marshal Turenne. French naval
victory at Cartagena. Negotiations for peace begin at Munster.
1644 Turenne wins victory over the imperials at Freiburg. Gaston wins at Gravelines. Conde
and Turenne take Philippsburg, Worms, and Mainz, and drive the imperials from the
middle Rhine. ^^
1645 Turenne defeated by Mercy at Marienthal, but Condi defeats and kills Mercy at Nord.
lingen. Turenne takes Treves. The Spaniards regain Mardyck from the French.
1646 Conde goes to Flanders, and takes Dunkirk and other places.
1647 Turenne and the Swedish general Wrangel win the battle of Lawingen.
1648 Victory of Turenne and Wrangel at Zusmarshausen. They march upon Vienna. Schoio-
berg captures Tortosa. Conde administers a crushing defeat to the Spaniards at Lens.
Treaty of Westphalia between the empire and France ends the Thirty Years' War,
France keeps her conquests in Lorraine and Artois. The quarrel between France and
Spain remains unsettled. The burdens and extravagances of Mazarin's rule, together
5250 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
with the pretensions of the parliaments for more power, lead to the outbreak of the
Fronde. Day of the Barricades. Cardinal de Retz heads the popular party. Peace of
St. Germain, giving advantages to the magistracy, ends the first insurrection of the
(Old) Fronde. ^ , , v,
1649 The Spaniards return to Flanders and seize Ypres. Mazarin determines to deal harshly
■with the frondeurs and the court leaves Paris. Parliament obtains the assistance of
many of the nobles discontented with Mazarin's rule. Conde refuses to join them and
lays siege to Paris, which leads to the Peace of Euel, diminishing a few taxes. The
rebellious nobles refuse to accept the peace and the New Fronde begins. The New
Fronde opens negotiations with Spain. A Spanish army enters northern France.
1660 The queen, sustained by the Old Fronde, arrests Conde, Conti, and LonguevUle. Tnrenne
joins the New Fronde and with Spanish troops threatens Paris. The royal army takes
Bethel from Turenne. Mazarin releases Condfi and his friends.
1651 The two Frondes unite through influence of De Ketz and force the queen to exUe Mazarin.
The Old Fronde, jealous of Cond^, goes over to the side of the queen. CondS rouses a
revolt in Quienne. Turenne goes over to the court and proceeds against Conde. Ma-
zarin returns to France. .
1652 Condi defeats the royal troops at B16neau and at the faubourg St. Antoine, and enters
Paris. Mazarin retires to Flanders. The Spaniards recover Oravelines, Dunkirk, and
Casale.
1653 Weary of the struggle, parliament and the citizens of Paris invite the queen to return to
Paris. De Retz is imprisoned. Conde joins the Spanish army. Mazarin comes back all-
powerful. End of the Fronde.
1664 Cond^ and the Spaniards lay siege to Arras, but Turenne drives them ofi. Turenne takes
Quesnoy and Stenay. Jansenist doctrines spread.
1665 Mazarin makes a treaty of peace and commerce with Cromwell. French make a fruitless
siege of Pavia. Mazarin founds the Academy of Sculpture and Fainting.
1656 Turenne continues his campaign against CondS.
1657 Mazarin makes alliance with Cromwell, and England declares war on Spain. The
Spaniards begin to give way before Turenne's army, strengthened by the Puritans.
1658 Turenne wins the decisive battle of the Dunes ovei; the Spaniards. Dunkirk surrenders
and is given over to the English. Gravelines, Oudenarde, and Furnes fall before the
French. Lionne, Mazarin's agent, forms the League of the Rhine, to uphold the Peace
of Westphalia.
1659 Spain yields and the Treaty of the Pyrenees is signed. French'conquests of Artois, Rous-
sillon, and Cerdagne confirmed. France restores conquests 'in Catalonia to Spain, but
retains Gravelines and other towns in Flanders. The duchy of Bar ceded to Stance by
Lorraine, Marriage compact between Louis XIV and the infanta Maria Theresa.
Cond^ is pardoned.
1660 Marriage of Louis and Maria Theresa. She renounces her rights to the Spanish throne,
but her marriage dowry is not paid. Death of Gaston, duke of Orleans, at Blois.
1661 Death of Mazarin. The personal rule, of Louis begins. Disgrace and imprisonment of
Fouquet; Colbert takes his place as superintendent of the finances. Marriage of Philip,
duke of Orleans, brother of Louis, to Henrietta of England.
1662 Louis buys Dunkirk and Mardyck from Charles IL The French ambassador insulted at
Rome. Treaty with the Dutch against England.
1663 Louis occupies Marsal, Avignon, and Venaissin. Colbert introduces many reforms in the
finances, manufactures, commerce, etc.
1664 The pope yields, and the quarrel with Rome is settled. Avignon and Venaissin restored.
Louis aids the emperor and the Venetians against the Turks. The French take an
important part in the battle of St. Gotthard. Louis prepares to take part in the war
between England and Holland. Colbert obtains many islands in the West Indies.
1665 Successful campaign against the Barbary pirates. On death of Philip IV of Spain, Louis
asserts Maria Theresa's claim to the Netherlands by the right of devolution. Alliance
with the Dutch. Gorfie taken from the Dutch.
1666 War declared against England, but the French make little effort to take part in it. Foun-
dation of the Academy of Sciences.
1667 Louis makes the Peace of Breda with England. France restores some of the West India
Islands and England gives back Acadia. Louis enters Flanders and the war of the
Queen's Rights begins. Rapid French conquests. The whole of Flanders reduced.
1668 Louis makes a rapid conquest of Franche-ComtS. Holland, alarmed at Louis' progress,
makes a triple alliance with England and Sweden, and forces Louis to mediation. He
signs the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and ends the war of the Queen's Rights, giving up
Franche-Comte and keeping his conquests in Flanders.
1670 Louis attempts to break the triple alliance. He buys Charles H, and the secret Treaty of
Dover is signed. Secret Treaty of alliance with the emperor. Louis secures several of
the imperial powers as allies, renewing the League of the Rhine.
1671 Death of Lionne ; succeeded by Pomponne.
1678 Louis detaches Sweden from the alliance. Charles 11 and Louis renew the Treaty of
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMAET 261
Dover, and Louis declares war on the United Provinces. English ships augment the
French fleet. Overyssel, Gelderland, and Utrecht submit. William of Orange opens
the sluices and saves Holland.
1673 William of Orange succeeds in forming the first coalition against France, composed of the
United Provinces, Spain, the emperor, the duke of Lorraine, and several of the imperial
princes, who desert Louis. William recovers Naarden, and with the imperial army
takes Bonn. Louis takes Maestricht. Indecisive naval combats.
1674 The war having become European, Louis abandons Holland and attacks the Spaniards in
Franche-Comte. The province is reduced in six weeks. The Great Elector joins the
allies. The English parliament forces Charles II to make peace with Holland. Turenne
defends Alsace, defeats the imperials at Sinsheim, and ravages the entire Palatinate.
Conde defeats the Spaniards and Dutch at SenefEe. Turenne defeats the imperials at
Mlilhausen and Colmar. The Spaniards seize Bellegarde in Roussillon.
1675 Victory of Turenne at Tiirkheim. The imperials driven across the Rhine. Turenne
enters the Palatinate. Battle of Salzbach and death of Turenne. The French flee
across the Rhine, pursued by the imperials. Condfi enters Lorraine and drives the
imperials back across the Rhine. Messina revolts from Spain. Louis sends a fleet.
Negotiations for peace begin at Nimeguen.
1676 The French take Conde and Bouchain. The Germans regain Philippsburg. Great naval
victories of Duquesne in Sicily over the Dutch and Spanish fleets.
1677 Crfiqui, Turenne's successor, conducts a brilliant campaign in Germany. He wins the
battle of Kochersberg, and takes Freiburg. Luxemburg, Conde's successor, together
with Louis, captures Valenciennes and Cambray ; with the duke of Orleans he wins the
battle of Cassel and takes St. Omer.
1678 Charles II forced by parliament to make treaty with the Dutch and declare war on France.
Surrender of Ghent, besieged by Louvois and Louis. Louis withdraws forces from
Sicily. Peace negotiations concluded at Nimeguen. William tries to break them by
giving battle to Luxemburg at St. Denis near Mons, but is defeated. Treaty of
Nimeguen between Holland and France. Treaty with Spain. The conquest of
Franche-Comte confirmed. Valenciennes and other frontier towns in the Netherlands
given to France.
1679 Treaty with the emperor. Philippsburg given up, but Freiburg retained. The Treaty
of Westphalia confirmed.
1680 Louis XIV at the height of his power. The title "the Great" bestowed upon him.
" Chambers of Reunion" regulate the frontier. They declare many fiefs in Alsace and
Lorraine united to France. Restrictions of the religious liberty of the Huguenots.
Foundation of Pondicherry.
1681 Strasburg united to France by force. Luxemburg blockaded. Louis purchases Casale.
1683 Algiers besieged by Duquesne. England, Spain, and Holland force Louis to raise the
siege of Luxemburg. The council called by Louis, to settle the differences with the
pope, emphasises the liberties of the Galilean church. La Salle takes Louisiana.
1683 Surrender of Algiers. Death of Maria Theresa. Death of Colbert.
1684 The diet of Ratisbon makes a twenty years' truce with Louis, allowing him to keep
Luxemburg, Strasburg, and other towns united before 1682 ; but his ambition is not
satisfied. Duquesne bombards Genoa for assisting the Algerians and Spaniards.
1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, abolishing all privileges of the Huguenots. They
emigrate to other countries, causing irreparable loss to France. The doge of Genoa
submits to terms dictated by Louis. French fleet bombards Tripoli and Tunis. Louis
claims the lower Palatinate in the name of the duke of Orleans' second wife.
1686 Louis marries Madame de Maintenon. The emperor, the empire, Spain, Holland, and
Sweden form the League of Augsburg — the second coalition against France.
1687 Quarrel with the pope. Louis seizes Avignon and the pope accedes to the league in secret.
1688 Dispute over Cologne. Louis occupies Philippsburg, the Palatinate, and important places
on the Rhine.
1689 William III, placed by the Revolution on the English throne, joins the league, which
declares war on Prance. Louis gives the deposed James II a fleet to recover the English
throne, and tries his strength against Spain and Savoy. The dauphin ravages the
Palatinate. Mainz and other places on the Rhine recovered from the French. The
Spaniards repulse the French in Catalonia.
1690 Louis restores Avignon to the pope. Luxemburg defeats the prince of Waldeck at
Fleurus. James II returns to France after his defeat on the Boyne. Catinat defeats the
duRe of Savoy at Staffarda. The French take Saluzzo, Chambery, and Susa.
1691 Louis besieges and captures Mons.
1693 Louis prepares a descent on England, but his fleet, under Admiral TonrviUe, is defeated
at La Hogue. Luxemburg takes Namur.
1693 Tourville wins naval victory from the English off Cape St. Vincent. William III defeated
at Neerwinden by Luxemburg. The French take Huy and Charleroi. All Piedmont,
except Turin, in the hands of the French, Louis settles with the pope the dispute con-
cerning the appointment of bishops.
252 THE HISTOEf OF PEANCE
1694 The Engliah fail in an attack on Brest. Dieppe, Le Havre, and Dunkirk bombarded.
The allies recover Huy.
1695 Villeroi attacks Brussels. William III takes Namur. Casale surrenders to the duke of
Savoy, who destroys it.
1696 Louis makes peace with the duke of Savoy and gives him back Casale and Pinerolo.
James II goes to England with a French army, but the plot is discovered, and he returns
to France. Destruction of the French magazines at Qivet by the English.
1697 Catinat, Villeroi, and BoufHers enter Belgium. Ath is captured. William saves Brussels.
The duke de VendSme captures Barcelona. Pointis captures Cartagena in New
Grenada. William III accepts Sweden's offer of mediation and the Peace of Eyswick
ends the war of the league of Augsburg. l/ouis recognises William III as king of
England. All conquests from England, Spain, and Holland since the Treaty of Nime-
guen are restored. The empire gets back all places taken since the Peace of Nimeguen,
except Strasburg. The duke of Lorraine is restored.
1698 France, England, and Holland sign the first treaty of partition of the Spanish monarchy.
It is to be divided between France, Austria, and Bavaria.
1699 Second treaty of partition, made necessary by death of the electoral prince of Bavaria.
1700 Death of Charles II of Spain leaving by will his entire inheritance to Louis' grandson,
Philip, duke of Anjou. Louis accepts this for him.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTtJET
1701 Alarm and protests in Europe over Louis' violation of the treaty of partition. Louis
XIV breaks the Treaty of By s wick, and orders the elector of Bavaria, governor of
Belgium, and his ally to drive the Dutch garrisons from the Netherlands. Formation
of the third coalition against France — the grand League of the Hague — by England,
Holland, Austria, and the empire. Louis has for allies the Bavarian princes and the
duke of Modena and Savoy. The war of the Spanish Succession begins. Prince
Eugene defeats Catinat and Villeroi.
1702 Surprise of Cremona by Prince Eugene. Capture of Villeroi, who is replaced by Ven-
dome. England declares war on France and Spain. Louis sends Boufflers into the
Netherlands to oppose Marlborough. Victory of Vend6me at Luzzara. The imperials
are driven beyond the Mincio. Catinat takes command on the Rhine, where the prince
of Baden takes Landau, Weissenburg, and Hagenau from him. Villars defeats the
prince of Baden at Friedlingen. The French fleet is defeated in Vigo Bay. Outbreak
of the eamisards ( Protestants ) in the Cevennes. Marlborough takes many towns in the
Netherlands. Louis unites the principality of Orange to France.
1703 The duke of Savoy and Portugal join the coalition. Marlborough captures Bonn, Huy,
and Limburg. Villars defeats Louis of Baden at Stollhofen, takes Kehl, and joins the
elector of Bavaria, who has driven the Austrians from the upper Danube. The Franco-
Bavarians enter Innsbruck and threaten Vienna. They win at Hochstadt. TaUard
takes Breisach, defeats Louis at Speier, and recovers Landau.
1704 Marlborough and Prince Louis of Baden defeat the Bavarians and take Donauworth.
Marlborough joins Prince Eugene. The elector unites with the French, and together
they suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the allies at Blenheim. The empire is
saved. The elector takes refuge in Flanders. Louis of Baden crosses the Rhine and
retakes Landau. Marlborough takes Trarbach and Treves. Villars recalled to Alsace.
The French and Spaniards besiege Gibraltar, which has been captured by the English,
and win great naval victory off Velez Malaga. Surrender of Susa to La FeuiUade.
Suppression of the camisard revolt by Villars.
1705 The French and Spaniards compelled to raise the siege of Gibraltar. Marlborough de-
feats the French at Tirlemont. Louis of Baden drives Villars across the Rhine. Ven-
d6me wins from Prince Eugene at Cassino.
1706 Vend6me defeats the allies at Calcinate and drives them from Milanese territory. Marl-
borough wins the gi'eat victory of Ramillies from Villeroi. La FeuiUade takes Nice and
lays siege to Turin. Italy falls into the hands of the allies. The archduke Charles
enters Madrid, drives Philip V from his capital, and is proclaimed King Charles III.
The allies take Lou vain, Brussels, and Malines in the name of Charles III. The Cas-
tilians replace Philip on the Spanish throne. The allies reject Louis XIV's proposals
for peace.
1707 Charles XII of Sweden appears in Germany and paralyses both sides for a time. Villars
breaks through the Stollhofen lines to join him, but Charles does not desire the French
alliance and marches towards Poland. Villars returns to the Rhine. Duguay-Trouin
makes great havoc with the English and Dutch commerce
1708 France is in desperate financial straits. Failure of a French expedition to Holland.
Prince Eugene jpins Marlborough, and they surprise Ghent and Bruges and defeat
Yendome and the dUke of Burgundy at Oudenaide. The allies cross into Fiance and
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMAEY 263
besiege Lille, whicli Boufflers is compelled to surrender. The Dutch penetrate as far as
Versailles. The duke of Savoy recovers his frontier fortresses from France. Measures
taken against the Jansenists. Port Royal suppressed.
1709 Louis renews offers of peace, but his terms are rejected. Famine and misery in Prance.
The allies take Tournay and defeat Villars and Boufflers at Malplaquet, though with
tremendous losses. Mens surrenders to the allies.
1710 Louis makes further concessions to obtain peace, but is unsuccessful. The allies take
Montaigne and Douai. Marlborough takes Bethune. The allies take St. Venant and
Aire. Philip V again driven from Madrid by Charles III. Venddme takes command of
the French in Spain, restores Philip, and defeats the Austrians at Villaviciosa.
1711 Marlborough defeats the French at Arleux and takes Bouchain. The French take Gerona
in Spain. Fall of the Whig government in England. The Tories declare for peace.
Marlborough retired from the command. The succession of Charles to the empire
changes the attitude towards the Spanish succession. Truce made with England.
Duguay-Trouin captures Rio Janeiro. Death of the dauphin.
1712 Peace congress opened at Utrecht. The emperor and the empire refuse to take part.
Prince Eugene continues his campaign in the Netherlands ; is defeated at Denain by
Villars. Douai, Marchiennes, Anchin, and Le Quesnoy retaken. The French frontier
is saved. Philip V renounces his claim to the French throne. The Dutch enter the
truce with England. Death of the duke of Burgundy (the second dauphin) and his
eldest son, the duke of Brittany.
1713 Treaty of peace signed at Utrecht between all powers except the emperor and the empire,
on the basis of the Treaty of Byswick. The permanent separation of the French and
Spanish crown agreed upon. France obtains Barcelonnette but gives up Newfound-
land, Acadia, and Hudson Bay Territory to England. Dunkirk dismantled. The em-
peror and the empire continue the war. Villars takes Landau and Freiburg.
1714 Treaty of Bastatt with the emperor, and Treaty of Baden with the empire. Freiburg,
Brisach, and Kehl restored to Germany. France retains Strasburg. End of the war
of the Spanish Succession. Death of the duke de Berri, leaving Louis, duke of Anjou,
son of the duke of Burgundy, heir to the throne. Louis legitimatises his children by
Madame de Montespan.
1715 Death of Louis XIV; succeeded by his grandson Ijcul8 (XV) the Well-Beloved, under
regency of the Juke of Orleans.
1716 John Law's bank established.
1717 Formation of a Triple Alliance by France, England, and Holland, to resist the Spanish
minister Alberoni. Creation of Law's Mississippi Company (Compagnie d' Occident).
1718 Plot of the Spanish party to assassinate the regent. Compagnie des Jndes formed ; the
Royal Bank founded. The emperor joins the Triple Alliance, forming the Quadruple
Alliance.
1719 War with Spain.
1730 Alberoni yields to the Quadruple Alliance, and the war ends. The ' ' Mississippi Bubble "
bursts.
1721 Dubois made cardinal.
1'732 Coronation of Louis ; Dubois prime minister.
1723 Louis' majority proclaimed. Deaths of the regent and Cardinal Dubois. Duke de
Bourbon prime minister.
1725 Louis marries Marie Leszcynska.
l'i'26 Fleury, bishop of Fr^jus, prime minister.
l'i'33 The war of the Polish Succession begins. Berwick takes Kehl and lays siege to Philipps-
burg.
1734 Villars and Charles Emmanuel lay siege to Milan. Novara, Arena, and Tortona surrender
to them. Death of Villars at 'Turin. Berwick killed at the siege of Philippsburg.
1735 Peace congress opened at Vienna. End of war of Polish Succession.
1738 The French assist the Genoese in Corsica.
1739 The French reduce nearly the whole of Corsica.
1740 'The French retain their hold on Corsica.
1741 The First Silesian War (the Austrian Succession) begins. France joins Prussia by the
Treaty of Nymphenburg. A French army enters Bohemia. Prague is captured.
1743 Frederick II makes peace with Maria Theresa. The French, left alone in Bohemia, are
forced to retreat from Prague.
1748 Death of Fleury. French defeated at Dettingen ; the " Journie des Batons Bompua."
1744 Vigorous renewal of the war (sometimes called Second Silesian War) by a league
against France formed at Frankfort. Failure of French expedition to Scotland to sup-
port the young Pretender. In Flanders, Marshal Saxe captures several towns. Louis
has severe illness at Metz ; on his recovery he is called " the Well-Beloved." Indecisive
naval battle between French and English off Toulon.
1745 Marshal Saxe takes Tournay and defeats the English and Dutch at Fontenoy and Antoin.
The Austrian Netherlands fall into his hands. Victory of Bassignano. In America the
Knglish take Louisburg and Cape Breton from the French. Maria Theresa makes
264 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
Peace of Dresden with the king of Prussia. End of the Second Silesian War, leaving
France practically isolated.
1746 The French and Spaniards defeated at Piacenza. Saxe wins victory at Raucoux. In
India Labourdonnais and Dupleix take Madras from the English. English invade
Provence ; forced by Marshal Belle-Isle to withdraw. Madame de Pompadour becomes
mistress of Louis.
1747 Saxe wins victory of Lawfeld from the English. Count de Lowendahl takes Bergen-op-
Zoom, and Holland is invaded by the French. Great defeat of the French fleet by
Admiral Hawke off Belle-Ile.
1748 Dupleix repulses English from Pondicherry. Peace concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen).
England and Prance mutually restore their conquests. France enters on a period of
great commercial prosperity. -
1751 Clive defeats Dupleix and his Indian allies at Arcot. The Ecole Militaire established at
Paris.
1753 Beginning of quarrel between parliament of Brittany and the duke d'Aiguillon. Exile of
the magistrates of the parliament of Paris for interference in religious matters.
1754 Dupleix recalled from India. His successor Qodeheu makes a truce with the English.
George Washington with English and Indian troops is sent from Virginia into the Ohio
valley and takes possession of Fort Necessity. Jumonville, sent by Villiers to demand
its evacuation, is surprised and killed. Villiers besieges Fort Necessity and obliges
Washington to surrender. The French and Indian War begins. The king imposes
silence on parliament on questions of religion.
1755 England prepares for war on France. Admiral Boscawen captures two French ships.
Defeat of Braddock. The French defeated on Lake George.
1756 France allies herself with Austria and Russia — " Alliance of the Three Petticoats." The
Seven Years' War begins. French fleet defeats Admiral Byng and takes Port Mahon.
French defeat on the Onondaga, but Montcalm takes Fort Oswego.
1757 France declares war on Frederick the Great and joins the league, composed of Russia,
Saxony, the German diet, and Sweden, against him. French army under D'Estrees
defeats the English under the duke of Cumberland at Hastenbeck. The French occupy
Hanover, Gottingen, and Cassel. Richelieu drives the English to the Elbe, and Cum-
berland surrenders to him at Closter-Seven. Frederick the Great defeats Soubise at
Rosshach. English fleet repulsed at La Rochelle. In America, Montcalm captures Fort
William Henry . War resumed in India. Clive captures Chandaruagar. Attempt of
Damiens to assassinate Louis XV.
1758 English expel French from Emden. Ferdinand of Brunswick dislodges Clermont from
Brunswick, defeats him at Crefeld, and takes Dilsseldorf. Soubise wins battles of
Sondershausen and Lutzelberg and takes Cassel. Admiral Osborne defeats Duquesne
off Cartagena. English fleets ravage the French coast, and capture Cherbourg. Eng-
lish defeated in an attack at St. Male. In America Fort Duquesne, Louisburg, and
Cape Breton are taken by the English, but General Abercrombie is repulsed at Ticon-
deroga. English capture Fort Louis in Senegal and drive the French from Gorfc.
General Lally sails for India ; his ships are defeated by Admiral Pococke. On arrival
he besieges and captures Fort St. David and besieges Madras.
1759 Disastrous year for France. The duke de Broglie defeats Ferdinand of Brunswick and
the English at Bergen ; but Ferdinand and the English win at Minden. The French
evacuate Hanover and Hesse. Failure of a French attempt to invade England. Le
Havre bombarded by an English fleet. Admiral Boscawen defeats Admiral La Clue in
Lagos Bay. Admiral Conflans defeated by Admiral Hawke in Quiberon Bay, and his
fleet destroyed. In America the French lose Fort Niagara, Ticonderoga, and Crown
Point. General Wolfe defeats the French on the Heights of Abraham. Montcalm and
Wolfe slain. Surrender of Quebec. Admiral Pococke defeats a French fleet near
Mauritius.
1760 A French fleet under Thurot is captured. The French regain Marburg and win at Kor-
bach ; lose at Warburg ; win at Kloster Camp. English conquest of Canada completed.
In India the English take the offensive and win most of the French towns.
1761 The French armies defeated by Ferdinand at Vellinghausen. English fleet captures
Belle-Ile. Choiseul arranges the " Family Compact," an offensive and defensive league
signed by all the Bourbon sovereigns — France, Spain, the Two Sicilies, Parma, and
Piacenza. Surrender of Pondicherry, the last French stronghold in India.
1762 Defeat of the Hanoverians by the French at Johannisburg. Martinique surrenders to
the English fleet. Further conquests stopped by peace negotiations.
1763 Treaty of peace signed at Paris ends France's part in the Seven Years' War.
1764 The Jesuits suppressed in France. Death of Madame de Pompadour.
1765 Death of the dauphin ; the title passing to his son, afterwards Louis XVI, Arrest and
imprisonment of La Chalotais by the duke d'Aiguillon,
1766 Duchy of Lorraine reunited to France.
1768 Prance acquires Corsica.
1769 Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte in Coisica,
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMAKY 255
1770 Trial of d'Aiguillon by the parliament of Paris. Louis XV revokes its decision. Through
influence of Madame du Barry, the king's new mistress, Choiseul is dismissed. Mar-
riage of the dauphin and Marie Antoinette of Austria.
1771 Suppression of the parliaments of France. The chancellor Manpeou forms a new parlia-
ment in Paris, which bears his name. Reconstruction of the provincial parliaments.
1774 Death of Louis XV, succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI. Turgot, minister of finances,
proposes radical reforms and the abolition of privileges.
1775 Beginning of a three years' famine in France.
1 776 Turgot replaced by Necker. Franklin solicits aid for the American colonies.
1777 Treaty of alliance between France and the American colonies.
1778 Treaty of offence and defence signed with the American colonies ; their independence recog-
nised. A fleet sent to America. England declares war on France. Indecisive naval
contest off Ushant. The French seize Dominica and the English St. Lucia in the West
Indies. The English seize Pondicherry in India, and St. Pierre and Miquelon in North
America.
1779 Spain joins France. French attack on Jersey repulsed. The French take St. Vincent
and Granada in the West Indies. The English seize Senegal and Qoree in Africa.
Admiral D'Estaing repulsed at Savannah, Georgia. The French attack Gibraltar.
Peace of Teschen.
1780 Admiral Rodney defeats the Franco-Spanish fleet and relieves Gibraltar. In the West
Indies he defeats Admiral Guichen. French Army sent to America under Rochambeau.
1781 Necker resigns ; Joly de Fleury succeeds him. Admiral de Grasse captures Tobago.
Rochambeau and the French army take an important part in the victory of Yorktown.
Grasse returns to the West Indies and assists Bouill^ to recover the Dutch islands taken
by the British.
1783 The English garrison at Minorca surrenders. Rodney defeats the French fleet under
Grasse off Santo Domingo. Admiral Suffren fights Admiral Hughes, and forms vast
plans with Hyder Ali, sultan of Mysore, for the destruction of English domination in
India. Gandelour is besieged.
1783 Prehminary peace articles signed; conquests restored in Africa, the East Indies, and
America, except Tobago.
1785 Affair of the queen's necklace.
1786 Commercial treaty with England.
1787 Convocation of the Notables. Calonne's plan of reform rejected ; he is replaced by
Cardinal de Brienne, who insists on Calonne's proposals. Two parties are formed —
one of the king, queen, Brienne, and some of the nobility ; the other of the duke of
Orleans, the bulk of the nobles, and the parliament of Paris : the latter defend privilege;
the former is almost willing to abandon the nobility. The people hold their own rights
and claims against both. Louis XVI holds a Bed of Justice. The Paris parliament
states the forgotten doctrine that the states-general alone may impose taxes, and the
king exiles it to Troyes. Parliament recalled to Paris. Louis XVI holds a "royal
sitting." The duke of Orleans exiled.
1788 Parliament declares lettres de cachet illegal ; several members of the Paris parliament
arrested. Other parliaments treated the same way. The Breton parliament forms the
club afterwards known as the Jacobins. Necker recalled. Second assembly of the
Notables.
1789 Election to the states-general, which meet at Versailles May 4th. The cahiers, con-
taining demands for- reform in all branches of the government, presented. The three
orders united into one body called the National Assembly. Oath of the Tennis Court
(June 20th). The Constituent Assembly. Necker resigns. The duke of Orleans and
forty-six nobles join the assembly. First collision of the troops and the people. The
old municipality of Paris is done away with. Fall of the Bastille (July 14th). The
emigration of nobles begins. Necker recalled. Abolition of privileges by the assembly,
August 4th, and Declaration of the Rights of Man. Freedom of conscience and liberty
of the press decreed. Famine in Paris ; a mob proceeds to Versailles, attacks the
palace, and brings back the king and queen to Paris (October 6th). The assembly
follows. Church property taken by the state. Parliament is suspended. Issue of
paper money ; crown domain and estates of the empire seized by the state.
1790 The marquis de Favras, the first judicially condemned victim of the revolution, is executed.
The assembly redivides France into departments. Sale of church lands and civil con-
stitution of the clergy. Grand federation of the Champ de Mars. The assembly abol-
ishes titles of nobility (June 19th). Necker resigns. The king negotiates with the
kings of Europe for help.
1791 Death of Mirabeau. Flight and arrest of the king. The Feuillants Club formed of the
moderate Jacobins. The constitution completed ; the king agrees to it and is re-estab-
lished in his functions. Treaty of PUlnitz between Prussia and Austria to restore
Louis XVI. The constituent assembly dissolves and the legislative holds its first meet-
ing, October 1st. Insurrections in La Vendee and Brittany, Massacres at Avignon,
Moiseilles, and Aix.
256 THE HISTOEY OP FEANCE
1703 Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia tlireaten France, which puts three armies in the field.
War declared on Austria (April 20tb). The French invade Flanders. The Austrians
win at Quesnoy and Mons. La Fayette wins at Maubeuge, and Luokner at Menin. The
populace invades the Tuileries (June 20th). Brunswiclc announces his intention of in-
vading France. Insurrection of August 10th. The Icing seeks refuge in the assembly
and is taken to the Temple. The Prussians take Longwy and Verdun. Outrages in
Paris ; murder of the princess de Lamballe. Kellermann drives the Prussians from
Valmy. Dumouriez wins in Flanders. The siege of Thionville raised The Germans
are driven from France. The convention votes the abolition of royalty (September 21st).
THE FIRST REPUBLIC (1792-1804)
The Convention (1792-1795)
The executive power lodged in the committee of the constitution. General Custine
takes Speier, Worms, and Mainz. The Austrians repulsed from Lalle. Victory of
Jemmapes. Belgium conquered. Savoy made a department.
1798 Trial and execution of Louis XVI. The First Coalition of European powers. The con-
vention declares war on England, Holland, and Spain. The empire, Denmark, and
Sweden declare war upon it. Dumouriez, defeated at Neerwinden, evacuates Belgium;
accompanied by the duke de Chartres takes refuge in the Austrian Camp. Civil war in
La Vendee. Committee of public safety established at Paris. Girondist ministry over-
thrown. The Reign of Terror begins (June 2nd). The English take Tobago and Pon-
dicherry; Santo Domingo occupied. Revolt of Lyons and Marseilles. The Constitution
(that of the Year I) drawn up. Assassination of Marat by Charlotte Corday, who is
guillotined. The Austrians take Conde and Valenciennes. Mainz surrenders to the
Prussians. The levy en masse ordered. The Spaniards invade Roussillon. The Eng-
lish take Toulon, but are defeated at Dunkirk. Carnot appointed to conduct the war.
Houchard defeats the English at Hondschoote ; Brunswick wins at Pirmasens. General
Jourdan defeats Coburg at Wattignies. Lyons retaken by the republicans, who show
terrible barbarity. Trial and execution of Marie Antoinette, the duke of Orleans, the
Girondists, Madame Roland, and Bailly. The convention decrees the worship of the
Goddess of Reason. The new calendar introduced. Victory of Brunswick at Kaisers-
lautern. The French regain Toulon, at the siege of which Napoleon Bonaparte first
distinguishes himself. Hoche and Pichegru drive the Austrians across the Rhine.
The republic annexes the county of Montbeliard.
1794 The convention decrees the abolition of slavery ; the blacks under Toussaint Louverture
revolt in Santo Domingo. The Spaniards driven from Roussillon. The English take
Martinique and Guadeloupe ; and win some success in Belgium. The French win at
Mouscron and Turcoing. Robespierre at head of affairs. The revolutionary tribunal
commits fearful atrocities. Hebert and others of the Cordelier party, Danton and
Camille Desmoulins, put to death. "The Great Terror." General Mass6na routs the
Piedmontese. The emperor takes Landr^cies. Charleroi surrenders and Coburg is
defeated at Fleurus, which re-opens the Netherlands to the French. Admiral ViUaret-
Joyeuse defeated by Lord Howe. Paoli establishes the dominion of Great Britain in
Corsica. Fall of Robespierre and his party on the 9th Thermidor (July 27th), followed
by the execution of himself and seventy-one of his adherents. The committee of public
safety re-established. End of the Reign of Terror. The Jacobin clubs suppressed.
Pichegru drives the English behind the Waal ; Jourdan the Austrians beyond the Maas
and the Rhine, French conquest of Belgium completed. Dugommier victorious in
Spain. The French invade Holland. Prussia negotiates for peace.
1795 Pichegru enters Amsterdam and completes conquest of Holland. The Dutch fleet captured
in the ice at Texel. Final suppression of the Chouans and the people of La Vendfe.
The grand duke of Tuscany makes peace with France. Jacobins fail to regain ascen-
dancy (riot of the 12th Germinal). Treaty of BSle with the king of Prussia, who pves
up the provinces on the left bank of the Rhine. The French take Bilboa in Spain,
when peace is made. England, Austria, Sardinia, and the empire remain in the coalition.
The United Provinces make Holland into the Batavian Republic and make alliance with
France. Second insurrection of the Jacobins (1st Prairial) suppressed. Death of
Louis XVII in the Temple. His uncle Louis XVllI becomes head of the royalist
cause. Luxemburg surrenders to the French. An English fleet and a party of fimigrfe
defeated in Quiberon Bay by Hoche. The emigres are shot. DOsseldorf and Mannheim
taken by the French. Hesse-Cassel and Hanover make peace with the republic. The
constitution of 1793 abolished. Constitution of the year III organises the Directory.
Bonaparte, recalled by Barras, puts down an insurrection (13th Vendemiaire — October
6th), and gains command of the army of the Interior, All clubs suppressed. The
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMARY 257
Austrian Netherlands are united to France. Wurmser recovers Mannheim. Jourdan
is defeated at Hochst. The convention ended 4th Brumaire — October 26th,
The Directory (1795-1799)
Jourdan defeated at Mainz. Boherer and Massfina win at Loano in Italy.
1796 Bonaparte made commander-in-chief of the army of Italy. He marries Josephine Beau-
harnais. Hoche ends the rehellion in La Vendee. Bonaparte wins at Montenotte,
Millesimo, and Dego. He crushes the Sardinian army at Mondovi and forces an armis-
tice. Conspiracy of Baboeuf betrayed and punished. Bonaparte wins at Piacenza and
Lodi, Treaty veith Sardinia, giving Savoy to Prance. The French enter Milan. Bona-
parte makes terms with the dukes of Parma and Modena. The Austrians driven back to
the Tyrol. Mantua blockaded. Verona, Ferrara, and Bologna occupied. Armistice
signed with the pope. Admiral Nelson takes Elba, but the English are forced to aban-
don Corsica. Wurmser driven from Italy by Napoleon. General Moreau takes Kehl
and defeats the Germans at Eastatt and Ettlingen, and the archduke Charles at Neres-
heim. But the archduke defeats Jourdan at Neumark, Amberg, and Wurzburg, and
drives him beyond the Lahn. Wurmser reappears in Italy. Bonaparte defeats him at
Bassano, shutting him up in Mantua. Peace with Naples. The Cispadane Republic
founded. Prance makes alliance with Tipu Saib and with Spain. Moreau makes a
skilful retreat into Alsace, defeating the Austrians at Biberach. Bonaparte wins at
Areola. A French fleet sails for Ireland, but is dispersed by storm.
1797 Kehl surrenders to the archduke. Bonaparte wins at Rivoli. Mantua and Ancona sur-
render. The pope makes Peace of Tolentino. The Archduke Charles arrives in Italy.
Bonaparte defeats him on the Tagliamento, and reaches Leoben, when the Austrian
court signs an armistice by which Prance is to receive Belgium. Meanwhile Hoche
crosses the Rhine and defeats the Austrians at Neuwied and Altenkirchen. Moreau
drives the Austrians into the Black Forest. Thp Preliminaries of Leoben put an end to
both these generals' plans. An insurrection at Venice ; Bonaparte overthrows the
republic and establishes a provisory government. For similar outrages, the Genoese
senate is overthrown and the Ligurian Republic established. England offers mediation
and conferences are opened at Lille. The May elections in France show a reaction in
favour of the royalists. The Directory, threatened, recalls General Hoche, and Bona-
parte sends them General Auguereau. The Directory carries out the coup d'Uat of the
18th Fruotidor and establishes the ascendancy of the moderate party. Sudden death of
Hoche. Treaty of Campo-Formio. Austria receives Venice, and France the Ionian
Islands and the right bank of the Rhine. The Cisalpine Republic accepted. Insurrec-
tion at Rome. Joseph Bonaparte restores order.
1798 Prance intervenes in the troubles in Switzerland. General Berthier occupies Rome, expels
the pope, and sets up the Roman Republic. Surrender of Bern. The Helvetic Re-
public replaces the ancient Swiss Confederacy. Bonaparte sails for Egypt, takes Malta,
then Alexandria, defeats Murad Bey in the battle of the Pyramids and enters Cairo.
Nelson destroys the French fleet in the battle of the Nile. The Porte declares war on
France. Formation of the Second Coalition, into which Russia enters. Spain remains
the sole ally of France. Neapolitan army drives the French from Rome. Defeat of
CivitS Castellana. French enter Piedmont, driving the king to Sardinia ; recover Rome,
and invade Naples. War threatened with United States of America over French claims
to seize British subjects on neutral ships.
1799 Surrender of Naples and re-establishment of the Parthenopean Republic. Bonaparte, in
Syria, takes Gaza and Jaffa. Turks and Russians capture the Ionian Islands. The
Directory declares war on Austria and Tuscany. The archduke Charles drives Jourdan
back to the Rhine. Scherer defeated by the Austrians at Verona and Magnano. The
Rastatt congress dissolves. Murder of the French envoys. SuvarofE defeats Moreau at
Cassano. The allies enter Milan. Bonaparte driven off from siege of Acre by Sir Sidney
Smith and returns to Egypt. Macdonald abandons Naples and is defeated by SuvarofE
on the Trebbia. Joubert defeated and slain by SuvarofE at Novi. Conflict of Directory
and councils, 30th Prairial (June 18th). Critical position of the Directory and growing
sentiment for Bonaparte. Lucien Bonaparte heads the opposition. Talleyrand retires
from the office of foreign affairs. Terrible massacre of the French party in Naples by
Cardinal Ruffo. Bonaparte defeats a Turkish Army at Abukir. Bonaparte returns to
France. Mass^na defeats Korsakoff, at Zurich. The duke of York, after several
defeats by General Brune in Holland, is forced to surrender at Alkmaar. French gar-
rison at Rome surrenders. Bonaparte prepares to assume the dictatorship. Coup d'etat
of the 18th and 19th Brumaire (November 9th and 10th). The Directory suppressed and
replaced by the three consuls — Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Roger Duces. A commission is
appointed to revise the constitution.
H. w. — VOL. xm. s
258 THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
The Consulate (1799-1804)
The Austrians capture Ancona and Coni. New constitution (year VIII) adopted Decem-
ber 13th. It provides for three consuls, elected for ten years : Bonaparte, first consul ;
CambacerSs, second ; and Lebrun, third. First consul has aU the power. Ckjunoil of
state, tribunate, and senate established.
1800 Treaty of Lugon with the Vendeans. Battle of Heliopolis in Egypt ; Kleber, after
making treaty to evacuate Egypt, defeats the Turks and re-establishes French dominion.
Austrians defeat Massena at Voltri. Brilliant campaign of Moreau in Bavaria : victories
of Engen, Messkirch, and Biberach. Capture of Nice by Melas. Bonaparte crosses the
Alps and restores the Cisalpine Republic. Massena, forced to surrender Genoa, joins
Bonaparte. Melas is checked at Montebello and totally defeated at Marengo. Armis-
tice of Alessandria. Assassination of Kleber in Egypt. Menou takes command. Moreau
enters Munich ; the armistice stops his operations. The French surrender Malta to the
British. Bonaparte renews treaty with the United States and ends the differences,
which have resulted only in a few sea fights. Austria, instigated by Great Britain,
renews the war. Moreau wins the brilliant victory of Hohenlinden, takes Salzburg, and
wins on the Traun. In Italy, Brune forces the Austrians across the Adige. The French
seize Tuscany, and Murat drives the Neapolitans from the papal states. Armistice of
Steyr with Austria. Attempt to kUl Bonaparte.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
1801 Peace of LunSville with Austria. Formation of the kingdom of Etruria. Naples makes
peace with France. The English defeat Menou at Aboukir. Concordat with the pope.
Cairo surrenders to the English. The French sign a treaty and evacuate Egypt. Peace
made with Portugal, Russia, and Turkey.
1802 Bonaparte makes preparations for a descent on England. His plans are stopped by the
Peace of Amiens. England recognises France's continental acquisitions and the republics,
and restores the French colonies. Bonaparte president of the Italian Republic. Bona-
parte made consul for life. The concordat adopted. The Legion of Honour established.
Constitution of the year X, strengthening Bonaparte's position, adopted. Piedmont
annexed to France. Bonaparte sends an army to Switzerland ; also one to Haiti. Cap-
ture of Toussaint Louverture.
1803 England fails to carry out provision of the Peace of Amiens for turning Malta over to
the knights of St. John. Bonaparte demands this restitution, and England replies by
seizing French and Batavian ships. Rupture of peace with England. England declares
war. Interdiction of English merchandise. Bonaparte plans to invade England.
A British fleet captures St. Lucia, Tobago, St. Pierre, and Miquelon. Hanover sur-
renders to General Mortier. Louisiana sold to the United States. The blacks drive the
French from Haiti, and General Bochambeau is captured by the British.
1804 Admiral Linois attacks the British East India fleet but is defeated. Conspiracy of Piche-
gru, Cadoudal, and Moreau against Bonaparte's life discovered. The duke d'Enghien
abducted from Baden and shot. Adoption of the Code Napoleon. Bonaparte has him-
self proclaimed emperor as Napoleon I, May 18th.
THE FIRST EMPIRE (1804^1814)
The people ratify the establishment of the new dynasty by overwhelming majority. Coro-
nation of Napoleon and Josephine by the pope.
1805 Third coalition against France formed by England, Russia, and Sweden. Failure of
French and Spanish fleet to take Dominica. 'The Italian Republic made into a kingdom
and Napoleon crowned king at Milan. The Ligurian Republic annexed to France.
Napoleon, at Boulogne, plans to invade England. The coalition joined by Austria.
Napoleon enters Germany and defeats General Mack at Wertingen, Giinzburg, and
Elchingen. Augsburg and Munich taken by the French. Ukn surrenders to Ney.
Nelson wins at Trafalgar. Napoleon enters Vienna ; wins at AusterUtz. Armistice
concluded. Treaty of Pressburg.
1806 The Gregorian calendar restored in France. Napoleon puts Joseph Bonaparte on the
throne of Naples and makes Louis Bonaparte king of Holland. He forms the imperial
princes into the Confederation of the Rhine and maJkes himself its protector, which puts
an end to the empiiv/ of Charlemagne. Fourth Coalition between Russia, Prussia,
England and Sweden Napoleon defeats Prussia at Schleiz, AuerstSdt, and Jena, he
CHEONOLOGICAL STJMMARY 259
outers Berlin. Conquest of Prussia completed. Napoleon issues decree for the conti-
nental blockade. He defeats the Russian army at Czarnovo, Golymin, Soldau, and
Pultusk.
1807 The tribunate suspended. Surrender of Breslau to the French. Bernadotte defeats the
Russians at Mohrungen, and Napoleon wins an indecisive victory at Eylau. Napoleon
defeats the Russians at Friedland and occupies Konigsberg. Treaty of Tilsit with the
emperor Alexander. Hesse-Cassel and adjacent provinces made into kingdom of West-
phalia for Jerome Bonaparte ; the Polish provinces of Prussia are made into the duchy
of Warsaw and given to the king of Saxony. Both form part of the Confederation of
the Rhine. Alexander enters Napoleon's continental system. The Peninsular War
begins. The Portuguese court flees, and General Junot occupies Lisbon.
1808 Murat invades Spain and occupies Madrid. The royal family of Spain meet Napoleon at
Bayonne and resign their rights. Napoleon makes Joseph Bonaparte king of Spain,
and puts Murat on the throne of Naples. The inhabitants of Madrid revolt, and are
subdued with great slaughter. The whole of Spain rises. England agrees to assist.
Lord Collingwood captures the French fleet ofi Cadiz. General Bessieres wins at
Medina del Rio Seco. Joseph enters Madrid. The French are defeated at Saragossa
and Valencia, and General Dupont surrenders to the Spaniards at Baylen. Joseph
leaves Madrid. Sir Arthur Wellesley arrives in Spain with an army and defeats Junot
at Vimeiro. Portugal lost to the French by the capitulation of Cintra. Interview of
Napoleon and Alexander at Erfurt, where the terms of Tilsit are renewed. Napo-
leon arrives in Spain, wins victories at Burgos, Espinosa, and Tudela, and enters-
Madrid.
1809 General Soult drives the British from Salamanca and defeats them at Corunna. Successes
of General Gouvion-Saint-Cyr in Catalonia. The English seize Martinique. Joseph
Bonaparte returns to Madrid, Napoleon to Paris. Capture of Ferrol by Soult. Sur-
render of Saragossa to the French. Failure of Soult's expedition to Portugal, although,
he gains Oporto. The French fleet destroyed in the Basque Roads. Austria renews-
the war and forms the Fifth Coalition with England and Germany. Napoleon defeats;
the Austrians at Abendsberg, Landshut, Eckmilhl, Ratisbon, Vienna, Aspem, and Ess-
hng. The pope excommunicates Napoleon, who carries him off a prisoner to Savona.
Great victory of Wagram, which ruins for a time the military power of Austria-
Armistice concluded at Znaim. Joseph and Soult defeat the Anglo-Spaniards at Tala-
vera. The English seize Flushing, threaten Antwerp, and capture the Ionian Islands.
Peace of Vienna. Cordova and Seville surrender. Napoleon divorces Josephine.
1810 The English capture Guadeloupe, the Isle of Bourbon (Reunion), and Mauritius. The
papal states are added to France. Napoleon marries the archduchess Marie Louise of
Austria. General Victor besieges Cadiz ; Suchet captures Lerida. Dutch Brabant and
Zealand are annexed to France. The king of Holland abdicates, and the country is
added to the French Empire. MassSna captures Almeida, but is defeated by WeUingtom
at Busaco, and the latter holds the lines of Torres Vedras. Ney captures Ciudad
Rodrigo. Mass^na retreats from Santarem. The Hanseatic towns are united to France,
Napoleon seizes the duchy of Oldenburg.
1811 Capture of Tortosa by Suchet, and Olivenza and Badajoz by Soult. The French defeated
at Barrosa. Oldenburg united to France, causing rupture with Russia. Birth of a son to
Napoleon. Wellington defeats Massena at Fuentes de Onoro and captures Almeida.
Defeat of Soult at Albuera.
1813 Capture of Valencia by Suchet. Wellington recaptures Badajoz. War declared on Rus-
sia. Formation of the Sixth Coalition between England, Russia, and Sweden. Wel-
lington wins at Salamanca, and enters Madrid. Napoleon begins his march to Russia.
He wins battles of Smolensk and Borodino. Arrives at Moscow. The city burned.
Retreat from Moscow begins. Battle of Malojaroslavetz. The Beresina is crossed with
immense loss. Napoleon reaches Vilna with the wreck of his army. He gives com-
mand to Murat and returns to Paris. Failure of Malet's conspiracy. The French re-
occupy Madrid.
1813 The French army reaches Berlin. Napoleon defeats the Russians and Prussians at Llit-
zen, Bautzen, and Hochkirchen. Wellington defeats Joseph at Vitoria. The French
retreat to the Pyrenees. Wellington enters France. Surrender of Pamplona. Nego-
tiations at Dresden. Austria declares war on France. Macdonald defeated on the Katz-
bach and Oudinot at Grossbeeren. Napoleon defeats the allies at Dresden, but loses at
Leipsic, "one of the decisive battles of the world's history." French domination of
Europe is ruined and all the imperial creations come to an end. Napoleon makes treaty
with Spain and liberates Ferdinand VII. The Austrian army enters France.
1814 Bliicher enters France. Napoleon restores the pope to Rome. Wellington defeats Soult
at Orthez. The British repulsed at Bergen-op-Zoom. Combats follow almost daily.
The English enter Bordeaux, where Louis XVIII is proclaimed king. The allies march
on Paris and compel surrender. Napoleon deposed by the senate. He abdicates at
Fontainebleaji on behalf of his son Napoleon II; then abdicates completely and re-
tires to Elba.
260 THE HISTORY OF FEAISTCE
THE FIRST BOURBON RESTORATION" (1814-1815)
1814 Louis XVm elected king ; in ignorance of this, Wellington defeats Sonlt at Tonlonse
(April lOtli). Peninsular War ends. Louis promulgates a constitution (eharte) em-
bodying principles of 1789. First Peace of Paris (May 30th) : boundaries settled as in
1793. Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia (the Pentarchy), with
Spain, Portugal, and Sweden, sign Act of the Congress of Vienna, leaving Belgimn to
France, recognising the Netherlands, and creating the German Confederation.
The Swndred Days (1815)
1815 Dissensions at Vienna and French discontent with the Bourbons encourage Napoleon to
return from Elba. Forced march to Paris ; Ney and the army join him. International
proclamation against Napoleon. Louis XVIII flees. All Europe, except Sweden, allied
against Napoleon. Murat defeated at Tolentino (May 3rd). Ferdinand restored as
king of Naples. Bliicher defeated at Liguy, and Ney defeated at Qnatre-Bras (June
16th). Wellington, with British, Dutch, and German troops, and the help of Bliicher,
defeats Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo (June 18th). Napoleon goes to Paris,
abdicates (June 22nd), and flees to Rochefort. Commission of government (FouchS,
president) ; Napoleon II proclaimed (June 23rd),
THE SECOND BOURBON RESTORATION (1815-1830)
1815 Allies capture Paris (July 7th). Commission dissolves. Iiouis XVXll restored (July
8th). Talleyrand, premier. Napoleon surrenders (July 15th) ; Murat taken and shot
(October 13th); Ney escapes — is recaptured and executed (December 7th). Duke de
Richelieu, premier. Second Peace of Paris (November 20th) ; French boundaries of
1790 re-established. Revolutionaries executed (White Terror). Napoleon exiled to
St. Helena (October).
1816 Law of Amnesty : the Bonapartes excluded from France forever (January 12th).
Cha/mhre introuvdble dissolved by Louis.
1818 The army of occupation withdraws. DessoUes, premier. The doctrinaires, led by Guizot,
lay foundation of modern journalism.
1819 Decazes, premier.
1820 Duke de Richelieu, premier. Assassination of the duke de Berri, and the birth of the
duke de Bordeaux (Comte de Chambord) excite the ultra-royalists. Censorship revived,
1821 Villele, premier. Napoleon dies at St. Helena.
1822 Champollion deciphers hieroglyphics.
1823 France intervenes in Spain. Cadiz capitulates, and Ferdinand VH is liberated.
1824 Louis XVni dies. Charles X elected king.
1827 National guard disbanded. Allies defeat Ibrahim at naval battle of Navarino ; French
troops land in Greece. Attack on Algiers. New peers created. Election riots in Paris.
1838 Martignac ministry (moderate). Beranger imprisoned for political songs.
1829 Polignac (ultral-royalist), premier.
1830 Mignet and Thiers (liberals) found Le National: their presses destroyed by the populace.
Modification of electorial law. Liberty of the press curtailed. Revolution of July ;
three days' fighting (27th-29th). Charles abdicates.
HOUSE OF ORLEANS (1830-1848)
1830 Paris bourgeoisie elect Louis Philippe I. Great liberal movement : Laffitte, premier ;
Soult, minister of war ; Guizot, minister of the interior. Polignac and others im-
prisoned. Belgian revolt. Capture of Algiers following an outrage upon the French
ambassador. Fortifications of Paris begun.
1831 Kingdom of Belgium created. Casimir Perier, premier, Guizot organises public educa-
tion. Hereditary peerage abolished.
1832 Conspiracy of the rue des Prouvaires. Casimir Perier dies of cholera, then raging In
Paris. Soult, premier. Death of Napoleon II (duke of Reichstadt).
1834 Death of La Fayette (May 26th). Unstable ministries of Gerard, duke de Bassano
(Maret) and Mortier, premiers. Duchess de Berri sent to Palermo.
1835 Duke de Broglie, premier. Pieschi's attempt on the king's life.
1836 Thiers, premier. Bonapartist plot at Strasburg. Mold, premier (twice recalled). Death
of Charles X.
1839 Soult, premier.
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMAEY 261
1840 Funeral of Napoleon I at Paris. France and the powers interfere in Egypt. Thiers re-
signs ; Soult succeeds with Guizot. Bonapartist plot unsuccessful at Boulogne ; Louis
Napoleon imprisoned for life. Vote of 140,000,000 francs to fortify Paris. Nossi-B6
acquired.
1841 Duke of Orleans killed. Queen Victoria visits the king.
1842 Marquesas islands annexed.
1843 Extradition treaty with England. Mayotte acquired.
1844 War with Morocco (May-September). Louis Philippe visits Queen Victoria. Tahiti made
a French protectorate.
1845 Boundaries of Algeria and Morocco regulated.
1846 Louis Napoleon escapes from prison. Marriages unite French and Spanish royal families.
Paris fortifications finished.
1847 Guizot, premier. Jerome Bonaparte returns from thirty-two years' exUe. Abdul-Kadir
surrenders.
1848 Guizot is impeached and resigns ; Thiers recalled. February revolution in Paris sup-
pressed by Cavaignac as military dictator. Louis PhUippe abdicates.
THE SECOND REPUBLIC (1848-1852)
1848 The Second Republic established. Louis Philippe and his family banished in perpetuity,
Cavaignac executive chief (June-December). Iiouis Napoleon, presidjeut. Odilou
Barrot, premier. The " red republicans " ; Paris barricaded ; archbishop of Paris
killed ; loss of life and property. New constitution. Death of Chateaubriand.
1849 Aftertwomonths' siege, French troops capture Rome; Roman republic abolished. Rouher,
premier, and constant ministerial changes.
1850 Death of Louis Philippe. First cable laid between England and France (used Novem-
ber, 1851).
1851 Louis Napoleon elected president for ten years {coup d'itat). Thiers, Cavaignac, and
others arrested. Bloodshed in Paris (December.)
RESTORATION OF THE EMPIRE (1852-1871)
1852 Louis Napoleon is proclaimed emperor as Napoleon III.
1858 The emperor marries Eugenie de Montijo (born August 5th, 1826). Bread riots (Septem-
ber). Attempt to assassinate the emperor. Credit fancier established.
1854 Crimean War : French and English alliance against Russia to keep Turkey intact.
Odessa bombarded. Battle of the Alma. Fifty thousand allies land in the Crimea and
besiege Sebastopol. Battle of Balaklava. Allies victorious at Inkerman.
1855 The French, under Pelissier, storm the Malakoff. Allies enter Sebastopol. Emperor
and empress visit London. Exhibition at Paris. Queen Victoria visits Paris. Obok,
in French Somaliland, purchased.
1856 Crimean War ends. Peace of Paris (March 30th): powers agree to abolish privateering
and define contraband of war ; Black Sea and Danube neutralised.
1857 French and English expedition against China. Allies occupy Canton. French and
Russian emperors meet at Stuttgart. Mont Cenis tunnel commenced.
1858 Orsiui executed for attempting to kill the emperor. Treaty of Tientsin: Chinese ports
opened, and European embassies established at Peking.
1859 War of France an-l Sardinia against Austria ; victories of Magenta and Solferino ; Peace
of Villafranca ; Lombardy ceded to Napoleon III and subsequently to Sardinia.
1860 Savoy and Nice surrendered to France. Syrian expedition. Chinese infractions of the
treaty ; French and English forces land at Shanghai ; battle of Palikao ; Peace of
Peking. Emperor sees Cobden and adopts free trade. Commercial treaty with Eng-
land. Bois de Boulogne opened. Colonial extension in West Africa.
1861 Part of Monaco purchased. The Mexican War undertaken by France, England, and
Spain, at first to enforce treaty obligations. Allies occupy Vera Cruz and San Juan de
UMa. Pinal obsequies of Napoleon L
1862 Treaty of La Soledad : Mexico agrees to pay arrears, but does not do so ; England and
Spain withdraw. Napoleon III, expecting the United States to be dismembered, plans
a Mexican monarchy. After a repulse at Puebla, French reinforcements arrive.
French victories in Cochin China, where six provinces are ceded.
1863 Spanish frontier regulated. Elections reveal anti-Napoleonic feelings, and Thiers organ-
ises a new opposition. Puebla captured by the French under Porey ; the archduke
Maximilian of Austria becomes emperor of Mexico. Victor Duruy as minister of
education. Cambodia a French protectorate.
1864 Mexican republicans assail the new monarchy, and. the Civil War being over, the United
262 THE HISTOEY OP FKANCB
States demands that Napoleon withdraw his troops. Treaty with Italy for French
troops to protect the holy see for two years.
1865 Bismarck visits Napoleon. Papal encyclical forbidden. Treaty with Sweden.
1866 Austro-Prussian War breaks out ; France, England, and Russia proffer mediation.
Austria accepts, and cedes Venetia to Napoleon III ; Prussia and Italy object, but sign
truce ; Venetia ceded to Italy. French troops leave Rome on a promise of papal
security.
1867 France and Germany on verge of war, until the neutrality of Luxemburg is guaranteed
by the great powers. Italian volunteers attack papal territory; the French defeat them.
Meetings of French and Austrian emperors. French troops withdraw from Mexico ;
Maximilian, fighting alone, is captured, tried, and shot. Attempted assassination of
the Czar while visiting Paris. Oparo annexed. International exhibition, Paris.
1868 Bourbons deposed in Spain ; Queen Isabella flees to France ; a German prince accepts the
throne. New army organised. Thiers' speeches on military and financial ineflSciency.
Newspapers prosecuted ; and a new law allows greater liberty of publication. Roche-
fort's La Lamterne suppressed ; Rochef ort flees.
1869 Opening of the Suez Canal, completed by Ferdinand de Lesseps. Growing feeling against
Napoleon in. The "vice-emperor," Rouher, dismissed ; election riots (June). French
Atlantic cable laid (July).
1870 Formation of a moderate liberal ministry by Ollivier. Pierre Bonaparte is concerned in
the death of Victor Noir, a radical journalist, but is acquitted. Excitement -and riots
in Paris. Rochefort imprisoned for his newspaper articles. A new liberal constitu-
tion approved by a plebiscite ; Paris and the army dissatisfled. War declared with
Germany for the purpose (among others disputed) of establishing leg frontiires naturdles,
to check the growth of Prussia, and to protest against a German dynasty in Spain.
The minority under Thiers oppose the war. The Germans, 750,000 strong, advance to
the boundary. The French repulse a German battalion at SaarbrOcken ; MacMahon
defeated at W6rth ; Bazaine takes command. French defeats at Gravelotte and St.
Privat ; retreat to Metz, which is besieged. Strasburg also besieged. Concentration of
140,000 French troops at Sedan, where 250,000 Germans surround them. Battle of Sedan
(September 1st) ; entire French army capitulates, with Napoleon III.
THE THIRD REPUBLIC (1870)
1870 News of the defeats of the army causes excitement in Paris ; a commission of government
and national defence is formed, and Thiers orders a constituent assembly ; Gambetta
and other liberals proclaim the deposition of Napoleon III, and the establishment of the
Third Republic. Provisional "government of defence." The senate adheres to the
emperor. The Germans advance on Paris ; siege commences (September 19th). Capitu-
lation of Strasburg and of Metz. Germans overrun France. Sorties from Paris.
Battle of Orleans. Bombardment of Paris begins (December 27th). The republic recog-
nised by the United States and Spain (September 8th) ; by Switzerland (September 9th).
Delegated government at Tours. " Red repubUcan" troubles at Lyons. Gambette
escapes from Paris in a balloon, and joins the government at Tours. Agitation for the
Paris commune commences. The Tours government moves to Bordeaux.
1871 Battle of Le Mans ; Belfort ; last great sortie from Paris by Trochu and 100,000 men. Bat-
tle of St. Quentin. Paris capitulates ; the armistice disavowed by Gambetta at Tours ;
he resigns. National assembly at Bordeaux elects Thiers, chief of executive ; he nego-
tiates with Bismarck the preliminaries of the Peace of Versailles : France to cede
Alsace and Lorraine, and to pay 5,000,000,000 francs in three years, German troops to
occupy territory as security. Peace signed at Frankfort. Insurrection in Paris. Paris
elections lead to the proclamation of the commune. Hostilities begin between the
government and the commune. Reign of terror in Paris. Definitive peace signed at
Frankfort. MacMahon's troops enter Paris. Seven days' bloodshed. Gradual resto-
ration of Paris. Thiers nominated president. Many communists, including women
(pStroleuses), executed. Rociiefort sentenced to life imprisonment. Mont Cenis tunnel
opened. Algerian insurrection ends.
1872 The Right declares for constitutional monarchy. Convention with Germany for speedier
evacuation. A new 6i per cent, loan of 120,000,000 francs oversubscribed twelve-fold.
,1873 Napoleon III dies. Bonapartist manifesto. 'Thiers resigns on an adverse vote. Mac-
Mahon succeeds as president. Shah of Persia visits Paris. Anglo-French treaty
of 1860 renewed till 1877. The last German quits French territory. Comte de Cham-
bord declares for the "White Flag." The Septennate established. Ministry resigns.
Duke de Broglie, premier.
1874 New electoral law, disenfranchising three million voters. Rochefort escapes from New
Caledonia. The ministry, defeated on the electoral law, is reorganised by Oissey with
out Broglie. Republican and Bonapartist disputes ; a prolonged endeavour to establish
the monarchy. Manifesto by Comte de Chambord as " Henry V,"
CHEONOLOGICAL SUMMAEY «««
1875 Wallon's amendment establishes the constitution. New Senate Act. New ministry
under Buffet. Qambetta defends the new constitution. New Press law.
1876 Dafaure's ministry. Senate meets. Queen Victoria visits Paris. Jules Simon's ministry.
1877 Broglie, premier. Gambetta carries resolution for parliamentary government. Gambetta
and Murat convicted for a speech against MacMahou. Defeat of Bonapartists at general
election.
1878 The Limoges afEair ; suspected plan for a coup d'etat. International exhibition.
1879 MacMahou resigns. F. P. Jules Grevy elected president by the new republican senate.
Dufaure's resignation ; Waddington succeeds. Ferry's attempt to check clericalism.
The prince imperial, Napoleon, only child of Napoleon III, killed in Zululand.
1880 Decree to abolish Jesuit and other orders. Tahiti made a colony. Gallieni's Niger expe-
dition. Jules Ferry, premier.
1881 New loan of 40,000,000 francs applied for thirty-fold. Colonisation of West Africa.
French engineers commence Panama Canal. Tunis a protectorate ; Sfax taken. Free
education. Gambetta, premier. Revolt in New Caledonia suppressed.
1882 Gambetta resigns ; Freycinet forms a ministry. Anglo-French treaty renewed. Compul-
sory education. Anglo-French ultimatum to Egypt. New ministry under Duclerc.
Miners' disturbances. Anarchist and dynamite scares. Kongo treaty.
1883 Prince Victor Napoleon arrested after a manifesto. Prince Krapotkin and anarchists
sentenced. Duclerc's ministry reconstructed by FalliSres ; succeeded soon after by Jules
Ferry's Gambettist ministry. Princes expelled from army. French defeatiat Tong-
king ; Mojanga (Madagascar) bombarded ; Tamatave captured. Tongking and Annam
protectorate. King of Spain hooted at Paris ; official apology. Dispute with China
as to Tongking ; Sontay taken.
1884 Industrial crisis in Paris. Constitution revised. Trades-unions legalised. Tongking
acquired by conquest ; Annam a protectorate. Provisional peace with China ; attack
on Fuhchow.
1885 Ferry resigns ; succeeded by Brisson. Peace with China. Grevy re-elected president
(December 28th).
1886 Freycinet's new ministry includes Boulanger. Bourbon and Bonapartist families expelled
from France. Secular education ordered. Comoro Islands a protectorate. The Goblet
ministry.
1887 Crown jewels sold. Eouvier forms a moderate ministry, whereupon General Boulanger,
ex- war minister, issues a monitory order to the army. Bourbon and Bonapartist mani-
festo. Boulanger arrested in connection with charges against General Caffarel. Suez
Canal neutralised and New Hebrides evacuated. Gr^vy succeeded as president by
Caruot. 'Tirard forms a ministry ; attempt to murder Ferry. Somaliland delimited ;
WaUis archipelago a protectorate. Boulanger secretly allied with revolutionaries.
1888 Panama Lottery Act. General Boulanger deprived of his command for insubordination ;
Floquet succeeds Tirard, and Boulanger begins to form a party. Duel between Bou-
langer and Floquet ; both wounded. Dispute vrith Italy as to Massowah. League of
the Rose (monarchical) formed. Boulangist demonstrations ; the League of Patriots.
Leeward Islands annexed.
1889 Floquet resigns ; Tirard forms a mixed ministry. The League of Patriots, becoming
Boulangist, is suppressed. Boulanger flees to Brussels. Universal exhibition and
Eiffel Tower opened. New military service law. Anniversary of the fall of the Bastille
celebrated. Boulanger sentenced to deportation.
1890 Three Boulangist deputies expelled from the chamber. Duke of Orleans, offering to
serve in the army, is arrested ; afterwards pardoned and expelled from France. Frey-
cinet succeeds Tirard. War with Dahomey ; peace in October. Anglo-French agree-
ment ; recognition of the French protectorate over Madagascar, of the British over
Zanzibar. Prelates declare their adhesion to the republic, with the papal approval.
French Guinea detached from Senegal.
1891 Royalist demonstration. Empress Frederick visits Paris on behalf of the Berlin Interna-
tional Exhibition of Fine Arts. Protectionist tariff adopted. Collapse of the Panama
Canal scheme. Navy visited by the czar at Kronstadt and by Queen Victoria at Ports-
mouth. Boulanger commits suicide.
1892 "Minimum" tariffs begin with England; " maximum " tariffs with Spain, Portugal,
Italy, Rumania, and United States. Papal encyclical enjoining submission to the
republic. Rouvier, Bourgeois, and Loubet successively form ministries. Expedition
against Dahomey, which is later acquired. The Rochefoucauld declaration of submis-
sion to the pope in matters of faith, but not in matters of state. Centenary of the first
republic celebrated. Panama Canal inquiry. De Lesseps and others prosecuted ; the
Loubet ministry reconstructed by Ribot.
1893 Tariff dispute with Swiss Republic. Panama disclosures ; De Lesseps sentenced.
Dupuy forms a new ministry. Siamese dispute and treaty. Expedition to Mada-
fascar. Strike of 42,000 miners. Russian fleet visits Toulon. J. P. P. Casimir-
'Irier's cabinet. Anarchist outrages. Timbuktu occupied ; collision with British
troops.
364
THE HISTOEY OF FEANCE
1894 Corn duty increases. Colonial ministry created. Financial deficit, 130,000,000 franos,
met by inoreased taxes, etc. Joan of Arc celebration. Dupuy forms new moderate
cabinet. Assassination of President Carnot, June 24th, Casimir-Ferier elected pres-
ident (June 27tli). Dreyfus arrested ; convicted of treason.
1895 Dreyfus degraded. Dupuy and J. P. P. Casimir-Perier resign. Feliz Faure elected
president. Eibot forms a ministry. Amnesty : Bochefort returns after six years' exile.
Madagascar placed under the colonial oflBce. New radical cabinet under Bourgeois.
Indo-China delimited. '
t896 Queen Victoria visits the president. Ministry retain oflBce against adverse vote of senate.
Bourgeois resigns. Meline forms a moderate cabinet with Hanotaux, foreign minister.
Prince Henry of Orleans returns from Abyssinia and is wounded in a duel by the count
of Turin. Czar and czarina visit France. Government inquiry into Dreyfus case.
Madagascar declared a colony. Captain Marchand starts on a second expedition to reach
the Nile.
1897 Intervention between Turkey and Greece (May 11th). Bazaar fire, Paris (May 4th). Pres-
ident Faure visits the czar. Franco-Eussian alliance confirmed. Dreyfus bordereau
published. Debate on Dreyfus affair.
1898 New Panama Canal Company organised. Esterhazy tried for treason ; acquitted. Zola's
accusation in the Dreyfus case. Zola tried ; sentenced for defamation. Prosecution
annulled. Brisson forms a cabinet. Marchand reaches Fashoda ; meets the sirdar
Kitchener. Zola retried ; found guilty. Commercial treaty and Niger convention with
England. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry admits forgery of a Dreyfus document and commits
suicide. Dreyfus case remitted to court of cassation. Dupuy's ministry of republican
concentration. Fashoda evacuated.
1899 English agreement as to the Sudan. President Faure dies. Ijoubet succeeds as presi-
dent. Dispute with sultan of Oman. France leaves Nile Valley ; but gains in the
Sudan. Marchand welcomed in Paris. New Dreyfus court-martial ordered. Waldeck-
Eousseau (" cabinet of republican defence") succeeds Dupuy as premier. Dreyfus re-
tried at Eennes ; found guilty; pardoned. "Siege" of M. Guirin. Deroulede sen-
tenced for conspiracy. Madame Curie discovers radium.
1900 Paris exhibition ; 47,000,000 visitors. Annulment of all criminal cases arising out of the
Dreyfus case. Allies (6,400 French troops) at Peking. The czar decorates the presi-
dent. Extension of Farther India. Dreyfus amnesty paragraph passed.
1901 The Association Bill passed checking the educational activities of the religious orders.
Bussian sovereigns visit France, but do not go to Paris. Of 16,468 religious establish-
ments, 8,800 apply for registration ; many schools emigrate and the others are treated
with progressive severity. Santos Dumont takes his balloon around the Eiffel Tower.
Rupture with the Porte ; French sailors seize custom-house at Mytilene ; differences
arranged. New loan of 265,000,000 francs subscribed for twenty-fold. Troubles in
Algeria. Morocco frontier delimited.
1902 Loubet visits Eussia. Waldeck-Eousseau resigns ; Combes succeeds. Arbitration with
Venezuela. Decrees against unauthorised religious communities. Deputies approve
energetic enforcement of associations law.
1903 Eefusal to authorise preaching orders. King Edward VII visits France. Arbitration
treaties with England and Italy.
1804 Religious orders prohibited from teaching.
1905 Pall of the Combes ministry. Quarrel with Germany over Morocco. Law passed separ-
ating church and state.
1906 Election of Clement Fallierea as president. Intcinatioual conference at Algeciras. Fall
of the Rouvier ministry. New ministry under M. Jean Sarrien.
1907 Disturbances in Morocco. Revolt of the wine-growers. Entente with Japan. Dreyfus
reinstated.
PART XVII
THE HISTORY OF THE
NETHERLANDS
BASED CHIBFLY UPON THB FOLLOWING AUTHOKITIES
EDMONDO DE AMICIS, A. DE BARANTE, J. BEKA, GUIDO BENTIVOGLIO, P. J.
BLOK, P. BOR, QIRARD BRANDT, A. M. CERISIER, C. M. DA VIES, SIR JOHN
FROISSART, R. FRUIN, L. P. GACHARD, T. C. GRATTAN, HUGO GROTIUS
(OR DE GROOT), P. C. HOOPT, TH. JUSTE, L. LECLSrE, KERVIJN
DE LETTENHOVE, E. VAN METEREN, JACOB DE MEYER, H. G. MOKE, JOHN
LOTHROP MOTLEY, H. PIRENNE, C. GROEN VAN PRINSTERER, GULIELMUS
PROCURATOR, EVERHARD VAN RBYD, A. G. B. SCHAYES, J. C. F. VON
SCHILLER, MELIS STOKE, FAMIANUS STRADA, H. A. TAINE, H.
TIEDEMANN, JAN WAGENAAR, K. TH. W^ENZELBURGER.
WITH ADDITIONAL CITATIONS FROM
A. ALISON, AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, EDWARD ARMSTRONG, BADAVARO,
BARLANDUS (BAARLANDT), ALEXANDRE BERTRAND, LOUIS BONAPARTE,
PIERRE DE BRANT6mE, J. FRANCK BRIGHT, LORD BROOKE, BRUCE,
BUCHELIUS, J. W. BURGON, JULIUS C^SAR, PHILIP DE COMINES,
LUIS CABRERA DE CORDOVA, WM. COXE, G. DOTTIN, DUPLESSIS-
MORNAY, RENON DE FRANCE, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, EUGENE
FROMENTIN, JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, ANGELO GALLUCCI, S. R. GARDINER,
P. A. F. GiJRARD, JAN GERBRANDSZOON (JOHN OF LEYDEN), EDMUND
GOSSE, J. R. GREEN, F. P. G. GUIZOT, F. VAN DER HAER, HENRY
HARSTENS, PONTUS HEUTERUS, W. J. HOFDYK, PIERRE JEANNIN,
DAVID KAY, G. W. KITCHIN, FRANZ VON LOHER, T. B.
MACAULAY, SIR J. MACKINTOSH, LORD MALMESBURY,
HENRI MARTIN, BERNARDINO DE MENDOZA, J. P. E.
MSRODE, J. MICHELET, ENGUERRAND DE MONSTRELET, V\riLHELM MULLER,
MATTHEW PARIS, PONTUS PAYEN, J. P. C. LE PETIT, MARQUIS DE POM-
PONNE, PROCOPIUS, A. RICHER, W. ROBERTSON, JAMES E. THOROLD
ROGERS, P. C. SCHLOSSER, ROBAULX DE SOUMOY, PETRUS SUF-
FRIDUS, CORNELIUS TACITUS, J. B. DE TASSIS, J. A. DE THOU,
DINGMAN VERSTEEG, GIOVANNI VILLANI, L. J. J. VAN DER
VYNCT, L. A. WARNKONIG, JACOB VAN WESENBEKE, SIR
RALPH WINWOOD, ALEXANDER YOUNG, ZOSIMUS.
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OP
THE NETHERLANDS
Bt John Lotheop Motley
(Prom his Rise of the Dutch Republic)
THE LAND
The northwestern corner of the vast plain which extends from the German
Ocean to the Ural Moimtains is occupied by the countries called the Nether-
lands. This small triangle, enclosed between France, Germany, and the sea,
is divided bj'^ the modern kingdoms of Belgium and Holland into two nearly
equal portions. Our earliest information concerning this territory is derived
from the Romans. Julius Csesarc has saved from oblivion the heroic savages
who fought against his legions in defence of their dismal homes with ferocious
but unfortunate patriotism; and the great poet of England, learning from the
conqueror's Commentaries the name of the boldest tribe, has kept the Nervii,
after almost twenty centuries, still fresh and familiar in our ears.
Tacitus,'^ too, has described with singular minuteness the struggle be-
tween the people of these regions and the power of Rome, overwhelming,
although tottering to its fall; and has, moreover, devoted several chapters of
his work upon Germany to a description of the most remarkable Teutonic
tribes of the Netherlands.
Geographically and ethnographically, the Low Countries belong both to
Gaul and to Germany. It is even doubtful to which of the two the Batavian
island, which is the core of the whole country, was reckoned by the Romans.
It is, however, most probable that all the land, with the exception of Fries-
land, was considered a part of Gaul. Three great rivers — the Rhine, the
Maas, and the Schelde — had deposited their slime for ages among the dunes
and sandbanks heaved up by the ocean around their mouths. A delta was
thus formed, habitable at last for man.^ It was by nature a wide morass, in
which oozy islands and savage forests were interspersed among lagoons and
shallows; a district lying partly below the level of the ocean at its higher tides,
subject to constant overflow from the rivers, and to frequent and terrible
inundations by the sea.
The Rhine, leaving at last the regions where its storied lapse, through so
many ages, has been consecrated alike by nature and art — by poetry and
eventful truth — flows reluctantly through the basalt portal of the Seven
Moimtains into the open fields which extend to the German Sea. After
entering this vast meadow, the stream divides itself into two branches, be-
coming thus the two-horned Rhine of Virgil, and holds in these two arms the
island of Batavia.
[' Napoleon, indeed, having conquered the Bhine, claimed its creature Holland as his ' ' by
right of devolution " — a different use of the word that Louis XIV employed in claiming the
Spanish Netherlands for his queen. Of Napoleon's claim, Thorold Rogers f says : ' ' One may dis-
pute the logic of the great captain, but his geology is incontestable. '^
S67
268 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELANDS
The Maas, taking its rise in the Vosges, pours itself through the Ardennes
Wood, pierces the rocky ridges upon the southeastern frontier of the Low
Countries, receives the Sambre in the midst of that picturesque anthracite
basin where now stands the city of Namiu-, and then moves toward the north,
through nearly the whole length of the country, till it mingles its waters with
the Rhine.
The Schelde, almost exclusively a Belgian river, after leaving its fountains
in Picardy, flows through the present provinces of Flanders and Hainault. In
Csesar's time it was suffocated before reaching the sea in quicksands and
thickets, which long afforded protection to the savage inhabitants against the
Roman arms, and which the slow process of nature and the untiring industry
of man have since converted into the archipelago of Zealand and South
Holland. These islands were unknown to the Romans.
Such were the rivers which, with their numerous tributaries, coursed
through the spongy land. Their frequent overflow, when forced back upon
their currents by the stormy sea, rendered the coimtry almost uninhabitable.
Here, within a half-submerged territory, a race of wretched ichthyophagi
dwelt upon terpen, or mounds, which they had raised, like beavers, above the
almost fluid soil. Here, at a later day, the same race chained the tyrant
Ocean and his mighty streams into subserviency, forcing them to fertilize,
to render commodious, to cover with a beneficent network of veins and
arteries, and to bind by watery highways with the furthest ends of the world,
a coimtry disinherited by nature of its rights. A region, outcast of ocean
and earth, wrested at last from both domains their richest treasures. A race,
engaged for generations in stubborn conflict with the angry elements, was
unconsciously educating itself for its great struggle with the still more savage
despotism of man.
The whole territory of the Netherlands was girt with forests. An exten-
sive belt of woodland skirted the seacoast, reaching beyond the mouths of
the Rhine. Along the outer edge of this barrier, the dunes cast up by the
sea were prevented by the close tangle of thickets from drifting further in-
ward, and thus formed a breastwork which time and art were to strengthen.
The groves of Haarlem and the Hague are relics of this ancient forest. The
Badahuenna Wood, horrid with Druidic sacrifices, extended along the eastern
line of the vanished Lake of Flevo. The vast Hercynian forest, nine days'
. journey in breadth, closed in the country on the German side, stretching from
the banks of the Rhine to the remote regions of the Dacians, in such vague
immensity (says the conqueror of the whole coimtry, Csesarc), that no German,
after travelling sixty days, had ever reached, or even heard of, its commence-
ment. On the south, the famous groves of Ardennes, haunted by faun and
satjT, embowered the country, and separated it from Celtic Gaul.
Thus inundated by mighty rivers, quaking beneath the level of the ocean,
belted about by hirsute forests, this low land, nether land, hollow land, or
Holland, seemed hardly deserving the arms of the all-accomplished Roman.
Yet foreign tyranny, from the earliest ages, has coveted this meagre territory
as lustfully as it has sought to wrest from their native possessors those lands
with the fatal gift of beauty for their dower; while the genius of liberty has
inspired as noble a resistance to oppression here as it ever aroused in Grecian
or Italian breasts.
THE EARLY PEOPLES
It can never be satisfactorily ascertained who were the aboriginal inhab-
itants. The record does not reach beyond Csesar's epoch, and he found the
INTEODUCTIO]Sr 269
territory on the left of the Rhine mainly tenanted by tribes of the Celtic
family. That large division of the Indo-European group which had already
overspread many portions of Asia Minor, Greece, Germany, the British
Islands, France, and Spain, had been long settled in Belgic Gatil, and consti-
tuted the bulk of its population. Checked in its westward movement by the
Atlantic, its current began to flow backwards towards its fountains, so that
the Gallic portion of the Netherland popiilation was derived from the original
race in its earlier wanderings and from 'the later and refluent tide coming out
of Celtic Gaul. The modem appellation of the Walloons points to the affinity
of their ancestors with the GaUic, Welsh, and Gaelic family.' The Belgse
were in many respects a superior race to most of their blood-allies. They
were, according to Caesar's testimony, the bravest of all the Celts. This may
be in part attributed to the presence of several German tribes, who, at this
period, had already forced their way across the Rhine, mingled their qualities
with the Belgic material, and lent an additional mettle to the Celtic blood.
The heart of the country was thus inhabited by a Gallic race, but the frontiers
had been taken possession of by Teutonic tribes.
When the Cimbri and their associates, about a century before our era,
made their memorable onslaught upon Rome, the early inhabitants of the
Rhine island of Batavia, who were probably Celts, joined in the expedition.^
A recent and tremendous inundation had swept away theii- miserable homes,
and even the trees of the forests, and had thus rendered them still more dis-
satisfied with their gloomy abodes. The island was deserted of its population.
At about the same period a civil dissension among the Chatti — a powerful
German race within the Hercynian forest — resulted in the expatriation of a
portion of the people. The exiles sought a new home in the empty Rhine
island, called it Bet-auw, or "good-meadow," and were themselves called,
thenceforward, Batavi, or Batavians.
These Batavians, according to Tacitus,"^ were the bravest of all the Ger-
mans. The Chatti, of whom they formed a portion, were a pre-eminently
warlike race. "Others go to battle," says the historian, "these go to war."
Their bodies were more hardy, their minds more vigorous, than those of other
tribes. Their young men cut neither hair nor beard till they had slain an
enemy. On the field of battle, in the midst of carnage and plunder, they,
for the first time, bared their faces. The cowardly and sluggish, only, re-
mained unshorn. They wore an iron ring, too, or shackle upon their necks
untU they had performed the same achievement, a symbol which they then
threw away, as the emblem of sloth. The Batavians were ever spoken of by
the Romans with entire respect. They conquered the Belgians, they forced
the free Frisians to pay tribute, but they called the Batavians their friends.^
The tax-gatherer never invaded their island. Honourable alliance united them
with the Romans. It was, however, the alliance of the giant and the dwarf.
The Roman gained glory and empire, the Batavian gained nothing but the
hardest blows. The Batavian cavalry became famous throughout the re-
public and the empire. They were the favourite troops of Caesar, and with
[' The remains found in the cairns, the Druidic altars of Waloheren, and names of places
such as Waloheren, Nimuegen, etc., are further evidence.]
P For fuller details of these and other Northern tribes, see the History of Rome, especially
vol. V, chapters 7, 8, 16, 22 and vol. VII, book 3, chapter 3.]
[" Zosimus-' indeed reckons Batavia as part of the Roman empire, but the testimony of a
Greek, ■writing in the fifth century, cannot be put in competition with that of Tacitus,"* who ■
expressly says that it was not tributary, and always speaks of it as an independent state. The ■
Greek author probably drew the conclusion from the presence of Batavian cohorts in the im-
perial army. — VAYisa.'' ]
270 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
reason, for it was their valour which turned the tide of battle at Pharsalia.
From the death of Julius down to the times of Vespasian, the Batavian legion
was the imperial body guard, the Batavian island the basis of operations in
the Roman wars with Gaul, Germany, and Britain.
Beyond the Batavians, upon the north, dwelt the great Frisian family,
occupying the regions between the Rhine and Ems. The Zuyder Zee and
the Dollart, both caused by the terrific immdations of the thirteenth century,
and not existing at this period, did not then interpose boundaries between
kindred tribes. All formed a homogeneous nation of pure German origin.
Thus, the population of the country was partly Celtic, partly German.
Of these two elements, dissimilar in their tendencies and always difficult to
blend, the Netherland people has ever been compounded. A certain fatality
of history has perpetually helped to separate still more widely these constitu-
ents, instead of detecting and stimulating the elective affinities which existed.
Religion, too, upon all great historical occasions, has acted as the most pow-
erful of dissolvents. Otherwise, had so many valuable and contrasted char-
acteristics been early fused into a whole, it would be difficult to show a race
more richly endowed by Nature for dominion and progress than the Belgo-
Germanic people.
Physically the two races resembled each other. Both were of vast stature.
The gigantic Gaul derided the Roman soldiers as a band of pigmies. The
German excited astonishment by his huge body and muscular limbs. Both
were fair, with fierce blue eyes, but the Celt had yellow hair floating over his
shoulders, and the German long locks of fiery red, which he even dyed with
■woad to heighten the favom-ite colour, and wore twisted into a war-knot upon
the top of his head.
"All the Gauls are of very high stature," says a soldier who fought imder
Julian (Ammianus Marcellinus /) . "They are white, golden-haired, terrible
In the fierceness of their eyes, greedy of quarrels, bragging and insolent. A
band of strangers could not resist one of them in a brawl, assisted by his
strong blue-eyed wife, especially when she begins, gnashing her teeth, her
neck swollen, brandishing her vast and snowy arms, and kicking with her
heels at the same time, to deliver her fisticuffs, like bolts from the twisted
strings of a catapult. The voices of many are threatening and formidable.
They are quick to anger, but quickly appeased. All are clean in their persons;
nor among them is ever seen any man or woman, as elsewhere, squalid in
ragged garments. At all ages they are apt for military service. The old
man goes forth to the fight with equal strength of breast, with limbs as hard-
ened by cold and assiduous labour, and as contemptuous of all dangers, as the
young. Not one of them, as in Italy is often the case, was ever known to
cut off his thimibs to avoid the service of Mars."
EARLY FORMS OF GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION
The polity of each race differed widely from that of the other. The gov-
ernment of both may be said to have been republican, but the Gallic tribes
were aristocracies, in which the influence of clanship was a predominant
feature; while the German system, although nominally regal, was in reality
democratic. In Gaul were two orders, the nobility and the priesthood, while
the people, says Csesar,c were all slaves. The knights or nobles were all
trained to arms. Each went forth to battle, followed by his dependents,
while a chief of all the clans was appointed to take command during the war.
The prince or chief governor was elected annually, but only by the nobles.
INTEODUCTION" 271
The people had no rights at all, and were glad to assign themselves as slaves
to any noble who was strong enough to protect them. In peace' the druids
exercised the main functions of government. They decided all controversies,
civil and criminal. To rebel against their decrees was punished by exclusion
from_ the sacrifices— a most terrible excommunication, through which the
criminal was cut off from all intercourse with his fellow creatures.
With the Germans the sovereignty resided in the great assembly of the
people. There were slaves, indeed, but in small mmaber, consisting either of
prisoners of war or of those imfortunates who had forfeited their liberty in
games of chance. Their chieftains, although called by the Romans princes
and_ kings, were, in reality, generals chosen by universal suffrage. All state
affairs were in the hands of this fierce democracy. The elected chieftains had
rather authority to persuade than power to command.
The Gauls were an agricultural people. They were not without many
arts of life. They had extensive flocks and herds, and they even exported
salted provisions as far as Rome. The truculent German {Ger-mann, Heer-
mann, "war-man,") considered carnage the only useful occupation, and
despised agriculture as enervating and ignoble. It was base, in his opinion,
to gain by sweat what was more easily acquired by blood. The Gauls built
towns and villages. The German built his solitary hut where inclination
prompted. Close neighborhood was not to his taste.
In their system of religion the two races were most widely contrasted.
The Gauls were a priest-ridden race. Their druids' were a dominant caste,
presiding even over civil affairs, while in religious matters their authority was
despotic. What were the principles of their wild theology will never be
thoroughly ascertained, but we know too much of its sanguinary rites. The
imagination shudders to penetrate those shaggy forests, ringing with the
death-shrieks of ten thousand human victims, and with the hideous hymns
chanted by smoke and blood-stained priests to the savage gods whom they
served.
The German, in his simplicity, had raised himself to a purer belief than
that of the sensuous Roman or the superstitious Gaul. He believed in a
single, supreme, almighty God, All-Vater or All-Father. This divinity was
too sublime to be incarnated or imaged, too infinite to be enclosed in temples
buUt with hands. Such is the Roman's testimony to the lofty conception
of the German. The fantastic intermixture of Roman mythology with the
gloomy but modified superstition of romanised Celts was not favourable to
the simple character of German theology. Within that little river territory,
amid those obscure morasses of the Rhine and Schelde, three great forms of
religion — the sanguinary superstition of the druid, the sensuous polytheism
of the Roman, the elevated but dimly groping creed of the German — stood
for centuries, face to face, until, having mutually debased and destroyed each
other, they all faded away in the pure light of Christianity.
[' The druids have been a source of much controversy. Their practice of human sacrifice
has been debated. G. Dottin" notes that "Sacrifices were, in their origin, human sacrifices."
In 94 B.C. the Roman senate forbade them and by 19 B.C. they vpould seem to have disappeared.
Alexander Bertrand * says : " It is impossible to deny, after a well-digested study of the texts,
that human sacrifices had been very popular before the Roman conquest and were in common
use in many parts of Gaul and Germany. It is certain that the druids not only tolerated but
authorised by their presence these sacrifices, though in Ireland, the most druidic country of all,
liturgic human sacrifice was unknown." He claims that human sacrifice antedated the druids
in Gaul and that they were not to blame for it. As for their functions Dottiu does not credit
them with civil authority, but sets them down as ' ' soothsayers, priests, professors, magicians,
and physicians." He doubts the frequently advanced theory tliat Celtic monasteries were an
outgrowth of druidic communities.J
272 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
Thus contrasted were Gaul and German in religious and political systems.
The difference was no less remarkable in their social characteristics. The
Gaul was singularly unchaste. The marriage state was almost imknown.
Many tribes lived in most revolting and iacestuous concubinage; brethren,
parents, and children having wives in common. The German was loyal as
the Celt was dissolute. Alone among barbarians, he contented himself with
a single wife, save that a few dignitaries, from motives of policy, were per-
mitted a larger number. On the marriage day the German offered presents
to his bride — not the bracelets and golden necldaces with which the Gaul
adorned his fair-haired concubine, but oxen and a bridled horse, a_ sword, a
shield, and a spear — symbols that thenceforward she was to share his labours
and to become a portion of himself.
They differed, too, in the honours paid to the dead. The funerals of the
Gauls were pompous. Both burned the corpse, but the Celt cast into the
flames the favourite animals, and even the most cherished slaves and depend-
ents of the master. Vast monuments of stone or piles of earth were raised
above the ashes of the dead. Scattered relics of the Celtic age are yet visible
throughout Europe, in these huge but unsightly memorials.
The German was not ambitious at the grave. He threw neither gar-
ments nor odours upon the fimeral pyre, but the arms and the war-horse of
the departed were burned and buried with him. The turf was his only
sepulchre, the memory of his valour his only monument. Even tears were
forbidden to the men. " It was esteemed honourable," says the historian, " for
women to lament, for men to remember."
The parallel need be piu-sued no further. Thus much it was necessary to
recall to the historical student concerning the prominent characteristics by
which the two great races of the land were distinguished: characteristics
which time has rather hardened than effaced. In the contrast and the sepa-
ration lies the key to much of their history. Had providence permitted a
fusion of the two races, it is possible, from their position, and from the geo-
graphical and historical link which they would have afforded to the dominant
tribes of Europe, that a world-empire might have been the result, different
in many respects from any which has ever arisen. Speculations upon what
might have been are idle. It is well, however, to ponder the many misfor-
tunes resulting from a mutual repulsion, which, imder other circumstances
and in other spheres, has been exchanged for mutual attraction and support.
RELATIONS WITH ROME
The earliest chapter in the history of the Netherlands was written by their
conqueror. Celtic Gaul is already in the power of Rome; the Belgic tribes,
alarmed at the approaching danger, arm against the universal tyrant. In-
flammable, quick to strike, but too fickle to prevail against so powerful a foe,
they hastily form a league of almost every clan. At the first blow of Caesar's
sword, the frail confederacy falls asunder like a rope of sand. The tribes
scatter in all directions. Nearly all are soon defeated, and sue for mercy.
The Nervii, true to the German blood in their veins, swear to die rather than
surrender. They, at least, are worthy of their cause. Caesar advances
against them at the head of eight legions. Drawn up on the banks of the
Sambre, they await the Roman's approach. Eight veteran Roman legions,
with the world's victor at their head, are too much for the brave but imdis-
ciplined Nervii.*
[' The full account of this battle in Caesar's own vrords will be found in vol, V, chapter 22.]
INTEODUCTIOlSr 273
They fought like men to whom life without liberty was a curse. They
were not defeated, but exterminated. Of many thousand fighting men went
home but five hundred. Upon reaching the place of refuge where they had
bestowed their women and children, Csesar found, after the battle, that there
were but three of their senators left alive. So perished the Nervii. Csesar
commanded his legions to treat with respect the little remnant of the tribe
which had just fallen to swell the empty echo of his glory, and then, with
hardly a breathing pause, he proceeded to annihilate the Aduatici, the Menapii,
and the Morini.
Gaul being thus pacified, as, with sublime irony, he expresses himseK
concerning a coxmtry some of whose tribes had been armihilated, some sold
as slaves, and others hunted to their lairs like beasts of prey, the conqueror
departed for Italy. Legations for peace from many German races to Rome
were the consequence of these great achievements. Among others the Ba-
tavians formed an alliance with the masters of the world. Their position was
always an honourable one. They were justly proud of paying no tribute, but
it was, perhaps, because they had nothing to pay. They had few cattle, they
could give no hides and horns like the Frisians, and they were therefore
allowed to furnish only their blood. From this time forth their cavalry,
which was the best of Germany, became renowned in the Roman army upon
every battle-field of Europe.
It is melancholy, at a later moment, to find the brave Batavians dis-
tinguished in the memorable expedition of Germanicus to crush the liberties
of their German kindred. They are forever associated with the sublime but
misty image of the great Arminius (Hermann), the hero, educated in Rome,
and aware of the colossal power of the empire, who yet, by his genius,
valour, and political adroitness, preserved for Germany her nationality, her
purer religion, and perhaps even that noble language which her late-flowering
literature has rendered so illustrious — but they are associated as enemies, not
as friends.
Galba, succeeding to the purple upon the suicide of Nero, dismissed the
Batavian life-guards to whom he owed his elevation. He is murdered, Otho
and Vitellius contend for the succession, while aU eyes are turned upon the
eight Batavian regiments. In their hands the scales of empire seem to rest.
They declare for Vitellius, and the civil war begins. Otho is defeated; Vi-
tellius acknowledged by senate and people. Fearing, like his predecessors,
the imperious turbulence of the Batavian legions, he, too, sends them into
Germany [70 a.d.]. It was the signal for a long and extensive revolt, which
had weU-nigh overturned the Roman power in Gaul and Lower Germany.
THE BATAVIAN HERO CIVILIS (70 A.D.)
Claudius Civilis was a Batavian of noble race, who had served twenty-five
years in the Roman armies. His Teutonic name has perished, for, like most
savages who become denizens of a civilised state, he had assumed an appella-
tion in the tongue of his superiors. He was a soldier of fortune, and had
fought wherever the Roman eagles flew. After a quarter of a century's
service he was sent in chains to Rome, and his brother executed, both falsely
charged with conspiracy. Such were the triumphs adjudged to Batavian
auxiliaries. He escaped with life, and was disposed to consecrate what re-
mained of it to a nobler cause. Civilis was no barbarian. Like the German
hero Arminius, he had received a Roman education, and had learned the
274 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELAFDS
degraded condition of Rome. He knew the infamous vices of her rulers; he
retained an imconquerable love for liberty and for his own race.
By his courage, eloquence, and talent for political combinations, Civilis
effected a general confederation of all the Netherland tribes, both Celtic and
German. For a brief moment there was a tmited people, a Batavian com-
monwealth. The details of the revolt have been carefully preserved by
Tacitus,* and form one of his grandest and most elaborate pictures. The
battles, the sieges, the defeats, the indomitable spirit of Civilis, still flaming
most brightly when the clouds were darkest around him, have been described
by the great historian in his most powerful manner.
The struggle was an unsuccessful one. After many victories and many
overthrows, Civilis was left alone. The Gallic tribes feU off, and sued for
peace. Vespasian, victorious over Vitellius, proved too powerful for his old
comrade. Even the Batavians became weary of the hopeless contest, while
fortune, after much capricious hovering, settled at last upon the Roman side.
The imperial commander Cerealis seized the moment when the cause of the
Batavian hero was most desperate to send emissaries among his tribe. These
intrigues had their effect. The fidelity of the people was sapped. But the
Batavian was not a man to be crushed, nor had he lived so long in the Roman
service to be outmatched in politics by the barbarous Germans. He was not
to be sacrificed as a peace-offering to revengeful Rome. Watching from be-
yond the Rhine the progress of defection and the decay of national enthusi-
asm, he determined to be 'beforehand with those who were now his enemies.
He accepted the offer of negotiation from Cerealis. The Roman general was
eager to grant a full pardon, and to re-enlist so brave a soldier in the service
of the empire.
A colloquy was agreed upon. The bridge across the Nabalia was broken
asunder in the middle, and Cerealis and Civilis met upon the severed sides.
The placid stream by which Roman enterprise had connected the waters of
the Rhine with the Lake of Flevo, flowed between the imperial commander
and the rebel chieftain.
Here the story abruptly terminates. The remainder of the Roman's nar-
rative is lost, and upon that broken bridge the form of the Batavian hero
disappears forever. His name fades from history: not a syllable is known
of his subsequent career; everything is buried in the profound oblivion which
now steals over the scene where he was the most imposing actor.
The soul of Civilis had proved insufficient to animate a whole people;
yet it was rather owing to position than to any personal inferiority that his
name did not become as illustrious as that of Arminius. The German patriot
was neither braver nor wiser than the Batavian, but he had the infinite
forests of his fatherland to protect him. Every legion which plvmged into
those unfathomable depths was forced to retreat disastrously, or to perish
miserably. Civilis was hemmed in by the ocean; his coimtry, long the basis
of Roman niilitary operations, was accessible by river and canal. The
patriotic spirit which he had for a moment raised had abandoned him; his
allies had deserted him; he stood alone and at bay, encompassed by the
hunters, with death or surrender as his only alternative.
The contest of Civilis with Rome contains a remarkable foreshadowing of
the future conflict with Spain, through which the Batavian republic, fifteen
centuries later, was to be founded. The characters, the events, the am-
phibious battles, desperate sieges, slippery alliances, the traits of generosity,
audacity, and cruelty, the generous confidence, the broken faith, seem so
closely to repeat themselves that history appears to present the selfsame
INTEODUCTION" 275
drama played over and over again, with but a change of actors and of cos-
tume. There is more than a fanciful resemblance between Civilis and WUliam
the Silent, two heroes of ancient German stock, who had learned the arts of
war and peace in the service of a foreign and haughty world-empire. Deter-
mination, concentration of purpose, constancy in calamity, elasticity almost
preternatm-al, self-denial, consxmimate craft in political combinations, per-
sonal fortitude, and passionate patriotism were the heroic elements in both.
The ambition of each was subordinate to the cause which he served. Both
refused the crown, although each, perhaps, contemplated, in the sequel, a
Batavian realm of which he would have been the inevitable chief. Both
offered the throne to a Gallic prince, for Classicus was but the prototype of
Anjou, as Brumo of Brederode, and neither was destined, in this world, to
see his sacrifices crowned with success.
The characteristics of the two great races of the land portrayed themselves
in the Roman and the Spanish struggle with much the same colours. The
Southrons, inflammable, petulant, audacious, were the first to assault and
to defy the imperial power in both revolts, while the inhabitants of the north-
ern provinces, slower to be aroused, but of more enduring wrath, were less
ardent at the commencement, but, alone, steadfast at the close of the contest.
In both wars the southern Celts fell away from the league, their courageous
but corrupt chieftains having been purchased with imperial gold to bring
about the abject submission of their followers; while the German Nether-
lands, although eventually subjugated by Rome, after a desperate struggle,
were successful in the great conflict with Spain, and trampled out of existence
every vestige of her authority. The Batavian republic took its rank among
the leading powers of the earth; the Belgic provinces remained Roman,
Spanish, Austrian property.
FALL OF ROME AND RISE OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE
Obscure but important movements in the regions of eternal twilight,
revolutions, of which history has been silent, in the mysterious depths of
Asia, outpourings of himian rivers along the sides of the Altai Mountains,
convulsions up-heaving remote realms and vinknown dynasties, shock after
shock throbbing throughout the barbarian world, and dying upon the edge
of civilisation, vast throes which shake the earth as precursory pangs to the
birth of a new empire — as dying symptoms of the proud but effete realm
which called itself the world; scattered hordes of sanguinary, grotesque
savages pushed from their own homes, and hovering with vague purposes
upon the Roman frontier, constantly repelled and perpetually reappearing
in ever-increasing swarms, guided thither by a fierce instinct, or by mysterious
laws — such are the well-known phenomena which preceded the fall of west-
ern Rome. Stately, externally powerful, although undermined and putrescent
at the core, the death-stricken empire still dashed back the assaults of its
barbarous enemies.
During the long struggle intervening between the age of Vespasian and
that of Odoacer, during all the preliminary ethnographical revolutions which
preceded the great people's wandering, the Netherlands remained subject
provinces. Their country was upon the high-road which led the Goths to
Rome. Those low and barren tracts were the outlying marches of the em-
pire. Upon that desolate beach broke the first surf from the rising ocean
of German freedom which was soon to overwhelm Rome. Yet, although
the ancient landmarks were soon well-nigh obliterated, the Netherlands still
876 THE HISTORY OF THE ISTETHEELANDS
remained faithful to the empire, Batavian blood was still poured out for its
defence.
By the middle of the fourth century, the Franks and Alamanni {ATU-
manner, "all-men"), a mass of united Germans, are defeated by the em-
peror Julian at Strasburg, the Batavian cavalry, as upon many other great
occasions, saving the day for despotism. This achievement, one of the last
in which the name appears upon historic record, was therefore as triumphant
for the valour as it was himailiating to the true fame of the nation. Their
individuality soon afterwards disappears, the race having been partly ex-
hausted in the Roman service, partly merged in the Frank and Frisian tribes
who occupy the domains of their forefathers.
For a centiiry longer, Rome still retains its outward form, but the swarm-
ing nations are now in full career. The Netherlands are successively or si-
multaneously trampled by Franks, Vandals, Alani, Suevi, Saxons, Frisians,
and even Slavs, as the great march of Germany to xmiversal empire, which her
prophets and bards had foretold, went majestically forilirard. The fountains
of the frozen North were opened, the waters prevailed, but the ark of Chris-
tianity floated upon the flood. As the deluge assuaged, the earth had re-
turned to chaos, the last pagan empire had been washed out of existence, but
the faltering infancy of Christian Eiu-ope had begim.
After the wanderings had subsided, the Netherlands are found with much
the same ethnological character. The Frank dominion has succeeded the
Roman, the German stock preponderates over the Celtic, but the national
ingredients, although in somewhat altered proportions, remain essentially as
before. The old BelgES, having become romanised in tongue and customs,
accept the new empire of the Franks.' That people, however, pushed from
its hold of the Rhine by thickly-thronging hordes of Gepidi, Quadi, Sarmatse,
Heruli, Saxons, Burgundiones, moves towards the south and west. As the
empire falls before Odoacer, they occupy Celtic Gaul with the Belgian portion
of the Netherlands, while the Frisians, into which ancient German tribe the
old Batavian element has melted, not to be extinguished, but to renew its
existence, the "free Frisians," whose name is S3mon3nnous with liberty, near-
est blood relations of the Anglo-Saxon race, now occupy the northern portion,
includiag the whole future European territory of the Dutch republic.
The history of the Franks becomes, therefore, the history of the Nether-
lands. The Frisians struggle, for several centuries, against their dominion,
until eventually subjugated by Charlemagne. They even encroach upon the
Franks in Belgic Gaul, who are determined not to yield their possessions.
Moreover, the pious Merovingian faineants desire to plant Christianity among
the still pagan Frisians. Dagobert, son of the second Clotaire, advances
against them as far as the Weser, takes possession of Utrecht, founds there the
first Christian church in Friesland, and establishes a nominal dominion over
the whole country.
Yet the feeble Merovingians would have been powerless against rugged
Friesland, had not their dynasty already merged in that puissant family of
Brabant, which long wielded their power before it assxmied their crown. It
was Pepin of Heristal, grandson of the Netherlander, Pepin of Landen, who
conquered the Frisian Radbod (692 a.d.), and forced him to exchange his
royaJ for the ducal title.
[' We find also Britons and Angles inhabiting Batavia, the former having probably taken
refuge there from the hostility of the Picts and Scots ; the latter may, perhaps, have accom-
panied the expedition of Hengist and Horsa to England, and remained there, instead of crossing
the sea with their companions, accoiding to Procopius.' — Dayibs.^]
INTEODUCTIOISr 277
It was Pepin's bastard, Charles the Hammer [Charles Martel], whose tre-
mendous blows completed his father's work. The new mayor of the palace ,
soon drove the Frisian chief into submission, and even into Christianity. A
bishop's indiscretion, however, neutralised the apostolic blows of the mayor.
The pagan Radbod had already immersed one of his royal legs in the bap-
tismal font, when a thought struck him.
"Where are my dead forefathers at present?" he said, turning suddenly
upon Bishop Wolf ran. "In hell, with all other unbelievers," was the im-
prudent answer. "Mighty well," replied Radbod, removing his leg, "then
wUl I rather feast with my ancestors in the halls of Woden, than dwell with
your little starveling band of Christians in heaven."
Entreaties and threats were unavailing. The Frisian declined positively
a rite which was to cause an eternal separation from his buried kindred, and
he died, as he had lived, a heathen. His son, Poppo, succeeding to the nom-
inal sovereignty, did not actively oppose the introduction of Christianity
among his people, but himself refused to be converted. Rebelling against the
Frank dominion, he was totally routed by Charles Martel in a great battle
(750 A.D.), and perished with a vast number of Frisians.
The Christian dispensation, thus enforced, was now accepted by these
northern pagans. The commencement of their conversion had been mainly
the work of their brethren from Britain. The monk Wilfred was followed
in a few years by the Anglo-Saxon Willibrod. It was he who destroyed the
Images of Woden in Walcheren, abolished his worship, and foimded chm-chea
in North Holland. Charles Martel rewarded him with extensive domains
about Utrecht, together with many slaves and other chattels. Soon after-
wards he was consecrated bishop of all the Frisians. Thus rose the famous
episcopate of Utrecht.
Another Aaglo-Saxon, Winfred, or Boniface, had been equally active
among his Frisian cousins. His crozier had gone hand in hand with the battle-
axe. Boniface followed close upon the track of his orthodox coadjutor
Charles. By the middle of the eighth century, some himdred thousand
Frisians had been slaughtered, and as many more converted. The hammer
which smote the Saracens at Tours was at last successful in beating the Nether-
landers into Christianity. The labours of Boniface through Upper and Lower
Germany were inunense; but he, too, received great material rewards. He
was created archbishop of Mainz, and, upon the death of Willibrod, bishop of
Utrecht. Faithful to his mission, however, he met, heroically, a martjT'a
death at the hands of the refractory pagans at Dokkum [755 a.d.]. Thua
was Christianity established in the Netherlands.
Under Charlemagne, the Frisians often rebelled, making common cause
with the Saxons. In 785 a.d. they were, however, completely subjugated,
and never rose again until the epoch of their entire separation from the Frank
empire. Charlemagne left them their name of free Frisians, and the property
in their own land. The feudal system never took root in their soil. "The
Frisians," says their statute book, "shaU be free, as long as the wind blows
out of the clouds and the world stands." They agreed, however, to obey the
chiefs whom the Frank monarch should appoint to govern them, according
to their own laws. Those laws were collected, and are still extant. The ver-
nacidar version of their Asega book contains their ancient customs, together
with the Frank additions. The general statutes of Charlemagne were, oi
course, in vigour also; but that great legislator knew too weU the importance
attached by aU mankind to local customs, to allow his imperial capitulars to
interfere, unnecessarily, with the Frisian laws.
278 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
Thus again the Netherlands, for the first time since the fall of Roine, were
united under one crown imperial. They had already been once united, in
their slavery, to Rome. Eight centuries pass away, and they are again
united, in subjection, to Charlemagne. The Netherlands, like the other prov-
inces of the great monarch's dominion, were governed by crown-appointed
functionaries, military and judicial. In the northeastern or Frisian portion,
however, the grants of land were never in the form of revocable benefices or
feuds. With this important exception, the whole country shared the fate
and enjoyed general organisation of the empire.
But Charlemagne came an age too soon. The chaos which had brooded
over Europe since the dissolution of the Roman world was still too absolute.
It was not to be fashioned into permanent forms, even by his bold and con-
structive genius. When the great statesman died, his empire necessarily fell
to pieces. Society had need of further disintegration before it could begin to
reconstruct itself locally. A new civilisation was not to be improvised by a
single mind. When did one man ever civilise a people? In the eighth and
ninth centuries there was not even a people to be civilised.
Moreover, the Carlovingian race had been exhausted by producing a race
of heroes like the Pepins and the Charleses. The realm was divided [in
843 A.D. by the Treaty of Verdun], subdivided, at times partially reunited,
like a family farm, among monarchs incompetent alike to hold, to delegate,
or to resign the inheritance of the great warrior and lawgiver.
Charles the Simple was the last Carlovingian who governed Lotharingia
(or Lorraine), in which were comprised most of the Netherlands and Friesland.
The German monarch, Henry the Fowler, at that period called king of the
East Franks, as Charles of the West Franks, acquired Lorraine by the Treaty
of Bonn, Charles reserving the sovereignty over the kingdom during his
lifetime. In 925 a.d. however, the Simpleton having been imprisoned and
deposed by his own subjects, the Fowler was recognised king of Lorraine.
Thus the Netherlands passed out of France into Germany, remaining, still,
provinces of a loose, disjointed empire.
This is the epoch in which the various dukedoms, earldoms, and other
petty sovereignties of the Netherlands became hereditary. It was in the
year 922 that Charles the Simple presented to Coimt Dirk the territory of
Holland, by letters patent.' This narrow hook of land, destined, in future
ages, to be the cradle of a considerable empire, stretching through both hem-
ispheres, was, thenceforth, the inheritance of Dirk's descendants. Histori-
cally, therefore, he is Dirk I, count of Holland.
Of this small sovereign and his successors, the most powerful foe, for cen-
turies, was the bishop of Utrecht, the origin of whose greatness has been
already indicated. Of the other Netherland provinces, now hereditary, the
first in rank was Lorraine, once the kingdom of Lothair, now the dukedom of
Lorraine. In 965 it was divided into Upper and Lower Lorraine, of which
the lower duchy alone belonged to the Netherlands.
Two centuries later, the counts of Louvain, then occupying most of
Brabant, obtained a permanent hold of Lower Lorraine, and began to call
themselves dukes of Brabant. The same principle of local independence and
isolation which created these dukes established the hereditary power of the
counts and barons who formerly exercised jiirisdiction imder them and others.
Thus arose sovereign counts of Namur, Hainault, Limburg, Zutphen, dukes
of Luxemburg and Gelderland, barons of Mechlin, marquises of Antwerp, and
[' See vols. VU, XI and XV.]
INTEODUCTION" 27S
others — all petty autocrats. The most important of all, after the house of
Lorraine, were the earls of Flanders; for the bold foresters of Charles the
Great had soon wrested the sovereignty of their little territory from his feeble
descendants as easily as Baldwin, with the iron arm, had deprived the bald
Charles of his daughter. Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Overyssel, Groningen,
Drenthe, and Friesland (aU seven being portions of Friesland in a general
sense), were crowded together upon a little desolate corner of Europe — an
obscure fragment of Charlemagne's broken empire. They were afterwards to
constitute the United States of the Netherlands, one of the most powerful
republics of history. Meantime, for century after century, the counts of Hol-
land and the bishops of Utrecht were to exercise divided sway over the territory.
Thus the whole coimtry was broken into many shreds and patches of
sovereignty. The separate history of such half-organised morsels is tedious
and petty. Trifling dynasties, where a family or two were everything, the
people nothing, leave little worth recording. Even the most devout of
genealogists might shudder to chronicle the long succession of so many illus-
trious obscure.
A glance, however, at the general features of the governmental system
now established in the Netherlands, at this important epoch in the world's
history, will show the transformations which the country, in conunon with
other portions of the western world, had undergone.
GOVERNMENT AND CIVILISATION OF FEUDAL TIMES
In the tenth century the old Batavian and later Roman forms have faded
away. An entirely new polity has succeeded. No great popular assembly
asserts its sovereignty, as in the ancient German epoch; no generals and tem-
porary kings are chosen by the nation. The elective power had been lost
under the Romans, who, after conquest, had conferred the administrative
authority over their subject provinces upon officials appointed by the metrop-
olis. The Franks pursued the same course. In Charlemagne's time, the
revolution is complete. Popular assemblies and popular election entirely
vanish. Military, civil, and judicial officers — dukes, earls, marquises, and
others — are all king's creatures (knegten des konings, pii^ri regis), and so re-
main, till they abjure the creative power, and set up their own. The principle
of Charlemagne, that his officers should govern according to local custom,
helps them to achieve their own independence, while it preserves all that is
left of national liberty and law.
The counts, assisted by inferior judges, hold diets from time to time —
thrice, perhaps, annually. They also summon assemblies in case of war.
Thither are called the great vassals, who, in turn, call their lesser vassals,
each armed with "a shield, a spear, a bow, twelve arrows, and a cuirass."
Such assemblies, convoked in the name of a distant sovereign, whose face
his subjects had never seen, whose language they could hardly imderstand,
were very different from those tumultuous mass-meetings, where boisterous
freemen, armed with the weapons they loved the best, and arriving sooner or
later, according to their pleasure, had been accustomed to elect their generals
and magistrates and to raise them upon their shields. The people are now
governed, their rulers appointed by an invisible hand. Edicts, issued by a
power, as it were, supernatural, demand implicit obedience. The people,
acquiescing in their own annihilation, abdicate not only their political but
their personal rights. The sceptre, stretched over realms so wide, requires
stronger hands than those of degenerate Carlovingians. It breaks asunder.
880 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
Functionaries become sovereigns, with hereditary, not delegated, right to
own the people, to tax their roads and rivers, to take tithings of their blood
and sweat, to harass them in aU the relations of life. There is no longer a
metropolis to protect them from official oppression. Power, the more sub-
divided, becomes the more tyrannical. The sword is the only symbol of law,
the cross is a weapon of offence, the bishop is a consecrated pirate, and every
petty baron a burglar; while the people, alternately the prey of duke, pre-
late, and seignor, shorn and butchered like sheep, esteem it happiness to sell
themselves into slavery, or to huddle beneath the castle walls of some little
potentate, for the sake of his wolfish protection. Here they build hovels,
which they sm-round from time to time with palisades and muddy entrench-
ments; and here, in these squalid abodes of ignorance and misery, the genius
of liberty, conducted by the spirit of commerce, descends at last to awaken
mankind from its sloth and cowardly stupor. A longer night was to inter-
vene, however, before the dawn of day.
The crown-appointed functionaries had been, of course, financial officers.
They collected the revenue of the sovereign, one-third of which slipped
through their fingers into their own coffers. Becoming sovereigns themselves,
they retain these funds for their private emolument. Four principal sources
yielded this revenue — royal domains, tolls and imposts, direct levies, and a
pleasantry called voluntary contributions or benevolences. In addition to
these supplies were also the proceeds of fines. Taxation upon sin was, in
those rude ages, a considerable branch of the revenue. The old Frisian laws
consisted almost entirely of a discriminating tariff upon crimes. Nearly all
the misdeeds which man is prone to commit were punished by a money-bote
only. Murder, larceny, arson, rape — all offences against the person were
commuted for a definite price. There were a few exceptions, such as parri-
cide, which was followed by loss of inheritance; sacrilege and the murder of
a master by a slave, which were punished with death. It is a natural in-
ference that, as the royal treasury was enriched by these imposts, the sov-
ereign would hardly attempt to check the annual harvest of iniquity by which
his revenue was increased. Still, although the moral sense is shocked by a
system which makes the ruler's interest identical with the wickedness of his
people and holds out a comparative immimity in evil doing for the rich, it
was better that crime should be punished by money rather than not be
punished at all.
Five centuries of isolation succeed. In the Netherlands, as throughout
Europe, a thousand obscure and slender rills are slowly preparing the great
stream of universal culture. Five dismal centuries of feudalism — dm"ing
which period there is little talk of human right, little obedience to divine
reason. Rights there are none, only forces; and, in brief, three great forces,
gradually arising, developing themselves, acting upon each other, and upon
the general movement of society.
The sword — the first, for a time the only force: the force of iron. The
"land's master," having acquired the property in the territory and in the
people who feed thereon, distributes to his subalterns, often but a shade be-
neath him in power, portions of his estate, getting the use of their faithful
swords in return. Vavasours subdivide again to vassals, exchanging land
and cattle, human or other, against fealty, and so the iron chain of a military
hierarchy, forged of mutually interdependent links, is stretched over each little
province. Impregnable castles, here more numerous than in any other part
of Christendom, dot the level surface of the coimtry. Mail-clad knights, with
their followers, encamp permanently upon the soil. The fortunate fable of
INTEODUOTION 281
divine right is invented to sanction the system; superstition and ignorance
give currency to the delusion.
Thus the grace of God, having conferred the property in a vast portion of
Europe upon a certain idiot in France, makes him competent to sell large
fragments of his estate, and to give a divine, and, therefore, most satisfactory
title along with them — a great convenience to a man who had neither power,
wit, nor will to keep the property in his own hands. So the Dirks of Holland
get a deed from Charles the Simple, and, although the grace of God does not
prevent the royal grantor himself from dying a miserable, discrowned captive,
the conveyance to Dirk is none the less hallowed by almighty fiat; So the
Roberts and Guys, the Johns and Baldwins, become sovereigns in Hainault,
Brabant, Flanders, and other little districts, affecting supernatural sanction
for the authority which their good swords have won and are ever ready to
maintain. Thus organised, the force of iron asserts and exerts itself. Duke,
count, seignor and vassal,- knight and squire, master and man swarm and
struggle amain. A wild, chaotic, sanguinary scene. Here, bishop and baron
contend, centuries long, minrdering human creatures by ten thousands for an
acre or two of swampy pasture; there, doughty families, hugging old musty
quarrels to their heart, buffet each other from generation to generation; and
thus they go on, raging and wrestling among themselves, with all the world,
shrieking insane war-cries which no human soul ever understood — red caps
and black, white hoods and gray. Hooks and Cods, dealing destruction, build-
ing castles and burning them, tilting at tourneys, stealing bullocks, roasting
Jews, robbing the highways, crusading — now upon Syrian sands against
Paynim dogs, now in Frisian quagmires against Albigenses, Stedingers, and
other heretics — plunging about in blood and fire, repenting, at idle times,
and paying their passage through purgatory with large slices of ill-gotten
gains placed in the ever-extended dead-hand of the church; acting, on the
whole, according to their kind, and so getting themselves civilised or exter-
minated, it matters little which. Thus they play their part, those energetic
men-at-arms; and thus one great force, the force of iron, spins and expands
itself, century after century, helping on, as it whirls, the great progress of
society towards its goal, wherever that may be.
Another force — ^the force clerical — the power of clerks, arises; the might
of educated mind measuring itself against brute violence; a force embodied,
as often before, as priestcraft — the strength of priests: craft meaning simply
strength, in our old mother-tongue. This great force, too, develops itself
variously, being sometimes beneficent, sometimes malignant. Priesthood
works out its task, age after age: now smoothing penitent death-beds, con-
secrating graves, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, incarnating the
Christian precepts, in an age of rapine and homicide, doing a thousand deeds
of love and charity among the obscure and forsaken — deeds of which there
shall never be human chronicle, but a leaf or two, perhaps, in the recording
angel's book; hiving precious honey from the few flowers of gentle art which
bloom upon a howling wilderness; holding up the light of science over a
stormy sea; treasuring in convents and crypts the few fossils of antique learn-
ing which become visible, as the extinct Megatherium of an elder world re-
appears after the Gothic deluge; and now, careering in helm and hauberk
with the other ruffians, bandying blows in the thickest of the fight, blasting
with bell, book, and candle its trembling enemies, while sovereigns, at the
head of armies, grovel in the dust and offer abject submission for the kiss of
peace; exercising the same conjury over ignorant baron and cowardly hind,
making the fiction of apostolic authority to bind and loose, as prolific in acres
882 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELANDS
as the other divine right to have and hold; thus the force of cultivated in-
tellect, wielded by a chosen few and sanctioned by supernatural authority,
becomes as potent as the sword.
A third force, developing itself more slowly, becomes even more potent
than the rest — the power of gold. Even iron yields to the more ductile
metal. The importance of municipalities, enriched by trade, begins to be
felt. Commerce, the mother of Netherland freedom, and, eventually, its
destroyer — evcii as in all human history the vivifying becomes afterwards
the dissolving principle — commerce changes insensibly and miraculously the
aspect of society. Clusters of hovels become towered cities; the green and
gilded Hansa of commercial republicanism coils itself around the decaying
trunk of feudal despotism. Cities leagued with cities throughout and beyond
Christendom — empire within empire — bind themselves closer and closer in
the electric chain of human sympathy and grow stronger and stronger by
mutual support. Fishermen and river raftsmen become ocean adventurers
and merchant princes. Commerce plucks up haK-drowned Holland by the
locks and pours gold into her lap. Gold wrests power from iron. Needy
Flemish weavers become mighty manufactiirers. Armies of workmen, fifty
thousand strong, tramp through the swarming streets. Silk-makers, clothi-
ers, brewers become the gossips of kings, lend their royal gossips vast simis,
and burn the royal notes of hand in fires of cinnamon wood. Wealth brings
strength, strength confidence. Learning to handle cross-bow and dagger,
the burghers fear less the baronial sword, finding that their own will cut as
well, seeing that great armies — flowers of chivalry — can ride away before
them fast enough at battles of spurs and other encounters. Sudden riches
beget insolence, tumults, civic broils. Internecine quarrels, horrible tumults
stain the streets with blood, but education lifts the citizens more and more
out of the original slough. They learn to tremble as little at priestcraft as at
swordcraft, having acquired something of each. Gold in the end, unsanc-
tioned by right divine, weighs up the other forces, supernatural as they are.
And so, struggling along their appointed path, making cloth, making money,
making treaties with great kingdoms, making war by land and sea, ringing
great bells, waving great banners, they, too — these insolent, boisterous burgh-
ers— accomplish their work.
Thus, the mighty power of the purse develops itself, and municipal lib-
erty becomes a substantial fact — a fact, not a principle; for the old theorem
of sovereignty remains undisputed as ever. Neither the nation, in mass, nor
the citizens, in class, lay claim to human rights. All upper attributes — ^legis-
lative, judicial, administrative — remain in the land-master's breast alone.
It is an absurdity, therefore, to argue with Grotius"* concerning the unknown
antiquity of the Batavian republic. The republic never existed at all till the
Mxteenth century, and was only born after long years of agony .6
CHAPTER I
THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND
[843-1299 A.D.]
As the seven united provinces of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland,
Groningen, Overyssel, and Gelderland formed in the early ages of their
history four distinct and separate states, to follow out minutely the annals
of each would cause the thread of the subject to be perpetually broken off,
and by diverting the attention into so many channels deprive it of any in-
terest it might otherwise possess; and would moreover swell the work to such
a magnitude as to render it imavailable to the general reader. This is the
less necessary, as, with some difference of detail, the general features of the
constitution and governments of the Netherland states bear so strong a simi-
larity to each other that a perfect acquaintance with one will give a tolerably
clear insight into all. We shall therefore confine our observations principally
to Holland and Zealand, which, during the period now under consideration,
formed a state or county of itself; the prince-bishop of Utrecht held that
province, together with Groningen and Overyssel, as a fief of the German
Empire, acknowledging the sovereignty of the archbishop of Cologne
in spiritual matters. Friesland will often present itself to our notice as a
subject of contention between the bishops of Utrecht and the counts of Hol-
land, and retaining its independence against both, under a podestate of its
own choosing.
Gelderland formed a part of the empire of Germany until the year 1002,
when the emperor Henry II made it a separate county, feudatory to the
empire; Otto, the first count, coming into possession of Zutphen also, by his
marriage with Sophia, heiress of that county. Gelderland was raised to a
duchy in 1337 by Louis VII of Bavaria, emperor of Germany.
283
284 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[A.B.]
THE PERIODS OF DUTCH HISTORY
The history of Holland thus divides itself into four periods: * the first ex-
tending from the end of the ninth century, the time of its erection into a
separate county, to the year 1428, when it became annexed to a great portion
of the other states of the Netherlands, tinder Philip the Good, duke of Bur-
gundy: the government of the princes of the house of Burgundy and Aus-
tria will form the second period, ending in 1579, when the Union of Utrecht
laid the foundation of the republic of the Seven United Provinces.
It is here that the history of Holland has been generally considered to
begin; and from this epoch it is supposed her birth as a free and commercial
country is to be dated. No idea, however, can be more erroneous; Holland
was no Pallas among nations, starting at once into vigour and maturity,
exempt from the errors and trials of youth; it was not the mere act of revolt
from Spain that made her a nation of heroes, statesmen, legislators, and mer-
chants, such as we then find her. " She had been formed by long years of
experience, by long ages of endurance. The strength which enabled her to
cope with a power so infinitely superior to her own had been infused by con-
tinued enjoyment of equal laws, constitutional rights, and prescriptive fran-
chises. It was not to enforce the fanciful theory of a constitution, not to
create new rights, new laws, new liberties, that the Dutch threw off their
allegiance to their sovereign; but to preserve those which they had been
constantly asserting, and jealously defending, since the accession of the house
of Burgtmdy, more than a hundred years before; and the war of independence
was the end, not the beginning of the contest — the desperate extremity to
which they were imwillingly driven by the obstinacy and cruelty of Philip II,'
not a scheme devised for their own aggrandisement. The separation of Hol-
land from Spain involved but a slight change in her internal government, the
essential principles of which had already existed for centuries; and though
the extension of liberty obtained by this event did imdoubtedly tend to the
vast improvement of her commerce, yet it is equally certain that, after the
decay of the Italian republics, Holland excelled all the rest of the world
except Flanders and Brabant, as well in commerce and navigation as in
agriculture and manufactures.
The imion of Utrecht may therefore be properly considered as the com-
mencement of the third period, which extends to the year 1747, when a
radical change was effected in the constitution of Holland, then rendered
monarchical in fact, though not in name, by the creation of a stadholderate,
hereditary in the male and female line.
The fourth short and mournful era is comprised between 1747 and 1795,
when the proyinces were subjugated by the arms of the French Republic.
During this time, but feeble and evanescent scintillations of the ancient
Dutch spirit appear. The whole nation, divided into two factions, the orange
and republican, sacrificed with one accord the welfare of the commonwealth
to the rage of party spirit.
Thus enfeebled and tottering, Holland required no seer to foretell that
[' Blok" divides the history of the Dutch people into seven periods : 1st, the period of the
niost ancient times, ending with the complete development of the feudal states in the fourteenth
century ; 2nd, the period of Burgundian power, ending in the last half of the sixteenth century ;
3rd, the period of the Eighty Years' War, ending in 1648 ; 4th, the period of the republic, which
fell in 17.95 ; 6th, the transition period of French influence until 1815 ; 6th, the period of th»
kingdom of the United Netherlands until 1830 ; 7th, the period of the history of Holland after
the separation from Belgium.]
THE FIEST COTTNTS OF HOLLAND 28B
[848-922 A.D.]
her Ides were come. Prussia, England, and France each struck a death-blow
at her heart; but she covered herself with her robe as she fell — science, the
arts, and the venerable relics of her ancient institutions veiled from human
eyes the extremity of her degradation. The civilised world, her jealous
rivals themselves, mourned over her fate. Mocked with the name of an in-
dependent republic, deluded with the shadow of a free constitution, Holland
found her treasury drained by French extortion, her commerce made sub-
servient to French interests, and her government framed and changed ac-
cording to the fanciful models of French politicians. With the invasion of
the year 1795, therefore, her history closes, since she appears no more on the
theatre of Europe as a free commonwealth.
Her regeneration, as a limited monarchy, in 1813, is the beginning of a
new era.
HOLLAND AS A GEEMAN FIEF
Before the end of the eighth century, Charlemagne had finally imited
the whole kingdom of Friesland to the Christian church. The last king,
Gundebold, grandson of Radbod, was slain in the famous expedition of
this monarch against the Saracens in Spain; and from that time Friesland
was governed by counts and dukes appointed by the emperor, and afterwards
by his son Louis the Pious. On the division of the empire in 843 made after
the death of Louis, between his three sons, Lothair, Ludwig the German, and
Charles, surnamed the Bald, Ludwig received that portion of the Netherlands
which lies on the right of the Rhine, while the provinces between that river
and the Maas and Schelde were allotted to the emperor Lothair.
The situation of these countries rendered them peculiarly open to the
incursions of the Danes or Normans, for three centuries the terror and
scourge of Europe; and it was probably with the view of erecting a barrier
against their assaiilts that Ludwig the German granted to Dirk,^ one of the
counts in Friesland, and to his heirs, the forest of Wasda. The Danes, how-
ever, continued to harass Friesland as before, sometimes plundering the
country, and levying heavy contributions on the inhabitants; sometimes
making transient settlements there, and forcing the sovereigns to surrender
to them possession of different portions of it. Charles III of France, sur-
named the Fat, having become master of the whole of the empire of Charle-
magne, found himself obliged to purchase their absence from Germany by
the gift of a large svim of money, and the cession of the whole of Friesland to
Godfrey, their king (883), by which act Gerulf, the son of Coimt Dirk, be-
came a subject of the Dane. The death of Godfrey, who was treacherously
assassinated, two years after, by order of Charles, restored Gerulf to his
allegiance under the emperor of Germany, and he received from Arnulf,
successor to the empire, after the deposition of Charles the Fat, the lands
lying between the Rhine and Zuithardershage.
Gerulf was the father of that Dirk whom the Hollanders reckon as their
first count, probably because he was the first who possessed the monastery
of Egmond, whence nearly all the documents relating to their early history
are drawn. From him, the line of succession and the thread of history con-
tinue unbroken.
The time of the foundation of the county of Holland is involved in great
obscurity, and we wiU not enter into the tedious discussion as to whether it
should be fixed in 863, or in the year 922. For the former date we have the
[' The name is also given as Dietrich, Theoderic, and Theodore.]
286 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[912-993 A.D.]
authority of Melis Stoke,^ Beka,"^ Barlandus,« Meyer,/ and numerous others;
while Buchelius,? the annotator of the Chronicle of Beka, and Wagensiar^
insist upon the latter.
THE FIRST DIRKS, I-IV (912-1049)
To the lands which Count Dirk already held, Charles IV of France, sur-
named the Simple, added the abbey of Egmond, with its dependencies, from
Zuithardershage to Kinnem. By the cession which this prince made to the
emperor Henry I of the whole king-
dom of Lorraine, these lands, as
well as the remainder which Count
Dirk possessed, became a fief of
Germany in 974. Nothing further
is known of Dirk than that he built
a church of wood at Egmond, dedi-
cated to St. Adalbert, and founded
there a convent of nuns. The time
of his death is uncertain, but it is
generally supposed to have occurred
in the year 923.
Hardly had Dirk II established
himself in the government after the
death of his father, when he was
obliged to march against his rebel-
lious subjects in West Friesland,
whom he overcame, and forced to
return to obedience. He had by
his wife, Hildegarde, two sons, of
whom the younger, Egbert, became
archbishop of Treves, and the elder,
Arnold, married Luitgarde, sister
of Theophano, the wife of Otto II,
emperor of Germany (983). The
empress Theophano, after the death
of her husband, and during the
minority of her son. Otto III, en-
joyed a large share in the adminis-
tration of the empire ; and her alliance with the family of the count of Holland
induced her to use her influence over the mind of the young emperor, to
obtain for Dirk a grant of all those states as an hereditary fief which he had
hitherto enjoyed in usufruct only. Dirk II died in 988.
The grant of Otto III rendered it unnecessary that Arnold should obtain
the emperor's confirmation of his authority, and the succession henceforward
passed in the regular line, without any intervention of the imperial sov-
ereignty, nor did the emperors ever interfere in the slightest degree in the
internal government of the coxmty; in process of time, indeed, the coimts of
Holland so far freed themselves from the ties of feudal allegiance that it
became at length a matter of dispute whether or not Holland owed fealty
to the empire at all. Arnold's short reign of five years was spent in continual
warfare with his rebellious subjects of West Friesland, by whom he was slain
in a battle fought near the village of Winkel (993). He left two sons, of
Count Dibk II
(From a mannscript at Egmond)
THE FIRST COUNTS OP HOLLAND 287
[99S-1039A.D.]
whom the younger, Siward, or Sigefrid, is said to have been the founder of
the noble and illustrious house of Brederode.
Dirk III succeeded his father when only twelve years of age, the govern-
ment being administered during his minority by his mother Luitgarde. In
the year 1010 the Normans again made an irruption into Friesland, defeated
the Hollanders who opposed their passage, and advanced as far as Utrecht.
This is the last time we hear of any invasion by the Normans of either Holland
or Friesland.
WARS WITH UTRECHT, FLANDERS, AND THE EMPIRE
In the year 937 the emperor Otto I of Germany had granted to Baldric,
then bishop of Utrecht, the privilege of coining money. By Ansfrid, the do-
main of Utrecht had been brought close to the territories of the counts of
Holland, over the whole of which, likewise, the church of Utrecht had a
spiritual jurisdiction; and this fmrnished the bishops with a pretext for laying
claim to the temporal sovereignty of the county. Hence arose disputes of a
nature easily exasperated into hostilities.
In order to provide a barrier against the encroachments of this restless
neighbour. Dirk built and fortified the celebrated town of Dordrecht, in 1015,
which became, and long remained, the capital of the county, and ever after-
wards held the first rank in the assembly of the states. Here he levied tolls
upon all vessels passing up or down the Waal.
The emperor commanded Gottfried, duke of Lorraine, to assist the bishop
in expelling Dirk from the fortress of Dordrecht. Gottfried, in obedience to
his orders, assembled a large body of troops, accompanied by the bishops of
Cologne, Cambray, Liege, and Utrecht, with their forces. In the engage-
ment which ensued in 1018 an event, singular as unexpected, turned the
fortune of the day in favour of the Hollanders, and Saved the infant state
from the destruction which appeared inevitable: the battle was at the hot-
test, and the Hollanders were defending themselves bravely, but almost
hopelessly, against superior numbers, when suddenly a voice was heard cry-
ing, "Fly, fly." None could tell from whence the sound proceeded, and it
was therefore interpreted by the troops of Lorraine as a warning from heaven :
their rout was instantaneous and complete. Dirk concluded his long and
troubled reign of thirty-four years by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; he
died 1039, soon after his return, and was buried in the church of Egmond,
leaving behind him a high reputation for valour and ability.
In the reign of Dirk IV began the first of a long series of dissensions
between the counts of Holland and Flanders concerning the possession of
Walcheren, and the other islands of Zealand, west of the Schelde. The
Flemings claimed these territories in virtue of a grant (1007) made by the
emperor Henry II to Baldwin IV, surnamed Longbeard, count of Flanders,
while the Hollanders insisted on a prior right, conferred by the gift of Lud-
wig the German, in the year 868, to Dirk, the first coimt of Holland. Bald-
win, fifth son and successor of Baldwin Longbeard, undertook a hostile
expedition into Friesland and returned victorious. The bishop of Utrecht,
taking advantage of the embarrassment, induced the emperor Henry III to
lend him his assistance in regaining possession of those lands about the
Merwe and Rhine, of which he maintained that Count Dirk III had unjustly
de'prived his predecessor.
The emperor, at the head of a numerous army, sailed down the river to
Dordrecht, which he forced to surrender, as well as other towns. He was
888 THE HISTOEY OF THE ISTETHEELANTtS
[1049-1070 A.D.]
not able long to retain these places, Dirk having formed an alliance with
Gottfried of Lorraine.
The emperor was obliged to retreat to Utrecht, pursued by Dirk and a
small band of troops, who so harassed the rear of his army that Henry with
difficulty succeeded in reaching the city in safety. His departure left Dirk
at liberty to regain possession of all the territory he had lost, which, however,
he was not destined to enjoy long in peace. While passing unguardedly
through a narrow street, he received a wound from a poisoned arrow, shot
by an unknown hand, and died within three days in January, 1049. Dirk
died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother.
FLORIS I TO IV (1049-1235)
The reign of Floris [or Florence], like that of his predecessors, was ren-
dered turbulent and unhappy by the restless jealousy and enmity of the
bishop of Utrecht. In the year 1058, William I, who then filled this see-,
formed a confederacy against Floris, and the united armies, accompanied
by some troops of the empire, invaded the coimty of Holland. Floris, de-
spairing of being able to withstand so overwhelming a force, had recourse to
stratagem, much in use in the warfare of early ages. In a field near Dordrecht,
where his forces were drawn up to await the attack, he caused pits to be dug
and lightly covered with turf, into which several of the enemies' horse, when
advancing briskly, as if to certain victory, suddenly fell, and being unable to
extricate themselves, the whole army was thrown into the utmost confusion;
at this moment Count Floris led forward his troops, and as they met with
scarcely any resistance, the issue of the battle was decisive in their favour-,
sixty thousand of the allied troops were slain, and the governor of Gelderland,
the count of Louvain, and the bishop of Liege made prisoners.
A like success attended the arms of the count in a second invasion, by the
archbishop of Cologne, the markgraf of Brandenburg, and the lord of Cuyck,
whom he defeated and put to flight in an obstinate and murderous battle,
fought near the village of lower Hemert. Wearied with the combat. Count
Floris fell asleep under a tree, not far from the scene of action, when the lord
of Cuyck, having reassembled his scattered soldiers, returned, and surprising
him thus defenceless, put him to death with a great number of his followers.
He did not, however, venture to attack the main body of the army, which
retired in safety.
Dirk V, being a child of tender years at the time of his father's death,
was placed imder the guardianship of his mother, Gertrude of Saxony. She
had conducted the administration scarcely two years, when she contracted
a second marriage with Robert, the younger son of Baldwin V, of FlandefB
(surnamed from this alliance the Frisian), and in conjunction with the nobles
Conferred on him the government of the county during the minority of her
son.
In May, 1064, a grant was made to the bishop of Utrecht in the name of
the emperor of the whole of the county west of the Vlie, and about the Rhme,
with the abbey of Egmond, besides Bodegrave, from which Dirk III had
expelled Dirk Bavo [the vassal of the bishop of Utrecht].
The bishop, having gained Gottfried, duke of Lorraine, to his alliance,
by promising him the government of Holland, as a fief of the bishopric,
Hobert attempted in vain to make a stand against his enemies. Being de-
feated in a severe battle, he was forced to take refuge in Ghent. Holland
THE FIEST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 289
[1071-1125 A.D.]
and Friesland submitted to Gottfried. He founded the city of Delft, where,
after having governed the country for about four years with great harshness
and severity, he was assassinated.
His death was followed in the same year, 1075, by that of William, bishop
of Utrecht. Conrad, successor to the see, assumed, likewise, the govern-
ment of Holland. The Hollanders, unable to endure with patience the epis-
copal yoke, earnestly desired the restoration of their lawful sovereign, and
Robert the Frisian, being in tranquil possession of Flanders, foimd himself
at liberty to assist his adopted son in the enterprise he now formed for this
purpose. William the Conqueror, then king of England, who had married
Matilda, sister of Robert the Frisian,
sent some vessels to their assistance.
The whole of the bishop's fleet was
either captured or dispersed, and the
bishop renounced all claim to the states
of the count of Holland, and restored
all the conquests made by himself or
his predecessors. The inhabitants
joyfully took the oath of allegiance to
Count Dirk V. He died in 1091, hav-
ing governed the county fifteen years
after his restoration, leaving only one
son.
In the reign of Floris II, surnamed
the Fat, the whole of Europe was in-
flamed with the desire of rescuing the
tomb of the Redeemer from the hands
of the infidels. The effects of the Cru-
sades on Holland were, for some time
at least, comparatively slight; for
though we find the names of several of
her nobility numbered in the ranks of
the crusaders, and among them those
of Arkel and Brederode, the most
powerful and illustrious in the state,
yet, whether that the mercantile habits
of the people rendered them unwilling to engage in war, except some tangible
advantage were to be gained by it, or that their constant hostilities with the
bishops of Utrecht had placed the church in such an unfavourable point of
view, certain it is that the enthusiasm was neither so highly wrought nor so
widely diffused as among the other peoples of Europe, and particularly the
neighbouring county of Flanders.
Floris the Fat ended his tranquil reign of thirty years in the spring of
1121.
Dirk VI, being too young at the time of his father's death to imdertake
the management of affairs, his mother, Petronella, was appointed governess
during his minority — a woman of extraordinary courage, sagacity, and am-
bition. She took up arms in the cause of her brother, Lothair of Saxony,
against the emperor Henry V, with whom he was at war; and Henry, although
he invaded Holland with a powerful army, found considerable difficulty in
forcing her to acknowledge feudal allegiance to him. The election of Lothair
to the throne of Germany at length put an end to the enmity between the em-
perors and the counts of Holland, which had now subsisted, with the inter-
H. W. — VOL. XIII. n
St. John's Hospitaii
(Thirteenth century)
290 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1125-1203 A.D.]
mission only of the short alliance between Floris the Fat and Henry V, for
more than a century.
In this reign, HoUand was already sufficiently populous to admit of the
removal of a large colony of its inhabitants to the borders of the Elbe and
Havel. The HoUanders (so strong is the power of habit on the human mind)
fixed themselves, by choice, on the low and marshy lands. Notwithstanding
the difficulties they had to contend with, both from the nature of the soil and
the frequent incursions of the Slavi, these patient and industrious colonists
built towns and churches in their new settlement, and in a short time ren-
dered it incredibly rich and flourishing. Dirk VI died in the autumn of 1157.
Floris III finding, on his accession to the government, that the Flemish
merchants evaded the payment of the tolls at Dordrecht, by passing down
the Maas, obtained permission of the emperor to estabUsh a toll. Count
Philip of Flanders equipped a number of ships sufficient to keep the Holland
navy in check, whUe with his land forces he made himself master of the
Waasland, after which, having enriched his troops with considerable booty,
he retired to Flanders. Count Floris put to sea a large fleet of ships, but he
was defeated in a severe naval battle, woimded and carried prisoner to Bruges.
Philip consented to release Floris, after an imprisonment of two years, and
to reinstate him in the territories he held of Flanders.
The West Frieslanders had not let slip the favourable opportimity for
rebellion, and Floris was never able, during the whole of his reign, to reduce
his rebellious subjects in that quarter to entire obedience.
The crusade preached in 1187 by Pope Clement III drew a considerable
number of the princes of Europe to the army of Frederick I or Barbarossa,
emperor of Germany : among these was the count of Holland, who had assumed
the cross three years before. He was among the immense number of those
who fell victims to a pestilence. He was buried near the grave of the em-
peror Frederick in St. Peter's church, at Antioch. This count is said to be
the first who obtained from the emperor the privilege of coining money
stamped with the arms of Holland.
Floris III left four sons. Dirk VII, his successor to the county; William,
who remained in the Holy Land for nearly five years after the death of his
father; Floris, archdeacon of Utrecht; Robert, governor of Kennemerland,
and four daughters.
William of Holland perceiving, shortly after his return from the Holy
Land, that some enemies at court had found means to excite suspicion and
jealousy ,in the mind of his brother towards him, retired to West Friesland,
where the disaffected were always sure to find companions ready for revolt.
Hostilities were begun on the side of William, when Dirk sent one part of his
army to Friesland, under the conduct of his wife Adelaide (daughter of the
count of Cleves), while he himself advanced with the remainder to expel the
Flemings from Walcheren. The issue of both expeditions proved fortunate.
Towards the end of the same year the brothers were reconciled and Dirk
consented to bestow on William all his possessions in Friesland, to be held
as a fief of Holland. The good fortune of Count Dirk at length deserted him,
and the event of a war, in which he was afterwards engaged with Utrecht,
was disastrous in the extreme both to himself and the state. The bishop
betook himself for protection to Henry, duke of Brabant,' or Lower Lor-
' The duchy of Brabant took its rise in the year 1106, when the emperor, Henry V,
divided the ancient kingdom, or duchy of Lorraine, into two parts, called Upper and Lower
Lorraine, and bestowed the latter on Godfrey the Bearded, count of Louvain, who assumed the
title of duke of Brabant and Lorraine. Henry HI, duke of Brabant, dropped the title of duke
of Lorraine, and styled himself duke of Brabant only. See Guicciardini * and Johan. a Leid.i
THE FIEST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 291
[1203-1224 A.D.]
raine. Dirk's troops were entirely defeated, and he himself was taken pris-
oner. He was released within the year upon payment of 2,000 marks of
silver; but by the treaty then made with the duke he was obliged to surrender
Breda, and bound himself and his successors to do homage to the dukes of
Brabant for Dordrecht and all the lands lying between Stryen, Walwyk, and
Brabant, and to assist them against all their enemies, except the emperor.
Thus the ancient capital of the county became a fief of Brabant, and so con-
tinued untU the year 1283, when John I, duke of Brabant, released the count
of Holland from his fealty. Dirk died in 1203, the government falling into
the hands of a girl of tender years,
guided by a mother sufficiently shrewd,
indeed, and courageous, but intriguing
and ambitious.
The last wish of Count Dirk, that
the guardianship of his daughter, Ada,
and her states should be confided to
his brother William, was frustrated by
the intrigues of the countess-dowager,
Adelaide of Cleves, who, in order to
debar him from all share in the admin-
istration, had determined upon marry-
ing her daughter to Louis, coimt of
Loon. Within a very short time, how-
ever, s3Tnptoms of discontent at the
prospect of being governed by a fe-
male, and a stranger, began to mani-
fest themselves among some of the
nobility. The disaffected brought
William disguised to the island of
Schouwen. Here he was received with
every demonstration of joy, and shortly
after was proclaimed as lawful gov-
ernor. The countess Ada was sent
prisoner to the Texel, and subse-
quently to the court of John, king of
England.
The termination of the war be-
tween France and England left Count
William free to accompany the crusade undertaken at this time (May, 1217) ;
and he accordingly set sail from the Maas, with twelve large ships, which,
uniting with a great number of smaller vessels from Friesland, arrived after
some delays at the port of Lisbon. Immediately upon their landing, a mes-
sage was sent by the Portuguese nobles to the crusaders, beseeching their
assistance against the king of Morocco, who had wrested the fortress of
Alcacer-do-Sal from the king of Portugal, and obliged the inhabitants of that
country to deliver into his hands a hundred Christian slaves every year.
The greater part of the Frieslanders refused to delay their journey to the
Holy Land, but the Hollanders under Count WiUiam besieged and took
Alcacer-do-Sal, and continued the remainder of the year in Portugal. In
1218 William joined the fleet of the crusaders at Acre.
Soon after the conclusion of the siege of Damietta, he returned to Holland,
which he governed in peace for about four years. He died on the 4th of
February, 1224.
Countess Hildegardb
(From a manuscript at Egmond)
292 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1224-1235 A.r.]
An Early Cfiarter
In this reign was granted a charter of privileges (nearly the oldest known
in the county of Holland') to the city of Middelburg, in Zealand, in the joint
names of Joanna, countess of Flanders, and William of Holland. By this
charter, certain fines were fixed for fighting, maiming, striking, or railing,
for resisting the authority of the magistrates, and other delinquencies of
minor importance, under the jurisdiction of the schout and sheriffs. A Middel-
burger, choosing another lord than the count of Holland, must pay ten
pounds Flemish (51.) to the count, and ten shillings to the town;^ the count
reserving to himself the judgment in such cases.
The charters of the other cities of Holland and Zealand bear more or less
resemblance to this, which, ancient as it is, appears, nevertheless, to have
been rather a confirmation of prescriptive customs than a new code of regu-
lations, though there is no earlier instance on record of the counts binding
themselves by oath to the observance of them.
Floris IV was only twelve years of age when he succeeded his father in
1224, but it is not known with certainty who administered the affairs of the
county during his minority, or under whose direction it was that the young
count conferred on the towns of Domburg and West Kappel, in Walcheren,
charters of privileges.
Floris was the first and last of the cornits of Holland who, in obedience to
the injunctions of the holy see, bore a part in one of those crusades against
Christian heretics, which had, mihappily, become so much the mode during
this century. The Stedingers, a people inhabiting the small tract of country
bordering on the Weser, having refused to acknowledge the temporal juris-
diction of the archbishop of Bremen, were, for this reason, accused by him
of heresy, before Pope Gregory IX, who preached a general crusade against
them. The duke of Brabant, therefore, with the count of Cleves and the
count of Holland, who sailed to the Weser in a fleet of three himdred ships,
led their united forces into the country of the Stedingers. In an obstinate
and bloody battle (1234), four thousand of them were slain, and they sub-
mitted at length to the archbishop.
The fame of Count Floris' beauty, valour, and skill in all knightly accom-
plishments being widely spread abroad, produced such an eager desire in the
breast of the young countess de Clermont to see so bright a pattern of chiv-
alry that she induced her aged husband to proclaim a tournament at Corbie
(1235), where she knew the young count would not fail to be present. The
apparently innocent curiosity of his wife aroused such furious jealousy in the
bosom of the old man that, at the head of a number of horsemen, he rushed
suddenly upon Count Floris, dragged him from his horse, and slew him, be-
fore his attendants had time to assemble for his defence. His death, how-
ever, was instantly avenged by Theodore, count of Cleves, who killed the
count de Clermont on the spot. Thus perished Count Floris in the bloom
of youth and beauty, leaving his states to his son William II, an infant
imder seven years of age.
' That of Qeertruydenberg is somewliat older, being dated 1213, but mucb mutilated. ■ [In
Flanders, however, such charters had been granted a century earlier. See the Historical Intro-
duction and also Chapter II.]
' From this it would appear that the subject had a right to withdraw his allegiance from
his lord, a custom which, though it might be the occasion of some disorders, must yet, by pro-
viding a remedy against oppression and tyranny on the part of the lord, have tended much to
soften the rigour of feudal government.
THE FIEST COUNTS OP HOLLAND 293
[1235-1252 A.D.]
COUNT -WILLIAM II, EMPEROR OF GERMANY (1235-1256)
The government of the county, during the minority of the young prince,
was entrusted to Otto III, bishop of Utrecht, brother of the late count.
WiUiam had just entered his twentieth year, was still "beardless and blush-
ing," and not yet knighted, when he was elected emperor of Germany. In
the year 1245 Pope Innocent IV had pronoimced sentence of excommunica-
tion against Frederick II. In order to give effect to the decree of the council,
Innocent spared neither pains nor money to procure the election of another
emperor. William hastened to Aix-la-Chapelle [Aachen], to receive the im-
perial crown, but found this city entirely devoted to the interests of Frederick,
and it cost him a long and expensive siege before he could effect his entrance.
He was obliged, in order to raise funds for carrying it on, to mortgage Nime-
guen, a free city of the empire, to the duke of Gelderland, for the sum of
16,000 marks of silver.
The new emperor's coronation was performed by Conrad, archbishop of
Cologne (1248) ; but William was never able, even after the death of Frederick
II (1250), to insure general obedience to his authority; while the measures
he took for this purpose raised up a troublesome and dangerous enemy in his
hereditary states. According to an ancient custom of Germany, those vas-
sals who neglected to do homage to a new emperor within a year and a day
after his coronation lost irrecoverably the fiefs which they held of the empire.
The emperor, therefore, in a diet held 1252 at Frankfort, declared all those
fiefs escheated, the possessors of which had not received investiture from him
within a year and a day after his coronation at Aix. Among the number
of these was Margaret, countess of Flanders, familiarly termed " Black Mar-
garet," daughter of Baldwin, emperor of Constantinople. She had omitted
to do homage for the five islands west of the Schelde, for which reason William
deprived her of these territories, and bestowed them on John of Avennes,
the husband of his sister Adelaide. John was the son of Margaret, by her
first husband, Bosschaert [or Burchard], lord of Avennes, from whom she had
been divorced in 1214, on the plea of too near a relationship between the
parties, and that Bosschaert had entered into holy orders, and was a deacon
at the time of their marriage. She was afterwards married to William de Dam-
pierre, a Burgimdian nobleman, by whom she had three sons, William, Guy,
and John; and upon her succession to the county, after her union with William,
she declared her intention of leaving the whole of her states to the children
of her second husband, alleging that, the marriage with Bosschaert of Avennes
having been declared null by the pope, the issue of it must be ilk^itimate.
The stigma thus cast on his birth, coupled with the fear of losing his in-
heritance, provoked John of Avennes to declare open war against his mother;
but on the mediation of Louis IX of France, a treaty was made, 's^hereby
John, after his mother's death, should inherit Hainault, and William de
Dampierre, Flanders. Matters stood thus, when William made the transfer
above mentioned, of the fiefs held by Flanders, under the empire, in favour
of John of Avennes. This intelligence no sooner reached the ears of Margaret,
than she assembled a powerful army, with the design of invading Zealand;
and when her troops were in readiness to march, sent to demand homage of
the emperor, as Count of Holland, for the five islands, of the Schelde.
The emperor, flushed with the pride of his high station, haughtily answered
that " he would be no servant where he was master, nor vassal where he was
lord." The rage of Black Margaret at this contemptuous reply knew na
294 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1252-1256 A.D.]
bounds; and while she sought to amuse William by affecting to listen to the
tenns of accommodation proposed by Henry, duke of Brabant, she despatched
her son, Guy de Dampierre, at the head of her army, into Zealand. The troops
landed at West Kappel, where they sustained a signal defeat, in an engagement
with the Hollanders, under Floris, brother of the emperor; and Guy and his
brother, John de Dampierre, were taken prisoners. Black Margaret was now
amenable to terms of peace which she had before haughtily and angrily refused.'
In 1255 William found it necessary to repair in p_erson, with a powerful
army, to West Friesland, in order to reduce it to obedience. From Alkmaar,
he advanced in the depth of winter to Vroone, a considerable village of Fries-
land; before him lay the Heer Huygenward, a large drained lake, now entirely
frozen over. The Frieslanders purposely retreating to where the ice was
weakest, he galloped on in heedless pursuit of them, leaving his troops at
some distance behind. The ice broke. Three or four of the Frieslanders
immediately rushed upon him; and, deaf to his prayers for mercy and offers
of ransom, cruelly slaughtered him. His body was secretly buried at Hoogt-
woude; and his army, after the death of their leader, retreated in disorder
and with heavy loss to Holland.
The numerous and expensive undertakings in which William II was en-
gaged, during nearly the whole period of his government, rendered necessary
to him the support and assistance of the towns of Alkmaar, Haarlem, and
Delft, which he purchased by the grant or confirmation of privileges so im-
portant that in course of time they rendered them, as towns, integral and
influential portions of the nation. As it was about this time that the con-
stitution and administration of Holland began to assume a regular and per-
manent form, it may be permitted to make a short digression, for the purpose
of giving such an idea of its composition, before the imion of 1579, as the notices
scattered here and there through the different histories and descriptions of
the country will enable us to form.
THE CONSTITUTION OF HOLLAND
The towns of Holland were not, as in other nations, merely portions of
the state, but the state itself was rather an aggregate of towns, each of which
formed a commonwealth within itself, providing for its own defence, governed
by its own laws, holding separate courts of justice, and administering its own
finances; the legislative sovereignty of the whole nation being vested in the
towns, forming in their collective capacity the assembly of the states.
The government of every town was administered by a senate {wethouder-
schap), formed of two, three, or four burgomasters, and a certain number of
sheriffs (schepenen) , generally seven; a few of the towns, as Dordrecht, had
only one burgomaster. The duties of the senate were to provide for the
public safety by keeping the city walls and fortifications in repair, to call
out and muster the burgher guards in case of invasion or civil tumult, to
administer the finances, to provide for the expenses of the town by levying
excises on different articles of consumption, and to affix the portion of county
taxes to be paid by each individual. To the burgomasters was committed
' After the battle of West Kappel, according to Matthew Paris,* John of Avennes sent am-
bassadors to his mother, entreating her to listen to terms of accommodation, if not for his saie,
for the sake of her sons, who were his prisoners. " My sons are in your hands," answered the
fierce old virago ; " but not for that will I bend to your will : slay them, butcher ! and devour
one seasoned with pepper, and the other with salt and garlic ! " Such language in the mouth
of a woman, and a princess, would give us no very advantageous opinion of the manners of
these times.
THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 295
the care of the poHce and the ammunition, of the pubhc peace, and of cleansing
and victualling the town. The senate generally appointed two treasurers to
receive and disburse the city funds under their inspection, and an advocate,
or pensionary, whose office (similar to that of recorder in English municipal
corporations) was to keep the charters and records, and to advise them upon
points of law. The count had a representative in each town, in the person
of the schout, an officer whom he himself appointed, sometimes out of a
triple number named by the senate. It was the business of the schout,'
besides watching over the interests of the count, to seize on all suspected
persons and bring them to trial before the vierschaar, or judicial court of the
town. This court was composed of the sheriffs, and had jurisdiction over all
civil causes, and over minor offences,^ except in some towns, such as Leyden,
Dordrecht, etc., where the power of trying capital crimes was specially given
to themin the charters granted by the counts: the schout was also boimd to
see the judgments of the vierschaar carried into execution.
Besides the senate there was, in every town, a coimcil of the citizens, called
the "great council" (vroedschap) ,^ which was summoned in early times when
any matter of special importance was to be decided upon; but afterwards
their functions, in many of the towns, became restricted to the nomination of
the burgomasters and sheriffs for the senate. In Hoorn, where the government
was on a more popular basis than in most of the other towns of Holland, this
council comprised all the inhabitants possessing a capital of two hundred and
fifty nobles, and from this circumstance was called the rykdom, or wealth.
In Dordrecht, the most confined and aristocratic of the municipal gov-
ernments of Holland, the great council consisted of forty members, whose
office was for life, and who filled up the vacancies as they occurred, by election
among themselves-. The senate of this town was composed of one burgo-
master, whose office was annual, nine sheriffs, and five coimcillors (raden);
four sheriffs and three councillors went out of office one year, five sheriffs
and two councillors the next, and so on alternately; their places were filled
up by the count, or the schout on his behalf, out of a double number nomi-
nated by the council of forty. The only representatives of the people in the
government were the so-named "eight good men" (goede luyden van achte),
and their functions were limited to choosing the burgomaster in conjunction
with those senators whose term of office had expired; if they were unanimous,
their votes reckoned for twelve, but the burgomaster chosen must always be
one of the ex-senators.
Constitution of the Guilds
The inhabitants of the towns, being generally merchants and traders,
were divided into guilds'* of the different trades; at the head of each guild
was placed a deacon (dekken), to regulate its affairs and protect its interests;
and as the towns obtained their charters of privileges from the coimts, so
did the guilds look to the municipal governments for encouragement and
support, and for the immunities they were permitted to enjoy. Each guild
' We have no English term for this office : that of county sheriff (including the duties he
usually performs by deputy) is analogous to it in some respects ; the word schout is an abbre-
viation of schouldrechter, a judge of crimes.
' The power of trying ofEences which were not capital was termed the " low jurisdiction."
' Literally "council of wise men."
[* For further treatment of the guilds, see in the next chapter the history of the Belgian
communes. In Holland the earliest guild was that of the cloth merchants at Dordrecht, dating
from 1200 ; the guilds came into prominence about 1350, but never attained the power they
reached in Flanders.]
296 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELANDS
inhabited for the most part a separate quarter of the town, and over every
quarter two officers, called Wyhneesters, were appointed by the burgomasters,
whose duty it was to keep a list of all the men in their district capable of bear-
mg arms, to see that their arms were sufficient and ready for use, and to as-
semble them at the order of the magistrates, or upon the ringing of the town
bell: the citizens, on their part, were bound to obey the summons without
delay, at any hour of the day or night. Over all the wykmeesters were placed
two, three, or four superior officers, called hoofdmannen, or captains of the
burgher guards.
The guilds, when called out to service within the town, assembled, and
acted each under their own banners; but in defence of the state they were
accustomed to march together under the standard of the town, and dressed
in the city livery. As every member of a guild was expected to have his
arms always ready for use, and the burgher guards (schuttery) were frequently
mustered, and drilled imder the inspection of the burgomasters and sheriffs,
the towns were able to man their walls, and put themselves into a state of
defence in an incredibly short space of time.
In this manner each town formed, as we have remarked, a species of re-
public, containing within itself the elements of civil government and military
force. The burgher, for the most part, considered his town as his nation,
with whose happiness and prosperity his own was inseparably linked, not
only as regarded his public but also his private interests; since his person was
liable to be seized for the debts which its government contracted, and the
government, on the other hand, if he were too poor to pay the county taxes,
stepped in to his relief, and not unfrequently discharged them for him. This
separate existence (if we may so term it) of the towns, a soxu-ce of national
strength inasmuch as, by developing to its fullest extent. the social activity
of the people and giving to each individual a place in the political scale, it
formed, as it were, a heart in every one of the extremities of the body politic,
was yet a cause of weakness by the disunion, jealousy, and opposition of
interests which it occasioned; the patriotism of the Dutchman was but too
often confined within the walls of his native city; and we shall have occasion
more than once to remark, in the course of Dutch history, that the towns,
pursuing each their own private views, totally lose sight, for a while at least,
of the interests of the nation in general, and even of their own as members
of it.
The Nobility
The municipal government and privileges of the towns extended over a
certain space without the walls, which the burghers enlarged as they foimd
occasion by grants obtained from the counts, whether by favour or purchase.
The portion of the coimty not included within these limits, and commonly
called the "open country," either formed the domains of the nobles or abbeys,
or were governed by bailiffs, whose office was analogous to that of the schout
in the towns, and who were, like them, appointed by the count. Both nobles
and abbots exercised the low jurisdiction in their states, and sometimes the
high jurisdiction also: the nobility had the power of levying taxes on the
subjects within their own domains, and exercised the right of private warfare
among themselves; of the latter privilege they were always extremely jealous,
and the efforts of the counts to abolish or modify it were for many centuries
unavailing: in fact, it fell into disuse in Germany and Holland later than in
the other countries of Europe.
The nobles were exempt from the taxes of the state, being bound in respect
THE PIEST COUNTS OF HOLLAiND
29t
of their fiefs to serve with their vassals in the wars of the country; and if
from any cause they were unable to attend in person, they were obliged either
to find a substitute or to pay a scutage {ruytergeld) in lieu of their services,
in the same manner as other vassals of the count : such, however, was only
the case when the war was carried on withm the boundaries of the county,
or had been undertaken by their advice and consent; otherwise the service
they rendered depended solely on their own will and pleasure.
The chief of the nobility were appointed by the count to form the council
of state, or supreme court of Holland:
the council of state assisted the count
in the administration of public affairs,
guaranteed all treaties of peace and
alliance made with foreign nations;
and in its judicial capacity took cog-
nizance of capital offences, both in
the towns (unless otherwise provided
by their charters) and in the open
country. To this court, where the
count generally presided in person,
lay an appeal in civil causes from all
the inferior courts in the state.
In after times, as the towns in-
creased in wealth and importance,
and the more prolonged and expen-
sive wars in which the counts were
engaged rendered their pectmiary
support necessary, they, likewise,
became parties to the ratification of
treaties,' and were consulted upon
matters relating to war or foreign
alliances. It was probably 'the cus-
tom of summoning together deputies
from the towns for these purposes
which gave rise to the assembly of the
estates, as historians are imable to fix
the exact time of its origin. It has
been generally supposed that, before
the middle of the sixteenth century,
the six "good towns" only, that is,
Dordrecht, Haarlem, Delft, Leyden,
Amsterdam, and Gouda, enjoyed the right of sending deputies to the estates.
This, however, is not altogether the fact. It is true that treaties of peace
and alliance were usually guaranteed by the great towns only, and that affairs
relating both to domestic and foreign policy were frequently transacted by
them in conjunction with the deputies of the nobles, the smaller towns (un-
willing to incur the expense of sending deputies to the estates) being content
to abide by their decision. But until about 1545 the small towns were con-
stantly summoned to give then- votes upon all questions of supply, nor did
the deputies of the great towns consider themselves authorised to grant or
anticipate the payment of any subsidies without their concurrence. The
small towns were likewise accustomed to send deputies to the estates
' The first treaty which appears guaranteed by the towns was made with Edward I of
England in 1281.
A Noblewoman of the Thirtbenth Century
298 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELANDS
when a measure was to be discussed which peculiarly regarded their own
welfare.
The Estates
The deputies to the estates were nominated by the senates of the several
towns, each town possessing but one voice in the assembly, whatever number
of deputies it might send; the whole body of the nobility likewise enjoyed
but one vote, though it was often represented by several, never by less than
three deputies. The estates were generally summoned by the counts to the
Hague, or to any other place where they might happen to be residing. The
more usual practice was to petition either the count or the council of Holland
to issue the summons. The deputies of the nobles and towns deliberated
separately, and afterwards met together to give their votes, when the nobles
voted first, and then the towns, the ancient city of Dordrecht having the
precedence. No measure could be carried, if either the nobles or any one of
the towns refused to give their vote in its favour.
The principal officers employed by the assembly of the estates were a
registrar or keeper of the records, who acted likewise as secretary, and an
advocate called the pensionary of Holland, whose business it was to propose
all subjects for the deliberation of the estates, to declare the votes, and report
the decisions of the assembly to the count, or council of state; although this
officer did not possess the right of voting, he was accustomed to take a share
in the debates, and generally enjoyed great influence both in the assembly
of the estates and the whole country: the nobles, likewise, chose a pen-
sionary, nearly always in the person of the same individual. The constitution
of the estates of Zealand differed from that of Holland, inasmuch as the clergy
in the latter did not form a separate estate, nor were they represented in the
assembly; whereas in Zealand, the abbot of St. Nicholas in Middelburg en-
joyed the right of giving the first vote as representative of the ecclesiastical
estate.
Taxation
It is impossible at this time to define exactly the powers formerly pos-
sessed by the estates, since during the reign of feeble princes, or minors, they
naturally sought to extend them, and often succeeded in so doing; while, on
the other hand, they were considerably abridged by the more powerful and
arbitrary coimts, particularly those of the house of Burgundy. The most
essential, however, that of levying taxes, none of the sovereigns of Holland
before Philip II of Spain ever ventured to dispute; and the old feudal prin-
ciple, that the nation could not be taxed without its own consent, wholly
abandoned in France, and evaded in England by the practice of extorting
benevolences, was in Holland, except in some rare and single instances, con-
stantly and firmly adhered to.' The counts, on all occasions of extraordi-
nary expense, were obliged to apply for funds to the assembly of the states,
and these applications were called "petitions" (heden), a word in itself de-
noting that the subsidy was asked as a favour, not claimed as a right. If
the "petition" of the count were granted by the estates, a certain portion of
the sum required was adjudged to each town, and to the open country (which
' The imposts levied by the nobles on their domains are to be considered rather in the
light of lords' rents than taxes, since the lands of the vassals were supposed to belong to the
lords, and they were not levied on such as held their lands by military service ; but as they
■were unlimited in amount, and almost every artide of raw produce was liable to them, they
were the cause of grievous oppreaaioa.
THE FIEST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 299
in this respect was represented by the deputies of the nobihty), and raised
by an assessment on houses (schildtal), and a land-tax^ (morgental) . This
tax was levied in the towns, not by any receiver or officer on the part of the
count, but by the senate, which was answerable for the payment of the quotas
that the towns had boimd themselves to furnish: the custom of levying the
taxes on the county in general was first introduced under the government
of the house of Burgundy.
The authority of the coimt, however, was not so limited as it would at
first appear. His ordinary revenues were so ample as to preclude the neces-
sity of making petitions to the states, except in cases of unusual expenditure;
in addition to extensive private domains, and the profits of reliefs and of the
fiefs which escheated to him as lord, he was entitled to the eleventh part of
the produce of the land in West Friesland; and he had moreover the right of
levying tolls on ships passing up and down the rivers; and customs upon all
foreign wares imported into the country. Besides these sources of revenue,
he received considerable sums for such privileges as he granted to the towns;
which were also accustomed to give gratuities when he was summoned to the
court of the emperor; when his son, or brother, was made a knight; and upon
the marriage of himself, his son, brother, sister, or daughter.
The important right also possessed by the towns of rejecting any measure
proposed in the estates, by a single dissentient voice, was considerably mod-
ified in practice, in consequence of the influence which the coimt obtained
over them by granting or withholding privileges at his pleasure. He like-
wise exercised, on many occasions, the power of changing the governments
of the towns, out of the due course, but this was always considered as an act
of arbitrary violence on his part, and seldom failed to excite vehement re-
monstrance, as well from the estates as from the town which suffered it.
Thus the constitution of Holland was, as we may gather from the preceding
observations, rather aristocratic than republican, being exempt indeed from
the slightest leaven of democracy in any of its institutions. Nevertheless,
it was in many respects essentially popiilar in its spirit: although the gov-
ernment of the towns was lodged in the hands of but few individuals, yet as
they were generally men engaged in manufactures and commerce, or (in
later times) gentry closely connected with them, their wants, interests, and
prejudices were identified with those of the people whom they governed;
while the short duration of their authority prevented the growth of any
exclusive spirit amongst them.
Special regulations also were adopted in every town, by which no two
members of the government could be within a certain degree of relationship
to each other; thus preventing the whole authority from being absorbed by
one or more wealthy and powerful families, as was the case in the Italian
republics, especially those of Florence and Genoa. The guilds, although they
possessed no share in the administration of affairs, yet exercised considerable
influence in the towns, from their numbers and wealth; the members also,
being all armed and organised for the pubfic defence, were equally ready to
assemble at a moment's notice for the purpose of obtaining the removal of
any grievance, or the redress of any injury which they might conceive them-
selves, or the inhabitants in general, to have sustained.
The fimdamental principles of the government, as recognised by the best
authorities, were these: that the sovereign shall not marry without the con-
sent of the states; that the public offices of the county shall be conferred on
natives only; the estates have a right to assemble when and where they judge
expedient, without permission from the coimt; it is not lawful for the count
300 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1256-1271 A.D.]
to undertake any war, whether offensive or defensive, without the consent of
the estates; all decrees and edicts shall be published in the Dutch language;
the count shall neither coin nor change the value of money, without the ad-
vice of the estates; he shall not alienate any part of his dominions; the es-
tates shall not be summoned out of the lirnits of the county; the count shall
demand "petitions" of the estates in person, and not by deputy, nor shall he
exact payment of any greater sum than is granted by the states; no juris-
diction shall be exercised except by the regular magistrates; the ancient
customs and laws of the state are sacred, and if the count make any decree
contrary to them, no man shall be bound to obey it.
It is not meant to be affirmed that these principles were always adhered
to; on the contrary, they were frequently violated; and under the powerful
princes of the house of Burgundy, almost wholly neglected; but the Dutch
constantly looked to them as the sheet-anchor of their political existence,
and seldom failed to recur to and enforce them whenever an opportunity
offered itself for so doing.
FLORIS V (1256-1296)
Floris V was born during the time that the emperor, his father, was be-
sieging Charles of Anjou in Valenciennes, and was consequently scarcely
two years old at the time of his father's death; he was, nevertheless, imme-
diately acknowledged by the nobles, and the government of the county,
during his minority, was confided to his uncle Floris. Equally incliaed with
his brother to favour the increase and advancement of the towns, the gov-
ernor granted charters of privileges to nearly all those of Zealand which did
not yet enjoy them. He likewise concluded the treaty of peace with Flan-
ders, begun in the last year: it was agreed that the counts of Holland should
continue to hold the five islands as a fief of Flanders; that the count of
Flanders should receive ten thousand {)ounds (Flemish) from Holland; and
that either Floris, or the young count, when he came of age, should marry
Beatrice, daughter of Guy de Dampierre: Guy, and his brother John, were
released from their imprisonment upon payment of heavy ransoms. The
county did not long enjoy the pacific government of Floris the Elder, since
he was killed in a tournament at Antwerp, little more than two years after
his accession. Upon his death, in 1258, Adelaide, countess-dowager of
Hainault, the widow of John of Avenues, assumed the guardianship of the
young count, and the administration of affairs, under the title of Governess
of Holland; but the nobles, disdaining to submit to female rule, invited Otto
of Gelderland, cousin of Adelaide, to undertake the government of the county.
During the administration of Otto, a dangerous revolt broke out among
the people of Kennemerland, who, uniting with those of Friesland and
Waterland, declared their determination to expel all the nobles from the
country, and raze their castles to the ground.' They first took possession of
Amsterdam, the lord of which, Gilbert van Amstel, either unable to make
resistance against the insurgents, or desirous of employing them to avenge a
fjrivate quarrel he had with the bishop of Utrecht, consented to become their
eader and immediately conducted them to the siege of that city.
A parley ensued, when one of the Kennemerlanders vehemently exhorted
the besieged to banish all the nobles from Utrecht, and divide their wealth
among the poor. Fired by his oration, the people quitted the walls, seized
[' This was a genuine peasant insurrection, and according to Beka"* the leaders had an am-
bition to form a popular democracy, a "vulgaris communitas."]
THE FIEST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 301
tl27].-1291 A.D.]
upon the magistrates, whom they forced to resign their offices, drove them,
with all the nobles, out of the town, and admitting the besiegers within the
gates made a league of eternal amity with them. After remaining a short
time at Utrecht, the insurgents laid siege to Haarlem, but a considerable
number were slain, and the remainder dispersed. Utrecht shortly after
submitted to the authority of the bishop. The cause of this insurrection
appears to have been the extortion practised upon the people by the nobles,
most of whom, as we have observed, exercised the right of levying taxes ui
their own domains.
On the death of the count of Gelderland (1271), Floris being then seven-
teen, took the conduct of affairs into his own hands, and about the same time
completed his marriage with Beatrice of Flanders, as agreed upon by the
treaty of 1256. Early in the next year he made preparations for an expe-
dition into West Friesland, for the purpose of avenging his father's death.
He carried on the war for years, with varying success. In 1282 he effected
a landing at Wydenesse : the Frieslanders were totally defeated.
The trade carried on by the Hollanders with England was now become
highly valuable to both nations; the former giving a high price for the English
wools for their cloth manufactures, while they procured thence (chiefly, per-
haps, from Cornwall) their silver for the purpose of coinage.
Marriage was agreed upon between John, the count's infant son, and
Elizabeth, daughter of Edward I, of England. The friendship cemented by
this alliance was highly advantageous to the commerce of Holland: the staple
of English wool was fixed at Dordrecht,' a town of extensive trade in wines,
grain, salt, iron, wood, and cloths; and the subjects of the count were per-
mitted to fish, without restriction, on the English coast at Yarmouth. This
is the first grant we find of a privilege, which the Dutch continued to enjoy,
with little interruption, until the time of Cromwell.
The Great Flood
After the departure of the army of Holland from West Friesland, the in-
habitants renewed their hostilities, and made several unsuccessful attacks
upon a fort which the count had built at Wydenesse; but a dreadful storm,
which this year laid the whole of the country on both sides the Zuyder Zee
entirely under water,^ proved the means of enabling Count Floris to effect
their complete subjugation. The floods rose to such a height that every part of
the province was accessible to a numerous fleet of small vessels called cogs,
well manned, and placed under the command of Dirk, lord of Brederode; the
inhabitants of the several towns, being unprovided with a sufficient number
of boats to oppose those of the count, found their communication with each
other wholly cut off; and thus reduced to a state of blockade, and unable to
render the slightest mutual assistance, they severally acknowledged the
authority of Coimt Floris.
Count Floris imdertook a journey to England, for the purpose of advanc-
ing his pretensions to the throne of Scotland, vacant by the death of Margaret,
commonly called the Maid of Norway, grand-daughter and heiress of Alex-
ander III. Floris was descended in a direct line from Ada, daughter of
Henry, eldest son of David I, king of Scotland, who married, in the year 1162,
Floris III, count of Holland. On this ground he appeared, in 1291, among
' Tlie clironicler Melis Stoke* observes tliat "tliis did not last long, for it was an English
Contract."
' The flood overwhelmed fifteen islands in Zealand, and destroyed fifteen thousand persons.
302 THE HISTOKY OF THE NBTHEELANDS
[1291-1296 A.D.]
the numerous competitors for the crown, who, at the conferences held at
Norham, submitted their claims to Edward I of England; and, however
remote his pretensions, the native historians inform us that his renunciation
of them was purchased by the successful candidate with a considerable sum
of money, and the contemporary chronicler, Melis Stoke,6 reprobates, in no
very measured terms the advice that persuaded him thus, like another Esau,
to sell his birthright.
The amity between the two courts was in a very few years broken, on the
occasion of a war between Holland and Flanders. Guy made a sudden ir-
ruption into the island of South Beveland in 1295. Floris solicited in vain
succours from the king of England, who evaded his request under various
pretexts, and whose interests now prompted him to court the alliance of
Guy of Flanders, in preference to that of Holland. He proposed a marriage
between his eldest son and Philippa, daughter of Count Guy; bestowed on
him the sum of 300,000 livres in payment of the auxiliaries he should furnish
during the war, and removed the staple of English wool from Dordrecht to
Bruges and Mechlin, to the great detriment of the trade and manufactures
of Holland.
Finding that Edward had thus made a league with his enemy, Floris
determined to accept the offers of friendship made him by Philip of France.
THE KIDNAPPING OF FLORIS
The news of the alliance between Holland and France excited to a high
degree the wrath of the king of England: he wrote to the emperor, com-
plaining of the ingratitude of his vassal, the count of Holland, and declared
that he would detain John, his son, in prison, unless the alliance were imme-
diately dissolved; and it is supposed that at this time he first formed the
design of seizing the person of Floris and conveying him to imprisonment,
either in England or Flanders — a scheme which he was not long in finding
instruments able and willing to execute, though the event was probably more
fatal than he had anticipated.
Besides the causes of dissatisfaction which were common to the whole
body of nobles, the count had aroused in the breasts of many individuals
among them feelings of personal hatred and revenge. Gerard van Velsen
first imparted to Hermann van Woerden a design of seizing the count's
person, and placing him in confinement. Several other nobles readily entered
into the conspiracy, the lord of Cuyck promising them the support and as-
sistance of the duke of Brabant, the count of Flanders, and the king of Eng-
land. Since the strong attachnient of the citizens and people towards their
count rendered the execution of any treasonable enterprise difficult and even
dangerous in Holland, the conspirators waited until Floris should go to
Utrecht, where he had appointed to be on a certain day in June, 1296, to
make a reconciliation between the lords of Amstel and Woerden, and the
relatives of the lord of Zuylen, whom they had slain. After the reconciliation,
Floris, unsuspicious of evU, gave a magnificent entertainment, at which all the
conspirators were present, Amstel early the next morning, inviting the coimt
to accompany himself and the other nobles on a hawking excursion. Floris,
before his departure, asked Amstel to drink a stirrup-cup to St. Gertrude.
The traitor took the cup from his master's hand, saying, " God protect you;
I will ride forward," and draining its contents, galloped off. Fearfiu of
losmg any part of the sport, the count quickly followed, leaving behind all
his attendants, except a couple of pages. About two miles distant from
THE FIEST COUNTS OP HOLLAND 303
[1296 A.D.]
Utrecht, he was surrounded by Amstel, Woerden, Velsen, and several others,
whom he greeted in a friendly manner. Woerden then seized the bridle
of his horse, saying to him, " My master, your high flights are ended — you
shall drive us no longer — you are now our prisoner, whether you wUl or no."
He attempted to draw his sword, but was prevented by Velsen, who threat-
ened " to cleave his head in two," if he made the least movement. One of
the pages, attempting to defend his master, received a severe woimd, but was
able to escape with the other to Utrecht.
No sooner had the rumour of the coimt's imprisonment been noised
abroad than the West Frieslanders rose in a body, and uniting themselves
to the people of Kennemerland and.Waterland speedily manned a number of
vessels, and presented themselves before Muyden. But as they were with-
out a leader, and had neither ammunition nor materials for a siege, they
were unable to effect the release of their sovereign, and could only prevent
his being carried to England. Finding this scheme, therefore, impracticable,
the conspirators determined upon conveying him by land to Brabant or
Flanders; gagged and disguised, with his feet and hands bound, and mounted
on a sorry horse, they conducted their unhappy prisoner, on the fifth day of
his confinement, towards Naarden. Hardly had they advanced half way
to Naarden, when Velsen, who rode forward to reconnoitre, encoimtered a
large body of the inhabitants of that city. The nobles, unable to resist so
numerous a force, attempted to avoid them by flight; but in leaping a ditch,
the count's feeble horse fell with his rider into the mire, and finding it im-
possible to extricate him before the arrival of his deliverers, who were close
behind, they murdered their helpless victim with more than twenty wounds.
The personal character of Floris, as well as the state of affairs in the
coimty, rendered his death a cause of deep lamentation to the Hollanders.*
Just, liberal, and magnanimous, he was a firm and constant protector of
his people against the oppression of the nobles.
Of the conspirators, Woerden and Amstel fled their country, and died in
exile; van Velsen was tried at Dordrecht, severely tortured, and, together
with William van Zoenden, one of his accomplices, broken on the wheel.
The aristocratic power in Holland never afterwards recovered the shock
it underwent on this occasion; besides those of the nobles who were openly
convicted of a share in the assassination of Coimt Floris, many others were
suspected of a secret participation in this crime, and the contempt and de-
testation they incurred extended in some degree to the whole body of the
nobility, whose moral influence was thus nearly annihilated, whUe its actual
strength was enfeebled by the death or banishment of many of its most pow-
erful members. This occmred, too, at a juncture when the towns, favoured
by the privileges which Floris and his inmiediate predecessors had bestowed
on them, and increasing in wealth and importance, were enabled to secure
that political influence in the state which the nobles daily lost, and which,
in other countries, was obtained by the sovereign, on the decay of the feudal
aristocracy.
The condition in which the death of Floris V left Holland was deplorable
in the extreme — engaged in hostilities with Flanders, her nobility discon-
tented and rebellious, her people alarmed and suspicious, and her young
[' Holland's greatest poet, Vondel, whose Lucifer is often spoken of as the inspiration of
Milton's "Paradise Lost," opened the first public theatre in Amsterdam with a tragedy on this
subject, called " Gijsbrecht van Amstel." The abduction and death of Count Floris is a
favourite subject of Dutch legend and art, and according to Blok" "no event of those barbarous
centuries is better known to the Dutch people,"]
304 THE HISTORY OF THE FETHEELANDS
[1296-1298 A.D.]
prince John, a minor, in the hands of the English monarch, who had given
but too many proofs of his unscrupulous ambition, while to these difficulties
was added that of a divided regency. Although John of Avennes was next
of kin to the young count, yet Louis of Cleves, count of Hulkerode, related
in a more distant degree, assumed to himself the administration of affairs,
his supporters being principally found among the friends of those who had
conspired against Count Floris. Upon the arrival of John of Avennes in
Holland, Louis of Cleves was forced to retire into his own territory. The
enemies of Holland were not backward in taking advantage of the embar-
rassments she was now labouring imder.
JOHN I, THE LAST OF THE COUNTS (1296-1299)
At the instigation of the bishop of Utrecht, and relying on his promises of
assistance, the West Frieslanders once more took up arms, mastered and
destroyed all the castles Count Floris had built, except Medemblik, which
they blockaded.
Meanwhile, the king of England, anxious to secure an influence in the
court of his intended son-in-law, sent ambassadors to Holland, requiring the
attendance of three nobles out of each of the provinces, and two deputies
from each of the "good towns," ^ at the marriage of the count John with the
princess Elizabeth, and at the confirmation of the treaty. The marriage
was celebrated with great splendour, and the ambassadors, laden with rich
presents, returned with the young bride and bridegroom in a well-equipped
fleet to Holland. The conditions imposed by Edward in the treaty made on
this occasion rendered the young coimt little more than a nominal sovereign
in his own states; he was obliged to appoint two Englishmen, Ferrers and
Havering, members of his privy council, and to engage that he would do
nothing contrary to their advice, or without the consent of his father-in-law.
The disputes between Flanders and Brabant on the one side, and Holland on
the other, were to be referred to the mediation of Edward. On the return of
John of Avennes from the war in Friesland, he found that the count John
had landed in Zealand, and knowing he had nothing but hostility to expect
from Wolfart van Borselen, who had obtained possession of the young prince's
person, and was devoted to the interests of England and Flanders, he deemed
it advisable to retire without delay into Hainault. His departure left Borse-
len without a rival, and he immediately assumed the title of governor of
Holland, and guardian of the minor.
The Frieslanders still refusing to acknowledge John as the son of Count
Floris [an idea to which the fact of his long residence in England had given
rise], the first step of Borselen was to march with the young count into that
province, at the head of an army. With so powerful a force, it was a matter
of no great difficulty to subdue the West Frieslanders, and it was done so
effectually that this was the last time the counts of Holland were obliged
to carry war into their country.
His successes so increased the influence of Wolfart van Borselen that his
authority in the state became almost absolute. He thought fit to venture
upon the hazardous measure of debasing the coin, a stretch of power which
the Dutch, a nation depending for their existence upon trade and commerce,
' This is the first time we observe the towns participating in political affairs : it coincides
nearly with the summoning of borough members to parliament in England (129S) and the
assembly of the states in France (1302),
THE PIEST COUNTS OP HOLLAND 305
[129S-1299 A.D.]
have never been able to endure, even from their most arbitrary sovereigns.
The mm-murs of the citizens then became loud and general; and the popular
hatred appeared already to threaten the ruin of the court favourite, when a
quarrel in which he involved himself with the town of Dordrecht, concerning
its immunities, brought matters to a crisis. Four hoofdmannen, or captains
of burgher guards, were appointed, and letters despatched by the senate to
all the "good towns" of Holland and Zealand, intreating them to consider
the cause of Dordrecht as their common cause. Their preparations were not
made in vain, as no long time elapsed before the town was invested.
Borselen determined to raise a general levy both in Holland and Zealand
against the Dordrechters: but being unable to carry his purpose into effect,
from the discontents which had spread over the whole coimty, deemed him-
self no longer safe at the Hague, and, leaving the court by night, carried the
yoimg coimt with all expedition to Schiedam, whence he took ship to Zea-
land (1299).
On the discovery of the abduction of Coimt John, the court and village
of the Hague were in uproar; numbers hurried to "Vlaardingen, where, find-
ing that the ship in which Borselen had sailed lay becalmed, they manned
all the boats in the port with stout rowers, and quickly reached the count's
vessel, whom they found very willing to return with them. Borselen was
conducted a prisoner to Delft. Hardly had the populace there heard of his
arrest when they assembled before the doors of the gaol, demanding with
loud cries that "the traitor" should be delivered up to them. Those within,
struck with terror, thrust him, stripped of his armour, out at the door, when
he was massacred in an instant.
As John was still too young to conduct the business of government alone,
he invited to his assistance his cousin, John of Avenues, and appointed him
guardian over himself and the county for the space of four years. The death
of Borselen, and the accession of John of Avenues to the government, en-
tirely deprived the English party of their influence in Holland, since Avenues
had been constantly attached, both from inclination and policy, to the in-
terest of the French court. Soon after, determined on entering into a close
alliance with France, he set out on a journey to that court, leaving Count
John at Haarlem, sick of the ague and flux, which terminated his existence
on the 10th of November, 1299. Suspicions of poison were soon afloat, and
Avenues has been accused of this crime; but as the charge is flatly denied
by Melis Stoke,& and the nature of John's disease is expressly stated by an-
other contemporary and credible historian, Wilhelm Procurator,? its being
adopted by Meyer,/ a Flemish author writing two centuries later, is hardly
sufficient to affix so deep a stain on the character of John of Avenues. As
Count John died without children, the coimty was transferred, by the suc-
cession of John of Avermes, the nearest heir, to the family of Hainault.
Thus ended this noble and heroic race of princes, having now governed
the county for a period of four hundred years; of whom it may be remarked,
that not one has been handed down to us by historians as weak, vicious, or
debauched.^
H. yr. — VOL. xui. X
CHAPTER II
EAELY HISTORY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDERS
[51 B.C.-1384 A.D.]
THlSODORB JTJSTE ON BELGIUM'S PLACE IN HISTORY
Placed in the central part of Europe between nations which have long
disputed with one another for supremacy, Belgium has endured varying
fortunes. In remote times she was extolled by Caesar & and Tacitus « as the
seat of force and courage; she was the home of the Carlovingians, after having
been the cradle of the descendants of Merovseus; she reigned in Jerusalem
when Godfrey de Bouillon had opened to Christianity the gates of the holy
city; she reigned in Constantinople when Baldwin of Flanders and Hainault
donned the diadem of the Caesars at St. Sophia; she equalled — perhaps,
according to the testimony of Dante and Petrarch, she even eclipsed — Italy
herself by the opulence and the indomitable energy of her communes; she
was the home of western civilisation which shone resplendent in the cities of
Flanders when the neighbouring countries were scarcely emerging from the
darkness of barbarism; she was the rampart of popular liberties throughout
the Middle Ages; she afterwards became the rival of the French monarchy
under the last dukes of Burgundy.
AH this greatness did not last. After having placed the imperial crown
on the head of Charles V, and consolidated with the blood of her warriors
the preponderance of the Spanish monarchy, Belgium felt the wounds of
foreign dominion. Then she lost her wealth, her commerce, her industry,
even her vigour, in that long revolution which brought forth the republic of
the United Provinces, heiress of the force, the opulence, the prestige of the
southern Netherlands.
306
EARLY HISTORY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDERS 307
Belgium seemed destined to expiate, if we may so express it, the pro-
digious elevation of the Austro-Spanish house whose cradle she had been.
She had feared and hated Philip II; she despised the incapacity of hia
successors, who, not content with sacrificing her to the political and com-
mercial exigencies of the United Provinces, handed over entire provinces to
France. AU the efforts of Louis XIV were directed against the existence
of Spanish Belgium, which, situated a few marches from Paris, seemed to
him an indispensable and easy acquisition. But Europe placed herself be-
tween him and these provinces, that she might dispute with him for the
fragments.
Belgium, without a national dynasty, was thus the principal cause, the
determining cause, of the wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
marked by so many upheavals, so many catastrophes. During a hundred
and fifty years the armies of most of the nations of Europe came to fight in
the plains of Belgium, to besiege her towns, to devastate her coimtry dis-
tricts; thousands of men perished on this everlastingly disputed soil: the
gravestones of Walcourt, Fleurus, Seneffe, Rocoux, Neerwinden, Ramillies,
Malplaquet, Lawfeld, Fontenoy are the mommaents of these sanguinary
struggles.
France, whose finances the genius of Colbert had tripled, exhausted her-
self in order to extend her frontiers to the Rhine and the mouth of the Schelde.
The republic of the United Provinces, England, Germany, in like manner
exhausted themselves to prevent this aggrandisement which would have
destroyed the equilibrium of Europe, and surroimded with constant perils
the states bordering on the Belgian provinces. Victorious, the adversaries
of Louis XIV came to an understanding in 1715 in order to secure the success
of a scheme which made of the Belgian provinces, now handed over to the
German branch of the house of Austria, the barrier of the United Provinces
and the tete-de-pont of the English on the contment. But, if the Barrier
Treaty was a check to French ambition, the Belgians could not consider as
a reparation the act which subordinated them to the Dutch republic and
which legalised the abuse of force. In fact, far from restoring the territory
which had been torn from them, Europe recognised the successive dismem-
berments effected since 1648. The country was obliged to resign itself, for
it was powerless.
All these disasters had annihilated the ancient power of Belgium but had
not destroyed the inalienable sentiment of nationality which was religiously
transmitted from generation to generation, even when ten different flags
floated on the waUs of her conquered cities.
Regarded without prejudice and in its true aspect, the history of the
Belgians presents a rare and imposing spectacle. Here it is not absolute
monarchy which raises itself on the ruins of other powers and constantly
absorbs the attention of posterity; on the contrary, we see the nation acting.
Preserving the fuU enjoyment of provincial and municipal life, the nation
really figures on the scene : it is the nation which we f oUow through the cen-
turies, trimnphant or vanquished, free or oppressed, but bearing all vicissi-
tudes to preserve its original and distinctive character. From the dissolution
of the Carlovingian empire down to the fifteenth century, the various Belgian,
provinces were in the possession of different dynasties. Yet, in default of'
political unity,_ there was between them community of origin, of manners,,
of religious ideas, of patriotism. Belgium did not so far degenerate as to.
lose herself in the foreign dominion. She kept her fundamental laws, hec-
usages, her traditions, her manners; she remained Belgian."
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
PRIMITIVE HISTORY
It would be neither possible nor desirable here to take up in detail the
history of the various provinces and factions that make up the early Nether-
lands. From the tangle of town and family wars, the extraction of the single
threads entire would be an endless task. To each family or town its own
career was intensely important, and many of the events are picturesque
enough to be of general interest, but their value in the world-chronicles is
of the slightest.
It is well, however, before proceeding with the account of the Nether-
lands as a whole, to give some account of the principal divisions in order
that the unities may be the better understood when the final separation of
Belgium from Holland is accomplished. Of the land and the original peo-
ples, mention has already been made in the introduction by Motley, but a
brief account of the Roman influence in Belgium proper will not be amiss.<»
Under the Romans
Belgimn, as we have said, was the cradle of both the Merovingian and
Carlovingian dynasties, and it was in this country also that the Frank nation
prepared itself to carry out its brilliant destiny. The northern extremity of
Gaul, which corresponds to modern Belgium and the Netherlands, was never
conquered by the Barbarians as was the Celtic or Roman portion of the land
— it is rather from here that conquerors set out. The original Belgians
belonged to the great Germanic family, like all the Franks, and they took,
in the exploits and settlements of the race in foreign lands, a part as large
as it was glorious. It is true that the oldest inhabitants of Belgium were
Celts, but history also teachc-. us that the Germans had invaded that part of
Gaul and expelled the Celts iong before Caesar's time. The people found
there at the time of the Roman conquest were all Germans; Caesar 6 himself
affirms this.
When the Romans organised the administration of the southern portion
of Gaul, they divided it into provinces. Under Augustus the Treviri, Nervii,
and Menapii found themselves the sole occupants of the province of Bel-
gium. Later, imder Diocletian or Constantine, the province of Belgium
created by Augustus was divided into the First and Second Belgic Provinces,
and at the same time Upper and Lower Germany became the First and Sec-
ond German Provinces. No portion of modern Belgium entered into the
composition of the First Germanic Province, whose capital was Mainz, but
to the Second belonged the territory of the Toxandri and Tungri. Cologne
was its metropolis and Tongres its second largest town.
The Romans occupied Belgium for several centuries and founded nu-
merous establishments, military colonies, and permanent camps, of which a
small number developed into towns.
It is in the land of the Treviri, comprising a large portion of modern
Luxemburg, that one finds the most remains of Roman occupation. Treves
(Colonia Augusta Trevirorum) a military colony in the beginning, became one
of the principal cities of the empire. We know it was the residence of the
prefect of Gaul and that several emperors, among them Constantine, held
court there. There were at Treves a famous school of literature, a mint,
several manufactories of arms and cloth, and a workshop where women
made military equipments. Ammianus Marcellinus,« citing Cologne and
BAELY HISTOEY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDEES 309
Tongres as the two cities of the Second Germanic Province, says that they were
large and populous. But civilisation was able to exercise its influence only
in the large centres of population, such as Treves, Bavay, Tongres, Colo'gne,
and perhaps among the inhabitants of the east and south, neighbours of
the stations and fortified_ posts. "Elsewhere," says Schayes,/ " in the north,
centre, and west of Belgium, the manners, customs, language, and religions
of the natives underwent little or no modification during the whole period
of Roman dominion."
Christianity seems to have had considerable vogue in Treves, but was not
introduced until later into the more or less romanised towns and villages. We
know positively that there was a bishop at Tongres in the middle of the fourth
century. _ But the Christian establishments disappeared entirely from the
country immediately after the expulsion of the Romans.
It was both at Treves and on the banks of the Moselle that the Latin
language made most progress; the Romans imposed their tongue upon the
conquered nations as they imposed the yoke of their dominion. It is some-
what astonishing, after this, that the dwellers on the banks of the Moselle
should not have adopted, like those of the Maas, a Roman dialect. Perhaps
also the use of the Roman-Walloon in some provinces of Belgium does not
date from the time of Roman dominion but from that when Christianity
returned to the land after the conversion of the Franks and the establish-
ment of religious houses whose inmates spoke a rustic Latin.?
Under the Franks and the Dukes
"Dark is the fate of Western Europe, of the Netherlands especially, in
the century of misfortune in which Rome finally ceased to be mistress of the
West," says Blok.'i The Franks were ruthless conquerors, and the history
of the Netherlands is for himdreds of years the story of the rise of their em-
pire to the glory of a Charlemagne and the weakness of its quick disintegration
in 843. The realm to which Lothair II succeeded was called Lotharingia,
whence Lorraine — the mediaeval name for the Low Countries except Flan-
ders, which fell to Charles the Bald and suffered heavily from the Norse
invasions.
The division into duchies, counties, and free cities was complex. Among
the chief were the duchies, Brabant, Limburg, and Luxemburg; and the
counties, Flanders, Hainault, and Namur. Li6ge was a bishopric. Hainault
is described in the next chapter.
BEABANT
Brabant, once second to Flanders in importance and long honourable in
the history of the arts, is now divided between Belgium and Holland; its
first count was Godfrey the Bearded. His great-grandson, Henry I the
Warrior (1190-1235), took the title of duke. At the important battle of
Woeringen June 5th, 1288, the duke John I defeated an alliance of the arch-
bishop of Cologne with the counts of Luxemburg, and Gelderland; he killed
Henry of Luxemburg with his own sword and permanently added Limburg
to Brabant. John II enlarged his people's privileges by a grant of the Charter
of Cortemberg ' and the Statute of the Common Weal. John III provoked
[' The charter of Cortemberg, granted by John II on the 37th of September, 1312, acquaints
us with the concessions by which the duke paid for the services of his subjects. It institutes
a life-council of forty persons, recruited from amongst the nobility and the towns and whose
mission it was to see that the privileges and customs of the duchy were observed. This
council was to assemble every three weeks and its decisions were to be sovereign. If the duke
310 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
a rebellion in which Brussels and Louvain had allies, but he crushed the
uprising (1340). After his death the count of Flanders claimed Brabant,
but was appeased by the gift of Antwerp. In 1404, however, all Brabant
went over to Flanders. In 1430 it belonged to Burgundy, and from 1440
was ruled by the Austrian House. Brabant enjoyed a constitution known
as the Blyde Inkomet or La Joyeuse Entrie — that is, " the Joyous Entrance"
— because it was granted by John III in 1356 at the time when his daughter
Joanna married Wenzel of Luxemburg and the two entered Brussels in state
as prince and princess. It was this Joanna who, after Wenzel's death in
1383, found support from Burgundy in resisting the demands of the cities.
In 1389 duchess Joanna mortgaged certain of these cities to Philip of Bur-
gundy. The next year she revoked the deed which gave Brabant to Lux-
emburg and made the duke and duchess of Burgundy her heirs. This deed
was of the utmost importance to the destiny of the whole Netherlands.
LUXEMBURG AND LIEGE
Luxemburg was originally called Ardenne, but the chief city gradually
displaced the name of the coimty. It became a duchy in 1354 and kept
its independence tUl 1451, when Philip of Burgimdy seized it. It later fell
into the hands of Austria; from 1659 its cities were frequently under French
sway. Its possession was matter for frequent dispute as late as the nine-
teenth century, when a large part of it was incorporated in the Belgian king-
dom, the rest being established as a neutral grand duchy imder the protection
of the crown of Holland.
Liege was chosen in 720 as the seat of the bishops of Tongres. In the
tenth century it became the bishopric of Liege. Four centuries later, its
bishops were made princes of the empire. They were usually despotic and
the citizens were frequently wrought to bloody revolt, obtaining a substantial
recognition of their rights only after a bitter civU war ended in June, 1315, by
the Peace of Fexhe, a treaty of the greatest importance in the history of
human liberties, and long taken as a model for the abridgement of the power
of rulers and the precise limitations of all public functions and functionaries.'
FLANDERS: ITS EARLY HISTORY
Flanders, to-day, has lost its national identity and simply makes up two
of the provinces of the minor kingdom of Belgium. But for centuries it was
in the very forefront of European politics and commerce, far overshadowing
the England of that day, and rivalling France and the empire. Compared
with Ghent, London was a third-rate town. England was then merely an
agricultural district of small population, furnishing raw material for the
great industries of the Flemings, whose trade was the envy of the world,
whose rich men and women provoked the jealousy of kings and queens, and
whose art, music, and letters glittered over the whole continent.
refused to observe them the country was absolved from all obedience to liim so long as he
persisted in this resistance. The charter of Cortemberg strongly resembles the Peace of
Fexhe, to which it is anterior by only four years. At the same time it is distinguished from it
by numerous traits. In the first place it was not, like that peace, the consequence of civil
war ; it is a concession granted by a prince as the result of a contract, or, better, of a concordat.
Its object is not to cut short a long quarrel on the exercise of sovereignty itself. It confines
itself to simply stipulating the conditions of that exercise. — Pirknne.* ]
[' Pirenue' credits the equalitarian constitution of Lidge to the absence of predominant
trades, rather than to any special Walloon democratic sentiment "as alleged by some his-
torians."]
EAELY HISTOEY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDEES 311
[864-1168 A.D.]
Its old counts were wont to trace their line back to Priam of Troy; but
the first ruler of certain character is Baldwin Forester, the Iron Arm, who
eloped with a daughter of Charles the Bald, and was finally acknowledged
by his father-in-law as governor of the countship of Flanders, from 864 a.d,
to his death in 878. His son was Baldwin the Bald, who strove against the
Normans, and married the daughter of Alfred the Great of England. His
son Arnold (918-989) had difficulties with both the Normans and the em-
peror Otto I. In this reign the first weavers and fullers of Ghent were
established. His son Baldwin IV, the Comely Beard, defeated both the king
of France and the emperor Henry II, adding to his realm Valenciennes,
Walcheren, and the islands of Zealand. His son, Baldwin V (1036-1067)
the Debonair, was also a remarkable ruler. His daughter Matilda was the
wife of William the Conqueror; his son married the countess of Hainault
and brought it into the control of Flanders; while another son, Robert the
Frisian, was by marriage the ruler of the countship of Holland and Friesland.
But the sons quarrelled, and a long and bitter feud broke out. Robert II
(1093-1119) was a crusader and earned the name of "the Lance and Sword
of Christendom." His death and the death of his son Baldwin VII ''with
the Axe" ended the old line of Flemish counts in 1119.
The power fell to Charles the Good, of Denmark; he was the son of King
Canute, who had married the daughter of Robert the Frisian. Charles was
assassinated by the merchants, because he threw open all the granaries at
Bruges during a famine in 1127, thus breaking their monopoly. The people
rose in horror, besieged the wealthy conspirators in Bruges, and taking them
at length, tortured them to death. Charles left no heir, and six claimants
demanded the throne. In the words of Moke,? " this contest offers the most
precious picture of the political condition of the country."
The king of France proposed for the throne, William of Normandy. The
nobility elected him at once. The people were promised the abolition of
certain taxes if they would consent. They did so, but William, after making
most solemn promises, hastened to violate the independence of the bour-
geois, whom his feudal training had unfitted him to understand. His ex-
actions provoked risings in various cities, whose leaders chose for Count,
Thierry or Theodoric of Alsace, the nearest relative of Charles the Good.
After some fighting he was besieged in Alost, by WiUiam, who was, however,
killed in a skirmish. Thierry was acknowledged in 1128 and was a liberal
ruler as well as a crusader. His son's war with Floris III of Holland, whom
he captured in 1157, has already been described, in the previous chapter.
His rule is important in the history of Belgium on account of the develop-
ment of the communes."
In the words of Baron Kervijn van Lettenhove, " The era of communes
begins July 27th, 1128, and ends November 27th, 1382. Nicaise Borluut
opens it at the siege of Alost. Philip van Artevelde closes it on the battle-
field of Roosebeke. This epoch, signalised by mmierous triumphs and by
efforts the most noble and persevering, is that wherein Flanders, marching
by rapid strides along the path of social progress, presents to all the nations
the inviolable refuge of industry and Uberty." ^
HISE OF THE BELGIAN COMMUNES
The first urban agglomerations were, in the full force of the term, colonies
of tradesmen and artisans, and the mimicipal constitutions were elaborated
in the midst of a population of immigrants, met from all quarters and stran-
S12
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
gers to one another. But these immigrants, if they were the ancestors of the
bourgeoisie, were not the oldest inhabitants of the towns. The colonies of
traders, in fact, did not come into existence on a vh-gin soil. They every-
where grouped themselves at the foot of the walls of a monastery, a castle,
or an episcopal residence (civitas, castrum, municipium) . The new arrivals
found, at the place where they had come to settle, an older population,
composed of serfs, of ministeriales, or of clerics.
Thus two groups of men were everjrwhere to be found Ln presence of one
another, but without interpenetrating. It was only very slowly that the
fusion was accomplished and that the trading colony, increasing from year
to year, becoming always richer, more exuberant, and more vigorous, finally
absorbed all the foreign elements and imposed its law and institutions on the
whole of the town. It took three hundred years to arrive at
this. The evolution was accomplished only in the thirteenth
century.
The Roman mimicipality had not perished with the empire
of the west; it was still to be foimd during the ninth, the
tenth, and the eleventh centuries in the cities of southern Gaul.
But in Belgium, as in the other parts of northern Gaul, its in-
fluence scarcely made itself felt : here the commimal privileges
derived their origin from the ancient Germanic freedom com-
bined with the gild or fraternal association of Scandinavia.
Under the empire of the Germanic institutions maintained
by Charlemagne, the towns were subject to the power of the
courts and governed as simple cantons. Now the freemen of
the cantons had the right to join the courts in pronoimcing
judgments in criminal matters and decrees in affairs of civil
and local interest. In 803 Charlemagne, desiring to regulate the
exercise of this right which had become burdensome, organised
the institution of the scdbini {schepenen or sheriffs) ; they were
to be chosen by courts and it required at least seven to pass a
decree. After the triumph of feudalism the office of sheriff
became in the country districts generally that of a simple
official appointed by the seigneurs. In localities important by
reason of their population and their wealth, this cantonal mag-
istracy became the patrimony of the principal families, who
preserved and extended their ancient jurisdiction; in the cities, notably in
Brussels and Louvain, these privileged families took the generic name of
lignages. This patrician and land-owning bourgeoisie, whose privilege was
hereditarily transmitted, was a first step towards the commune.
The true commune, the glory of Belgium, was constituted during the
twelfth and thirteenth centm-ies by the alliance of artisans, organised in
guilds or fraternities, with the bom-geoisie properly so called.
There are, then, two periods in the history of the communes; the first
witnessed the growth of a single class, the bourgeoisie proper; whilst in the
course of the second a part of the power and the privilege became the con-
quest of the people. The lower classes would no longer content themselves
with the sheriff's jm-isdiction, which emanated from the privileged bour-
geoisie. In order to defend their private rights they instituted a magistracy
composed of jur^s or consaux. In the towns where German or Flemish was
spoken the two chiefs of the juris, annually chosen by them, took the title
of masters of the citizens or the city (burgermeister) . The sheriff's jurisdiction,
which belongs to the first period, offered civil guarantees; in the second
Flemish War-
bior of the
Fourteenth
Century
(From an old
statue)
EARLY HISTOEY OP BELGIUM AND ELANDEES 313
epoch (thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries), the jurisdiction of
the trades, combined with the civil jurisdiction, consecrated poHtical rights.
In Belgium communal emancipation was less dramatic than in France,
although more fruitful in its results. Since the eleventh century charters of
franchise, liberty, immunity, friendship, bovrgage, and the like had paved
the way for charters of commune or poorteryen, for towns "with laws" {d,
his) or guilded (gilda). There was, as a rule, no necessity for the towns of
Flanders to have recourse to arms to win for themselves free sheriffs and
the other privileges attached to the commune. For, far from following the
example of the German emperors and the kings of France, the counts of
Flanders favoured communal emancipation; not only did they know how to
respect the acquired rights of their subjects, but, more than this, they spon-
taneously accorded liberties to the towns which were still without them. ■
In Flanders, the laws of each city, granted or confirmed by the count,
were called keuren. It would, however, be a mistake to regard these keuren
as being all charters of communes, or charters instituting communes. "The
keure," says Warnkonig,' "proceeded both from the territorial seigneur and
the inhabitants; thus that which formed the fundamental law of a town
was the common work of the count and the sheriffs who represented it. In
the early days it was generally granted by the seigneur and accepted tacitly, or
even under oath, by the citizens. But, in imitation of the count, the sheriffs
and town councillors also formed keuren for their subordinates, so that this
name was soon extended to every police ordinance, every municipal decree."
Several precious and characteristic rights were connected with the com-
mune. The inhabitants enrolled in the registers of the privileged town were
authorised to form a confederation; and all engaged by an oath to defend
their own interests as well as those of the prince. The members of the com-
mune possessed a college of sheriffs with jurisdiction, a common treasury
and a town hall, called in several localities the house of peace {maison de
paix); besides this they might employ a special seal and own a belfry, a
lofty tower enclosing a sonorous bell. The belfry of Ghent was erected in
1183; that of Tournay was begun in 1190, that of Bruges in 1291. It was
by the sound of the belfry bell that the inhabitants were summoned to a
deliberative assembly. Here decisions were made on all affairs outside the
province of the administration; here also the accounts of the towns were
discussed. As to the cities which had no belfry, they could only convoke
the people by hui et cri, or to the sound of the horn or trumpet.
The towns also enjoyed certain financial privileges; amongst these must
be distinguished the market right, either of a simple weekly market, which
was held on a fixed day of the week, or of fairs, or annual markets, which
lasted for one or several weeks and served foreign merchants as a meeting
place; these fairs were generally held in vast buildings called guild haUs
(Gild-haUen). From the twelfth century the citizens of most of the com-
mimes were declared exempt from the judicial combat and the tests by fire.
In exchange for these privileges certain charges were laid on the bour-
geoisies; but most of those obligations resembled those in force in our own
day: such were the impositions known by the name of tailles or excise, mili-
tary service, etc. As to the dues which owed their origin to the state of
servitude, they had been for the most part suppressed in favour of the munic-
ipal communities; the humiliating prestations (such as the right of morte-
main, or meilleur cathel) had become the portion of the rustics.'
' The meilleur catheil, cathel, or catheu was the most valuable piece of furniture. Custom,
founded on servitude, accorded it to the seigneur on the death of each of his vassals.
314 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
From reasons of policy the counts of Flanders tolerated, favoured, and
sanctioned the communal laws derived from the guild. Always obliged to
keep a watchful eye on the French suzerainty or to combat it, they needed to
keep in good humour not only the great property owners of the towns, but
also the industrial class, whose importance daUy increased. The concessions
granted by Philip of AJsace have justly won for him the surname of the
Legislator of Flanders. He abolished in several places the main-morte and
the odious right of "half-have"; ' he also freed the still servile populations of
Alost and Courtrai.
The cities which possessed no guarantee against the encroachments of
power received keuren or statutes; those which already enjoyed some privi-
leges obtained fresh ones. Orchies, Damme, Biervliet, Dunkirk, Nieuport,
Hulst, and the castellany of Bruges, henceforth called the free (le Franc),
were successively raised to the rank of mimicipalities. The privileges en-
joyed by more ancient towns such as Ghent, Bruges, St. Omer, Oudenarde,
Grammont, were either confirmed or extended. The town of Aire became a
model commune; the charter of friendship {Lex amicitice), granted by Philip
of Alsace in 1188, instituted a veritable evangelical commxmity. This charter
laid down that in the confederation called I'amitie there should always be
twelve chosen judges, who were to engage by oath to make no distinction
between a poor man and a rich one, between a noble and a villein, between
a relative and a stranger. All the members of the confederacy promised to
aid one another like brothers^ in all that was useful and honest; if one com-
mitted any wrong against another by word or action the injured party would
not take vengeance, by himself or through his followers,' but he would lodge
a complaint and the culprit would repair the wrong according to the arbi-
tration of the twelve elected judges.
The affranchisement of the towns and boroughs of Flanders continued
during the thirteenth century. In 1281 Bruges received a new keure from
Coimt Guy de Dampierre. Alost passed to the state of a commune in 1281,
Douai in 1286, Valenciennes in 1291, Messines in 1293, Bailleul in 1295,
Sluys in 1328, Roulers in 1377.'^
FLANDERS VBTSUS FRANCE
Having thus sketched the methods in which town liberties were evolved,
we may take up again the course of political events, where we left them — at
the reign of Thierry.
Thierry died in 1168, leaving a son, Philip of Alsace, who was a notable
warrior and also a crusader. He is known as Flanders' greatest lawgiver,
and he increased the liberties of the people, especially of Alost and Courtrai.
But he had no children, and his brother-in-law Baldwin of Hainault succeeded
' The main-morte, in the sense in whicli it was understood in the Middle Ages, was the
state of vassals attached to the soil in perpetuity, and denied the power of disposing of their
property. " Half- have " was a special right of servitude which accorded to the counts of Flan-
ders on the death of each male serf three deniers and the half of all his movable property. For
a female serf this right was only one denier. Even the nobles and freemen were subjected to
this exaction ; on their death two Flanders marks were paid to the count, who claimed, in
addition, the half of their property.
[" Not only were the members called "guild brothers," but the employee was called the
"younger brother" (jongere broeder) of his employer. Blok'' says that "the Flemish work-
men of that time plainly enjoyed far better conditions than the Belgian workmen of to-day."]
' The reader is aware that the manners and customs of this period permitted every man to
pursue his vengeance openly. Certain days of the week only were excepted, and this time of
respite was called the Truce of God (Treuga Dei),
EARLY HISTOEY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDBES 315
P191-1294 A.D.]
in 1191. The French opposed him, and he was forced to yield various cities
and a large part of Flanders to France. On his death in 1195 his son Baldwin
IX became count, but later founded the Latin empire at Constantinople.
His career and death in 1206 have been recounted in Volume VII, chapter 9.
He left two young daughters at home and in his absence the government was
given to his brother Philip. In 1214, at the famous battle of Bouvines, the
French defeated the allied forces of England, the emperor, Holland, Brabant,
and Flanders. In 1279, owing to the failure of heirs, Hainault went to John
of Avenues, son of Baldwin's daughter Margaret who had married Bosschaert
of Avenues. Flanders went to Guy de Dampierre, whose father Margaret
had taken for her second husband after Bosschaert's death.«
During the two centuries which elapsed between the death of Godfrey de
Bouillon [1100] and the battle of Woeringen [1288], the Belgian provinces
had taken on practically the form and the character in which they were to
continue. Flanders, stripped of her Galilean seigneuries (the county of
Artois) , found herself restored to her natm-al limits. Brabant, enlarged by the
conquest of Limburg, ruled from the Schelde to the right bank of the Maas.
The other states which had been built up from the debris of the ancient
duchy of Lorraine had consolidated their independence and established
their frontiers. Thus was the provincial formation accomplished.
But the internal organisation was far from evidencing the same stability,
and the period to follow was to be signalised by the struggle of the commons
against all other powers. Warnings of the imminence of the danger had
been already sounded; it was in the fourteenth century that the storm burst
in aU its fury. The spectacle of this age is the most remarkable in Belgian
history: aU the great cities preparing one after another to struggle and to
reign; the populace bursting the chains of coimtry and breaking the yoke
of law; fearful convulsions, ruthless wars, irreparable losses: but, as well,
magnificent examples of energy and patriotism; of heroic efforts followed
sometimes by glorious success — the very sufferings of the country revealing
the grandeiu- of the national character.
Flanders was the principal theatre of the strife during this epoch. The
rulers of this beautiful province had lost their power at Bouvines. Since
that fatal day France, who held them in her grasp, made them feel all the
weight of the humiliating conditions of the Treaty of Melun, and reduced
them to an obscure vassalage.
Personal considerations seem to have dictated to Dampierre a timid and
peaceful policy. Poor in the midst of riches, he never neglected an opportunity
to levy contributions upon his communes. Yet the beginning of his reign had
seemed happy enough: he had braved with impunity the emperors of Ger-
many, in refusing them the homage for imperial Flanders; and he succeeded
in establishmg brilliantly some of his children — the duke of Brabant and
the counts of Holland and Jiilich [or Juliers] were his sons-in-law, and one
of his sons occupied the bishopric of LiSge. But, faithful to the hatred which
reigned between his house and that of Avenues, he mortally offended the
count of Hainault, his nephew, in supporting against him the revolted com-
mime of Valenciennes (1292). Soon after this he won the dislike of the
proud Philip the Fair — or rather he afforded a pretext for the latter's pro-
jects of spoliation — by engaging in marriage his daughter Philippine with
the son of Edward I of England (1294). Upon his invitation, the count
repaired with his daughter to the chateau of Corbeil, where the court of
France was assembled. But he had scarcely arrived when with all his retinue
he was arrested and carried oS to the tower of the Louvre, where he was
S16 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1294-1302 A.D.)
kept in close captivity, the king accusing him of aUiance with the enemies
of France and holding him for judgment by his court of peers. It found
him innocent; but upon liberating him the king refused to render up his
daughter: she was retained as hostage, and some years after she succumbed,
the victim of misfortune.
Guy de Dampierre was wise enough at first to hide his resentment; but
when it was perceived that he was making preparations for war on pretext
of defending the people of Valenciennes, who had ended by giving them-
selves up to him, a royal edict forbade the communes of Flanders to follow
his banner (1296). In revenge, the count assembled all his allies at Gram-
mont (December 25th); and to this rendezvous came Edward of England,
the emperor Adolphus of Nassau, the archduke Albert of Austria, Duke
John II of Brabant, the counts of Holland, Jiilich, and Bar, who all united
to march against France. Guy then sent to Philip the Fair to declare that
he no longer recognised him as sovereign; the king on his side ordered the
confiscation of Flanders (January, 1297).
The cities did not fancy being obliged to take up arms in Guy's quarrel.
Already a septuagenarian, he was unable to lead his troops to battle, and he
confided them to his eldest son, Robert of Bethune. The French king en-
tered Flanders at the head of ten thousand cavalry and a numerous infantry.
A number of Flemish gentlemen openly embraced "the party of the lilies" '
as were denominated those who desired the king's domination. Moreover,
the English monarch had arrived in Flanders with so smaU an army that he
dared not remain in Bruges, whose inhabitants inclined towards France.
Guy, now deserted by all his allies, consented finally to put himself at the
king's mercy, together with his eldest sons, Robert and William, and fifty
of his principal barons. Upon his arrival in Paris he and all his following
were imprisoned by order of the inflexible monarch; and nothing that
Charles, who had promised Guy his liberty, was able to do, sufficed to pre-
vent his brother from breakmg the promise given in his name.
Flanders was confiscated. Philip governed it through his officers, and
in May, 1301, went to visit his conquest, accompanied by his wife, Joan of
Navarre, who appeared offended at observing so much wealth among a com-
mercial people. " I thought myself sole queen here," she remarked at Bruges,
"but I find a thousand others roimd me." Everywhere the partisans of
France received the sovereign with extravagant demonstrations of joy; but
already the people began to feel that they no longer had a country, and to
fear that they were destined to fall heir to the fate of " those French provinces
whose inhabitants were treated as serfs." These bitter thoughts gave rise
among the bourgeoisie of the large towns to a sombre attitude which de-
veloped shortly into direct menace. Discontent fermented; the reaction
had begun: it burst forth at the first signal. A month after the king's
departure defiance looked forth at Bruges./
The "Bruges Matins" (1302)
At first thirty heads of trades waited on the French governor, Chatillon,
and complained that payment was not made for the works ordered by the
king. The great lord, accustomed to the rights of corv6e and purveyance,
considered remonstrance insolent, and had them arrested. The people took
up arms, and rescued them, to the great dismay of the rich, who declared
[' The Flemish called them the Leliaerts, and the popular or nationalist party opposed to
them, the Clcmwaerts.}
EARLY HISTORY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDERS 317
[1302 A.D.]
for the king's men. The affair was brought up before the parhament. Here
was the parliament of Paris, sitting in judgment on Flanders, as just before it
had done by the king of England.
The parliament decided that the heads of trades should go back to prison.
Among these heads were two men beloved by the people, the deans of the
butchers and of the weavers. The latter, Peter de Conync ' was a poor and
mean-looking man, small, and wanting an eye, but a man of capacity and a
bold street orator. Inflaming the passions of the artisans by his eloquence,
he hurried them out of Bruges, and made them massacre all the French in
the neighbouring towns and castles. They then returned by night. Chains
were stretched across the streets, " to prevent the French from running about
the town"; each townsman undertook to steal the saddle and bridle of the
horseman who lodged with him. On May 19, 1302, all the people began to
beat their kettles; a butcher struck first, and the French were ever3Tvhere
attacked and massacred.^ The women were the most furiously active in
flinging them out of the windows, or else they were taken to the shambles,
where their throats were cut. The massacre lasted three days; twelve hun-
dred cavaliers, and two thousand foot sergeants perished.*^
At once the greater part of Flanders raised the old standard of the lion.
Lille and Ghent, with several fortified castles, alone remained in foreign
hands.
Leaders were not lacking among the people. Peter de Conjnic and John
Breydel, head men of the weavers and butchers, had directed the revolt of
the Brugeois. The army which they gathered counted nearly sixty thousand
men.
Robert of Artois, brother-in-law to the king of France, marched against
them with apparently superior forces. He had nearly an equal number of
foot; and his cavalry, composed of the cream of the French nobility, counted
not less than ten thousand combatants. Upon arriving at Lille he was
joined by the knights of Brabant and Hainault, the former led by Godfrey
of Brabant, micle to their duke, the latter by John the Merciless, coxmt of
Hainault. He set out at once for Courtrai, burning and ravaging all in his
path.
The two armies met on the 11th of July, 1302. The Flemings awaited
the enemy on the plain of Groeninghe, east of Courtrai. About them stretched
the marshy prairies, crossed by brooks; in their rear flowed the Lys, pre-
venting retreat; but they were determined to conquer or to die. The arrival
of a body of militia from Namur and of a troop from Ghent commanded by
Simon Borluut had redoubled their confidence.J
The Battle of the Spurs (1302)
These artisans, who had hardly ever seen service in the open field, perhaps
would have been glad to retreat, but the attempt would have been too haz-
ardous in a great plain, and in presence of so large a body of cavalry. They
waited, therefore, bravely, every man with his goeden Tag ("good day to
you"), or iron-shod stake planted in the groimd before him. Their motto
was a fine one: Scilt und Vriendt, "shield and friend." They wished to
take the communion together, and had mass read to them; but as they
[' This name, like most Flemish names and indeed English and other names of this period,
is variously spelt as Koenig, Koninck, Conync and Deconing.]
[' The early morning massacre, resembling the "Sicilian Vespers" of the year 1283 in
■which the French garrison was similarly butchered, has been caUed the "Bruges Matins."]
318 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1302 A.D.J
could not all receive the host, each, according to Villani,*! stooped down,
picked up some earth and put it in his mouth. The knights who were with
them, in order to encourage them, sent away their horses; and whilst they
thus made infantry of themselves they made knights of the heads of the
trades. All knew that they had no mercy to expect. It was told that
Chatillon brought with him casks full of ropes to strangle them. The queen,
it was said, had laid her injunctions on the French that when they were killing
the Flemish pigs they should not forget the Flemish sows.'
The constable Raoul de Nesle proposed to turn the flank of the Flemings
and cut them off from Courtrai, but the king's cousin, Robert of Artois,
said rudely to him: "Are you afraid of these rabbits, or have you indeed
some of their fur on you?" The constable, who had married a daughter of
the count of Flanders, felt the insult, and answered proudly: "Sir, you will
ride far ahead if you keep up with me!" So saying, he made a headlong
charge followed by his knights, in the thick dust of a July day. Everyone
followed him impetuously, each eager to be up with the front, and the hind-
most pressing upon the foremost riders, who, when they came up near the
Flemings, found in their way, what is to be found ever3rwhere in a country
so intersected by canals and ditches — a trench five fathoms wide. They
fell into it in heaps, without the possibility of escaping up the sides, the
trench being of the half-moon construction. The whole chivalry of France
foimd its grave there, besides the chancellor [Peter Flotte], who, doubtless,
had not reckoned on falling in such glorious company.
The Flemings killed the unhorsed cavaliers at their ease, leisurely selecting
their victims in the trench. When the cuirasses resisted their blades, they
despatched the knights with leaden or iron mallets. Among them there
were numbers of working monks, who conscientiously wrought at this bloody
job. One of these monks asserted that with his own hand he had killed
forty cavaliers, and fourteen hundred foot soldiers; but it is plain he bragged
too much. Four thousand gilt spurs (another account, says seven htindred)
were hung up in the cathedral of Courtrai, unlucky spoils that brought mis-
chief on the town: eighty years afterwards, Charles VI saw these spurs and
caused the inhabitants to be massacred.
This terrible defeat exterminated all the vanguard of France — that is to
say, the majority of the great lords.^^ The total number of slaLa was
estimated at 20,000.
Last Years of Guy's Reign
After the battle the French garrisons in the neighbouring towns were only
too glad to capitulate. After a few small engagements a peace was concluded
in the spring of the following year, to be immediately confirmed. The king
even allowed the old count Guy de Dampierre to emerge from the fortress
where he had been detained, in order that he might assist in the peace nego-
tiations; but the old man, after passing several months among his sons,
re-entered his prison rather than betray the interests of Flanders. The
quarrel was to be settled by force of arms.
Never had the Flemings taken so determined a stand, and never had
their hopes been more firmly fixed. Unfortunately the old hatred between
the houses of Dampierre and Avenues was not yet assuaged, and this was
yet to cause fresh disasters.
' Vasa vinaria portare restibus plena, ut plebeios strangularet. Vt apros guidem, hoc est
viros, hastis, sed sues verutis confoderent, infesta admodum mulieribus, quas sues vocabat, ob
fastum ilium femmeum visum a se Brugis. — Meyer,"
EARLY HISTOEY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDBES 319
[1304-1315 A.D.]
The account of the war between Holland and Flanders (in which the
first Flemish triumphs provoked a general uprising of the Hollanders and
ended in defeats for the Flemish on sea and land) will be found in the next
chapter."
At sea, on the 10th of August, 1304, Guy of Namur sustained a bloody-
defeat opposite Zieriksee. His fleet was destroyed, himself taken prisoner,
and the coast left defenceless. Eight days later the land army gave battle
to the French at Mons-en-P6vele (between Douai and Orchies). It was
commanded by Philip de Thiette (or Teano), a son of Guy de Dampierre.
The enemy's cavalry, instead of accepting combat, attempted to wear out
the Flemings by skirmishes, and succeeded in capturing the provision and
baggage wagons. This accident forced the communes to quit the field of
battle, and towards night the greater part left for Lille. William of Jiilich
had perished in this attack.
The king increased his forces and besieged Lille with a most formidable
equipment. The terrified inhabitants promised to surrender, if help had
not arrived, on the 1st of October; but, two days before, the reunited Flem-
ings arrived before the place, and John of Namur, their leader, sent forth a
defiance to the king. The whole country was in arms; the factories were
closed, the cities deserted; and the troops had vowed to conquer or obtain
an honourable peace. The king, spying upon their outposts, was struck
with the number of their tents: "One would think," he exclaimed, "that it
had been raining Flemings! " He charged the duke of Brabant and the count
of Savoy to treat in his name with the leaders.
The Flemings demanded and obtained the restoration of all their former
privileges, authority to fortify their cities, and the liberty of their prisoners;
as well as the restitution of those portions of Flanders still occupied by the
French. They consented to raise a fine of not more than 800,000 livres (the
value of the currency had been considerably depreciated by Philip's alteration
of the denominations), and to leave in the hands of the king until payment
of that sum the cities of Lille and Douai (October 1st, 1304) .
Thus the fatal war seemed to have ended; but the negotiations were pro-
longed during several months, and, before harmony was completely estab-
lished, Guy de Dampierre died, a prisoner in the castle of Compiegne, March
7th, 1305.
EGBERT OF BETHUNE (1305-1328)
Robert of B^thune, eldest son of Guy de Dampierre, was still a prisoner
in France when his father died, both having given themselves up to the
king at the same time. Philip released him only after having obliged him
to sign to new conditions, much more severe than those stipulated before
Lille. These outrageous demands had for result the rekindling of the in-
dignation of Flanders. The infuriated people even accused of treason the
lords charged to negotiate with the king, and a part of the nobility came imder
the suspicion of the communes.^ A temporary understanding concluded with
France in 1309 was followed in 1315 by a fresh rupture; and Louis the Quar-
relsome (Hutin), who had succeeded Philip the Fair, failed completely in an
expedition directed towards Courtrai and Cassel.
Still the war dragged on; and the Flemings, whose successes brought no
results, drifted into new discords. The citizens of Ghent ended by declaring
in favour of peace, and refused to support the count. He was obliged, by
[' Blok * says that the Flemish counts were from this time little more than the lieutenants
of the French monarch, claiming his aid against their own cities.]
320 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1315-1324 A.D.]
reason of this defection, to sign the treaty concluded at Paris in 1320. Lille,
Douai, and Orchies remained in the hands of Philip the Tall {le Long), the
reigning monarch, and his daughter was wedded to the grandson of the Flemish
prince.
The end of Robert's reign presents a bloody and mysterious spectacle,
which history has not yet succeeded in explaining. His eldest son, Louis of
Nevers, it seems, nourished a profound resentment against the court of
France, while the younger allowed himself to drift into its service. The
latter accused his brother of a parricidal plot, and the unhappy Louis, dragged
from one prison to another, ended by dying in exile at Paris in 1328. A few
months after, the old count's flame flickered out; he had attained the age
of eighty-two.
LOUIS OF NEVERS AT WAR WITH THE PEOPLE
The longevity of the later sovereigns of Flanders had singularly con-
tributed to weaken the government. Guy de Dampierre had achieved the
throne at an advanced age, and Robert of Bethune was sixty-four at his
succession. Both were infirm old men before ceasing to reign, and the energy
of the people was greater than that of the ruler. Out of this grew the rapid
propagation in certain parts of the country of a spirit of local independence
and an animosity towards the higher classes. Since the battle of Courtrai
a number of the nobles had lived shut up in their castles, avoiding participa-
tion in public affairs; while the tradespeople and the craftsmen ruled the
towns. Ghent almost alone possessed a powerful aristocracy, composed of
patrician families, which, with the support of the wealthy middle class, kept
the people within bounds. At Bruges, on the contrary, the ranks of the
wealthy were swelled by artisans and the lesser bourgeoisie. The death of
Robert of Bethune rendered an outburst inevitable.
His grandson, Louis of Nevers, or as he is often called Louis of Cr6cy,
was only eighteen years old and had been brought up in France, where he
possessed the counties of Nevers and Rh6tel. Scarcely was he invested
with the county by Philip the Tall, his father-in-law (who had begun by
imprisoning him in the Louvre imtil he renounced all pretension to LUle and
Douai), when he presented the lordship of the port of Sluys to his great-
imcle, John of Namur. Thereupon the Brugeois, all of whose vessels entered
this port, indignant at being exposed to taxation by that prince, attacked
the castle of Sluys, carried it, and imprisoned John himself. This riot was
followed by two others. Louis, ignorant both of the country and of his
own forces, thrice sold to the city a complete pardon, profiting by the inter-
vals of tranquillity to retire to his county of R,h6tel. Thither the contempt
of the people followed him, and the factions thereafter recognised no further
restraint.
The Communes Defeated at Cassel {August 28th, 1328)
In 1324 two corps of the army of the bourgeoisie departed from Bruges
to attack the castles of the nobles of maritime Flanders. These latter pre-
pared to defend themselves; but of the two places wherein they sought
refuge (Ghistelles and Ardenbourg), the one was taken and the other rigor-
ously blockaded. Shortly all the country as far as Dunkirk fell into the
hands of the popular army, whose leader was an exile from Furnes, by name
Nicholas Zannekin. The pillaging and burning of castles attested to the
irritation of the victors; on the other hand, a number of bourgeois who fell
EARLY HISTORY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDERS 821
[1324-1335 A.D.]
into the clutches of Robert of Cassel, uncle to the young count, ended on the
gallows. As in all civil war, the hatred was mutual and the violence equal.
Louis of Nevers then returned to Flanders; and, supported by the men
of Ghent, he at first obtained some advantages over the troops of the people.
But having marched upon Courtrai with a body of about four hundred cavalry
to assure himself of that town, it was not long before he was attacked by five
thoifsand Brugeois. Infuriated because, in self-defence, he had set fire to
the suburbs, the inhabitants feU upon him, massacred a number of his nobles,
took him prisoner and delivered him over to the Brugeois (June 22nd, 1325).
These latter carried him off to their city and kept him captive there vmtil
the end of the year. They only released him when a legate of the holy see
launched an interdict against Flanders, and when the men of Ghent, led by
Hector Vilain, had been victorious in some slight encounters.
Louis demanded help of King Philip of Valois, complaining that he was
count of Flanders in name only. As his vassal, the monarch owed him
assistance: he raised an army, which was joined by the nobles of Flanders
and of Hainault, and marched upon Cassel, where was found the principal
body of the bourgeois militia, imder the command of Zannekin. Twelve
thousand artisans, or peasants, formed these troops, which had been seasoned
to war by the struggles of preceding years.
Far from refusing to give battle, they awaited the French, and, when
these had arrived at the foot of the mountain of Cassel, the intrepid Zannekin
fell upon their camp. The attack was so sudden and so impetuous that the
king was nearly captured and his army was thrown at first into the greatest
disorder; but inferiority of numbers prevented the Flemings from following
up their advantage. They soon foimd themselves surrounded on all sides;
and after fighting with a courage amounting almost to frenzy, they all
perished — not one among them endeavouring to escape.
This defeat discouraged the people. The cities which had taken part in
the war surrendered. Heavy penalties were imposed upon them; and Louis,
as terrible in his vengeance as he had been weak in his government, executed
the leaders of the vanquished together with several hundreds of those who
had fought under their banners. This bloody reaction led, if not to tran-
quillity, at least to the end of the civil war.
Unfortunately, the Flemish provinces were dragged anew into a European
war (1335). The English monarch, Edward III, had already claimed the
crown of France, but his pretensions had been set aside and Philip of Valois
put upon the throne. Edward finally resolved to attack his enemy upon
the continent; and he sought the support of the Belgian princes. But the
count of Flanders evidenced so great a devotion for Philip and for France
that it seemed impossible to alienate him from his lord.
Disputes having arisen between the sailors of the two countries, these
served Edward as a pretext to interdict the exportation from England of
the wool necessary to the drapers of Flanders in the manufacture of their
cloths. The Flemish cities thus saw their principal industries threatened,
and alarm became general. Persuaded by their entreaties, Louis made ad-
vances for the re-establishment of trade; Edward responded by an offer of
a close alliance on condition that he should abandon France.^ Trapped thus
between the interests of his subjects and his own political inclinations, the
coimt could not bring himself to change sides. He looked upon himself
always as a subject of Philip of Valois; and, far from being willing to abandon
him, he would not even consent to hold a neutral position between the two
kings. Commerce thus remaiued at a standstill, factories were closed, and
H. W. — vol.. XIII. Y
8S2 THE HISTORY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1335-X340 A.D.]
a large part of the population found itself without bread. When matters
were at their worst, Louis assembled his vassals "in parliament" to consult
as to what should be done for the people; but the only remedy was to treat
with England, and that Louis would not allow mentioned. He even went
so far, some time afterwards, as to have arrested and beheaded Sohier le
Com-troisin, sire de Tronchiennes, who had proposed the opening of nego-
tiations with Edward. The assembly dissolved without having been able
to come to a conclusion.
The English, however, disembarked on the island of Cadsand and cut to
pieces the troops of the seigneurs who guarded the coast (this in November).
Thereupon the men of Ghent began to murmur openly, and Jacob van Arte-
velde,' grandson of Sohier and one of the wisest among the leaders of the
bourgeoisie, put himself at the head of the people and demanded the absolute
neutrality of Flanders.
VAN ARTEVELDE APPEARS
The efforts of the count to overturn the national resolution proved use-
less. Artevelde, nominated Captain of Ghent, soon drew over the other
cities to his party; and, displaying as much capacity as vigour, he every-
where checked the advances of the prince and of the partisans of France.
In vain did Philip of Valois send troops; in vain did he bribe the Flemings
with offers of reimbursement for their losses through extended commercial
privileges with France. They braved his soldiers, they scorned his offers;
and Louis, urged thereto by his subjects, himself signed a provisory treaty
with England. After this, the count might seek in vain to re-establish his
influence over his subjects; everywhere he found the bourgeoisie intractable;
at times, menacing. The Brugeois even attempted to take him prisoner at
Dixmude, and he had scarcely time to flee to St. Omer.
The Flemings were beginning to wake up. It was understood that force
alone could lead to recognition of the rights of Flanders; and negotiations
were opened with Edward, who was then at Antwerp. These negotiations
were not restricted to an alliance with England: the first and most remark-
able treaty was concluded with John III, duke of Brabant, an ally of the
English king. It was a confederation between Flanders and Brabant f oimded
upon the common interests of the two states, and having for object their
re-union into a single body. The greatest solemnity was observed in drawing
up this act of alliance signed by seven cities and forty seigneurs.
It proved more difficult to force upon the Flemings the alliance with
Edward, half of the nation raising scruples against taking up arms against
France. They had vowed fidelity to the king, and even the pope had im-
posed upon them the fulfilment of this promise — relying, upon Philip's vow
to imdertake a new crusade. To conquer their repugnance. Van Artevelde
made Edward take the title of king of France,^ he having, as we have seen,
a certain right to it. Then the people hesitated no longer. Sixty thousand
foot began action in the spring (1340), forced the French out of Hainault,
[' He was a man of good family, his father had been sheriff and he was himself a wealthy
member of the clothmakers' guild. FroissartP calls him a brewer ; the fact being that he went
to the brewers' guild later.]
[".Pirenne* points out that in 1338 William de Deken, burgomaster of Bruges, anticipating
Artevelde, had already offered to recognise Edward III as king of France if he would lend
support to the popular party. He thinks equally local motives must have dictated the later
English alliances of Flemish cities under Artevelde. He explains Artevelde's motive in alliance
as a bold stroke to secure for Ghent a supremacy over Flanders, as a little later Bern won the
predominance over the other Swiss cantons.]
EAELY HISTOEY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDEES 323
[134»-1345 A..D.]
and at once returned to protect their coasts, threatened by the enemy's
fleet. Soon afterwards this fleet attacked that of England. The English
prince, who had accepted combat with inferior forces, owed his victory in
part to the assistance of the Flemish marines. The French navy was de-
stroyed, and Edward entered triumphant into the port of Sluys on the 24th
of June, 1340.
The confederates having immediately tmdertaken the siege of Toumay,
which was long protracted by the vigorous resistance of the inhabitants
and the garrison, Philip sent his sister, Joan of Valois, to negotiate a truce;
and she concluded it abruptly in the month of September. The conditions
of this truce were advantageous to the Flemings. Philip proclaimed pardon
for the past and remitted all sums due since previous treaties, then repre-
senting more than thirty mUlions. The original deeds were delivered to
Jacob van Artevelde, who destroyed them publicly amid cries of joy from
the crowd.
The remainder of this famous man's career offers a picture perhaps less
brilliant, though not less remarkable. After having conquered for his country
a glorious and firm position, the captain attempted to consolidate the popular
government. The three principal cities, Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres, exer-
cised the sovereignty in the name of the country. The trades dominated in
the last two and openly supported Artevelde; but he met with more oppo-
sition in his own district, where the wealthy class exercised a powerful influ-
ence. Nearly overthrown by this class, he was only saved by the devotion
of the people, who took up arms for him.
Following this revolution he organised upon a new basis the magistracy
of Ghent, giving the preponderance of power to the guilds over the wealthy
citizens. His authority then seemed without limit; but it was merely that
of the head of a party. He boasted of ruling all by persuasion; nevertheless,
he was not able to abstain from the use of arms, nor to enchain the violence
of popular passions. Each trade formed an independent body in the city,
as each city formed an independent body in the country. At Bruges the
weavers massacred the brokers; in West Flanders the inhabitants of Ypres
plimdered Poperinghe. At Ghent the weavers and the fullers gave combat
upon the occasion, and in the place of the Friday marketing five hundred
corpses were left on the scene.
The captain, upon encountering these obstacles, experienced that secret
irritation which tends to push beyond their real end most authors of political
commotions. Weary of the continual struggle with Count Louis, whose
authority, however despised, was still legal, he ended by attempting to
dethrone him and to put a son of Edward in his place. This proceeding,
however, was repugnant to the moral sense of the bourgeoisie of Ghent.
They could not bring themselves to consent to it until it became obvious
that the count absolutely refused to detach himself from the French cause.
A sovereign was necessary to the country and Artevelde saw no other alter-
native than to propose to the people this change of princes. It proved his
death. The idea of substituting a foreign family for the descendants of the
old coimts offended even the most discontented. Artevelde's enemies profited
by it to accuse him of treason. A journey of some days' duration to Bruges
and to Ypres prevented his perceiving the storm gathering against him at
Ghent.?
The accoimt of Artevelde's personality and of his death is most vividly
given by Sir John Froissart, who was his contemporary and also a native of
the Low Countries; it must be remembered, however, that Froissart was an
824 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1345 A.Dj
aristocrat thoroughly out of sympathy with the creed and partisans of this
^ewd burgher whom his people had been wont to call le saige hommefl
froissart's account of artevelde and his death
There was in Ghent a man that had formerly been a brewer of metheglin,
called Jacob van Artevelde, who had gained so much popxilar favour and
power over the Flemings that everything was done according to his will.
He commanded in all Flanders, from one end to the other, with such
authority that no one dared to contradict his orders. Whenever he went
out into the city of Ghent, he was attended by three or four score armed
men on foot, among whom were two or three that were in his secrets; if he
met any man whom he hated or suspected, he was instantly kUled; for he
had ordered those who were in his confidence to remark whenever he should
make a particular sign on meeting any person, and to miu-der him directly
without fail, or waiting further orders, of whatever rank he might be. This
happened very frequently; so that
many principal men were killed;
and he was so dreaded that no one
dared to speak against his actions,
or scarce to contradict him, but all
were forced to entertain him hand-
somely.
He had also in every town and
castlewick through Flanders ser-
geants and soldiers in his pay, to
execute his orders, and serve him as
spies, to find out if any were in-
clined to rebel against him, and to
.. give him information. The instant
anoient Street Lamp of Antwerp he knew of any such being in a town,
he was banished or killed without
delay, and none were so great as to be exempted, for so early did he take
such measures to guard himself. At the same time he banished all the most
powerful knights and esquires from Flanders, and such citizens from the
principal towns as he thought were in the least favourable to the count,
seized one-half of their rents, giving the other moiety for the dower of their
wives and support of their children.
To speak the truth, there never was in Flanders, or in any other country,
count, duke, or prince who had such perfect command as Jacob van Artevelde.
When, on his return, he came to Ghent, about mid-day [May 2nd, 1345],
the townsmen, who were informed of the hour he was expected, had assembled
in the street that he was to pass through; as soon as they saw him, they
began to murmur, and put their heads close together, saying, "Here comes
one who is too much the master, and wants to order in Flanders according
to his will and pleasure, which must not be longer borne." With this they
had also spread a rumour through the town that Jacob van Artevelde had
collected all the revenues of Flanders, for nine years and more; that he had
usurped the government without rendering an account, for he did not allow
any of the rents to pass to the coimt of Flanders, but kept them securely
lo maintain his own state, and had, during the time above mentioned,^ re-
ceived all fines and forfeitures: of this great treasure he had sent part into
England. This information inflamed those of Ghent with rage; and, as he
EARLY HISTORY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDERS 325
[1845 A.D.]
was riding up the streets, he perceived that there was something in agitation
against him; for those who were wont to salute him very respectfully now
turned their backs, and went into their houses. He began, therefore, to
suspect all was not as usual; and as soon as he had dismounted, and entered
his hotel, he ordered the doors and windows to be shut and fastened.
Scarcely had his servants done this, when the street was filled from one
end to the other with all sorts of people, but especially by the lowest of the
mechanics. His mansion was surrounded on every side, attacked and broken
into by force. Those within did all they could to defend it, and killed and
wounded many; but at last they could not hold out against such vigorous
attacks, for three parts of the town were there. When Jacob van Artevelde
saw what efforts were making, and how hardly he was pushed, he came to a
window, and, with his head uncovered, began to use humble and fine language,
saying:
"My good people, what aileth you? Why are you so enraged against
me? By what means can I have incurred your displeasure? Tell me, and
I will conform myself entirely to your wills." Those who had heard him
made answer, as with one voice, " We want to have an account of the great
treasures you have made away with, without any title of reason."
Artevelde replied in a soft tone: "Gentlemen, be assured that I have
never taken anything from the treasures of Flanders; and if you will return
quietly to your homes, and come here to-morrow morning, I will be provided
to give so good an account of them, that you must reasonably be satisfied."
But they cried out, " No, no, we must have it directly, you shall not thus
escape from us; for we know that you have emptied the treasury, and sent
it to England,^ without our knowledge: you therefore shall suffer death."
When he heard this, he clasped his hands together, began to weep bitterly,
and said: "Gentlemen, such as I am, you yourselves have made me: you
formerly swore you woiild protect me against all the world; and now, without
any reason, you want to murder me. You are certainly masters to do it, if
you please; for I am but one man against you all. Think better of it, for
the love of God : recollect former times, and consider how many favours and
kindnesses I have conferred upon you. You wish to give me a sorry recom-
pense for all the generous deeds you have experienced at my hands. You
are not ignorant that, when commerce was dead in this country, it was I
who restored it. I afterwards governed you in so peaceable a manner that
under my administration you had all things according to your wishes — corn,
oats, riches, and all sorts of merchandise which have made you so wealthy."
They began to bawl out, "Come down, and do not preach to us from such
a height; for we will have an account and statement of the great treasures
of Flanders, which you have governed too long without rendering any accoimt;
and it is not proper for an officer to receive the rents of a lord, or of a country,
without accounting for them."
When Jacob van Artevelde saw that he could not appease or calm them,
he shut the window, and intended getting out of his house the back way, to
take shelter in a church adjoining; but his hotel was already broke into on
that side, and upwards of four hundred were there calling out for him. At
last he was seized by them, and slain without mercy; his death-stroke was
given him by a saddler, called Thomas Denys. In this manner did Jacob
van Artevelde end his days, who in his time had been complete master of
Flanders. Poor men first raised him, and wicked men slew him.P
[' Blok,* who calls Artevelde " the greatest Fleming of all times," says that this charge was
"absurd."]
S26 THE HISTOEY OP THE NBTHEELANDS
KERVIJN DE LETTENHOVE'S ESTIMATE OF VAN ARTEVELDE
The power of Jacob van Artevelde lasted less than ten years, and yet in
our memories it seems to fill the history of the Middle Ages; this is because
his genius stirred more ideas, excited more hopes, conceived more profound
designs than the men who had preceded him during several centuries. After
having dared to dream of the reconciliation of Europe by peace and liberty;
after contriving to unite in a single confederation all the neighbouring prov-
inces of Flanders, he died at last, struck down by the arms he had endeav-
oured to break, by the resentment of the private hatreds and jealousies he
had attempted to stifle in the unity of the development of human civilisation.
He had thought that one lever was sufficient to raise the world, but the mission
he had imposed on himself did not conduct him to triumph; he is but its
martyr.
If Jacob van Artevelde had lived a few years longer, if he had been able
by his own counsels to re-establish on a national basis the authority of the
young prince who was born at Male, what might not have been his influence
on the vast movement which broke out under King John? Did not a re-
markable sjonptom of a pacific and industrial union already exist in the man-
ifestation of those common sjmipathies for the traditions of the reign of
Louis IX?
England, at least, preserved some traces of the bonds which existed
between one of her princes and " the wise citizen of Ghent." Edward III, on
becoming his ally, had subjected his own greatness and renown to the au-
thority of van Artevelde's prudence.' It is to the period of Jacob van Arte-
velde that the foundation of the constitutional rule belongs, as it exists to
this day in England, with the triple direction of the government by king,
peers, and commons.
The voice of Artevelde had also resounded beyond the Alps, as far as
the banks of the Tiber, which he had once visited when stUl young and un-
known; the echo of the ruins of Rome answered to that of his tomb.' A
poet, who, in the silence of the nights, held sublime dialogues with the heroes
of ancient times, had traversed all Flanders, enriched by the industry of her
weavers, and the city of Ghent, so proud of being able to attribute its origin
and its name to the conquests of Caesar. Returning to his country and
struck with shame at sight of the ancient queen of the world humiliated
and enslaved, he welcomed with joy those accents of liberty which mounted
from the banks of the Schelde to the summit of the Capitol, where his brow
had been encircled with the laurel of Virgil.
"Hear this 'sound which comes to us from the West; the future is still
veiled by clouds. Flanders, who seems never to cease fighting, allies herself
with the peoples of England and Germany; from the Alps to the ocean all
is in agitation. Ah, that we might find here the signal of our deliverance'
Italy, unhappy country, doomed to eternal sorrows, once it was thou alone
who disturbed the peace of the nations with thine arms, and behold thou
art silent to-day while the fate of the universe is decided."
Petrarch remembered Jacob van Artevelde when he addressed his famous
"admonitory epistle concerning the struggle for liberty " to Cola di Rienzi.
[' It is said that Artevelde first suggested the quartering of the lilies of France in the Eng-
lish king's arms ; and that Edward III addressed him as cher compire and grand ami. In spite
of this royal favour, however, Artevelde worked chiefly for the neutrality and independence of
his country,]
EAELY HISTORY OF BELGIUM AND FLANDEES 327
[1346-1348 A.D.]
After Artevelde's death the blood-stained robe of Caesar stirred the spirit
of the people more forcibly than all the splendour of his genius. Scarcely-
had the men of Ghent learned that Louis of Nevers, congratulating himself
on the success of the most odious treason, was sending his knights to occupy
Htdst and Axel, when they ran to arms to repel him. Axel was at once
taken by assault and Hulst shared the same fate. The militia of Ghent,
supported by those of Bruges and Ypres, resolved to pursue their expedition
in the direction of Dendermonde. Their number and courage, the enthu-
siasm which animated them, their ardour to avenge the death of Jacob van
Artevelde on the men whom they accused of having prepared it, rendered
their power irresistible. The count of Flanders hastened to flee to France,
whilst the duke of Brabant hurried to the camp of the Flemish communes
to renew his oaths of alliance and interpose his mediation.*!
THE EEIGN OF LOUIS OF MALE (1346-1384)
Dendermonde was pillaged by the people of Ghent in punishment for
having manufactured certain kinds of cloth, the monopoly of which Ghent
reserved to itself. Thus the, communes arrogated to themselves even that
right of vengeance and of private quarrel which the nobles had lost little by
little through the influence of civilisation. The chaotic condition of Flanders
served only to gain for her the hostility of the neighbouring princes; in her
state of anarchy the death of Count Louis, who survived only a short time
Jacob van Artevelde, was perhaps a blessing. Faithful always to France,
he had gone to join Philip's army, threatened anew by Edward. He found
death (1346) on the bloody field of Cr^cy, whence the king of England went
his way victorious.
He had left a son, bearing the name of his father, and only sixteen years
of age. This young prince was then in France^ where he had won his spurs
against the English at Cr^cy; but Flanders did not hesitate to recognise him
as her sovereign. The three principal cities, however, retained the direction
of public affairs during his minority. They vigorously preserved their union
with the king of England, and a project was formed to marry the count to the
daughter of Edward. But the young prince obstinately refused to ally himself
with the family of his father's enemy. In fear of being constrained thereto he
escaped from Flanders directly after the betrothal ceremonies, and fled into
France. Shortly afterwards he married Margaret of Brabant, second daughter
of Duke John III, who had abandoned Edward to ally himself with France.
Bilt the Flemings, irritated at this marriage, sustained only the more
ardently the cause of the English king. They ravaged the frontiers of Artois,
and a great body of the militia of Ghent, commanded by Captain Gilles de
Rypergherste, a weaver, completely put to rout the French troops sent to
besiege Cassel. Meanwhile Edward blockaded the city of Calais, to whose
surrender he attached the greatest importance; Philip of Valois collected an
army to march against him, but was obliged to retreat, having accomplished
nothing. A treaty between the two kings suspended hostihties for a time.
The Brugeois began to be divided, and the wealthy classes to grow weary
of the domination of the artisans. Count Louis was wise enough to profit
by these divisions to attach the town to his party. He had been born near
Bruges (in the castle of Male, whence his surname), and he promised to take
up his residence there. Differences thus came up among the confederates,
and all maritime Flanders having embraced the cause of the count, Ghent
and Ypres were obliged to join him (1348). Louis, with an address and
328 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1348-1381 A.D.]
firmness beyond his years, seized every occasion to re-establish the power
weakened in previous reigns. He made himseH feared without shedding
over much blood, and had the wisdom to adopt a policy conformable to the
needs of the coimtry, declaring himself neutral between France and England.
His resolution was manifested upon the death of PhUip of Valois (1351),
when he refused to do homage to King John unless he restored to the Flemings
those cities lost to them during long years. Negotiations begun with this
end in view led to no result. Charles the Wise, who succeeded to the throne
of France, comprehended the advisability of rendering justice to a people
and to a prince whose resentments had not decreased with time. Lille,
Douai, B^thune, Hesdin, Orchies, and other less important places were ceded
to the count in 1369; and for this price his only daughter Margaret became
the wife of Philip of Burgundy, one of the king's brothers. The duke of
Brabant, Louis' brother-in-law, with whom he had had sharp disputes fol-
lowed by open war, was forced in 1357 to cede to him Antwerp.
But in the midst of prosperity the count was poor. It was the state of
most of the princes of that period : the greater part of their revenues accrued
from taxes and dues. They thus fell into dependence on the communes,
and therein lay perhaps the principal cause of the weakness of their govern-
ment. Twice Louis went bankrupt, and the people paid his debts. A third
demand for subsidies brought forth murmurs from the citizens of Ghent.
The "White Caps" (such was the name they went by) let slip no occasion
to foment strife; and the count having granted permission to the town of
Bruges to open up a canal to the Lys, they attacked the workmen and dis-
persed them. All effort on the part of the influential middle classes to prevent
a civil war proved futile.
Attacked upon all sides the nobles took up arms in their own defence;
but their numbers proved too small to hold the coimtry and the majority
of them sought refuge in the city of Oudenarde, which became their head-
quarters. Besieged there by sixty thousand soldiers of the communes, they
defended themselves vigorously until the duke of Burgundy came to inter-
fere between the count and the people. A temporary reconciliation was
effected, but the white caps having taken Oudenarde by surprise after the
departure of the nobles, the quarrel broke out anew. Bruges thereupon
withdrew from the alliance with Ghent and opened its gates to Louis of
Male, though not without internal dissension and new massacres (1380).
Over the whole comitry, combat, attack, and siege shed patriotic blood.
In the meanwhile the citizens of Ghent, whose animosity bade fair to eternalise
the war, were beginning to pay dearly for the blood they had caused to flow;
they lost a battle at Nevele (1381), and were abandoned by all the other
communes. The count's soldiers succeeded in blockading the city in the
midst of a conquered province: soon provisions gave out; indecision and
discouragement crept in among the hitherto haughty population.
PHILIP VAN ABTEVELDE CHOSEN AS LEADER (1381)
It was then that the leaders offered the command to Philip van Artevelde,
son of him whose name was still dear to Flanders. But the new captain, a
stranger to the profession of arms and finding affairs in such a desperate
state, seemed himself overcome with terror by the fate which menaced the
inhabitants. He counselled them to surrender to the count and went himself
to plead for them, consenting to every sacrifice on condition that no blood
should be shed.
EAELT HISTOEY OF BELGIUM AND FLAISTDEES 329
[1381-1388 A.D.]
Louis demanded that the citizens should surrender to him unconditionally
and that they should come to him outside their walls, barefoot and with cords
around their necks.
Philip van Artevelde, although educated to inaction, had from the first
day of his command proved his character to be not without vigour: the ex-
tremity in which he found himself gave birth to an unaccustomed courage
and energy. He returned to Ghent, assembled the people, "of whom a
large part had no longer any bread," and having reported the result of the
conference to the count he interrupted the waUings of the crowd by ex-
horting them to choose between death, submission, and a desperate attack;
their choice was soon determined upon, their pride and resentment blinding
them to the inferiority of their numbers. Of all Ghent's valiant defenders,
five thousand alone remained; these set out with the young leader to attack
Louis of Male within the walls of Bruges; the citizens closed the gates, re-
solved to burn their city and bury themselves in its ruins, if their comrades
failed of victory.
It was on the 3rd of May, during the procession of the Eucharist at Bruges,
at which the count and nearly all his nobles assisted, that the last army of
Ghent approached the rival city.
Louis and his knights, transported with indignation at the news of the
approach, hurried out of the city, followed by a number of the people, and
precipitated themselves upon their adversaries. The latter, calm and reso-
lute, easily sustained the shock of so confused and disorderly a multitude.
All gave way before them, and after a short combat Artevelde entered tri-
umphant into the gates of Bruges, where the smaller guilds came to join him.
The fugitive count with difficulty found refuge in the house of a poor widow,
and the next morning succeeded in escaping from the town.
THE BATTLE OF ROOSEBEKE, AND FALL OP THE GUILDS (1382)
For the moment this prodigious success seemed to have re-established
the superiority of Ghent, and nearly all Flanders took up anew the cause of
this powerful commune new-risen in all its might despite numerous reverses;
but already a new storm was gathering in the distance. Louis, who had
taken refuge in Paris, had foxmd the young king, Charles VI, disposed to
espouse his cause, and that very year the French army advanced along the
Lys, led by the monarch himself. The leaders of Ghent marched to meet
him with forty thousand men — all that the exhaustion of the city and the
ill-will of a certain section of the country would permit him to gather. He
camped at Roosebeke, near Roulers.
The two armies remained several days in their positions without giving
battle, but Artevelde's impetuous character could not brook delay. On the
27th of November he left his trenches to attack the royal troops. The first
shock gained him some advantage; the Breton infantry were repulsed and
their banner fell into the hands of the Flemings. Soon, however, a body of
cavalry attacked their rear, while fresh forces were brought into play in
advance. After a furious battle, which lasted much longer than they could
have foreseen, Artevelde and half of his forces perished before the French
nobles,* and from that day the count's standard was raised anew in Bruges
and throughout maritime Flanders.
[' "There is an important difference between the two great leaders from the race of Arte-
velde. But though the father perished miserably at the hands of a mob, while the son fell in
honourable conflict against a foreign foe, the sympathy of posterity has gone out towards the
father." — Blok. A]
330 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1383-1384 A.D.]
The war seemed ended, since the defeat at Roosebeke had dispersed the
army of Ghent. But the indomitable courage of which that city had given
so many proofs did not desert her on this terrible occasion. Abandoned,
defeated, without leaders and without resources, the tradesmen of Ghent
still harboured no thought of submission. They gave the command of their
troops to Francis Ackerman, a capable and intrepid leader, who held himself
on the defensive until after the departure of the French army, and thereupon
commenced hostilities against the defenders of the coimt. The winter passed
in continued combats, whence those of Ghent reaped certain advantages.
In the spring a large body of English disembarked at Calais and imited with
Ackerman to besiege Ypres, but Charles VI himself marched to its assist-
ance. The besieged retired without combat and impursued. The duke of
Burgundy, who already regarded Flanders as his appanage, prevented the
king from following up the war too eagerly, to the ruin of so rich a country.
The coimt of Flanders submitted with but indifferent grace to his hu-
miliating position. A treaty for one year between England and Ghent was
concluded, in spite of his efforts, ui October, 1382; and he died a few months
afterwards (January 9th, 1384), either from grief which hastened his end, or,
as some historians say, from a mortal blow which he had received during an
altercation with one of the French princes./
He was succeeded as count of Flanders, Artois, Nevers, and Rethel, by
Philip of Burgimdy, his son-in-law. The people were divided in the matter of
acknowledging him, but after the murder of Ackerman, resistance ended and
with it what is called "the heroic age of the guilds of Flanders."^
With Louis of Male died in Flanders the house of Dampierre, which had
governed the country for nearly a century, alternately persecuted by the
kings of France and supported by them against the communes. Under
this djaasty — whose reign had been signalised by so much commotion
and so many vicissitudes — the authority of the count, undermined on the
one hand by the jealousy of the sovereign, on the other by the encroach-
ments of the people, had been so rapidly weakened that no tie remained
firm enough to guarantee the unity of government, the submission of the
cities, and the peace of the country. At this crisis Flanders had need, not
of new liberties but of repose and order.
Philip of Burgimdy [the son-in-law of Louis], with whom was to begin a
new dynasty, was to have for life-work the creation of a more fixed order
of things, the consolidation of a tottering throne, and the imposition of habits
of obedience upon the almost entirely independent communes, whose pride
— the growth of many victories — was not yet weakened by reverses; but
it was scarcely to be hoped that either he or his descendants would succeed
in re-establishing a firm government in a country where popular resistance
had been so frequently victorious.?
=e=E=:.-:=::
"•ft~-ft^i
CHAPTER III
HOLLAND UNDER THE HOUSES OF HAINAULT AND BAVARIA
[1299-1436 A.D.]
The general features of Netherlandish history thus far have been the
feuds between the different sections of this small portion of Europe. The
long struggle of Holland against the domination of Utrecht had left Holland,
Utrecht, and Gelderland mutually independent in the upper part of Lower
Lorraine at the opening of the twelfth century. About this time Lorraine
had begun to lose prestige and the name itself to give place to the various
sjmonyms for terrce inferiores or Netherlands.
Flanders fought Holland for centuries over the islands of Zealand. A
stiU longer race-war embittered Holland and Friesland along the borders
of Kennemerland, West Friesland, and Waterland. Holland and Brabant
had fought. Holland had joined with Gelderland against Utrecht. Gelder-
land, itself a rival for power with Holland, had given sympathy to the Hohen-
staufens and had been in collision with the Guelfic dukes of Brabant; her
vassal counts of Looz, or Loon, and of Namur were in frequent war with
Flanders, Hainault, Limburg, and Brabant. The houses of Luxemburg and
Limburg were united by marriage in 1246, and Count Henry IV of the dual
line eventually became emperor of Germany after marriage with the daughter
of the duke of Brabant. The embroilments with England and France have
been indicated in the previous chapter, where the progress of Flanders has
been recounted down to the accession of the house of Burgundy in 1384.
It is now necessary to bring the history of the northern provinces down
to the same point. We left their chronicle at the year 1299, when the death
of John I brought to a close the long and excellent line of the counts of Hol-
381
332 THE HISTOEY OF THE. NETHEELAFDS
[1299-1304 A.D.]
land. The end of this dynasty threw the countship to an alien family — that
of Avennes in the county of Hainault.
THE SWAY OF HAINAULT (1299-1356)
Though the name of Holland far outweighs the name of Hainault to-day,
for a long period the latter name was the weightier in Europe, and the house
of Hainault ruled over Holland for more than half a century. " Its position
in Netherlandish history," says Blok,6 "has been rarely understood."
Though now partly absorbed in Belgium and partly in France, it had
an independent existence as early as the seventh century, when the name
first appears. The first lords of the country were elective; in the ninth
century the title became hereditary, and the nobility took a high rank in
Europe, especially as Hainault was the home of chivalry and romance. It
was indeed the native land of the chronicler Froissart, who, as we have seen,
had the characteristic contempt for such presumptuous and independent
burghers as those led by the Van Arteveldes. The contrast of Hainault
with commercial Holland was extreme, and when, in 1299, they were united
under one ruler, there was little sympathy. But by contagion the cities of
Hainault began to grow independent and the people to rise in power, es-
pecially as the nobility perished rapidly in the wars.
We have already described in Chapter I the means by which the Hainault
count, John of Avennes, became heir to the rule of Holland on the failure
of the lineage of Dirks, by the death of his cousin John I. The history that
foUows is for fifty-seven years the history of Holland under the family of
Hainault.
There was at first some friction with the emperor of Germany, who claimed
Holland as an escheated fief, but he was forced to retreat and accept a mere
homage. The bishop of Utrecht, in 1301, began hostilities, but perished in
the first battle, and John's brother, Guy, procured the election to the see,
ending the distm-bances in that direction.^
The Zealanders now prevailed with Guy, son of the old coimt of Flanders,
who was still a prisoner in France, to grant them large reinforcements of
men and ships for the purpose of invading Walcheren. This he was now
enabled to do, since the obstinate and decisive battle fought with the French
at Courtrai (1302) had placed him in possession of Flanders, which they
were forced entirely to evacuate.
Count John, unable from the feeble state of his health to imdergo the
slightest exertion, in 1304 surrendered the whole government of the county
into the hands of his son William, now his heir, and retired into Hainault
for the last time. The greatest zeal in the service of their coimtry, imder
the young prince William, then just eighteen, was found to pervade all ranks
of men. But a severe battle ensued, in which the Hollanders sustained a
total defeat.
Nearly the whole of Holland was now overrun by Flemish troops. It
seemed, indeed, as if the county had wholly fallen a prey to her ancient and
inveterate foe, when it was at once set free by one of those sudden bursts of
enthusiastic energy which are characteristic of this remarkable people. Witte
van Hamstede, a natural son of Floris V, proceeded with a few followers to
Haarlem, the only town of North Holland which had not submitted to the
Flemings. From hence he sent letters to the other towns, upbraiding them
with cowardice, and earnestly exhorting them to resist to the last their
insolent enemies. Within two days the burghers of Delft, Leyden, and
HOLLAND UNDER THE HOUSES OF HAINAULT AND BAVAEIA 333
[1304 A..D.]
Schiedam rose with one accord, slew or drove out the Flemish garrisons,
and Nicholas van Putten, of Dordrecht, taking advantage of the occasion to
attack the Flemings in South Holland, the county in the space of a single
week was nearly cleared of her invaders.
The recovery of Holland was ere long followed by that of Zealand. Count
William, hearing that Guy was preparing a fleet, sent to petition for suc-
cours from Philip IV of France. Philip sent sixteen Genoese and twenty
French vessels to Holland, under the command of Rinaldo di Grimaldi, of
Genoa. The French fleet united with that of Holland in the mouth of the
and after being long delayed by contrary winds, came within sight
DxiTCH Ship ov the Fifteenth Centurt
S:=^
of the Flemish ships, eighty ' in mmiber, on the evening of the 10th of August,
1304, not far from Zieriksee. The Hollanders, encouraged by a short and
spirited address from their leader,^ with loud shouts of "Holland, Holland!
Paris, Paris!" threw a shower of arrows and stones among the enemy, which
the Flemings were not slow in returning.
The fight was continued by moonlight with imremitting fury until past
midnight, when the victory proved decisive on the side of the Hollanders,
most of the Flemish ships being either captured or destroyed.' Count Guy
was carried prisoner to France. The Flemish troops now left the siege of
Zieriksee in confusion and dismay, concealing themselves for the most part
among the sandhills of Schouwen, where about five thousand were made
prisoners.
The imprisonment of Count Guy in France terminated the war. Count
John died on the 22nd of August, 1304. John of Avennes was pious, affable,
himiane, and beneficent, but indolent and irresolute; negligent in the ad-
ministration of justice, and averse to any kind of business; passionately
fond of hunting and hawking, and too much addicted to the pleasures of the
' It is not mentioned of how many vessels tlie French and Holland fleet consisted ; but it
must have been inferior to that of Flanders, since Melis Stoke" says that he thinks "it never
happened before that so small a number should fight with so great a force." He says also that
the Flemings were ten to one on the water, and three to one on land ; but this assertion seems
hardly worthy of credit. The Flemish historian of later times tells us, on the contrary, that
the Hollanders excelled their adversaries in large ships, but that their number of small vessels
was inferior.
" Instead of the long and somewhat untimely orations which historians are apt to put into
the mouth of their heroes, Melis Stoke " attributes to William merely these few words : " Let us
defend ourselves bravely. I see the battle won : God will crown him who dies in heaven, and
he who lives will be lauded through the whole world."
' Meyer <J gives the number of captured vessels as one thousand, but it is scarcely credible.
334 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1304-1338 A.D.]
table; "he laughed m his very heart," says his historian, Melis Stoke," "when
he saw a jolly company assembled round him."
William III
After the conclusion of the propitious peace which put a final termination
to the long and desolating wars between Holland and Flanders,^ William III
(1304-1337) strengthened himself still further by alliances with the families
of the principal sovereigns of Europe. The marriage of his younger daughter
Philippa to Edward III of England in 1328 proved, in the sequel, an alliance
no less honourable than advantageous to Holland. The old count expired
at Valenciennes, on the 7th of Jime, 1337, leaving one son, William, who
succeeded him, and four daughters — Margaret, empress of Germany,
Philippa, queen of England, Joanna, married to the count of Jiilich, and
Elizabeth.
WiUiam III, besides the appellation of Good, or Pious, added to his name,
was termed the master of knights and the chief of princes; he was brave
in war, affable to his subjects, strict in the administration of justice. Yet
was his government not altogether a happy one for Holland: he depressed
the rising industry of the towns by the demand of enormous "petitions,"
to supply a lavish and often imnecessary expenditure; and he is accused
of sacrificing the interests of Holland to those of Hainault, or, as his con-
temporary historian Gulielmus Procurator e expresses it, " f orsakmg the fruit-
fxil Leah for the more beautiful Rachel." Added to this, he was negligent
of the commercial interests of his subjects.^ He however effected a measure
of great advantage to Holland, by incorporating with it the lordships of
Amstel and Woerden after the death of his imcle, Guy, bishop of Utrecht;
and from this time may be dated the rise of the city of Amsterdam.
William IV
The first act of WUHam IV's government was to renew the treaty made
by his father with Edward of England, stipulating that, if summoned by
the emperor, his vicar, or lieutenant, to defend the boundaries of the empire,
he would supply one thousand men-at-arms to be paid by the king, at the
rate of fifteen Florentine guilders or forty-five shillings a month, each man;
and in case of necessity, the count should levy one thousand additional
men at arms for the king's service: besides the expenses of the troops, Edward
was to pay the count the sum of £30,000. The immense sacrifice at which
Edward purchased the alliance of the princes of the Netherlands cannot
fail to excite our astonishment, and events, in fact, proved that he rated
it far above its value.
The allied armies united with Edward to lay siege to Cambray, in 1338;
but, finding that its reduction would prove a work of time, the king broke up
the siege and began his march towards Picardy. Thither the count of Hol-
land refused to follow him, asserting that, being a vassal of the king of France,
[' These wars over Zealand had lasted a century and a half, and had involved most of the
other Netherlandish states. At the same time the century-old feud between the Flemish houses
of Avennes and Dampierre came to an end. The still longer war between Holland and Friesland
was more of a race-war ; in 1337 the Frieslanders acknowledged William's authority.]
[' Blok* does not agree with this severe judgment of William III, and calls Mm "by far
the most able ruler who had ever held his seat in the Binnenhof at the Hague." Blok admits,
however, that he ruled with an iron hand, though he insists that the country was very pros
parous under him.]
HOLLAND UNDEE THE HOUSES OP HAINAULT AND BAVAEIA 335
[1339-1345 A.D.]
in respect pf Hainault, he was bound rather to defend than assist in invading
his dominions. Edward, out of revenge, took his way through Hainault,
which suffered grievously from the passage of his troops. William imme-
diately joined the French camp.
In the next year, the count of Holland, exasperated at Philip, again
returned to the English alliance, and declared war against France, which he
now invaded. In compliance with the solicitations of his ally, Edward
embarked on the 22nd of June, 1339, at Dover, and fell in with the French
fleet of one hundred and twenty large, besides numerous smaller vessels,
near Sluys. It does not appear that either William or the Hollanders had
any share in the signal victory gained by the English and Flemish on this
occasion; a truce for nine months was brought about, which was afterwards
prolonged for two years. In 1345 the count declared war against Utrecht
and laid siege to the city. He was induced to conclude a truce, to which
he consented only on condition that four hundred citizens should sue for
pardon, kneeling before him, barefoot and bareheaded, and that he should
receive a sum of twenty thousand pounds Flemish for the expenses of the
war. When we call to mind the termination of a like siege in 1138, we can-
not help being struck with the vast change which had taken place in the rel-
ative situations of the count and bishop.
From Utrecht, William returned to Dordrecht, whence he sailed shortly
after to the Zuyder Zee, for the purpose of chastising the Frieslanders, who,
irritated by his continual and heavy exactions, had taken up arms against
him (1345). A storm separating his ships, the troops were forced to land
in small bodies in different parts of the country: the Frieslanders, attacking
them while thus divided, slew thirty-seven hundred; and the count himself,
with some of his nobility, being surrounded by a great number of the enemy,
was killed exactly on the spot where the ancient sovereigns of Friesland
were accustomed to hold their supreme court. He left no children by his
wife, Joanna of Brabant. She afterwards married Wenceslaus, count of
Luxemburg, into whose family she brought the rich duchy of Brabant.
WUliam IV was the first count of Holland who resumed the imperfect
fiefs which devolved to the county in default of direct heirs, and divided
them amongst his vassals, instead of granting them to one of the nearest
collateral heirs, upon payment of a reasonable price", as his predecessors were
accustomed to do. It is under the government of this count, also, that we
meet with the first mention of loans. To enable him to carry on the war
with Utrecht, he urged the towns of Holland and Zealand to lend him a sum
equivalent to three hundred English pounds, promising not to levy any more
petitions till this debt were paid. The towns made it a condition of their
compliance that he should grant them new privileges, and required that the
nobles should become surety for him.
Margaret and the Disputed Claim (1345)
William dying without issue, his nearest heirs were his four sisters; and
as the county had always been an undivided hereditary state, it appeared
naturally to devolve on Margaret the eldest, wife of the emperor of Germany.
Edward, king of England, however, the husband of Philippa, the second
daughter of William III, put in his claim to a share of the inheritance.
As the emperor Ludwig considered himself entitled to the whole of the
states, whether as husband of the elder daughter or as suzerain of a fief
escheated to the empire on failure of direct heirs, he delayed not to invest
336 THE HISTOKY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1345-1351 A.D.]
his wife with the titles of countess of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Hai-
nault. In spite of the rigorous season, Margaret repaired in the month of
January to Holland, to secure herself in possession of her states before the
king of England coiild gain a footing there.
The people took advantage of her anxiety to be acknowledged, to obtain
some desired rights and immimities, of which the most important was the
engagement she entered .into for herself and her successors never to undertake
a war beyond the limits of the county, imless with consent of the nobles,
commons, and "good towns"; and if she did so, none should be bound to
serve except by their own favour and freewill. She was then imanimously
acknowledged by all the members of the state, but shortly after recalled by
her husband to Bavaria. As Ludwig, the eldest son of the emperor, had re-
signed his right to the succession, she sent her second son, William, then in
early youth, to take the administration of affairs during her absence, sur-
rendering to him Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Hainault, and retaining
for herself merely a pension of ten thousand crowns.
After the death of the emperor, which happened in the October of 1347,
Margaret, finding that William was either imable to pay or purposely with-
held this trifling annuity, and irritated at his breach of faith, returned to
Holland, and resimiing the government, obliged William to retire into Hai-
nault. He did not, however, remain tranquil xmder this deprivation, but secretly
used every means in his power to conciliate the favour of the nobles; and
the dissensions that now arose between the mother and son gave form and
vigour to the two parties of nobles and people, which in this century divided
Holland, as well as Germany and France.
WAKS OF THE "cODS" AND " HOOKS "
The nobles espoused the side of WUliam, while the people and inhabitants
of the towns, with the exception of the larger and more aristocratic cities,
adhered to Margaret, who was supported besides by the lord of Brederode,
and a few others of the most popular nobility. The former were called by
the party name of Kabbeljauws or "Cods," because the cod devours all the
smaller fish; ^ and the latter by that of Hoeks or "Hooks," because with that
apparently insignificant instrimient one is able to catch the cod. It does
not appear what occasion gave rise to these very primitive appellations, so
characteristic of the people and their pursuits.
The cods, dissatisfied ere long with the somewhat feeble administration
of Margaret, sent repeated messages to William in Hainault, entreating him
to come without delay into Holland, and assume the government of the
county. After some hesitation, he secretly repaired to Gorkum, and shortly
after, most of the principal towns of Holland and West Friesland acknowl-
edged him as count. As soon as Margaret could collect a fleet of English,
French, and Hainault ships, she sailed to the island of Walcheren (in 1351),
where she fell in with a number of Holland vessels, commanded by her son
in person. A sharp engagement ensued, in which William was totally de-
feated, and forced to retreat to Holland. Margaret, anxious to improve
her advantage, followed him to the Maas, where, William having received
some reinforcements, another desperate battle was fought, ending in the
entire discomfiture of Margaret. A vast number of her adherents were slain,
[' Blok b thinks the name may have risen from " the light blue scaly-coat of arms " of Duke
William. He believes that the guilds were involved and supported the Hooks, though William
IV had sternly repressed and forbidden their organisation.]
HOLLAND TJNDEE THE HOUSES OF HAINAIJLT AND BAVAEIA 337
[1351-1355 A.T>.]
and Dirk van Brederode, one of the few nobles who espoused her cause, and
the chief stay of her party, was taken prisoner. The remainder of the hook
nobles were afterwards banished, and
their castles and houses razed to the
ground.
Margaret fled to England, where she
prevailed upon the king to mediate a
peace between herself and her son. She
was shortly after followed by William
himself, who married there Matilda, eld-
est daughter of Henry, duke
of Lancaster. WUliam like-
wise accepted the mediation
of Edward. According to the
terms of the agreement of 1354, Wil-
liam retained Holland, Zealand, and
Friesland, while Hainault remained in
the possession of Margaret during her
life, with a yearly income of about
twenty-four hundred pounds./
Wenzelhurger on the Wars of the " Cods"
and "Hooks"
The cod and hook disturbances are
no isolated phenomena; rather do they
forma link in the great chain of his-
torical processes of development imder
which Europe, during several centuries,
trembled in the foundations of her so- „
cial organisation, that she might make soldier of the fifteenth centitrt
way for new conditions and new views.
It is not difficult for a dispassionate eye to find and pursue the same
scarlet thread which runs through all the trials of strength of the various
parties; on the one side the towns form the kernel of the party, on the other
the old nobility. In the north, in Oostergoo, the Vetkoopers and Schieringers
bear the same relation to one another as the cods and hooks; in Utrecht,
the Lichtenbergen and Lockhorsten; in Gelderland the Heekerens and Bronck-
horsten; in Li^ge the Waroux and Awans; in Brussels the He tf elds and
Lombecks; in Flanders the Clauwaerts and the Leliaerts — stood opposed to
one another.
"And if," says Loher,? "we cast our eyes on the great German Empire,
here also we shall see the two groups step into the foregroimd. Here indeed
they appear in a different costume and with different weapons, according to
whether they belong to the eastern or western portion of the empire. But,
amid the bewUdered tangle of facts and circumstances, the same fundamental
political and social ideas will unfold themselves before our eyes, just as has
already been the case with regard to a later period, the beginning of the six-
teenth century, since the art and penetration of our historians have set the
days of the Peasants' War at the beginning of the Reformation ia a new light."
Adolphus of Nassau and Albert of Austria, Ludwig of Bavaria and Charles
IV are, when measured by a wider standard, nothing else than the represen-
tatives of the same principles for which the hooks and cods contended with
H. W. — VOX-XLLLZ
838 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1361-1355 A.D.]
one another in Holland; and what other importance have the wars of the
Jacquerie, of the Burgundian party with the Armagnacs in France, the civil
wars in England, the rebellion of Wat Tyler, than that of strengthening the
royal power by the humiliation of the great feudal nobility and making it
the ordy authority in the state? The struggles of the cods and hooks must
be understood in this connection, and only thus can we comprehend their
long duration, which was only possible on condition that the parties received
new impulse and fresh nourishment from without. As in many other ques-
tions which deeply concern the fate of a country, here also it is idle to at-
tempt to measure the actions and desires of the various parties from the
standpoint of abstract justice.
It must be confessed that if we apply to history the petty view of rights—
which clings to yellow parchments and holds to the existing order with its
chartered privileges, even though this may actually be the most crying injustice
— then right is exclusively on the side of the hooks. They desired only the con-
firmation and maintenance of existing conditions, the secure establishment
of the rights always claimed and exercised by the nobility; whilst the opposing
party sought to destroy them. Moreover, the character of the hooks appeals
far more to sentiment than does that of their opponents. There the true
knightly spirit displayed its fairest blossoms, the fidelity of the hook vassal
to his feudal lord shines in a halo such as streams forth only from the Ni-
belungenlied and the old German mythology. Miracles of self-devoted
gratitude and manly contempt of death, unshakable composure in a desperate
and hopeless situation, gloomy defiance and quiet contempt of the victorious
enemy to whom necessity compels submission — these are only to be found
in the ranks of the hook champions defending the rights of a persecuted lady.
Far otherwise was it with their opponents. As the towns formed the
prevailing element of the party, so here every enterprise was the result of
skUful and cunning calculation; their unwieldiness formed a striking contrast
to the readiness to strike and the lightning rapidity of the noble troops: they
were ever inclined to meet the enemy half way, and conclude a peace with
him, to which they consented under any circumstances so long as it suited
their interest to do so. The hooks are not, according to the excellent
characterisation of Hugo Grotius,'' to be regarded as exactly a party, but
only as a section of the population which "remained steadfast in its duty,
to defend the laws, usages, liberties, and privileges of the coimtry, against
which the cods waged war," so that they would never have consented if
the territorial prince had laid a reforming hand on the existing order. The
cods, on the other hand, were not so particular about the conscientious
observance of chartered rights; they had no objection if the territorial lord
demanded more than his due so long as he raised no barrier against personal
liberty and the material pursuit of industry and especially of trade.
In a word, the hooks represented the conservative element of the society
of the period, adhering stoutly to what was old and had been handed down
from times past, whilst the cods instinctively followed the forward-impelling
pressure of the times, and formed the progressive factor of contemporary
civilisation. But as in general the romantic deeds of heroism of the valiant
knight have a greater charm for the people of their own day and for pos-
terity than the quiet effectiveness of the citizen who, peaceful and niodest
as he was, yet still laboured ceaselessly and conscious of his aim, so the
s3Tnpathy of posterity has been directed almost exclusively, and in an ex-
tremely one-sided fashion, to the side of the hooks, round whom the ivy of
poetic legend and the mournful halo of tragedy have twined themselves.*
HOLLAND TJNDEE THE HOUSES OF HAINAULT AND BAVAEIA 339
[1356rlS90 A.D.]
THE BAVARIAN HOUSE IN POWER
Margaret did not long survive the reconciliation with her son; she died
in 1356, and thus the county was again transferred to a foreign family, passing
from the house of Hainault into that of Bavaria. We find no event worthy
to arrest our attention during the reign of WiUiam V. In 1357 he began to
show symptoms of aberration of intellect, which soon increased to uncon-
trollable frenzy. He killed with his own hand, and without any cause of
offence, a nobleman highly esteemed in the country; in consequence of
which act he was deprived of the government, and placed in confinement.
He continued a hopeless lunatic until his death, which did not occur till
twenty years afterwards.
As William and the emperor Ludwig, his father, had declared Albert,
younger brother of the former, heir to the county, if he should die without
issue, the government in the present case appeared naturally to devolve
on him, as standing'next in succession. The cods also, after some resistance,
acknowledged Albert as governor or ruward} in 1359.
Edward III gratified the governor of Holland by a final surrender, in
1372, of all claims in right of his wife to a share in the inheritance of Wil-
liam III.
The extravagance and rapacity of Louis of Male, count of Flanders, had
excited discontent and hatred among his subjects, especially the inhabi-
tants of Ghent, and their rebellion under the Van Arteveldes has been already
described in Chapter II. The death of Louis in January, 1384, as we have
seen, made way for the succession of Philip, duke of Burgimdy, In right of
his wife Margaret, the only legitimate child of Louis, to the coimties of
Flanders and Artois. Margaret was likewise heiress to the duchy of Brabant,
through her aunt Joanna, the present duchess, who, in order to extend still
further the influence of her family in the Netherlands, laboured effectually
to promote a union between the houses of Burgundy and Holland. Through
her means, a double marriage was concluded between WiUiam, count of
Oosterhaut, eldest son of the count of Holland, and Margaret, daughter of
Philip of Burgundy; and between John, eldest son of the duke of Bur^ndy,
and Margaret, daughter of Albert the governor. Their nuptials, attended
by the king of France in person, were celebrated at Cambray in 1385 in a
style of imparalleled magnificence.
Albert, after the loss of his wife, formed an ilHcit connection with Aleida
(or Alice) van Poelgeest, the daughter of a nobleman of the cod party, whose
youth, beauty, and insinuating maimers soon gained such an ascendency
over the mind of her lover that the whole court was henceforward gov-
erned according to her caprices.
The hook nobles, instigated at once by ambition and revenge, resolved
upon a deed of horror and blood to which it is said, they induced Albert's
son, WUliam of Oosterhaut, to lend his assistance.^ A number of them
[' Euward, a word signifying "conservator of the peace."]
' Petrus Suffridus^' accuses William of participation, in this crime, and the accusation has
been adopted by later authors, but, as it seems, without sufficient foundation. Neither Jan
Gerbrandszoon (John of Leyden) » his contemporary, nor Beka' attributes to him any share in it :
that he befriended the perpetrators, when brought to justice three years after, is undoubted ;
among them were some of the most illustrious of the nobility, and his personal friends ; but
that he should, if he had been a, party concerned, have forsaken his accomplices to attend a
tournament in England a month after, is highly improbable : he is mentioned by Froissart as
being present at the one held about MichaeLoias in this year by Bichaid II, when he was made
knight of the garter.]
340 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1390-1400 A.D.]
assembled at the Hague, where the Lady Aleida was then residing, and on
the qight of the 21st of August forced theu- way, completely armed, into her
apartment. The coimt's steward threw himself before them to defend the
terrified girl from their violence. He was slaughtered on the spot; and, a
moment after, Aleida herself fell dead, and covered with wounds, at their
feet.
William of Oosterhaut repeatedly besought his father to pardon the crun-
inals; but, finding him deaf to his entreaties, he retired in anger to the court
of France. Philip advised him to seek
a reconciliation with his father, by
proposing an expedition into Friesland,
that he might at once avenge the death
of his uncle, William IV, and reconquer
his inheritance.
Albert was readily induced to favour
the designs of his son; he solicited suc-
cours from France and England, who
each sent a body of troops to his aid.
The allied troops set sail on the 22nd
of August, 1396, in a fleet of four thou-
sand and forty ships.^ The Frieslanders,
meanwhile, had made an alliance with
the bishop of Utrecht, and assembled
together in arms to the number of thirty
thousand men. Unfortunately, however,
they refused to follow the wise counsel
of one of the chief of their nobility, Juw
Juwinga. They were ill able to with-
stand the well-tempered weapons and
heavy armour of their enemies. Four-
teen himdred were slain, and the rest
forced to take flight. The victorious
army carried fire and sword through
the country, until the approach of the
rainy season obliged them to retire
into winter quarters: they carried with
them the body of Count William, which
had been taken up from the place of its sepulture. Count Albert was, for the
time, acknowledged lord of Friesland.
But little more than a year elapsed, however, before the Frieslanders
again threw off their forced subjection, and at length, in 1400, Count Albert
found himself obliged to make a truce with them for six years, without in-
sisting upon their acknowledgment of him as lord of Friesland. The prin-
cipal reason which prompted him to the adoption of this unpalatable measure
was the exhausted condition of his finances; added to this was the rebellion
of one of his own subjects, John, lord of Arkel, who had long fiUed the office
of stadholder of HoUand, Zealand, and Friesland, as well as that of treasurer
[' This number appears immense ; but John of Ley den,* a contemporary, estimates the
number of troops to be conveyed across the Zuyder Zee at one hundred and eighty thousand, in
which the historian of Friesland agrees. Proissart™ says they -were more than one hundred
thousand ; consequently, if, as we may suppose, the vessels were for the most part small, they
must have had this number for their transport, since five and twenty men would have been
a sufficient average complement foi each. The men of Haarlem alone are said to have sup*
plied twelve hundred mariners.]
DooB OF Old Middelbubq Abbey
HOLLAND UNDER THE HOUSES OF HAINAULT AND BAVAEIA 341
[1404-1417 A.D.J
of the count's private domains, without having given any account of his ad-
ministration of the revenues.
This was the last event of importance which occurred under Count Albert's
administration. He died on the 15th of December, 1404, at the age of
sixty-seven, having governed the county for forty-six years. By his first
wife, Margaret, daughter of the duke of Brieg, he left three sons — William,
who succeeded him; Albert, duke of Mubingen; and John, bishop-elect of
Liege: and four daughters, Joanna of Luxemburg, queen of Bohemia, who
died without issue; Catherine, duchess of Gelderland, who likewise died
childless; Margaret, married to John, son of the duke of Burgundy; and
another Joanna, wife of the duke of Austria. He had no issue by his second
wife, Margaret of Cleves, who survived him.
Albert appears to have been, on the whole, a mild, just, and pious prince,
but remarkably deficient in talent, energy, and decision. His constant
necessities enabled the towns to purchase of him many valuable additions
to their privileges. The debts which he left unpaid at his death were so
heavy that his widow feund it advisable to make a boedelafstandt, or formal
renunciation of all claim to his estate.
William VI (1404-1417)
The animosities between the cod and hook parties, which appeared to
have been mitigated for a few years, now revived with increased fury, and
a number of the most respectable burghers lost their lives.
The Hollanders, under the government of William, entirely lost their
footing in Friesland; and in the year 1417 the Frieslanders obtained from
the emperor Sigismund a charter, confirming the entire independence of their
state. William was the less inclined to undertake any expedition into Fries-
land, as the alliance he had formed between his only daughter, Jacqueline,
or Jacoba, and a son of the king of France, involved him in some degree in
the cabals of that court.
The insanity of the king, Charles VI, and the weak and vicious character
of the queen, Isabella of Bavaria, had rendered the royal authority in France
utterly inefficient, leaving the kingdom a prey to the fury of the rival factions,
so celebrated in history, of Burgimdy and Orleans. It was during the ascen-
dency of the former that John, duke of Touraine, second son of the king of
France, had been betrothed to Jacqueline of Holland, niece of the duke of
Burgundy. Owing to the youth of the parties, the marriage was not com-
pleted until 1415, when Jacqueline was declared heir to Hainault, Holland,
and Friesland.
By the death of his elder brother, Louis, John succeeded, a few months
after, to the title of dauphin, and became heir-apparent to the French crown,
but he died m 1417.
To William his loss was irreparable. The succession to the county had
been settled on his only legitimate child, Jacqueline, with the condition that
the government was to remain in the hands of her husband. On both the pre-
vious occasions, when the county had been left without a male heir, a great
proportion of the Hollanders had shown a vehement dislike to submit to the
authority of a female, and he, therefore, dreaded lest the claims of his daughter
might be set aside in favour of his brother John, bishop-elect of LiSge. To
guard against any such attempt, he assembled the nobles and towns of Hol-
land, who, at his requisition, solemnly swore to acknowledge Jacqueline
lawful heir and successor, in case he should die without a son, Most of the
342 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLAJSTDS
[1417-1418 A.D.]
principal nobles and the large towns of Holland signed this agreement, as
well as the states of Zealand; and William, thinking he had now placed the
succession of his daughter on a firm footing, returned to Hainault. Here he
soon after died at Bouchain, in May, 1417. During the reign of William the
herring fishery, a source of such immense national wealth to HoUand, began
rapidly to increase.
THE ROMANTIC STORY OF JACQUELINE
The death of William VI left the government of the county in the hands
of his yotmg and widowed daughter, who had barely attained the age of seven-
teen. Yet, endued with understanding far above her years and a courage
uncommon to her sex, joined to the most captivating grace and beauty, the
countess had already secured the respect and affection of her subjects, which,
after her accession, she neglected no method to retain, by confirming every-
where their ancient charters and privileges; and the Hollanders might have
promised themselves long years of tranquillity and happiness under her rule,
had it not been for the xmprincipled ambition of her paternal uncle, John of
Bavaria, surnamed the Ungodly,^ bishop-elect of Li^ge.
Being resolved to abandon the spiritual condition, and procure himself to
be acknowledged governor of Holland, he repaired to Dordrecht, where he
had many partisans, and was proclaimed there. The other towns, however,
both of Holland and Zealand, and whether espousing the hook or cod party,
refused to acknowledge him. Jacqueline assembled her troops, placing her-
self at their head. The followers of John were defeated, and more than a
thousand men slain. The presence of so formidable an enemy in her states
made it advisable that the young coimtess should marry without delay.
Her father had in his will named as her future husband, John, eldest son
of Anthony, late duke of Brabant, and first cousin to Jacqueline; and although
she showed no inclination to the person of the young prince, the union was
so earnestly pressed by her mother and John, duke of Burgundy, her vmcle,
that, a dispensation having been procured from the pope, the parties were
married at Biervliet early in the following spring (1418).
John of Bavaria, to whom this marriage left no pretence for insisting on
the regency, found means to induce the pope, Martin V, and the emperor
Sigismund, to lend their aid to his project. John sent a trusty ambassador
to resign his bishopric into the hands of the pope, and to solicit in return a
dispensation from holy orders and liberty to enter the marriage state. Martin
consented to his wishes, and a matrimonial alliance with Elizabeth of Lux-
emburg, widow of Anthony, duke of Brabant, and niece to the emperor,
gained him the favour and support of Sigismund, who declared the coimty
of Holland and Zealand a fief reverted in default of heirs male to the empu-e,
with which he invested John of Bavaria, commanding the nobUity, towns,
and inhabitants in general, to acknowledge allegiance to him, and releasing
them from the oaths they had taken to Jacqueline and John of Brabant.
John of Bavaria assumed the title of count, and was acknowledged at
Dordrecht; but the other towns declared that the county of Holland and
Zealand was no fief of the empire, nor was the succession in anywise restricted
to heirs male.
P Sine pietate, from his refusal to receive holy orders according to Monstrelet"; others
give nim the surname of " pitiless," which it is said he obtained by his cruelties at Liege : but
be gave no orders for executions there, except in conjunction with the duke of Burgundy and
the count of Holland,]
HOLLAND UNDEE THE HOUSES OF HAIKAULT AND BAVAEIA 348
[1418-1422 A.D.]
So far from supporting the pretensions of John, the towns of Haarlem,
Delft, and Leyden had raised a loan for Jacqueline, and they laid siege to
Dordrecht, the expedition being commanded by the young John of Brabant.
His troops were not in sufficient number to carry the town. John of Bavaria
advanced to Rotterdam, the capture of which John of Brabant found himself
unable to prevent, and the former, in consequence, became master of a con-
siderable portion of South Holland. The feeble John of Brabant was re-
duced to make a treaty with his rival in 1420, whereby he ceded to him Hol-
land, Zealand, and Friesland for the space of twelve years; and this con-
duct, without bettering the condition of his affairs, served but to increase
the dislike with which he had for some time been viewed by the Brabanters.
Nor was this feeling manifested by them alone. Coimtess Jacqueline
had consented to the marriage with the young duke of Brabant, without the
slightest sentiment of affection towards him, yielding her own inclinations
on this point to the persuasions of her mother: nor were the circumstances
of their union such as subsequently to conciliate her love or esteem. The
princess was in her twenty-second year, of a healthy constitution and vig-
orous intellect, lively, spirited, and courageous; her husband, on the con-
trary, about two years younger than herself, was feeble alike in body and
mind, indolent, and capricious. Through his incapacity, she now saw her-
self stripped of her fairest possessions, nor did there appear any security
for her retaining the rest; he, moreover, maintained an illicit connection
with the daughter of a Brabant nobleman; and, with the petty tjTanny
which little minds are so fond of exercising, he forced her to dismiss all the
Holland ladies from her service, and to fill their places with those of Brabant.
She secretly quitted the court; and, accompanied by her mother, escaped
in 1421 by way of Calais to England, where she was courteously received
by Henry V, and a hundred pounds a month allotted for her maintenance.
In the winter of the same year she held at the baptismal font the infant son
of the king, afterwards Henry VI.
Jacqueline was now determined at all risks to procure the dissolution
of the bonds that had become so odious to her; and Humphrey, duke of
Gloucester, brother of the king, tempted by her large inheritance and cap-
tivated by her personal charms, eagerly entered into a negotiation with her
for a future matrimonial alliance, which had been projected even before
her flight from Brabant. An almost insurmoimtable difficulty, however,
presented itself, in the necessity of procuring a dispensation from the pope.
Martin V had granted one three years before, against the wishes both of the
emperor and John of Bavaria, for her marriage with John of Brabant; and
it appeared scarcely reasonable to ask him now to revoke it. Humphrey and
Jacqueline applied to Benedict XIII, who had been deposed by the coimcil
of Pisa in 1409, and was acknowledged only by the king of Aragon. Bene-
dict, flattered with the recognition of his authority, and pleased with the
opportunity of acting in opposition to his rival, readily granted a bull of
divorce, which they pretended to have obtained from the legitimate pope,
and which Martin V afterwards publicly declared to be fictitious.
Although such a divorce could not by any means be considered as valid,
the majriage between the duke of Gloucester and the countess Jacqueline
was, nevertheless, solemnized in the end of the year 1422. But the prox-
imity of his claims to the covmty of Holland rendered the marriage of the
English duke with the countess in the highest degree distasteful to Philip of
Burgundy. She had no children by the duke of Brabant, nor did it appear
probable that she ever would; but her union with Humphrey might prove
344 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1432-1424 A.D.]
more fruitful, and the birth of a child effectually bar Philip from the suc-
cession. He therefore complained of this step as an affront offered to
himself. He found Humphrey, however, determined to resign, on no con-
sideration, either his wife or his claim to her states; but having obtained
for her an act of naturalisation from the English parliament, in 1424, together
with subsidies of troops and money, he set out for Hainault, where, Philip of
Burgundy and John of Brabant being unprepared for resistance, the towns
universally opened their gates to him. Little occurred during the campaign,
except mutual defiances between the dukes of Burgundy and Gloucester;
and Humphrey, accepting the challenge of the former to single combat, in
Dutch Cradle, Fifteenth Century
the presence of the duke of Bedford, returned to England under pretext of
making the necessary preparations, but in reality, probably, from a con-
viction that he should not be able long to withstand the power of Burgundy.
He left the countess in Mons, which, shortly after his departure, was threat-
ened with a siege. Jacqueline wrote a letter, couched in the most moving
terms, to solicit succours from her husband, which, unhappily, never reached
him, being intercepted by the duke of Burgundy./
Jacqueline's Letter to Her Husband
The following is the letter as quoted by Monstrelet:
My very dear and redoubted lord and father, In the most humble of manners in this -world
I recommend myself to your kind favour. May it please you to know, my very redoubted
lord and father, that I address myself to you as the most doleful, most ruined, and most
treacherously deceived woman living ; for, my very dear lord, on Sunday, the 13th of this
present month of June, the deputies of your town of Mons returned, and brought with them a
treaty that had been agreed on between our fair cousin of Burgundy and our fair cousin of
Brabant ; which treaty had been made in the absence and without the knowledge of my
mother, as she herself signifies to me, and confirmed by her chaplain. Master Gerard le Grand.
My mother, most redoubted lord, has written to me letters, certifying the above treaty having
been made ; but that, in regard to it, she knew not how to advise me, for that she was herself
doubtful how to act. She desired me, however, to call an assembly of the principal burghers
of Mons, and learn from them what aid and advice they were willing to give me. Upon this,
my sweet lord and father, I went on the morrow to the town-house, and remonstrated with
them, that it had been at their request and earnest entreaties that you had left me under their
safeguard and on their oaths, that they would be true and loyal subjects, and take especial care
of me, so that they should be enabled to give you good accounts on your return ; and these
oaths had been taken on the holy sacrament at the altar, and on the sacred evangelists.
HOLLAND UNDER THE HOUSES OF HAINAULT AND BAVAEIA 345
[1424-1425 A.D.J
To this my harangue, my dear and honoured lord, they simply replied that they were not
sufficiently strong within the town to defend and guard me ; and instantaneously they rose in
tumult, saying that my people wanted to murder them ; and, my sweet lord, they carried mat-
ters so far that, in despite of me, they arrested one of your sergeants, called Maquart, whom
they immediately beheaded, and hanged very many who were of your party and strongly attached
to your interests, such as Bardould de la Porte, his brother Colart, and others, to the number of
250 of your adherents. They also wished to seize Sir Baldwin the treasurer, and Sir Louis de
Montfort ; but though they did not succeed, I know not what they intend doing ; for, my very
dear lord, they plainly told me that unless I make peace, they will deliver me into the hands of
the duke of Brabant, and that I shall only remain eight days longer in their town, when I shall
be forced to go into Flanders, which will be to me the most painful of events ; for I very much
fear that, unless you shall hasten to free me from the hands I am now in, I shall never see you
more. Alas ! my most dear and redoubted father, my whole hope is in your power, seeing, my
sweet lord and only delight, that all my sufferings arise from my love to you. I therefore en-
treat, in the most humble manner possible, and for the love of God, that you would be pleased
to have compassion on me and on my affairs ; for you must hasten to succour your most doleful
creature, if you do not wish to lose her forever. I have hopes that you will do as I beg, for,
dear father, I have never behaved ill to you in my whole life, and so long as I shall live I will
never do anything to displease you, but I am ready to die for love of you and your noble person.
Tour government pleases me much ; and by my faith, my very redoubted lord and prince,
my sole consolation and hope, I beg you will consider, by the love of God and of my lord St.
George, the melancholy situation of myself and my affairs more maturely than you have
hitherto done, for you seem entirely to have forgotten me.
Nothing more do I know at present than that I ought sooner to have sent Sir Louis de
Montfort to you, for he cannot longer remain here, although he attended me when all the rest
deserted me ; and he will tell you more particularly all that has happened than I can do in a
letter. 1 entreat, therefore, that you will be a kind lord to him, and send me your good
pleasure and commands, which I will most heartily obey. This is known to the blessed Son
of God, whom I pray to grant you a long and happy life, and that I may have the great joy of
seeing you soon.
Written in the false and traitorous town of Mons, with a doleful heart, the 6th day of
June. Your sorrowful and well-beloved daughter, suffering great grief by your commands —
your daughter, De Quibnbbotjkg."
Last Days of Jacqueline
The appeal never reached its destination and, on June 13th, Jacqueline
was delivered by the citizens of Mons into the hands of the duke of Burgundy's
deputies, and conducted to Ghent, to be detained there untQ the pope should
decide the question of her marriage.
After remaining some little time in confinement, Jacqueline escaped, in
male disguise, to Antwerp, and resuming the attire of her sex proceeded
thence to Woudrichen, which opened its gates to her, as well as Oudewater,
Gouda, and Schoonhoven. The citadel of the latter resisted for some days the
army which the hook nobles assembled to besiege it, but was ultimately forced
to surrender on conditions. Their lives and estates were granted to all the
defenders except one named Arnold Beiling, the cause of whose reservation
is not known. His conduct on the occasion proved that the high principle
of honour and undaunted courage which we are accustomed to attribute
peculiarly to the knightly and the noble animated no less strongly the breast
of a simple Dutch burgher. He was condemned to be buried alive, but
besought a respite of one month to arrange his affairs, and take leave of his
friends: it was granted upon his word of honour alone, and he was permitted
to depart without further security. He returned punctually at the time
appointed, and the sentence was executed a short distance without the walls
of the town. The confidence with which this singular request was granted,
showing, as it does, the habitual reliance placed on the good faith of the
Hollanders, is only less admirable than the courageous mtegrity with which
the promise was fulfilled.
The death of John of Bavaria in 1425 by poison, administered, as some
346 THE HISTOEY OF THE NBTHEELANDS
[1425-1486 A.D.]
say, at the instigation of the countess-dowager, others, by his steward,* a
knight of the hook party, some months after the return of Jacqueline to Hol-
land, although it delivered her from an inveterate and powerful enemy, did
not contribute to retrieve her fortunes. He had named Philip of Burgundy
his heir in case he should die without issue, and that ambitious prince now
took advantage of the event to obtain from John of Brabant the title of
governor (or ruward) and heir to the county of Holland; John himself re-
taining the name of count, and being acknowledged as such by all the towns
which had held to the party of John of Bavaria. From this time he does
not appear to have concerned himself in any way with the government of
the county. Philip came into Holland, where he was acknowledged gov-
ernor by the greater portion of the towns.
The countess Jacqueline remained meanwhile at Gouda, where, hearing
that some towns of the cod party had united their forces to besiege her, she
obtained assistance from the Utrechters, who had always remained faithful
to her cause, and advanced at the head of her troops to meet her enemies
near Alpen, where she gained a considerable victory over them. This success
was followed by the welcome news that an English fleet had been equipped
for her service by the duke of Gloucester, bringing five hundred choice land
troops. It arrived, in effect, early in 1426 at Schouwen, under the command
of the earl Fitzwalter, whom he had appointed his stadholder over Holland
and Zealand. Philip assembled an army of four thousand men, and sailed
to Brouwershaven, where the English, joined with the Zealanders of the
hook party, were encamped. Immediately on the landing of the cods the
troops came to a severe engagement, which lasted the whole day, and ter-
minated to the disadvantage of the English and hooks; one thousand four
himdred of the former and some of the principal nobles of Zealand were
slain, Fitzwalter himself being forced to seek safety by flight.
This unfortunate encounter lost Jacqueline the whole of Zealand; neverthe-
less, she did not yield to despair, but, taking advantage of the absence of
Duke Philip from Holland, she engaged the men of Alkmaar, with the Ken-
nemerlanders and West Frieslanders, to lay siege to Haarlem: this imder^
taking also was imsuccessful; but the Kennemerlanders made themselves
masters of several forts belonging to the cod party.
The advance of Philip in person did not permit Jacqueline to continue
any longer in North HoUand. She therefore retreated once more to Gouda,
when all the towns in that quarter opened their gates to Philip. The hooks
vented their rage upon the town of Enkhuizen; having collected a few vessels,
they surprised it as the burghers were engaged in their midday meal, seized
more than a hundred of the principal persons, and beheaded them. Under
pretext of securing them from similar assaults in future, Philip placed foreign
garrisons in the greater number of the towns, and erected a citadel at Hoorn.
The filling the towns with foreign soldiers, an act unprecedented in the
history of the country, was the first of those violent and unpopular measures
pursued by Philip and his successors which, in the next century, lost them
so rich and fair a portion of their dominions. It was followed by others no
less inimical to the ancient customs and privileges of the people; the Kenne-
merlanders were punished for the support they had given to their lawful
sovereign, by the forfeiture of their charters and immunities; the towns and
villages which had adhered to Jacqueline were condemned to pay a fine of
[' John van Vliet, who married Jacqueline's illegitimate sister, confessed to poisoning him
by spreading on the leaves of a prayer-book poison bought from an English merchant. He
was put to death. John of Bavaria was several mouths in dying,]
HOLLAND UNDER THE HOUSES OF HAINAULT AND BAVARIA 347
[1426-1428 1..D.]
123,300 crowns within six months, and to be subject to a perpetual tax of
four groots (halfpence) for every hearth. Even those towns which had been
friendly to Philip were obliged to contribute heavy "petitions" for the pay-
ment of his troops.
The countess Jacqueline found her affairs in a desperate condition. The
pope had not only declared her marriage with the duke of Brabant valid,
but prohibited the contraction of any future marriage between her and the
duke of Gloucester, even after the death of John of Brabant,' whose health
and strength were rapidly decaying. This event, which occurred within a
short time from the issuing of the papal bull, and the intelligence that the
Enghsh parliament had granted 20,000 marks expressly for her relief, in-
spired Jacqueline with hopes, nevertheless, that Gloucester would lend effective
aid towards reinstating her in possession of her inheritance, and emboldened
her to appeal to a general council of the Church against the decree of the pope.
But the duke of Bedford, having concluded a truce for his brother with the
duke of Burgundy, forbade him to go to Holland, and Gloucester himself
showed no inclination to second the efforts of the countess.
In spite of her remonstrances, and of the reproaches of his own country-
women, he forsook his noble and highborn bride for the charms of Eleanor
Cobham, whom he now married, after her having lived with him some years
as his mistress. Jacqueline, conscious of possessing, besides her princely
birth and rich estates, all the alluring attractions of her sex, was struck to
the heart by this cruel and unlooked-for desertion. Jacqueline and the
hook nobles, seeing no chance of defending themselves, offered terms of com-
promise to the duke, to which he readily listened.
By this treaty [called the Reconciliation of Delft, July 3rd, 1428] Jacque-
line was to surrender her states to the administration of Philip as heir and
governor, but retain the title of countess, with an engagement not to con-
tract another marriage without the consent of the duke, of her mother, and
of the three estates; in which case, she was to resign, in favour of Philip,
her claim to the allegiance of her subjects. The government of Holland,
in the duke's absence, was to be entrusted to nine councillors, of whom the
countess should name three, and the duke the six others — three natives, and
three from other parts of his dominions. (It had been an express stipulation,
in the marriage articles of Jacqueline with the duke of Touraine, that no
foreigners were to be admitted to offices within the county.) The duke
was to have the sole nomination of all the higher offices, both in the towns
and open coimtry. The future revenues of the county, after the subtraction
of salaries to public officers, and other necessary expenses, were to be paid
to the coimtess. The exiles on both sides were to be permitted to return to
their country, and no one, under a penalty, should reproach another with the
party names of hook and cod.
Jacqueline was obliged to go through the towns of HoUand with the duke,
and cause the oaths to be taken to him as heir and governor; and thus de-
prived of all authority in the government, she retired to Goes in South Beve-
land. One friend, and one alone, was left to her in this time of need. Francis
van Borselen, although a conspicuous member of the cod party, and appointed
by Philip stadholder of Holland, was ever ready to assist her with his purse
and counsel, though at the risk of alienating his friends, and even of losing
his valuable offices. The gratitude and esteem which such conduct naturally
^ This prince, although from his deficiency in talent he appears in so contemptible a light,
is said by historians to have been just, pious, and benevolent. His name is honourable to
posterity as the founder of the university of Louvain in 1486.
348 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1428-1436 A.D.]
excited in the breast of the forsaken princess soon deepened into feelings of
the tenderest attachment; and, under their impulse, she consented to a
secret marriage with Borselen, though she well knew the penalty which
must attach to a discovery. This event was soon known to Philip, who
had too many of his partisans around her to admit of its remaining long
concealed; nor did he delay to make use of it as a means of depriving Jacque-
line of her title of countfess, all that now remained of her birthright.
His first measure was to cause Francis van Borselen to be arrested at
the Hague, and conducted prisoner to Ruppelmonde; after which, he allowed
a report to go abroad that the unfortunate nobleman was to be released only
by death; judging, with good reason, that the desire to save a husband so
beloved would reduce the countess to such terms of submission as he should
dictate.
The issue justified his expectations. Upon condition that the duke should
release Francis van Borselen and confirm their marriage, she renounced in
1433 all right and title to the counties of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and
Hainault; in the event of the duke dying before her, the county was to revert
to herself and her heirs. Philip afterwards appointed her grand forester of
Holland and created Borselen count of Oosterhaut, but deprived him of the
office of stadholder.
Such was the end of the troubled and disastrous reign of the coimtess
Jacqueline. There are many points in the character and story of this lovely
and imhappy lady which strongly remind us of the still more unfortunate
Mary, queen of Scots: her personal beauty, captivating manners, masculine
courage, and extraordinary talent; her early marriage to the heir of the
French crown, with the disappointment of her high hopes, caused by his
premature death; the disgust and misery attendant on her second union;
and her final subjection to the power of an artful and ambitious rival. But,
innocent of the crimes or indiscretions of Mary, she escaped also her violent
and cruel death; and we may be tempted to believe that the period which
she passed in obscurity, united, for the first time, by the ties of affection, to
an object every way worthy of her love and esteem, was the happiest of her
life. If so, however, her felicity was but of short duration, since in 1436
she died of consumption, about two years after her abdication, at the age of
thirty-six./
Of Jacqueline, Blok writes vividly: "Jacqueline was destined to play a
romantic part in history. Poets have sung her fate, and even dry chronicles
wax eloquent when she is their theme. The barren twigs of records begin
to bear blossoms when her sorrows, her proud resistance, are recorded. She
was a tall, well-formed, active woman, brought up in an isolated castle in
Hainault, hardened by hunting and feats at arms, skilled in minnesong and
tourneys, besides being at home in the English and French tongues. She
was quite capable of leading troops, conducting sieges, and making plans of
policy as well as the most skilled knight, the most experienced diplomat in
her train. And she won many hearts by her courageous bearing. She was
a woman in armour — the worthy granddaughter of the valiant empress
Margaret; the worthy kinswoman of her famous great-aunt, Philippa of
Hainault, queen of England; the worthy daughter of her proud mother,
Margaret of Burgundy, and of her chivalrous father." 6
It is a striking coincidence that this brave and beautiful princess, who
often donned man's attire, should have been a contemporary of the warrior-
peasant Joan of Arc. Jacqueline gave up her long struggle in 1428; Joan
appeared at the French court and raised the siege of Orleans in 1429; Jacque-
HOLLAND UNDEE THE HOUSES OF HAINAULT AND BAVARIA 349
[1431 A.D.]
line's enemy, Burgundy, was in alliance with the English and it was he who
delivered Joan to them. Joan was burned in 1431 at the age of twenty;
Jacqueline died five years later at the age of thirty-six. Her four marriages
had all been childless, and her death left the rest of her territories to the
undisputed rule of the house of Burgundy .o
CHAPTER IV
THE NETHERLANDS UNDER BURGUNDY AND THE EMPIRE
[1436-1555 A.D.]
Burgundy, or Bourgogne, as it is called by the French who now possess
the bulk of it, has played so important and complicated a r61e in the politics
of Europe that some separate account of its history is desirable. Tne Bur-
gundi or Burgimdiones, so called from livmg in burgi or burghs, were ap-
parently of Gothic stock. They are first discovered between the Vistula and
the Oder about 289 a.d. They defeated the Alamanni, and in 406 migrated
to Gaul imder Gunther, or Gimdicar, who had played a large part in the
election of the emperor Jovinus. The Romans compelled the Celtic Mdui
to divide lands, property, and slaves with the Burgundi, whose first definite
kingdom was founded between the Rhone and the Aar, where Christianity
was speedily adopted. Gundicar was killed in a battle with the Gauls, and
succeeded by Gunderic (436-470), whose four sons divided his realm, setting
their capitals at. Geneva, Besangon, Lyons, and Vierme. In 507 Gundibald
reunited the fragments into one realm, and made the code known either by
his name, or as the Loi Gombette. He was succeeded in 516 by his son Sigis-
mimd, and he by Gundimar in 524, with whom ended this Burgundian dy-
nasty, for in 534 he was expelled and his realm absorbed in the Frankish
Empire.
THE RISE OF BURGUNDY
After the division of Verdun in 843 the Burgundians were separated into
the duchy and the realm of Burgundy. The realm itself was subdivided,
and Boson founded the kingdom of Lower Burgimdy or Cisjuran; whUe in
888, Rudolf, a Guelfic Swiss count, organised the kingdom of Upper Bur-
gundy or Transjuran. Boson in 882 accepted Charles the Stout as over-
lord, and Rudolf's son, Rudolf, was eventually allowed to add Cisjuran to
Transjuran in 933, in exchange for his rights to the Italian crown. The
united kingdom, often known as Aries or the Arelatian Kingdom, was gov-
erned by a line of princes who rivalled and often overbore the Carlovingian
rulers. But in 1033 it was absorbed into the German Empire by Conrad II.
Meanwhile, Boson's brother, Richard, had given his allegiance to Charles
the Bald, and received from the French king the so-called duchy of Burgundy.
860
THE NETHEELANDS UNDEE BUEGUNDY AND THE EMPIEE 351
[lOOa-1384 A.D.]
It was reunited to the French crown from 1002 to 1032, when Henry I trans-
ferred it to his brother, Robert the Old, whose descendants held it for the
older Capetian line till 1361, when the French king, John the Good, seized it.
But in the defeat of Poitiers he was taken prisoner by the English; in
that disgraceful rout, his youngest son, Philip the Bold {le hardi), duke of
Touraine, was the only one of the sons to' defend his father with his sword.
In gratitude he gave the youth the duchy of Burgundy with the rank of a
first peer of France. Barante,& in his history of the Burgundian dukes,
quotes the pld charter which justifies the grant " for the reason that the said
Phihp, of his own free wUl, exposed himself to death with us, and, all wounded
as he was, remained steadfast and fearless throughout the battle of Poitiers."
It was a kingly reward for princely valour, but the consequences were not '
happy. As Martin c says: "John as a farewell to his realm left an act that
crowned all his faults — the alienation of the duchy of Burgundy, which had
just been so happUy reunited to the crown. The sage poKcy of Louis the
Fat, of Philip Augustus, and of St. Louis was very remote. The insensate
Valois volimtarUy loosened the structure of the monarchy, to constitute this
fatal oligarchy of the 'sires of the fleurs-de-lis,' which renewed the grand
feudalism and upset France for a century."
It was not till 1364 that Philip the Bold came into full possession of the
duchy; in that year he entered his capital, Dijon, in state. His brother,
Charles V of France, enlarged his power by giving him the stadholdership
of the Ile-de-France, and arranging his marriage with Margaret of Flanders.
Later he acquired from her inheritance also Artois and the countship of Bur-
gimdy, known later as the Franche-Comt6, uniting two of the most important
French fiefs in the hands of a new power destined to rival and threaten the
French crown."
PHILIP THE BOLD
Thus the house of Burgundy, which soon after became so formidable and
celebrated, obtained this vast accession to its power. The various changes
which had taken place in the neighbouring provinces during the continuance
of these civil wars had altered the state of Flanders altogether. John
d'Avesnes, count of Hainault, having also succeeded in 1299 to the coimty of
Holland, the two provinces, though separated by Flanders and Brabant,
remained from that time imder the government of the same chief, who soon
became more powerful than the bishops of Utrecht, or even than their
formidable rivals the Frisians.
During the wars which desolated these opposing territories, in consequence
of the perpetual conflicts for superiority, the power of the varioiis towns
insensibly became at least as great as that of the nobles to whom they were
constantly opposed. The commercial interests of Holland, also, were con-
siderably advanced by the influx of Flemish merchants forced to seek refuge
there from the convulsions which agitated their province. Every day con-
firmed and increased the privileges of the people of Brabant; whUe at Liege
the inhabitants gradually began to gain the upper hand, and to shake off
the former subjection to their sovereign bishops.
Although Philip of Burgundy became coimt of Flanders, by the death
of his father-in-law, in the year 1384, it was not till the following year that
he concluded a peace with the people of Ghent, and entered into quiet pos-
session of the province. In the same year the duchess of Brabant, the last
descendant of the duke of that province, died, leaving no nearer relative
352 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1385-1419 A.D.]
than the duchess of Burgundy; so that Philip obtained in right of his wife
this new and important accession to his dominions.
But the consequent increase of the sovereign's power was not, as is often
the case, injurious to the hberties or happiness of the people. Philip con-
tinued to govern in the interest of the country, which he had the good sense
to consider as identified with his own. He augmented the privileges of the
towns, and negotiated for the return into Flanders of those merchants who
had emigrated to Germany and Holland during the continuance of the civil
wars. He thus by degrees accustomed his new subjects, so proud of their
rights, to submit to his authority; and his peaceable reign was only dis-
turbed by the fatal issue of the expedition of his son, John the Fearless,
coimt de Nevers, against the Turks. This young prince, filled with ambition
and temerity, was offered the command of the force sent by Charles VI of
France to the assistance of Sigismund of Hungary in his war against Bajazet.
Followed by a numerous body of nobles, he entered on the contest, and was
defeated and taken prisoner by the Turks at the battle of Nicopoli. His
army was totally destroyed, and himself only restored to liberty on the
payment of an immense ransom.
John the Fearless succeeded in 1404 to the inheritance of all his father's
dominions, with the exception of Brabant, of which his younger brother,
Anthony of Burgundy, became duke. John, whose ambitious and ferocious
character became every day more strongly developed, now aspired to the
government of France during the insanity of his cousin Charles VI. He
occupied himself little with the affairs of the Netherlands, from which he
only desired to draw supplies of men. But the Flemings, taking no interest
in his personal views or private projects, and equally indifferent to the rivalry
of England and France, which now began so fearfully to afflict the latter
kingdom, forced their ambitious count to declare their province a neutral
country; so that the English merchants were admitted as usual to trade
in all the ports of Flanders, and the Flemings equally weU received in England;
while the duke made open war against that country in his quality of a prince
of France and sovereign of Burgundy. This is probably the earliest well-
established instance of such a distinction between the prince and the people.
Anthony, duke of Brabant, the brother of Philip, was not so closely re-
stricted in his authority and wishes. He led all the nobles of the province
to take part in the quarrels of France; and he suffered the penalty of his
rashness, in meeting his death in the battle of Agincourt. But the duchy
suffered nothing by this event, for the militia of the country had not followed
their duke and his nobles to the war; and a national council was now estab-
lished, consisting of eleven persons, two of whom were ecclesiastics, three
barons, two knights, and four commoners. This council, formed on princi-
ples so fairly popular, conducted the public affairs with great wisdom during
the minority of the yoimg duke. Each province seems thus to have gov-
erned itself upon principles of republican independence. The sovereigns
could not at discretion, or by the want of it, play the bloody game of war
for their mere amusement; and the emperor putting in his claim at this
epoch to his ancient rights of sovereignty over Brabant, as an imperial fief,
the council and the people treated the demand with derision.
John the Fearless, after having caused the murder of his rival the duke
of Orleans, was himself assassinated, on the bridge of Montereau, by the
followers of the dauphin of France, and in his presence. Philip duke of
Burgundy, the son and successor of John, had formed a close alliance with
Henry V, to revenge his father's murder; and soon after the death of the
THE NETHBELANDS UNDER BTrRGUNDY AND THE EMPIRE 353
[1419-1486 A.D.
king Philip married his sister, and thus united himself still more nearly to the
celebrated John duke of Bedford, brother of Henry, and regent of France,
in the name of his infant nephew, Henry VI. But besides the share on which
he reckoned in the spoils of France, Philip also looked with a covetous eye
on the inheritance of Jacqueline of Holland, his cousin. Her death in 1436,
at the age of thirty-six, removed aU restraint from Philip's thirst for ag-
grandisement, in the indulgence of which he drowned his remorse. As if
fortune had conspired for the rapid consolidation of his greatness, the death
of Philip count of Saint Pol, who had succeeded his brother John in the
dukedom of Brabant, gave him the sovereignty of that extensive province;
and his dominions soon extended to the very limits of Picardy, by the Peace
of Arras, concluded with the dauphin, now become
Charles VII, and by his finally contracting a strict
alliance with France.
Philip of Burgundy, thus become sovereign of
dominions at once so extensive and compact, had
the precaution and address to obtain from the em-
peror a formal renunciation of his existing though
almost nominal rights as lord paramount. He next
purchased the title of the duchess of Luxemburg to
that duchy; and thus the states of the house of Bur-
gundy gained an extent about equal to that of the
existing kingdom of the Netherlands. For although
on the north and east they did not include Fries-
land, the bishopric of Utrecht, Gelderland, or the
province of Liege, still on the south and west they
comprised French Flanders, the Boulonnais, Artois,
and a part of Picardy, besides Burgundy.**
PHILIP AT WAR WITH ENGLAND (1436-1443)
As he equalled many of the sovereigns of Europe
in the extent and excelled all of them in the riches
of his dominions, so he now began to rival them in
the splendour and dignity of his court. On the
occasion of his marriage with Elizabeth, or Isa-
bella, daughter of John, king of Portugal, celebrated
at Bruges in January 1430, he instituted the famous
order of the Golden Fleece, " to preserve the ancient
religion, and to extend and defend the boundaries
of the state." The number of knights, at the time
of their institution, was twenty-four, besides the duke himself as president,
and it was subsequently increased by the emperor Charles V to fifty-one.
The accession of a powerful and ambitious prince to the government of
the county was anything but a source of advantage to the Dutch, excepting,
perhaps, in a commercial point of view. Its effects were soon perceived in
the declaration made by the council of Holland that the charters and privi-
leges, acknowledged by the duke_ as governor and heir, were of no effect,
uSess afterwards confirmed by him as coimt. Nor was the diminution of
their civil liberties the only evU which foreign dominion brought upon them.
The last nation in Europe with which Holland would voluntarily wage war
was perhaps England, and yet it was against her that she was now called
upon to lavish her blood and treasure in an unprofitable contest.
H. w.—roii. xni. 2a
TOBCHBEABEB OP THE SIX-
TEENTH Century
354 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1435-1443 A.D.]
The zeal of Philip for the English aUiance had received' its first check by
the marriage of Jacqueline with Humphrey, duke of Gloucester; but the
ready acquiescence of Humphrey in the decision of the pope, and his aban-
donment of his wife, had softened his resentment. The achievements of
Joan of Arc changed the face of affairs, and rendered Philip less sanguine of
the advantages to be reaped from the connection with England.
In 1435 he concluded a separate treaty with Charles VII. The English
indignation at this treachery, as they termed it, knew no bounds. The
populace of London, venting their rage indiscriminately on all the subjects
of the duke of Burgundy, spared not, in the general pillage, even the houses
of the Holland and Zealand merchants then residing m England, several of
whom they seized and murdered. This served but to strengthen the deter-
mination that the duke had already formed of declaring war against England,
which he did in the following year (1436). He opened the campaign with
the siege of Calais, which the cowardice or disaffection of his Flemish troops,'
and the backwardness of the Hollanders in bringing a fleet to his assistance,
soon forced him to raise.
WhUe the Hollanders manifested their imwillingness to take part in this
unpopular war, the seditious state of the Flemish towns, caused by the im-
position of a tax on salt, rendered Philip imable to prevent the ravages of
the duke of Gloucester's army, which, marching from Calais, overran Flan-
ders and Hainault (1437). The same cause embarrassed aU his future oper-
ations against the English, and he was at length forced by his rebellious
subjects to supplicate the king of England, through his wife, Isabella of Por-
tugal, for the re-establishment of the commerce between the English and the
Dutch and Flemings. This requisition, being granted, was followed by
negotiations for a truce, which, prolonged until the year 1443, were at length
concluded, and the peace was agreed upon. During the war between Bur-
gundy and England, the Hollanders were engaged in hostilities more imme-
diately on their own account with the Easterlings, or Hanse towns of the
Baltic, which had plimdered some of their ships.
Several sharp engagements were fought in which the Dutch generally
had the advantage, though without any decisive event, until the spring of
1440, when the whole of a Hanseatic fleet was captured with little resistance.
In 1441 a truce was concluded with the towns of Liibeck, Hamburg, Rostock,
Stralsund, Wismar, and Liineburg, for twelve years, within which period
their differences were to be adjusted by five towns chosen by each party.
This truce, being renewed from time to time, had all the beneficial effects of
a regular and stable peace.
The cessation of foreign wars was, ere long, followed by the renewal of
those intestine hook and cod commotions which had now for so protracted
a period been the bane of Holland.
The lavish expenditure constantly maintained by the duke of Burgundy
had reduced his finances to so low an ebb that he was obliged to have recourse
to unpopular and even arbitrary measures, for the purpose of replenishing
[' Only with diflBculty could Philip keep the grumbling Flemings with his army. When
at last the moment arrived that Humphrey's fleet was really in sight, they cried loudly about
the Welsh treason, burned their tests, and stole away. In the meantime, Humphrey had
landed without the least opposition, with ten thousand troops ; and in this dilemma Philip
instantly resolved to make an ignominious retreat with the small part of his army that re-
mained. It was a hateful blot on the escutcheon of the grand master of the order of the Golden
Fleece : and the inhuman judgments which he immediately put in train and destined for the
Flemish states were chiefly owing to his indignation at being compelled to make this disgrace-
ful retreat, to which the mutinous Flemings had forced him. — WENZBLBi7BaHR.eJ
THE NETHBELANDS TJNDEE BUEGUNDY AND THE EMPIEE 355
[1444-1455 A.D.]
his treasury. Of this nature was the duty on salt, called in France the
gabelle, a tax long established in that country, but hitherto unknown in any
of the states of the Netherlands. Philip had not ventured to lay any im-
post of this kind upon Holland, but in Flanders he demanded eighteen pence
upon every sack of salt sold there, which the citizens of Ghent absolutely
refused to pay; and a new duty on grain, proposed in the next year, met in
like manner with a imiversal and decided negative.
In the first emotions of his anger, Philip removed every member, both
of the senate and great coimcil of Ghent, from their offices; and the city
being thus deprived of its magistrates, no power was left sufficiently strong
to arrest the progress of sedition, for which men's minds were already too
well prepared. The burghers, therefore, without delay, took an oath of
mutual defence against the duke, assumed the white hood, the customary
badge of revolt, elected captains of the burgher guards [hoofdmannen], and pre-
pared to sustain a long siege, by laying up plentiful stores of ammunition and
provisions. Several skirmishes were fought between the insurgents and the
duke's forces with alternate success. The prisoners on both sides were mas-
sacred without mercy, no quarter was given, and no amoimt of ransom accepted.
Philip assembled an immense force, and entering Flanders in person cap-
tured Gaveren. The Ghenters marching out of Ghent to the number of 24,000,
among whom were 7,000 volimteers from England, advanced to the village
of Senmerssaken, within a short distance of Gaveren. On the first charge
of the enemy, July 22nd, 1453, the Ghenters fied in disorder towards the
Schelde, whither they were pursued by the Burgundians, when nearly the whole
were slaughtered or drowned in attempting to escape by crossing the river.
This overwhelming misfortune effectually broke the spirit of the insurgents.
The duke of Burgundy was so highly gratified with the alacrity which the
Hollanders and Zealanders had shown (with a short-sighted policy perhaps)
in lending their assistance to subdue the Ghenters, that he promised to release
the people from the ten years' petition, in case of invasion, or the occurrence
of a flood; and confirmed the valuable and important privilege de non evocando
— that is, that no one should be brought to trial out of the boimdaries of
the county. A reservation, such as arbitrary princes have ever been fond
of inserting in grants of popular, privileges, that Philip himself was to be
sole judge when a case of exception arose, considerably qualified this ancient
right so deeply cherished by the Dutch nation.
It was during the war with the Ghenters that his son the count of Charolais,
afterwards Charles the Bold, or Rash, first began to draw attention to himself.
Events now occurred in Utrecht which prepared the way for the future
junction of this ecclesiastical state with the rest of the Netherlands. PhUip
had long desired this see for his natural son, David of Burgundy; but upon
the death of the bishop, in 1455, the chapter unanimously elected Gilbert
van Brederode. Philip prepared to secure by force the reception of his
son in the bishopric; and for this purpose repaired to Holland to raise a
general levy of troops. The Hollanders rarely faUed to take advantage of a
conjimcture, when their sovereigns required their support, to recover or extend
their privileges; and the historian has often to admire their steady patience
in waiting their opportunity — the manly but respectful earnestness with
which they vindicated their claims, and the generous patriotism with which
they made vast pecuniary sacrifices for the sake of their highly prized liberties.
On this occasion the West Frisians and Kennemerlanders, knowing that
the duke must have recourse to their assistance, offered him a considerable
earn of money for the restoration of the franchises of which they had been
356 THE HISTOEY OF THE KETHEELAKDS
[1455-1467 A.i>.]
deprived in 1426; the duke, in return, reinstated them in the same privi-
leges as they had enjoyed before that time. The duke now sent an army
into Utrecht. Gilbert surrendered all claim to the bishopric in favour of
David of Burgundy.
Philip, fearing the effects of the restless temper of his son at the court,
had created him stadholder-general of Holland; he had since then been put
in possession of several rich lordships in the county, and as he found his
influence- daily increasing, he began to assume a more haughty tone, and to
give evident tokens of dissatisfaction with many parts of his father's govern-
ment./
The relations of the house of Burgundy with Charles VII of France and
his son, later Louis XI, have been so fully described in the French history,
volume XI, chapters 9 and 10, that their repetition here will not be needed.
It will only be necessary to remind the reader of the resemblance between
•file imruly and unfilial natures of the two young men, Charles and Louis, and
the mutual hatred which they acquired for each other, probably in 1456,
when Louis, then dauphin, fled from his father's wrath to the court of Philip
of Burgundy. Later, war breaking out between France and Burgundy,
Charles the Bold led his father's army to the very gates of Paris (1465), and
held Louis XI at his mercy till after the conference and Treaty of Conflans."
After the conclusion of this peace, Charles proceeded to chastise the
insolence of the burghers of Li^ge and Dinant, who, having made an alliance
with Louis on the breaking out of the war between France and Burgundy,
invaded Brabant and Namur, and devastated the whole country with fire
and sword. Charles, on his return from France, laid siege to Li^ge, defeated
an army of Li6gois before its walls, and the town, hopeless of assistance from-
Louis, surrendered on conditions. The citizens were forced to pay a fine of
six himdred thousand Rhenish guilders. Dinant was taken by storm and
pillaged (1466), its fortifications were razed to the ground, and eight hundred
of the inhabitants drowned in the Maas, by order of Charles.
Whether or not the Hollanders took part in either of these expeditions
is uncertain; but it is clear that they were by no means exempt from a share
in the expenses they entailed on the states. A ten years' petition was levied
on Holland and West Friesland, amounting to 55,183 crowns a year: and
Zealand was taxed in the same proportion. Charles, during his residence
in these provinces, had found means so greatly to increase his influence that
he was little likely to meet with resistance to any of his demands, even if the
example of Ghent had not afforded a severe lesson to such as might be in-
clined to offer it. He obtained, as we have seen, considerable baronies both
in Holland and Zealand; he reduced the number of the council of state
from eight-and-twenty to eight, besides the stadholder; and as he professed
to choose them rather for their skill in affairs than for the nobility of theu-
birth, they became entirely subservient to his will. He likewise deprived
the councQ of the office of auditing the public accounts, which it had hitherto
exercised, uniting the chamber of finance at the Hague with that of Brussels.
This was the first step towards a union between Holland and the rest of
the Netherlands, which was afterwards partially, but never entirely, effected.
Charles was recalled from Holland into Brabant in the early part of the year
1467, by the declining health of his father, who lay sick at Bruges of a quinsy,
which terminated his existence on the 15th of February, in the seventy-
second year of his age. He left by his wife, Isabella of Portugal, only one
son, Charles. The number of his illegitimate children is said by some to have
been thirty, but he made provision for no more than nineteen. PhUip'e
Q
O
O
M
o ^
P g
02 a
1-J [V.
o
o
CO
w
N
O
«
THE NETHERLANDS UNDER BrRGIJNDY AND THE EMPIRE 357
[1444-1467 A.D.J
humanity, benevolence, affability, and strict regard to justice obtained for
him the surname of Good; while his love of peace, and the advantageous
treaties which the extent and importance of his dominions enabled him to
make with foreign nations, tended greatly to increase the commerce of his
■ subjects.
ART AND CULTURE OF THE PERIOD
The wealth procured by the genius and industry of the Netherlanders
enabled them to sustain the heavy burdens laid upon them by Duke Philip
with a comparative ease which led Comines,? a contemporary author, to
suppose that they were, in fact, more lightly
taxed than the subjects of other princes.
As Philip, however, during the whole of his
reign kept up a court which surpassed every
other in Europe in luxury and magnificence,
ahd contrived besides to amass vast sums of
money, it is evident that his treasury' must
have been liberally supplied by his people.
During his attendance on Louis XI, at
Paris, when that monarch went to take pos-
session of his kingdom, Monstrelef* says
" he excited the admiration of the Parisians
by the splendour of his dress, table, and
equipages; the hotel d'Artois, where he lived,
was hung with the richest tapestries ever
seen in France. When he rode through the
streets, he wore every day some new dress, or
jewel of price — the frontlet of his horse was
covered with the richest jewels."
We are told by Pontus Heuterus,^ a
native though not contemporary author,
that Philip " received more money from his
subjects than they had paid in four centuries
together before; but they thought little of
it, since he used no force, nor the words sic
VoLo sic 111/1)60
The supposition of Comines is contra- nobi,e^oman of the sixteenth centubv
dieted also by the fact that Philip excited a dangerous revolt in Ghent by the
imposition of new and oppressive taxes on the Flemings; while in Holland he
introduced the unprecedented and unconstitutional custom of levying peti-
tions for a number of years together. He left, at his death, a treasure amounting
to four hundred thousand crowns of gold and one hundred thousand marks of
silver, with pictures, jewels, and furniture, supposed to be worth two millions
more. The necessary expenses of the government must have been comparatively
small, and the principal portion of the large sums Philip drew into his treas-
ury was expended on his private pleasures, or in festivals, shows, and entertain-
ments.
The example of prodigality set by the sovereign infected his whole court:
the nobles vied with each other in squandering their incomes upon articles
of effeminate luxury, or puerile ostentation; and the poverty they thus
entailed upon themselves and their posterity was made a subject of bitter
reproach to them under his successors.
The same cause retarded in Holland the progress of literature and the arts.
358 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1467-1468 A.D.]
which in Flanders and Brabant, imder the munificent patronage and en-
couragement of Philip, were making rapid advances: the Dutch had no name
to oppose to that of Jan van Eyck, of Bruges, who, in the early part of this
century, marked out an era in the annals of painting by his invention of oil
colours: and it is in the works of foreigners and Flemings, as contemporary
historians, of Monstrelet, Roya, and Comines, that we must seek for the
passing notices of a country which had produced a John of Leyden and a
Melis Stoke. The beneficial effects of printing in the general advancement of
learning and civihsation were not as yet perceived, since the expense of printed
books being hitherto little less than that of manuscripts, the possession of
them was still confined to the wealthy few. The honour of this invention is,
as it is well known, disputed between Mainz and Haarlem./
CHARLES THE BOLD (1467-1477)
Charles began his career by seizing on all the money and jewels left by
his father; he next dismissed the crowd of useless functionaries who had
fed upon, under the pretence of managing, the treasures of the state. But
this salutary and sweeping reform was only effected to enable the sovereign
to pursue tincontrolled the most fatal of all passions, that of war. Nothing
can better paint the true character of this haughty and impetuous prince
than his crest (a branch of holly), and his motto, "Who touches it, pricks
himself." Charles had conceived a furious and not ill-founded hatred for
his base yet formidable neighbour and rival, Louis XI of France.
Charles was the proudest, most daring, and most unmanageable prince
that ever made the sword the type and the guarantee of greatness; Louis
the most subtle, dissimulating, and treacherous king that ever wove in his
closet a tissue of hollow diplomacy and bad faith in government. The struggle
between these sovereigns was unequal only in respect to this difference of
character; for France, subdivided as it stiU was, and exhausted by the wars with
England, was not comparable, either as regarded men, money, or the other
resources of the state, to the compact and prosperous dominions of Bm-gimdy.
Charles showed some s3Tnptoms of good sense and greatness of mind, soon
after his accession to power, th^t gave a false colouring to his disposition, and
encouraged illusory hopes as to his future career. Scarcely was he proclaimed
count of Flanders at Ghent, when the populace, surrounding his hotel, abso-
lutely insisted on and extorted his consent to the restitution of their ancient
privileges. Furious as Charles was at this bold proof of insubordination, he
did not revenge it; and he treated with equal indulgence the city of Mechlin,
which had expelled its governor and rased the citadel. The people of Li^ge,
having revolted against their bishop, Louis of Bourbon, who was closely
connected with the house of Burgundy, were defeated by the duke in 1467,
but he treated them with clemency; and immediately after this event, in
February, 1468, he concluded with Edward IV ^ of England an alliance, offen-
sive and defensive, against France.
Louis demanded an explanatory conference with Charles, and the town
of P^ronne in Picardy was fixed on for their meeting.^ Louis, willing to
imitate the boldness of his rival, who had formerly come to meet him in the
very midst of his army, now came to the rendezvous almost alone. But he
was severely mortified, and near paying a greater penalty than fright, for this
[J He also married the king's sister, Margaret of York.]
[ A full account of this famous interview by Comines, who was present, is given in vol-
ume XI.]
o
^
.1
:5
.1
V
"5
^
THE NETHEELANDS UNDEE BUEGUNDY AND THE EMPIBE 359
[1468-1473 A.D.]
hazardous conduct. The duke, having received intelligence of a new revolt
at Liege excited by some of the agents of France, instantly made Louis
prisoner, in defiance of every law of honour or fair dealing. The excess of his
rage and hatred might have carried him to a more disgraceful extremity, had
not Louis, by force of bribery, gained over some of his most influential coun-
sellors, who succeeded in appeasing his rage. He contented himself with
humiliating, when he was disposed to punish. He forced his captive to ac-
company him to Li^ge, and witness the ruin of this unfortunate town, which
he delivered over to plunder; and having given this lesson to Louis, he set
him at liberty.
From this period there was a marked and material change in the conduct
of Charles. He had been previously moved by sentiments of chivalry and
notions of greatness. But sullied by his act of public treachery and violence
towards the monarch who had, at least in seeming, manifested unlimited
confidence in his honour, a secret sense of shame embittered his feelings and
soured his temper. He became so insupportable to those around him that
he was abandoned by several of his best officers, and even by his natural
brother, Baldwin of Burgimdy, who passed over to the side of Louis. Charles
was at this time embarrassed by the expense of entertaining and maintaining
Edward IV and numerous English exiles, who were forced to take refuge in
the Netherlands by the successes of the earl of Warwick, who had replaced
Henry VI on the throne. He then entered France at the head of his army,
to assist the duke of Brittany; but he lost by his hot-brained caprice every
advantage within his easy reach.
But he soon afterwards acquired the duchy of Gelderland from the old
duke Arnold van Egmond, who had been temporarily despoiled of it by his
son Adolphus. It was almost a hereditary consequence in this family that
the children should revolt and rebel against their parents. Adolphus had
the effrontery to found his justification on the argument that, his father
having reigned forty-four years, he was fully entitled to his share — a fine
practical authority for greedy and expectant heirs. The old father replied
to this reasoning by offering to meet his son in single combat. Charles cut
short the affair by making Adolphus prisoner and seizing on the disputed
territory, for which he, however, paid Arnold the sum of 220,000 florins.<^
Thus the whole of the Netherlands, with the exception of Friesland, was
at this time under the dominion of the house of Burgimdy; but the possession
of Gelderland, which Charles so eagerly coveted, entailed a long and ruinous
war upon his successors.
The favourite object of Charles' ambition was now to be ranked among
the sovereigns of Europe, and to revive in his own person the ancient title of
king of Burgundy.' He obtained the emperor's consent to invest him with
this much-desired dignity by promising his only daughter and sole heiress,
Mary, in marriage to Maximilian, son of Frederick, and a meeting at Treves
was agreed upon between the two princes. Both repaired thither at the time
appointed, with a splendid retinue; the crown, the sceptre, and the chair of
state were already prepared, when the emperor insisted that the marriage
of his son with Lady Mary should be first solemnised: suspecting, not
without reason, that Charles, when once crowned, would never fulfil his part
of the engagement, since he had often been heard to say that, on the day of
his daughter's marriage, he would shave his head and become a monk. Charles
was equally determined that the coronation should precede the marriage;
' He, however, possessed no part of the ancient kingdom of Burgundy, which comprised
Franche-Comte, Dauphine, Provence, Lyonnais, Savoy, Brescia, and great part of Switzerland.
360 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELA2TDS
[1473-1476 A.r.]
and the coldness and mistrust which this dispute created in the mind of Fred-
erick was so great that he suddenly quitted Treves, leaving the duke over-
whelmed with confusion and anger, an object at once of derision and suspicion
to the German princes.
Thus defeated in his favourite project, Charles was now obliged to turn
his ambitious views to another quarter, and since he could not raise his states
to a kingdom, he sought to extend them still more widely, by the possession
of all the fortified places on the left side of the Rhine, from Nimeguen, where
this river enters the Netherlands, to Bale on the confines of Switzerland. /
Charles, urged on by the double motive of thirst for aggrandisement and
vexation at his late failure, attempted, under pretext of some internal dis-
sensions, to gain possession of Cologne and its territory, which belonged to
the empire; and at the same time planned the invasion of France, in concert
with his brother-in-law Edward IV, who had recovered possession of England.
But the town of Neuss, in the archbishopric of Cologne, occupied him a full
year before its walls (1474-5). The emperor, who came to its succour,
actually besieged the besiegers in their camp; and the dispute was terminated
by leaving it to the arbitration of the pope's legate, and placing the contested
town in his keeping. This half triumph gained by Charles saved Louis
wholly from destruction. Edward, who had landed in France with a nu-
merous force, seeing no appearance of his Burgundian allies, made peace with
Louis; and Charles, who arrived in all haste, but not till after the treaty
was signed, upbraided and abused the English king, and turned a warm
friend into an inveterate enemy.
Louis, whose crooked policy had so far succeeded on aU occasions, now
seemed to favour Charles' plans of aggrandisement, and to recognise his pre-
tended right to Lorraine, which legitimately belonged to the empire, and
the invasion of which by Charles wotdd be sure to set him at variance with
the whole of Germany. The infatuated duke, blind to the ruin to which he
was thus hurrying, marched against and soon overcame Lorraine. Thence
he turned his army against the Swiss, who were allies to the conquered prov-
ince, but who sent the most submissive dissuasions to the invader. They
begged for peace, assuring Charles that their romantic but sterile moimtains
were not altogether worth the bridles of his splendidly equipped cavalry.
But the more they humbled themselves, the higher was his haughtiness
raised. It appeared that he had at this period conceived the project of
uniting in one common conquest the ancient dominions of Lothair I, who
had possessed the whole of the countries traversed by the Rhine, the Rhone,
and the Po; and he even spoke of passing the Alps, like Hannibal, for the
invasion of Italy.
Switzerland was, by moral analogy as well as physical fact, the rock against
which these extravagant projects were shattered. The army of Charles, which
engaged the hardy mountaineers in the gorges of the Alps near the town of
Granson (1476), was literally crushed to atoms by the stones and fragments
of granite detached from the heights and hurled down upon their heads.
Charles, after this defeat, returned to the charge six weeks later, having
rallied his army and drawn reinforcements from Burgundy. But Louis had
despatched a body of cavalry to the Swiss — a force in which they were before
deficient; and thus augmented, their army amounted to thirty-four thousand
men. They took up a position, skilfully chosen, on the borders of the Lake
of Morat, where they were attacked by Charles at the head of sixty thousand
soldiers of all ranks. The result was the total defeat of the latter, with the
loss of ten thousand killed whose bones, gathered into an immense heap,
THE NETHERLANDS UNDEE BURGUNDY AND THE EMPIRE 361
[1476-1477 A.D.]
and bleaching in the winds, remained for above three centuries — a terrible
monument of rashness and injustice on the one hand, and of patriotism and
valour on the other.
Charles was now plunged into a state of profound melancholy; but he
soon burst from this gloomy mood into one of renewed fierceness and fatal
desperation. Nine months after the battle of Morat he re-entered Lorraine,
at the head of an army not composed of his faithful militia of the Netherlands,
but of those mercenaries in whom it was madness to place trust. The re-
inforcements meant to be despatched to him by those provinces were kept
back by the artifices of the count of Campobasso, an Italian, who commanded
his cavalry, and who only gained his confidence basely to betray it. Ren6
duke of Lorraine, at the head of the confederate forces, offered battle to
Charles imder the walls of Nancy; and the night before the combat Campo-
basso went over to the enemy with the troops under his command. Still
Charles had the way open for retreat. Fresh troops from Burgundy and
Flanders were on their march to join him; but he would not be dissuaded
from his resolution to fight, and he resolved to try his fortune once more with
his dispirited and shattered army. On this occasion the fate of Charles was
decided, and the fortune of Louis triumphant. The rash and ill-fated duke
lost both the battle and his life. His body, mutilated with wounds, was
found the next day, and buried with great pomp in the town of Nancy, by
the orders of the generous victor, the duke of Lorraine. Thus perished the
last prince of the powerful house of Burgimdy.**
Motley's Estimate of Charles the Bold
As a conqueror, he was signally unsuccessful; as a politician, he could
outwit none but himself; it was only as a tyrant within his own ground that
he could sustain the character which he chose to enact. He lost the crown,
which he might have secured, because he thought the emperor's son un-
worthy the heiress of Burgundy; and yet, after his father's death, her mar-
riage with that very Maximilian alone secured the possession of her paternal
inheritance.
Few princes were ever a greater curse to the people whom they were
allowed to hold as property. He nearly succeeded in establishing a cen-
tralised despotism upon the ruins of the provincial institutions. His sudden
death alone deferred the catastrophe. His removal of the supreme court of
Holland from the Hague to Mechlin, and his maintenance of a standing
army, were the two great measures by which he prostrated the Netherlands.
The tribunal had been remodelled by his father; the expanded authority
which Philip had given to a bench of judges dependent upon himself, was an
infraction of the rights of Holland. The court, however, still held its sessions
in the country; and the sacred privilege — de non evocando — the right of
every Hollander to be tried in his own land, was, at least, retained. Charles
threw off the mask; he proclaimed that this council — composed of his
creatures, holding office at his pleasure — should have supreme jurisdiction
over all the charters of the provinces; that it was to foUow his person, and
derive all authority from his wUl. The usual seat of the court he transferred
to Mechlin. It will be seen, in the sequel, that the attempt under Philip II
to enforce its supreme authority was a collateral cause of the great revolution
of the Netherlands.
Charles, like his father, administered the country by stadholders. From
the condition of flourishing self-ruled little republics, which they had, for a
362 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1477 A.D.]
moment, almost attained, they became departments of an ill-assorted, ill-
conditioned, ill-governed realm, which was neither commonwealth nor em-
pire, neither kingdom nor duchy, and which had no homogeneousness of
population, no affection between ruler and people, small sympathies of
lineage or of language.
His triumphs were but few, his fall ignominious. His father's treasure
was squandered, the curse of a standing army fixed upon his people, the
trade and manufactures of the country paralysed by his extortions, and he
accomplished nothing.. He lost his life in the forty-fourth year of his age
(1477), leaving all the provinces, duchies, and lordships, which formed the
miscellaneous realm of Burgundy, to his only child, the lady Mary. Thus
already the covmtries which Philip had wrested from the feeble hand of
Jacqueline had fallen to another female. Philip's own granddaughter, as
young, fair, and unprotected as Jacqueline, was now sole mistress of those
broad domains.
MAHT AND THE GREAT PRIVILEGE (1477)
A crisis, both for Burgundy and the Netherlands, succeeds. Within the
provinces there is an elastic rebound, as soon as the pressure is removed
from them by the tyrant's death. A sudden spasm of liberty gives the whole
people gigantic strength. In an instant they recover all, and more than all,
the rights which they had lost. The cities of Holland, Flanders, and other
provinces call a convention at Ghent. Laying aside their musty feuds, men
of all parties — hooks and cods, patricians and people — move forward in
phalanx to recover their national constitutions. On the other hand, Louis
XI seizes Burgundy, claiming the territory for his crown, the heiress for his
son.
The situation is critical for the lady Mary. As usual in such cases, ap-
peals are made to the faithful commons. Oaths and pledges are showered
upon the people, that their loyalty may be refreshed and grow green. The
congress^ meets at Ghent [February 3rd, 1477]. The lady Mary professes
much, but she wiU keep her vow. The deputies are called upon to rally
the country aroimd the duchess, and to resist the fraud and force of Louis.
The congress is wUling to maintain the cause of its young mistress.
The result of the deliberations is the formal grant [February 11th, 1477]
by Duchess Mary of the Groot Privilegie, or Great Privilege, the Magna Charta
of Holland. Although this instrument was afterwards violated, and indeed
abolished, it became the foundation of the republic. It was a recapitulation
and recognition of ancient rights, not an acquisition of new privileges. It
was a restoration, not a revolution. Its principal points deserve attention
from those interested in the political progress of mankind:
"The duchess shall not marry without consent of the states (estates) of
her provinces. All offices in her gift shall be conferred on natives only.
No man shall fill two offices. No office shall be farmed. The 'great council
and supreme court of Holland' is re-established. Causes shall be brought
before it on appeal from the ordinary courts. It shall have no original
jurisdiction of matters within the cognisance of the provincial and municipal
tribvmals. The states and cities are guaranteed in their right not to be
summoned to justice beyond the limits of their territory. The cities, in com-
[' This is the first regular assembly of the states-general of the Netherlands ; the county of
Holland, before this time, does not appear to have sent deputies to the assemblies of the other
states. In negotiations with foreign powers, it treated separately./]
THE NETHERLANDS UNDER BURGUNDY AND THE EMPIRE 363
[1477 A.D.]
mon with all the provinces of the Netherlands, may hold diets as often and
at such places as they choose.
"No new taxes shall be imposed but by consent of the provincial states.
Neither the duchess nor her descendants shall begin either an offensive or
defensive war without consent of the states. In case a war be illegally
undertaken, the states are not bound to contribute to its maintenance. In
all public and legal documents, the Netherland language shall be employed.
The comniands of the duchess shall be invalid, if conflicting with the privi-
leges of a city. The seat of the supreme councU is transferred from Mechlin
to the Hague. No money shall be coined, nor its value raised or lowered,
but by consent of the states. Cities are not to be compelled to contribute
to requests which they have not voted. The sovereign shall come in person
before the states, to make his request for supplies."
Here was good work. The land was rescued at a blow from the helpless
condition to which it had been reduced. This summary annihilation of all
the despotic arrangements of Charles was enough to raise him from his tomb.
The law, the sword, the purse were all taken from the hand of the sovereign
and placed within the control of parliament. Such sweeping reforms, if
maintained, would restore health to the body politic. They gave, more-
over, an earnest of what was one day to arrive. Certainly, for the fifteenth
century, the Great Privilege was a reasonably liberal constitution. Where
else upon earth, at that day, was there half so much liberty as was thus
guaranteed? To no people in the world more than to the stout burghers of
Flanders and Holland belongs the honour of having battled audaciously and
perennially in behalf of human rights.
Similar privileges to the great charter of Holland are granted to many
other provinces, especially to Flanders, ever ready to stand forward in fierce
vindication of freedom. For a season all is peace and joy; but the duchess
is young, weak, and a woman. There is no lack of intriguing politicians,
reactionary councillors. There is a cimning old king in the distance, lying
in wait, seeking what he can devour. A mission goes from the states to
France. The well-known tragedy of Imbrecourt and Hugonet occurs. En-
voys from the states, they dare to accept secret instructions from the duchess
to enter into private negotiations with the French monarch, against their
colleagues — against the great charter — against their country. Louis be-
trays them, thinking that policy the more expedient. They are seized in
Ghent, rapidly tried, and as rapidly beheaded by the enraged burghers. AH
the entreaties of the lady Mary, who, dressed in mourning garments, with
dishevelled hair, unloosed girdle, and streaming eyes, appears at the town-
house and afterwards in the market place, humbly to intercede for her ser-
vants, are fruitless. There is no help for the juggling diplomatists. The
punishment was sharp. Was it more severe and sudden than that which
betrayed monarchs usually inflict? Would the Flemings, at that critical
moment, have deserved their freedom had they not taken swift and signal
vengeance for this first infraction of their newly recognised rights? Had it
not been weakness to spare the traitors who had thus stained the childhood
of the national joy at liberty regained?
Another step, and a wide one, into the great stream of European history:
the lady Mary espouses the archduke Maximilian. The Netherlands are
about to become Habsburg property.*
Louis XI, having frustrated the negotiations for peace, possessed himself
of Arras, Thferouanne, and a large portion of Artois; but on the sea affairs
were more prosperous for the Netherlanders, since the Hollanders were not
364 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1477-1488 A.D.]
only able to protect their own commerce, but likewise to capture twenty
large vessels belonging to the enemy. But the rapid advances made by Louis,
who had subdued Artois and the county of Boulogne, and made himself
master of Bouchain, Le Quesnoy, and Avesnes, induced the states to hasten
the marriage of the duchess. Among the numerous suitors whom her late
father had encouraged, the only question was now between Maximilian, son
of the emperor of Geriiiany, and the dauphin of France. But with respect
to the latter — besides the probability that, from the disparity of age between
the parties, the princess would despise her youthful bridegroom — who had
just reached his eighth year, while Mary was now past twenty, there were
many reasons of policy that rendered the marriage little desirable to the king.
The contract, therefore, so abruptly broken off at Treves in 1473 was again
renewed, Maximilian was summoned to repair to Ghent, and the marriage
was solemnised in the month of August; not, however, with a magnificence
by any means suitable to the union of the son of the emperor with the richest
heiress in Europe.^ It is said, indeed, that the poverty of the imperial ex-
chequer was so excessive that the states were obliged to provide funds to
defray the expenses of the bridegroom's journey into the Netherlands./
MAXIMILIAN (1484H494)
They not only supplied all his wants, but enabled him to maintain the
war against Louis XI, whom they defeated at the battle of Guinegate ^ in
Picardy in 1479 and forced to make peace on more favourable terms than
they had hoped for. But these wealthy provinces were not more zealous
for the national defence than bent on the maintenance of their local privileges,
which Maximilian little understood, and sympathised with less. He was bred
in the school of absolute despotism; and his duchess having met with a too
early death by a fall from her horse in the year 1482, he could not even succeed
in obtaining the nomination of guardian to his own children without passing
through a year of civil war. His power being almost nominal in the northern
provinces,' he vainly attempted to suppress the violence of the factions of
hooks and cods. In Flanders his authority was openly resisted. The tur-
bulent towns of that country, and particularly Bruges, taking umbrage at a
government half German, half Burgundian, and altogether hateful to the
people, rose up against Maximilian, seized on his person in 1488, imprisoned
him in a house which still exists, and put to death his most faithful followers.
But the fury of Ghent and other places becoming still more outrageous,
Maximilian asked as a favour from his rebel subjects of Bruges to be guarded
while a prisoner by them alone. He was then king of the Romans * and all
Europe became interested in his fate. The pope addressed a brief to the
[' The simplicity ill-fitted the importance of the event. The house of Austria had won the
heritage of Burgundy, and the fate of the Netherland provinces was decided for a long period.
It was, however, fifteen years before Maximilian could be said to have gained the Netherlands
for his race. They were fifteen hard years for the provinces as well as for Maximilian. —
Blok.J]
[' This dearly bought victory deprived Maximilian of the flower of the Netherland nobility,
in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The losses of the Netherlanders by sea also were very
considerable. The fleet of France, under the command of Admiral Coulon, captured all the
vessels engaged in the herring fishery, besides eighty large ships returning with corn from the
Baltic, and carried them into the ports of Normandy. It was supposed that more injury was
done to the Dutch navy in this year than during the whole of the previous century, f]
[' According to the terms of the marriage treaty, his eldest son Philip succeeded to the
sovereignty of the Netherlands immediately upon the death of his mother. /]
[* For fuller accounts of his European relations see the history of Germany in a later
volume.]
THE NETHERLANDS UNDEE BUEGUNDY AND THE EMPIRE 366
[1488-1492 A.D.]
town of Bruges, demanding his deliverance. But the burghers were as in-
flexible as factious; and they at length released him, but not until they had
concluded with him and the assembled states ' a treaty, which most amply
secured the enjoyment of their privileges and the pardon of their rebellion.<i
Maximilian is to be regent of the other provinces; Philip, under guardian-
ship of a pouncU, is to govern Flanders. Moreover, a congress of all the
provinces is to be summoned annually, to provide for the general welfare.
Maximilian signs and swears to the treaty on the 16th of May, 1488, He
swears, also, to dismiss all foreign troops
within four days. Giving hostages for his
fidelity, he is set at liberty. What are
oaths and hostages when prerogative and
the people are contending? Emperor Fred-
erick sends to his son an army under the
duke of Saxony. The oaths are broken, the
hostages left to their fate. The struggle
lasts a year, but, at the end of it, the Flem-
ings are subdued. What could a single
province effect, when its sister states, even
liberty-loving Holland, had basely aban-
doned the common cause? A new treaty
is made (October, 1489). Maximilian ob-
tains uncontrolled guardianship of his son,
absolute dominion over Flanders and the
other provinces. The insolent burghers are
severely punished for remembering that
they had been freemen. The magistrates
of Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres, in black gar-
ments, ungirdled, bare-headed, and kneel-
ing, are compelled to implore the despot's
forgiveness, and to pay three hundred thou-
sand crowns of gold as its price. After
this, for a brief season, order reigns in
Flanders.
The course of Maximilian had been
stealthy, but decided. Allying himself with
the city party, he had crushed the nobles.
The p<jwer thus obtained he then turned
against the burghers. Step by step he had
trampled out the liberties which his wife and himself had sworn to protect.
He had spurned the authority of the Great Privilege, and all other charters.
Burgomasters and other citizens had been beheaded in great numbers for
appealing to their statutes against the edicts of the regent, for voting in favour
of a general congress according to the imquestionable law. He had pro-
claimed that all landed estates should, in lack of heirs male, escheat to his
own exchequer. He had debased the coin of the country, and thereby author-
ised imlimited swindling on the part of all his agents, from stadholders down
to the meanest official. If such oppression and knavery did not justify the
resistance of the Flemings to the guardianship of Maximilian, it would be
difficult to find any reasonable course in political affairs save abject submis-
sion to authority.
[' TMs assembly was one of the earliest and most important signs of the growing sense of
the unity of the Netherlandish interests, and the need of co-operation.]
Court Attehdant or the Sixteenth
Century
866 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1493-1506 A.D.]
In 1493 Maximilian succeeds to the imperial throne, at the death of his
father. In the following year his son, Philip the Handsome, now seventeen
years of age, receives the homage of the different states of the Netherlands.
He swears to maintain only the privileges granted by Philip and Charles_ of
Burgundy, or their ancestors, proclaiming null and void all those which
might have been acquired since the death of Charles. Holland, Zealand,
and the other provinces accept him upon these conditions, thus ignomini-
ously, and without a struggle, relinquishing the Great Privilege, and all
similar charters.^
PHILIP THE HANDSOME (1494^1506)
The reign of PhUip, imfortunately a short one, was rendered remarkable
by two intestine quarrels, one in Friesland, the other in Gelderland. The
Frisians, true to their old character, held firm to their privileges, and fought
for their maintenance with heroic courage. Albert of Saxony, furious at
this resistance, had the horrid barbarity to cause to be impaled the chief
burghers of the town of Leeuwarden, which he had taken by assault. But
he himself died in the year 1500, without succeeding in his projects of an
ambition imjust in its principle and atrocious in its practice.
The war of Gelderland was of a totally different nature. In this case it
was not a question of popular resistance to a tyrannical nomination, but of
patriotic fideUty to the reigning family. Adolphus, the duke who had de-
throned his father, had died in Flanders, leaving a son who had been brought
up almost a captive as long as Maximilian governed the states of his inheri-
tance. This young man, called Charles van Egmond, who is honoured in
the history of his country under the title of the Achilles of Gelderland, fell
into the hands of the French during the combat in which he made his first
essay in arms. The towns of Gelderland unanimously joined to pay his ran-
som; and, as soon as he was at liberty, they one and all proclaimed him duke.
The emperor, Philip, and the German diet in vain protested against this
measure, and declared Charles a usurper. We cannot follow this warlike
prince in the long series of adventures which consolidated his power; nor
stop to depict his daring adherents on land, who caused the whole of Holland
to tremble at their deeds; nor his pirates — the chief of whom, Long Peter,
called himself king of the Zuyder Zee. But amidst all the consequent troubles
of such a struggle, it is marvellous to find Charles of Egmond upholding his
country in a state of high prosperity, and leaving it at his death almost as
rich as Holland itself.
The incapacity of Philip the Handsome doubtless contributed to cause
him the loss of this portion of his dominions. This prince, after his first
acts of moderation and good sense, was remarkable only as being the father
of Charles V (born in 1500). The remainder of his life was worn out in
undignified pleasures; and he died, in the year 1506, at Burgos in Castile,
whither he had repaired to pay a visit to his brother-in-law, the king of
Spain.'
[' A handsome profligate, devoted to Us pleasures and leaving the cares of state to his min-
isters, Philip, " croit-conseil," is the bridge over which the house of Habsburg passes to almost
universal monarchy ; but, in himself, he is nothing. Two prudent marriages, made by Austrian
archdukes within twenty years, have altered the face of the earth. The stream, which we have
been tracing from its source, empties itself at last into the ocean of a world-empire. Count
Dirk I, lord of a half -submerged corner of Europe, is succeeded by Count Charles II of Holland,
better known as Charles V, king of Spain, Sicily, and Jerusalem, duke of Milan, emperor of
Germany, dominator in Asia and Africa, autocrat of half the world. — Motley.*]
THE NETHEELANDS UNDER BUEGUNDY AND THE EMPIEE 367
[150&-1514A.D.]
MARGARET, GOVERNESS FOR CHARLES V (1506-1530)
_ Philip being dead and his wife, Juana of Spain, having become mad * from
grief at his loss, after nearly losing her senses from jealousy during his life,
the regency of the Netherlands reverted to Maximilian, who immediately
named his daughter Margaret governante of the country [in the name of
Charles, who was only six years old]. This princess, scarcely twenty-seven
years of age, had been, like the celebrated Jacqueline of Bavaria, already
three times married, and was now again a widow. Her iSrst husband, Charles
VIII of France, had broken from his contract of marriage before its consum-
mation; her second, the infante of Spain, died immediately after their imion;
and her third, the duke of Savoy, left her again a widow after three years of
wedded life. She was a woman of talent and courage; both proved by the
couplet she composed for her own epitaph, at the very moment of a dangerous
accident which happened during her journey into Spain to join her second
affianced spouse.^ She was received with the greatest joy by the people of
the Netherlands; and she governed them as peaceably as circumstances
allowed. Supported by England, she firmly maintained her authority
against the threats of France; and she carried on in person all the negotia-
tions between Louis XII, Maximilian, the pope Julius II, and Ferdinand of
Aragon, for the famous League of Venice. She also succeeded in repressing
the rising pretensions of Charles van Egmond; and, assisted by the inter-
ference of the king of France, she obliged him to give up some places in Hol-
land which he illegally held.
From this period the alliance between England and Spain raised the com-
merce and manufactures of the southern provinces of the Netherlands to a
high degree of prosperity, while the northern parts of the country were still
kept down by their various dissensions. Holland was at war with Denmark
and the Hanseatic towns [1510-1511]. The Frisians continued to struggle
for freedom against the heirs of Albert of Saxony. Utrecht was at variance
with its bishop, and finally recognised Charles van Egmond as its protector.
The consequence of all these causes was that the south took the start in a
course of prosperity which was, however, soon to become common to the
whole nation.
A new rupture with France, in 1513, united Maximilian, Margaret, and
Henry VIII of England in one common cause. An English and Belgian
army, in which Maximilian figured as a spectator (taking care to be paid by
England), marched for the destruction of Th^rouanne, and defeated and
dispersed the French at the second " battle of the Spurs." But Louis XII
soon persuaded Henry to make a separate peace; and the unconquerable
duke of Gelderland made Margaret and the emperor pay the penalty of their
success against France. He pursued his victories in Friesland, and forced
the country to recognise him as stadholder of Groningen, its chief town;
whUe the duke of Saxony at length renoimced to another his unjust claim
on a territory which engulfed both his armies and his treasure.
[' See the tistory of Spain for a fuller account of these matters.]
" Oi-gtt Margot la gente demoiselle.
Qui eut devse maris, et se mourut pucelle.
Here gentle Margot quietly is laid,
Who had two husbands, and yet died a maid.
368 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1515-1524 A.D.]
CHAELES V (1515-1555)
About the same epoch (1515), young Charles, son of PhUip the Handsome,
having just attained his fifteenth year, was inaugurated duke of Brabant
and count of Flanders and Holland, having purchased the presumed right
of Saxony to the sovereignty of Friesland. In the following year he was
recognised as prince of Castile, in right of his mother, who associated him
with herself in the royal power — a step which soon left her merely the
title of queen. Charles procured the nomination of bishop of Utrecht for
Philip, bastard of Burgundy, which made that province completely dependent
on him. But this event was also one of general and lasting importance on
another account.
The Reformation
This Philip of Burgundy was deeply affected by the doctrines of the
Reformation, which had burst forth in Germany. He held in abhorrence
the observances of the Roman church, and set his face against the celibacy
of the clergy. His example soon
influenced his whole diocese, and
the new notions on points of rdi-
gion became rapidly popular. It
was chiefly, however, in Friesland
that the people embraced the opin-
ions of Luther, which were quite
conformable to many of the local
customs. The celebrated Edzard
count of East Friesland openly
Head-dresses of the Sixteenth Cehtubt adopted the Reformation; while
Erasmus of Rotterdam, without
actually pronouncing himself a disciple of Lutheranism, effected more than
all its advocates to throw the abuses of Catholicism into discredit.
The refusal of the dignity of emperor by Frederick " the wise," duke of
Saxony, to whom it was offered by the electors, was also an event highly
favourable to the new opinions; for Francis I of France, and Charles, already
king of Spain and sovereign of the Netherlands, both claiming the succession
to the empire, a sort of interregnum deprived the disputed dominions of a
chief who might lay the heavy hand of power on the new-springing doctrines
of Protestantism. At length the intrigues of Charles and his pretensions as
grandson of Maximilian, having caused him to be chosen emperor,^ a desperate
rivalry resulted between him and the French king, which for a while absorbed
his whole attention and occupied all his power.
War was declared on frivolous pretexts in 1521. Francis being obsti-
nately bent on the conquest of the Milanese, he fell into the hands of the
imperial troops at the battle of Pavia in 1525. Charles' dominions in the
Netherlands suffered severely from the naval operations during the war;
for the French cruisers having, on repeated occasions, taken, pillaged, and
almost destroyed the principal resources of the herring fishery, Holland and
Zealand felt considerable distress, which was still further augmented by the
famine which desolated these provinces in 1524.
While such calamities afflicted the northern portion of the Netherlands,
him.
SI Maximilian died January, 1519, and Francis I disputed with Chailes the right to succeed
THE NETHEELANDS UNDBK BUEGUNDY AND THE EMPIEE 369
[1527 1555 A.D.]
Flanders and Brabant continued to flourish, in spite of temporary embar-
rassments. The bishop of Utrecht having died, his successor found himself
engaged in a hopeless quarrel with his new diocese, already more than half
converted to Protestantism; and to gain a triumph over these enemies, even
by the sacrifice of his dignity, he ceded to the emperor in 1527 the whole of
his temporal power. The duke of Gelderland, who then occupied the city
of Utrecht, redoubled his hostility at this intelligence; and after having
ravaged the neighbouring country, he did not lay down his arms till the
subsequent year, having first procured an honourable and advantageous
peace. One year more saw the term of this long-continued state of war-
fare by the Peace of Cambray, between Charles and Francis, which was signed
on the 5th of August, 1529.'
The perpetual quarrels of Charles V with Francis I and Charles of Gelder-
land ^ led, as may be supposed, to a repeated state of exhaustion, which forced
the princes to pause, till the people recovered strength and resources. Charles
rarely appeared in the Netherlands — fixing his residence chiefly in Spain,
and leaving to his sister the regulation of those distant provinces. One of
his occasional visits was for the purpose of inflicting a terrible example upon
them. The people of Ghent, suspecting an improper or improvident appli-
cation of the funds they had furnished for a new campaign, a sedition was
the result. On this occasion, Charles formed the daring resolution of crossing
the kingdom of France, to take promptly into his own hands the settlement
of this affair — trusting to the generosity of his scarcely reconciled enemy
not to abuse the confidence with which he risked himself in his power. Ghent,
taken by surprise [1540], did not dare to oppose the entrance of the emperor,
when he appeared before the walls; and the city was punished with extreme
severity. Twenty-seven leaders of the sedition were beheaded; the principal
privileges of the city were withdrawn; and a citadel was built to hold it in
check for the future.
The Dutch and the Zealanders signalised themselves beyond all his other
subjects on the occasion of two expeditions which Charles undertook against
Tunis and Algiers in 1541. The two northern provinces furnished a greater
number of ships than the united quotas of all the rest of his states. But
though Charles' gratitude did not lead him to do anything in return as pecu-
liarly favourable to these provinces, he obtained for them nevertheless a
great advantage in making himself master of Friesland and Gelderland on
the death of Charles van Egmond.' His acquisition of the latter, which took
place in 1543, put an end to the domestic wars of the northern provinces.
Towards the end of his career, Charles redoubled his severities against the
Protestants, and even introduced a modified species of inquisition into the
Netherlands, but with little effect towards the suppression of the reformed
doctrines. The misunderstandings between his only son Philip and Mary of
England, whom he induced to marry, and the unamiable disposition of this
young prince, tormented him almost as much as he was humiliated by the
victories of Henry II of France, the successor of Francis I, and the successful
dissimulation of Maurice elector of Saxony, by whom he was completely
outwitted, deceived, and defeated. Impelled by these motives, and others,
perhaps, which are and must ever rismain unknown, Charles at length decided
[' By this treaty France surrendered the claim of suzerainty over Flanders and Artois. A
year later Margaret died. Her sway had been in many ways beneficial. Charles made a visit
to the Netherlands, in which he wheedled many concessions from the states assembled in 1S31,
and appointed as governess his sister Mary, widow of Bang Louis II of Hungary.]
[' In 1528 the Gelderland troops sacked and burned the Hague,]
' In 1540 Utrecht also was finally united with Holland.]
H. w. — VOL. xni. 2b
370 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1555 4.D.]
on abdicating the whole of his immense possessions. He chose the city of
Brussels as the scene of the solemnity, and the day fixed for it was the 25th
of October, 1555.* It took place accordingly, in the presence of an immense
assemblage of nobles from various countries. Charles resigned the empire
to his brother Ferdinand, already king of the Romans; and all the rest of
his dominions to his son Philip II. Soon after the ceremony, Charles em-
barked from Zealand on his voyage to Spain. He retired to the monastery
of San Yuste, near the town of Plasencia, in Estremadura. He entered
this retreat in February, 1556, and died there on the 21st of September, 1558,
in the fifty-ninth year of his age. The last six months of his existence, con-
trasted with the daring vigour of his former life, formed a melancholy picture
of timidity and superstition.**
Motley's Estimate of Charles V
What was the emperor Charles to the inhabitants of the Netherlands
that they should weep for him? His conduct towards them diu-ing his whole
career had been one of immitigated oppression. What to them were all these
forty voyages by sea and land,^ these journey ings back and forth from Fries-
land to Tunis, from Madrid to Vienna? The interests of the Netherlands had
never been even a secondary consideration with their master. He had ful-
filled no duty towards them: he had committed the gravest crimes against
them. He had regarded them merely as a treasury upon which to draw;
while the simis which he extorted were spent upon ceaseless and senseless
wars, which were of no more interest to them than if they had been waged
in another planet. Of five millions of gold annually, which he derived from
all his realms, two millions came from these industrious and opiilent prov-
inces, while but a half million came from Spaia and another half from the
Indies. The mines of wealth which had been opened by the hand of industry
in that slender territory of ancient morass and thicket^ contributed four
times as much income to the imperial exchequer as aU the boasted wealth
of Mexico and Peru. Yet the artisans, the farmers, and the merchants, by
whom these riches were produced, were consulted about as much in the ex-
penditure of the imposts upon their industry as were the savages of .America
as to the distribution of the mineral treasures of their soil. They paid 1,200,000
crowns a year regularly; they paid in five years an extraordinary subsidy of
eight millions of ducats, and the states were roundly rebuked by the courtly
representatives of their despot if they presumed to inquire into the objects
of the appropriations, or to express an interest in their judicious administra-
tion. Yet it may be supposed to have been a matter of indifference to them
whether Francis or Charles had won the day at Pavia, and it certainly was
not a cause of triumph to the daily increasing thousands of religious reformers
[' See the histories of Spain and Germany. At the same time the governess Mary resigned
the oflSce she had held for twenty-five years.]
[' See the history of Spain, vol. X, Chapter 8, vehere the enormous drain Charles V made
on the Spanish treasury will be found similar to his draughts on the Netherlands.]
* Badovaro ' estimated the annual value of butter and cheese produced in those meadows
which Holland had rescued from the ocean at eight hundred thousand crowns, a sum which,
making allowance for the difEerence in the present value of money from that which it bore in
1557, would represent nearly eight millions. In agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, the
Netherlanders were the foremost nation in the world. The fabrics of Arras, Toumay, Brussels,
Louvain, Ghent, and Bruges were entirely unrivalled. Antwerp was the great commercial
metropolis of Christendom, " Aversa," says Badovaro, " e stimata la maggiore piazza del
Mondo — sipuo credere quanto aia la somma ai afferma pasaa/re 40 millioni a'oro Vammo, quem
che incontcmto girano."
THE NETHEELANDS UNDER BURGUNDY AND THE EMPIRE 371
in Holland and Flanders that their brethren had been crushed by the emperor
at Miihlberg.
But it was not alone that he drained their treasure and hampered their
industry. He was in constant conflict with their ancient and dearly-bought
political liberties. Like his ancestor Charles the Bold, he was desirous of
constructing a kingdom out of the proviuces. He was disposed to place aU
their separate and individual charters on a Procrustean bed, and shape them
all into uniformity simply by reducing the whole to a nullity.' The difficulties
in the way, the stout opposition offered by burghers whose fathers had gained
these charters with their blood, and his want of leisure during the vast labours
which devolved upon him as the autocrat of so large a portion of the world,
caused him to defer indefinitely the execution of his plan. He foimd time
only to crush some of the foremost of the liberal institutions of the provinces
in detail. He foimd the city of Tournay a happy, thriving, seK-govemed
little republic m all its local affairs; he destroyed its liberties, without a
tolerable pretext, and reduced it to the condition of a Spanish or Italian
provincial town. His memorable chastisement of Ghent for having dared
to assert its ancient rights of self-taxation has been already narrated. Many
other instances might be adduced, if it were not a superfluous task, to prove
that Charles was not only a political despot, but most arbitrary and cruel
in the exercise of his despotism.
But if his SLQS against the Netherlands had been only those of financial
and political oppression, it would be at least conceivable, although certainly
not commendable, that the inhabitants should have regretted his departiu-e.
His hand planted the inquisition in the Netherlands. Before his day it is
idle to say that the diabolical institution ever had a place there. The isolated
cases in which inquisitors had exercised functions proved the absence and
not the presence of the system. Charles introduced and organised a papal
inquisition, side by side with those terrible "placards" of his invention,
which constituted a masked inquisition even more cruel than that of Spain.
The execution of the system was never permitted to languish. The number
of Netherlanders who were burned, strangled, beheaded, or buried alive, in
obedience to his edicts, and for the offences of reading the Scriptures, of look-
ing askance at a graven image, or of ridiculing the actual presence of the body
and blood of Christ in a wafer, has been placed as high as one hundred thou-
sand by distinguished authorities, and has rarely been put at a lower mark
than fifty thousand.^ The Venetian envoy Navigero estimated the victims
in the provinces of Holland and Friesland alone at thirty thousand, and this
in 1546, ten years before the abdication, and five before the promulgation
of the hideous edict of 1550!
The edicts and the inquisition were the gift of Charles to the Netherlands,
in return for their wasted treasure and their constant obedience. For this,
his name deserves to be handed down to eternal infamy, not only throixghout
the Netherlands, but in every land where a single heart beats for political or
religious freedom. To eradicate these institutions after they had been watered
[' The character of Charles has perhaps been more eloquently and elegantly maligned by
Robertson >" and Motley '' than he deserved. A recent life by Edward Armstrong i> offers a
counterweight. Against the charges of despotic ambition Armstrong emphasises the fact that
he convoked the diets in Germany more frequently than even the Protestant princes desired,
and that during his reign the states-general of the Netherlands met over fifty times.]
[' ' ' Nam post carniflcata hominum non minus centum milKa, ex quo tenfatum an posset in-
eendium hoc sanguine restingui, tanta multitude per Belgicam insurreoxrat, ut pubhca inter-
d/um supplicia guoties insignior reus, aut atrociores cruciatus seditione impedirentur. — Hueo
Gbotixts [de Qeoot]." But Blok'^ scoffs at so high an estimate. See the next chapter.]
372 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLANDS
and watched by the care of his successor, was the work of an eighty years'
war, in the course of which milUons of hves were sacrificed.
Yet there is no doubt that the emperor was at times almost popjlar in
the Netherlands, and that he was never as odious as his successor. There
were some deep reasons for this, and some superficial ones; among others, a
singularly fortunate manner. He spoke German, Spanish, Italian, French,
and Flemish, and could assume the characteristics of each country as easily
as he could use its language. He could be stately with Spaniards, familiar
with Flemings, witty with Italians. He could strike down a bull in the ring
like a matador at Madrid, or win the pr! :e in the tourney like a knight of old;
he could ride at the ring with the Flemish nobles, hit the popinjay with his
crossbow among Antwerp artisans, or drink beer and exchange rude jests
with the boors of Brabant. For virtues such as these, his grave crimes against
God and man, against religion and chartered and solemnly-sworn rights,
have been palliated as if oppression became more tolerable because the op-
pressor was an accomplished linguist and a good marksman.*
PROSPEROUS CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY
The whole of the provinces of the Netherlands being now for the first
time united under one sovereign, such a jimction marks the limits of a second
epoch in their history. It woiild be a presumptuous and vain attempt to
trace, in a compass so confined as ours, the various changes in manners and
customs which arose in these countries during a period of one thousand years.
The extended and profound remarks of many celebrated writers on the state
of Europe from the decline of the Roman power to the epoch at which we
are now arrived must be referred to, to judge of the gradual progress of civili-
sation through the gloom of the dark ages, till the dawn of enlightenment
which led to the grand system of European politics commenced during the
reign of Charles V.
The amazing increase of commerce was, above all other considerations,
the cause of the growth of liberty in the Netherlands. The Reformation
opened the minds of men to that intellectual freedom without which political
enfranchisement is a worthless privilege. The invention of printing opened
a thousand channels to the flow of erudition and talent, and sent them out
from the reservoirs of individual possession to fertilise the whole domain
of human nature. Manufactures attained a state of high perfection, and
went on progressively with the growth of wealth and luxiu-y. The opiilence
of the towns of Brabant and Flanders was without any previous example
in the state of Europe. A merchant of Bruges took upon himself alone the
security for the ransom of John the Fearless, taken at the battle of Nicopolis,
amounting to two hundred thousand ducats. A provost of Valenciennes
repaired to Paris at one of the great fairs periodically held there, and pur-
chased on his own accoimt every article that was for sale. The meetings of
the different towns for the sports of archery were signalised by the most
splendid display of dress and decoration. The archers were habited in sUk,
damask, and the finest linen, and carried chains of gold of great weight and
value. Luxury was at its height among women. The queen of Philip the
Handsome of France, on a visit to Bruges, exclaimed, with astonishment
not unmixed with envy, "I thought myself the only queen here; but I see
six hundred others who appear more so than I."
The dresses of both men and women at this chivalric epoch were of almost
incredible expense. Velvet, satin, gold, and precious stones seemed the
THE NETHERLANDS UNDER BURGTTNDY AND THE EMPIRE 373
ordinary materials for the dress of either sex; while the very housings of the
horses sparkled with brilliants and cost immense sums. This absiu-d ex-
travagance was carried so far that Charles V found himself forced at length
to proclaim sumptuary laws for its repression.
Such excessive luxury naturally led to great corruption of manners and
the commission of terrible crimes. During the reign of Philip de Male, there
were committed in the city of Ghent and its outskirts, in less than a year,
above fom-teen hundred murders in gambling-houses and other resorts of
debauchery. As early as the tenth century, the petty sovereigns established
on the ruins of the empire of Charlemagne began the independent coining of
money; and the various provinces were during the rest of this epoch inun-
dated with a most embarrassing variety of gold, silver, and copper.
Even in ages of comparative darkness, literature made feeble efforts to
burst through the entangled weeds of superstition, ignorance, and war. In
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries history was greatly cultivated; and
Froissart, Monstrelet, Olivier de la Marche, and Philip de Comines gave to
tiieir chronicles and memoirs a charm of style since their days almost un-
rivalled. Poetry began to be followed with success in the Netherlands, in
the Dutch, Flemish, and French languages; and even before the institution
of the Floral Games in France, Belgium possessed its chambers of rhetoric
(rederykkamers), which laboured to keep alive the sacred flame of poetry
with more zeal than success. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centviries
these societies were established in almost every burgh of Flanders and Bra-
bant, the principal towns possessing several at once.
The arts in their several branches made considerable progress in the
Netherlands during this epoch. Architecture was greatly cultivated in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, most of the cathedrals and town houses
being constructed in that age. Their vastness, solidity, and beauty of design
and execution, make them still speaking monuments of the stern magnificence
and finished taste of the times. The patronage of Philip the Good, Charles
the Bold, and Margaret of Austria brought music into fashion, and led to its
cultivation in a remarkable degree. The first musicians of France were drawn
from Flanders; and other professors from that country acquired great celeb-
rity in Italy for their scientific improvements in their art.
Painting, which had languished before the fifteenth century, sprang at
once into a new existence from the invention of Jan Van Eyck. His acci-
dental discovery of the art of painting in oil quickly spread over Europe.
Painting on glass, polishing diamonds, the carillon, lace, and tapestry were
among the inventions which owed their birth to the Netherlands in these
ages, when the faculties of mankind sought so many new channels for me-
chanical development.
The discovery of a new world by Columbus and other eminent navigators
gave a fresh and powerful impulse to European talent, by affording an im-
mense reservoir for its reward. The town of Antwerp was, during the reign
of Charles V, the outlet for the industry of Europe, and the receptacle for the
productions of all the nations of the earth. Its port was so often crowded
with vessels that each successive fleet was obliged to wait long in the Schelde
before it could obtain admission for the discharge of its cargoes. The Uni-
versity of Louvain, that great nursery of science, was founded in 1425, and
served greatly to the spread of knowledge, although it degenerated into the
hotbed of those fierce disputes which stamped on theology the degradation
of bigotry, and drew down odium on a study that, if purely practised, ought
only to inspire veneration.
374
THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands were never in a more flourishing state than at the acces-
sion of Philip II. The external relations of the country presented an aspect
of prosperity and peace. England was closely allied to it by Queen Mary's
marriage with Philip; France, fatigued with war, had just concluded with it
a five years' truce; Germany, paralysed by religious dissensions, exhausted
itself in domestic quarrels; the other states were too distant or too weak
to inspire any uneasiness; and nothing appeared wanting for the public
weal. Nevertheless there was something dangerous and alarming in t"he
situation of the Low Countries; but the danger consisted wholly in the con-
nection between the monarch and the people, and the alarm was not sounded
till the mischief was beyond remedy.**
CHAPTER V
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPRESSION
[1555-1567 A.D.]
The eminent German historian and poet, Schiller, opening his account of
the Netherlandish revolt, says:
"One of the most remarkable political events which have rendered the
sixteenth century among the brightest of the world's epochs appears to me
to be the foundation of the freedom of the Netherlands. If the glittering
exploits of ambition and the pernicious lust of power claim our admiration,
how much more should an event in which oppressed humanity struggles for
its noblest rights, where with the good cause unwonted powers are united,
and the resources of resolute despair triumph in unequal contest over the
terrible arts of tyranny. It is not that which is extraordinary or heroic in
this event which induces me to describe it. The annals of the world have
recorded similar enterprises, which appear even bolder in the conception and
more brilliant in the execution. Some states have fallen with a more im-
posing convulsion, others have risen with more exalted strides. Nor are we
here to look for prominent heroes, colossal personages, or those marvellous
exploits which the history of past times presents in such rich abundance.
"The people here presented to our notice were the most peaceful in this
quarter of the globe, and less capable than their neighbours of that heroic
spirit which imparts a higher character to the most insignificant actions. The
pressure of circumstances surprised them with its peculiar power, and forced
a transitory greatness upon them, which they never should have possessed,
and may perhaps never possess again. It is, indeed, exactly the want of
heroic greatness which makes this event peculiar and instructive; and while
others aim at showing the superiority of genius over chance, I present here
a picture where necessity created genius, and accident made heroes." *
It is impossible to comprehend the character of the great Netherland
revolt in the sixteenth century without taking a rapid retrospective survey
of the religious phenomena esdiibited in the provinces. The introduction of
375
376 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
Christianity has been already indicated. From the earliest times, neither
prince, people, nor even prelates were very dutiful to the pope. As the papal
authority made progress, strong resistance was often made to its decrees.
The bishops of Utrecht were dependent for their wealth and territory upon
the good will of the emperor. They were the determined opponents of Hilde-
brand, warm adherents of the Hohenstauffens — Ghibelline rather than Guelf .
Heresy was a plant of early growth in the Netherlands. As early as the
beginning of the twelfth century, the notorious Tanchelyn [or Tanchelinos,
or Tanchelm] preached at Antwerp, attacking the authority of the pope and
of all other ecclesiastics — scoffing at the ceremonies and sacraments of the
Church.
EAKLY NETHERLAND HERESY
The impudence of Tancheljni and the superstition of his followers seem
alike incredible. All Antwerp was his harem. He levied, likewise, vast
sums upon his converts, and whenever he appeared in public his apparel
and pomp were befitting an emperor. Three thousand armed satellites
escorted his steps and put to death all who resisted his commands. So
grovelling became the superstition of his followers that they drank of the
water in which he had washed, and treasured it as a divine elixir. Advancing
still further in his experiments upon human credulity, he announced his ap-
proaching marriage with the Virgin Mary, bade all his disciples to the wed-
ding, and exhibited himself before an immense crowd in company with an
image of his holy bride. His career was so successful in the Netherlands
that he had the effrontery to proceed to Rome, promulgating what he called
his doctrines as he went. He seems to have been assassinated by a priest
in an obscure brawl, about the year 1115.
By the middle of the twelfth century, other and purer heresiarchs had
arisen. Many Netherlanders became converts to the doctrines of Waldo.
From that period until the appearance of Luther,* a succession of sects —
Waldenses, Albigenses, Perfectists, Lollards, Poplicans, Arnaldists, Bohemian
Brothers — waged perpetual but imequal warfare with the power and deprav-
ity of the Church, fertilising with their blood the future field of the Reforma-
tion. Nowhere was the persecution of heretics more relentless than in the
Netherlands. Suspected persons were subjected to various torturing but
ridiculous ordeals. After such trial, death by fire was the xisual but, perhaps,
not the most severe form of execution. In Flanders, monastic ingenuity had
invented another most painful punishment for Waldenses and similar male-
factors. A criminal, whose guilt had been established by the hot iron, hot
ploughshare, boiling kettle, or other logical proof, was stripped and bound
to the stake; he was then flayed, from the neck to the navel, while swarms of
bees were let loose to fasten upon his bleeding flesh and torture him to a death
of exquisite agony.
Nevertheless heresy increased in the face of oppression. The Scriptures,
translated by Waldo into French, were rendered into Netherland rhyme, and
the converts to the Vaudois doctrine increased in numbers and boldness. At
the same time the power and luxury of the clergy were waxing daily. The
bishops of Utrecht, no longer the defenders of the people against arbitrary
power, conducted themselves like little popes. Yielding in dignity neither
to king nor kaiser, they exacted homage from the most powerful princes of
the Netherlands.
[' For a general account of the Reformation and fuller details concerning Erasmus, see the
history of Germany.]
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPRESSION 377
[1300-1523 A.D.]
By the end of the thirteenth century, however, the clerical power was
already beginning to decline. It was not the corruption of the Church, but
its enormous wealth, which engendered the hatred with which it was by many
regarded. Temporal_ princes and haughty barons began to dispute the right
of ecclesiastics to enjoy vast estates, while refusing the burden of taxation
and unable to draw a sword for the common defence. At this period, the
counts of Flanders, of Holland, and other Netherland sovereigns issued
decrees forbidding clerical institutions from acquiring property, by devise,
gift, purchase, or any other mode. The downfall of the rapacious and licen-
tious Knights Templar in the provinces and throughout Europe was another
severe blow administered at the same time. The attacks upon Church
abuses redoubled in boldness, as its authority declined.
In 1459, Duke Philip of Burgundy prohibits the churches from affording
protection to fugitives. Charles the Bold, in whose eyes nothing is sacred
save war and the means of making it, lays a heavy impost upon all clerical
property. Upon being resisted, he enforces collection with the armed hand.
The sword and the pen, strength and intellect, no longer the exclusive ser
vants or instruments of priestcraft, are both in open revolt. Charles the
Bold storms one fortress, Doctor Grandfort, of Groningen, batters another.
This learned Frisian, called "the light of the world," friend and compatriot
of the great Rudolf Agricola, preaches throughout the provinces, uttering
bold demmciations of ecclesiastical error. He even disputes the infallibility
of the pope, denies the utility of prayers for the dead, and inveighs against
the whole doctrine of purgatory and absolution.
With the beginning of the sixteenth century, the great Reformation was
actually alive. The name of Erasmus of Rotterdam was already celebrated
— the man who, according to Grotius," " so well showed the road to a reason-
able reformation." But if Erasmus showed the road, he certainly did not
travel far upon it himself. Perpetual type of the quietist, the moderate man,
he censured the errors of the Church with discrimination and gentleness. He
was not of the stuff of which mart5rrs are made, as he handsomely confessed
on more than one occasion. The Reformation might have been delayed for
centuries had Erasmus and other moderate men been the only reformers.
He will long be honoured for his elegant Latinity. In the republic of letters,
his efforts to infuse a pure taste, a sound criticism, a love for the beautiful
and the classic, in place of the owlish pedantry which had so long flapped and
hooted through mediaeval cloisters, will always be held in grateful reverence.
In the history of the religious Reformation, his name seems hardly to deserve
the commendations of Grotius.
Erasmus, however, was offending both parties. A swarm of monks were
already buzzing about him for the bold language of his Commentaries and
Dialogues. On the other hand, he was reviled for not taking side manfully
with the reformer. The moderate man received much denunciation from
zealots on either side. He soon clears himself, however, from all suspicions
of Lutheranism. He is appalled at the fierce conflict which rages far and
wide.
SEVERE PUNISHMENT OF HERESY THE ANABAPTISTS
Imperial edicts are soon employed to suppress the Reformation in the
Netherlands by force. The provinces, unfortunately, are the private prop-
erty of Charles, his paternal inheritance; and most paternally, according to
his view of the matter, does he deal with them. The papal inquisition was
introduced into the provinces to assist its operations. The blood work
378 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1523-1535 A.D.]
for which the reign of Charles is mainly distinguished in the Netherlands now
began. In 1523, July 1st, two Augustine monks were burned at Brussels,
the first victims to Lutheranism * in the provinces. Erasmus observed, with
a sigh, that " two had been burned at Brussels, and that the city now began
strenuously to favour Lutheranism."
Another edict, published in the Netherlands, forbids all private assemblies
for devotion; all reading of the Scriptures; aU discussions within one's own
doors concerning faith, the sacraments, the papal authority, or other religious
matter, under penalty of death. The edicts were no dead letter. The fires
were kept constantly supplied with human fuel by monks, who knew the art
of burning reformers better than that of arguing with them._ The scaffold
was the most conclusive of syllogisms, and used upon all occasions. Still the
people remained unconvinced. Thousands of burned heretics had not made
a single convert.
A fresh edict renewed and sharpened the pimishment for reading the
Scriptures in private or public. At the same time, the violent personal alter-
cation between Luther and Erasmus, upon predestination, together with the
bitter dispute between Luther and Zwingli concerning the real presence, did
more to impede the progress of the Reformation than ban or edict, sword or
fire. The spirit of humanity hung her head, finding that the bold reformer
had only a new dogma in place of the old ones, seeing that dissenters, in their
turn, were sometimes as ready as papists with axe, fagot, and excommunica-
tion. In 1526, Felix Mantz, the anabaptist, is drowned at Zurich, in obe-
dience to Zwingli's pithy formula — Qui iterum mergit mergatur. Thus the
anabaptists, upon their first appearance, were exposed to the fires of the
Church and the water of the Zwinglians.
There is no doubt that the anabaptist delusion was so ridiculous and so
loathsome as to palliate, or at least render intelligible, the wrath with which
they were regarded by all parties. The turbulence of the sect was alarming
to constituted authorities, its bestiality disgraceful to the cause of religious
reformation. The evil spirit, driven out of Luther, seemed, in orthodox
eyes, to have taken possession of a herd of swine. The Germans, Miinzer
and Hoffmann, had been succeeded, as chief prophets, by a Dutch baker,
named Matthiaszoon, of Haarlem, who announced himself as Enoch. Chief
of this man's disciples was the notorious John Bockhold [or Beukelzoon], of
Leyden.
Under the government of this prophet, the anabaptists mastered the
city of Miinster. Here they confiscated property, plimdered churches, vio-
lated females, murdered men who refused to join the gang, and, in brief,
practised all the enormities which humanity alone can conceive or perpetrate.
The prophet proclaimed himself king of Sion, and sent out apostles to preach
his_ doctrines in Germany and the Netherlands. Polygamy being a leading
article of the system, he exemplified the principle by marrying fourteen
wives. Of these, the beautiful widow of Matthiaszoon was chief; she was
called the queen of Sion, and wore a golden crown. The prophet made many
fruitless efforts to seize Amsterdam and Leyden. The armed invasion of the
anabaptists was repelled, but their contagious madness spread.
The plague broke forth in Amsterdam. On h cold winter's night (Febn>-
ary, 1535), seven men and five women, inspired by the Holy Ghost, threw
off their clothes and rushed naked and raving through the streets, shrieking,
"Woe, woe, woe! the wrath of God, the wrath of God!" "When arrested; they
[• Luther wrote a hymn in their honoor, exclaiming that " their ashes would not be lose but
scatteied in oU the lands."!
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 379
[1535-1549 A.I).]
obstinately refused to put on clothing. "We are," they observed, "the
naked truth." In a day or two, these furious lunatics, who certainly de-
served a madhouse rather than the scaffold, were all executed. The num-
bers of the sect mcreased with the martyrdom to which they were exposed,
and the disorder spread to every part of the Netherlands. Many were put
to death in Ungering torments, but no perceptible effect was produced by
the chastisement. Meantime the great chief of the sect, the prophet John,
was defeated by the forces of the bishop of Miinster, who recovered his city
and caused the "king of Sion" to be pinched to death with red-hot tongs.
Unfortunately the severity of government was not wreaked alone upon
the prophet and his mischievous crew. Thousands and ten thousands ' of
virtuous, well-disposed men and women, who had as little sympathy with
anabaptistical as with Roman depravity, were butchered in cold blood, under
the sanguinary rule of Charles V, in the Netherlands. In 1535 an imperial
edict was issued at Brussels, condemning aU heretics to death: repentant
males to be executed with the sword, repentant females to be buried alive;
the obstinate, of both sexes, to be burned. This and similar edicts were the
law of the land for twenty years, and rigidly enforced. In the midst of the
carnage, the emperor sent for his son PhUip, that he might receive the fealty
of the Netherlands as their future lord and master. Contemporaneously a
new edict was published at Brussels (April 29th, 1549), confirming and re-
enacting all previous decrees, in their most severe provisions. Thus stood
religious matters in the Netherlands at the epoch of the imperial abdication.
A BACKWARD GLANCE
Thus fifteen ages have passed away, and in the place of a horde of sav-
ages, living among swamps and thickets, swarm three milHons of people,
the most industrious, the most prosperous, perhaps the most intelligent under
the sun. Their cattle, grazing on the bottom of the sea, are the finest in
Europe, their agricultural products of more exchangeable value than if nature
had made their land to overflow with wine and oil. Their navigators are the
boldest, their mercantile marine the most powerful, their merchants the most
enterprising in the world. Holland and Flanders, peopled by one race, vie
with each other in the pursuits of civilisation.
Within the little circle which encloses the seventeen provinces are 208
walled cities, many of them among the most stately in Christendom, 150
chartered towns, 6,300 villages, with their watch-towers and steeples, besides
numerous other more insignificant hamlets; the whole guarded by a belt of
sixty fortresses of surpassing strength.
Thus in this rapid sketch of the course and development of the Nether-
land nation during sixteen centuries, we have seen it ever marked by one
prevailing characteristic, one master passion — the love of liberty, the instinct
of self-government. Largely compounded of the bravest Teutonic elements,
Batavian and Frisian, the race ever battles to the death with tyranny, organ-
ises extensive revolts in the age of Vespasian, maintains a partial independence
[' The figures range from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand, according to the words
of Hugo Grotius " and according to William of Orange's Apology ; but Blok « declares that these
figures exceed the entire number of the reformed congregations, while the martyrs' books
enumerate hardly a thousand. The number of those punished otherwise than by death, he
thinks, must have run high into the thousands. He quotes the "blood- placard" of 1550 which
orders that "the men shall be executed with the sword and the women buried alive." But he
also emphasises the freedom of large districts from any persecution whatsoever, and the general
inclination of the vast majority of the populace toward the tenets of the reformers.]
380 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1555 A.D.]
even against the sagacious dominion of Charlemagne, refuses in Friesland to
accept the papal yoke or feudal chain, and, throughout the dark ages, struggles
resolutely towards the light, wresting from a series of petty sovereigns a
gradual and practical recognition of ^he claims of humanity. With the
advent of the Burgundian family, the power of the commons has reached
so high a point that it is able to measure -itself, imdaunted, with the spirit
of arbitrary rule, of which that engrossing and tyrannical house is the em-
bodiment. For more than a century the struggle for freedom, for civic life,
goes on — Philip the Good, Charles the Bold, Mary's husband Maximilian,
Charles V, in turn, assailmg or imdermining the bulwarks raised, age after
age, against the despotic principle. The combat is ever renewed. Liberty,
often crushed, rises again and again from her native earth with redoubled
energy.
At last, in the sixteenth century, a new and more powerful spirit, the
genius of religious freedom, comes to participate in the great conflict. Arbi-
trary power, incarnated in the second Charlemagne, assails the new combi-
nation with unscrupulous, unforgiving fierceness. Venerable civic magis-
trates, haltered, grovel in sackcloth and ashes; innocent religious reformers
burn in holocausts. By the middle of the century, the battle rages more
fiercely than ever. In the little Netherland territory, Humanity, bleeding
but not killed, still stands at bay and defies the himters. The two great
powers have been gathering strength for centuries. They are soon to be
matched in a longer and more determined combat than the world had ever
seen. The emperor is about to leave the stage. The provinces, so pas-
sionate for nationality, for mimicipal freedom, for religious reformation, are
to become the property of an utter' stranger — a prince foreign to their
blood, their tongue, their religion, their whole habit of life and thought.
Such was the political, religious, and social condition of a nation who
were now to witness a new and momentous spectacle.**
THE ACCESSION OF PHILIP II (1555)
Philip II was in all respects the opposite of his father. As ambitioas as
Charles, but with less knowledge of men and of the rights of man, he had
formed to himself a notion of royal authority which regarded men as simply
the servile instruments of despotic will, and was outraged by every symptom
of liberty. Born in Spain, and educated under the iron discipline of the monks,
he demanded of others the same gloomy formality and reserve that marked
his own character. The cheerful merriment of his Flemish subjects was as
uncongenial to his disposition and temper as their privileges were offensive
to his imperious will. He spoke no other language than the Spanish, en-
dured none but Spaniards about his person, and obstinately adhered to all
their customs. In vain did the loyal ingenuity of the Flemish towns through
which he passed vie with each other in solemnising his arrival with costly
festivities. Philip's eye remained dark; all the profusion of magnificence,
aU the loud and hearty effusions of the sincerest joy could not win from him
one approving smile.
Charles entirely missed his aim by presenting his son to the Flemings.
They might eventually have endured his yoke with less impatience if he had
never set his foot in their land. But his look forewarned them what they
had to expect; his entry into Brussels lost him all hearts. The emperor's
gracious affability with his people only served to throw a darker shade on the
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPKESSION 381
[1555 A.D.]
haughty gravity of his son.* They read in his countenance the destructive
purpose against their liberties, which even then he abeady revolved in his
breast. Forewarned to find in him a tyrant, they were forewarned to resist
him.
The throne of the Netherlands was the first which Charles V abdicated.
Before a solemn convention inr Brussels, he had absolved the states-general
of their oath, and transferred their allegiance to King Phihp, his son.
The alarm which the arbitrary government of the emperor had inspired,
and the distrust of his son, are already visible in the formula of his oath, which
was drawn up in far more guarded and explicit terms than that which had
been administered to Charles V himself, and all the dukes of Burgundy.
Philip, for instance, was compelled to swear to the maintenance of their cus-
toms and usages, which before his time had never been required. In the oath
which the states took to him, no other obedience was promised than such as
should be consistent with the privileges of the country. Lastly, in this oath
of allegiance, Philip is simply styled only the natural, the hereditary prince,
and not, as the emperor had desired, sovereign or lord — proof enough how
little confidence was placed in the justice and liberality of the new sovereign.
Philip II received the lordship of the Netherlands in the brightest period
of their prosperity. He was the first of their princes who tmited them all
imder his authority. They now consisted of seventeen provinces: the duchies
of Brabant, Limburg, Luxemburg, and Gelderland; the seven coimties of
Artois, Hainault, Flanders, Namur, Zutphen, Holland, and Zealand; the
marquisate of Antwerp; and the five lordships of Friesland, Mechlin (Malmes),
Utrecht, Overyssel, and Groningen, which, collectively, formed a great and
powerful state able to contend with monarchies. Higher than it then stood,
their commerce could not rise. The sources of their wealth were above the
earth's surface, but they were more valuable and inexhaustible, and richer
than all the mines in America.
The numerous nobility, formerly so powerful, cheerfully accompanied
their sovereign in his wars, -or amid the civil changes of the state courted
the approving smile of royalty.
A large portion, moreover, of the nobility were deeply sunk in poverty
and debt. Charles V had crippled all the most dangerous vassals of the
crown, by expensive embassies to foreign courts, imder the specious pretext
of honorary distinctions. Thus, William of Orange was despatched to Ger-
many with the imperial crown, and Count Egmont to conclude the marriage-
contract between Philip and Queen Mary. Both, also, afterwards accom-
panied the duke of Alva to France, to negotiate the peace between the two
crowns, and the new alliance of their sovereign with Madame Elizabeth.
The expenses of these journeys amounted to three himdred thousand florins,
towards which the king did not contribute a single penny .^
FIRST DEEDS OF PHILIP
PhUip did not at first act in a way to make himself more particularly hated.
He rather, by an apparent consideration for a few points of political interest
and individual privilege, and particularly by the revocation of some of the
edicts against heretics, removed the suspicions his earlier conduct had ex-
cited. He succeeded in persuading the states to grant him considerable
subsidies, some of which were to be paid by instalments during a period of
[' For a fuller presentation of the strange character of Philip II and for his deeds outside
the Netherlands consult the history of Spain, volume X, chapter 9.]
38^ THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1555-1559 A.D.]
nine years. That was gaining a great step towards his designs, as it super-
seded the necessity of a yearly application to the three orders, the guardians
of the public liberty. At the same time he sent secret agents to Rome, to
obtain the approbation of the pope to his insidious but most effective plan
for placing the whole of the clergy m dependence upon the crown. He also
kept up the army of Spaniards and Germans which his father had formed on
the frontiers of France; and although he did not remove from their employ-
ments the functionaries already in place, he took care to make no new ap-
pointments to office among the natives of the Netherlands.
Philip was suddenly attacked in two quarters at once — by Henry II of
France, and by Pope Paul IV. He promptly met the threatened dangers.
He turned his first attention towards his contest with the pope; and he ex-
tricated himself from it with an adroitness that proved the whole force and
cunning of his character. Having first publicly obtained the opinion of
several doctors of theology, that he was justified in taking arms against the
pontiff, he prosecuted the war with the utmost vigour, by means of the after-
wards notorious duke of Alva, at that time viceroy of his Italian dominions.
Paul soon yielded to superior skill and force, and demanded terms of peace.
In the war with France, his army, under the command of Emmanuel
Philibert duke of Savoy, consisting of Belgians, Germans, and Spaniards,
with a considerable body of English sent by Mary to the assistance of her
husband, penetrated into Picardy, and gained a complete victory over the
French forces. The honour of this brilliant affair, which took place near
St. Quentin, was almost wholly due to the count of Egmont, a Belgian noble,
who commanded the light cavalry. In the early part of the year 1558, one
of the generals of Henry II made an irruption into West Flanders; but the
gallant count of Egmont once more proved his valour and skill by attacking
and totally defeating the invaders near the town of Gravelines.
A general peace was concluded in April, 1559, which bore the name of
Cateau-Cambresis, from that of the place where it was negotiated. Philip
now annoimced his intended departure on a short visit to Spain; and created
for the period of his absence a provisional government, chiefly composed of
the leading men among the Belgian nobility.
The composition of this new government was a masterpiece of poRtical
machinery. It consisted of several councils, in which the most distinguished
citizens were entitled to a place, in sufficient numbers to deceive the people
with a show of representation, but not enough to command a majority, which
was sure on any important question to rest with the titled creatures of the
court. The edicts against heresy, soon adopted, gave to the clergy an almost
unlimited power over the lives and fortunes of the people. But almost all
the dignitaries of the church being men of great respectability and modera-
tion, chosen by the body of the inferior clergy, these extraordinary powers
excited little alarm. Philip's project was suddenly to replace these virtuous
ecclesiastics by others of his own choice, as soon as the states broke up from
their annual meeting; and for this intention he had procured the secret con-
sent and authority of the court of Rome.
In support of these combinations the Belgian troops were completely
broken up and scattered in small bodies over the country. The whole of
this force, so redoubtable to the fears of despotism, consisted of only three
thousand cavalry. But the German and Spanish troops in Philip's pay
were cantoned on the frontiers, ready to stifle any incipient effort in opposi-
tion to his plans. In addition to these imposing means for their execution,
he had secured a still more secret and more powerful support — a secret
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 383
[1559 A.D.1
article in the Treaty of Cateau-Cambr^sis obliged the king of France to assist
him with the whole armies of France against his Belgian subjects, should
they prove refractory. Thus the late war, of which the Netherlands had
borne all the weight and earned all the glory, only brought about the junction
of the defeated enemy with their own king for the extinction of their national
independence.
Philip convened an assembly of all the states at Ghent, August 7th, 1559.*
This meeting of the representatives of the three orders of the state offered
no apparent obstacle to Philip's views. The clergy, alarmed at the progress
of the new doctrines, gathered more closely roimd the government of which
they required the support. The nobles had lost much of their ancient attach-
ment to liberty; and had become, in various ways, dependent on the royal
favour. It was only from the third order — that of the commons — that
Philip had to expect any opposition. Already, during the war, it had shown
some discontent, and had insisted on the nomination of commissioners to
control the accounts and the disbursements of the subsidies.
Anthony Perreuot de Granvella, bishop of Arras, who was considered
PhUip's favourite counsellor, was commissioned to address the assembly in
the name of his master, who spoke only Spanish. His oration was one of
cautious deception, and contained the most flattering assurances of Philip's
attachment to the people of the Netherlands. It excused the king for not
having nominated his only son Don Carlos to reign over them in his name;
alleging, as a proof of his royal affection, that he preferred giving them as
governant a Belgian princess, Margaret, duchess of Parma.
But notwithstanding all the talent, the caution, and the mystery of Philip
and his minister, there was among the nobles one man who saw through all.
This individual, endowed with many of the highest attributes of political
genius, and pre-eminently with judgment, the most important of all, entered
fearlessly into the contest against tyranny — despising every personal sacri-
fice for the coimtry's good. Without making himself suspiciously prominent,
he privately warned some members of the states of the coming danger. Those
in whom he confided did not betray the trust. They spread among the other
deputies the alarm, and pointed out the danger to which they had been so
judiciously awakened. The consequence was a reply to PhUip's demand,
in vague and general terms, without binding the nation by any pledge; and
a imanimous entreaty that he would diminish the taxes, withdraw the foreign
troops, and entrust no official employments to any but natives of the coimtry.
The object of this last request was the removal of Granvella, who was born
in Franche-Comte.
Philip was utterly astounded at all this. In the first moment of his vexa-
tion he imprudently cried out, " Would ye, then, also bereave me of my place
— I, who am a Spaniard?" But he soon recovered his self-command, and
resumed his usual mask; expressed his regret at not having sooner learned
the wishes of the states; promised to remove the foreign troops within three
months; and set off for Zealand, with assumed composure, but fiUed with
the fury of a discovered traitor and humiliated despot.
A fleet luider the command of Count Horn, the admiral of the United
Provinces, waited at Flushing to form his escort to Spain. At the very
moment of his departure, William of Nassau, prince of Orange and governor
of Zealand, waited on him to pay his official respects. The king, taking him
apart from the other attendant nobles, recommended him to hasten the
[' This, says Blok,« was the last time that a Burgundian prince ever took part in an as-
sembly of representatives from the seventeen provinces.]
384 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELAKDS
[1559A.D.J
execution of several gentlemen and wealthy citizens attached to the newly in-
troduced religious opinions. Then, quite suddenly, whether in the random
impulse of suppressed rage, or that his piercing glance discovered William's
secret feelings in his countenance, he accused him of having been the means
of thwarting his designs. "Sire," replied William, "it was the work of the
national states." "No!" cried Philip, grasping him furiously by the arm;
" it was not done by the states, but by you, and you alone! " '
This glorious accusation was not repelled. He who had saved his country
in mimasking the designs of its tyrant, admitted by his silence his title to
the hatred of the one and the gratitude of the other. On the 20th of August,
Philip embarked and set sail, turning his back forever on the country which
offered the first check to his despotism; and, after a perilous voyage, he
arrived in that which permitted a free indulgence to his ferocious and san-
guinary career.
For some time after Philip's departure the Netherlands continued to
enjoy considerable prosperity. From the period of the Peace of Cateau-
Cambresis commerce and navigation had acquired new and increasing activity.
The fisheries, but particularly that of herrings, became daily more important,
that one alone occupying two thousand boats. While Holland, Zealand,
and Friesland made this progress in their peculiar branches of industry, the
southern provinces were not less active or successful.?
Schiller's pobtbait of william of orange
Among the Flemish nobles who could lay claim to the chief stadholder-
ship, the expectations and wishes of the nation had been divided between
Count Egmont and the prince of Orange, who were alike entitled to this high
dignity by illustrious birth and personal merits, and by an equal share in the
affections of the people.
William I, prince of Orange, was descended from the princely German
house of Nassau, which had already flourished eight centuries, had long dis-
puted the pre-eminence with Austria, and had given one emperor to Germany.
Besides several extensive domains in the Netherlands, which made him a
citizen of this republic and a vassal of the Spanish monarchy, he possessed
also in France the independent princedom of Orange. William was bom
in the year 1533, at Dillenburg, in the county of Nassau, of a countess Stol-
berg. His father, the count of Nassau, of the same name, had embraced
the Protestant religion, and caused his son also to be educated in it; but
Charles V, who early formed an attachment for the boy, took him, when quite
yoimg, to his court, and had him brought up in the Romish church. This
monarch, who already in the chUd discovered the future greatness of the man,
kept him nine years about his person, thought him worthy of his personal
instruction in the affairs of government, and honored him with a confidence
beyond his years. He alone was permitted to remain in the emperor's pres-
ence, when he gave audience to foreign ambassadors — a proof that, even
as a boy, he had already begim to merit the surname of the Silent.
William was twenty-three years old when Charles abdicated the govern-
ment, and had already received from the latter two public marks of the highest
esteem. The emperor had entrusted to him, in preference to all the nobles
of his court, the honourable office of conveying to his brother Ferdinand the
imperial crown. When the duke of Savoy, who commanded the imperial
' The words of Philip were : " No, no las estados ; ma vos, vos, vos I " Vos thus used in
Spanish is a term of contempt, equivaleut to toi in French,
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPRESSION 385
army in the Netherlands, was called away to Italy by the exigence of his
domestic affairs, the emperor appointed him commander-in-chief, against
the united representations of his military coimcU, who declared it altogether
hazardous to oppose so young a tyro in arms to the experienced generals of
France. Absent and imrecommended by any, he was preferred by the mon-
arch to the laurel-crowned band of his heroes, and the result gave him no
cause to repent of his choice.
The marked favour which the prince had enjoyed with the father was, in
itself, a sufficient ground for his exclusion from the confidence of the son.
Philip, it appears, had laid it down for himself as a rule to avenge the wrongs
of the Spanish nobility for the preference which Charles V had, on all impor-
tant occasions, shown to his Flemish nobles. Still stronger, however, were
the secret motives which alienated him from the prince. William of Orange
was one of those lean and pale men who, according to Caesar's words, " sleep
not at night, and think too much," and before whom the most fearless spirits
quail. The calm tranquillity of a never varying countenance concealed a
busy, ardent soul, which never even rufiled the veU behind which it worked,
and was alike inaccessible to artifice and to love — a versatile, formidable,
indefatigable mind, soft and ductile enough to be instantaneously moulded
into all forms, guarded enough to lose itself in none, and strong enough to
endure every vicissitude of fortime.
A greater master in reading and in winning men's hearts never existed than
William. Not that, after the fashion of courts, his lips avowed a servility
to which his proud heart gave the lie, but because he was neither too sparing
nor too lavish of the marks of his esteem, and through a skUful economy of
the favours which mostly bind men, he increased his real stock in them. The
fruits of his meditation were as perfect as they were slowly formed; his re-
solves were as steadily and indomitably accomplished as they were long in
maturing. No obstacles could defeat the plan which he had once adopted
as the best; no accidents frustrated it, for they all had been foreseen before
they actually occurred. High as his feelings were raised above terror and
joy, they were, nevertheless, subject in the same degree to fear; but his fear
was earlier than the danger, and he was calm in tumult, because he had trem-
bled in repose. William lavished his gold with a profuse hand, but he was
a niggard of his moments. The hours of repast were the sole hours of relaxa-
tion, but these were exclusively devoted to his family and his friends. His
household was magnificent; the splendour of a numerous retinue, the number
and respectability of those who surrounded his person made his habitation
resemble the court of a sovereign prince.
No one, probably, was better fitted by nature for the leader of a con-
spiracy than William the Silent. A comprehensive and intuitive glance into
the past, the present, and the futm-e; the talent for improving every favour-
able opportunity; a commanding influence over the minds of men; vast
schemes which, only when viewed from a distance, show form and symmetry,
and bold calculations, which were wound up in the long chain of futurity — all
these faculties he possessed, and kept, moreover, under the control of that
free and enlightened virtue which moves with firm step, even on the very
edge of the abyss.
A man like this might, at other times, have remained unfathomed by
his entire generation; but not so by the distrustful spirit of the age in which
he lived. Philip II saw quickly and deeply into a character which, among
good ones, most resembled his own. In him, Philip had to deal with an
antagonist who was armed against his policy, and who, in a good cause,
H. W. — VOL. XIU. 20
386
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
could also command the resources of a bad one. And it was exactly this
last circumstance which accounts for his having hated this man so implacably
above all others of his day, and his having had so supernatural a dread of him.
The suspicion which already attached to the prince was increased by
the doubts which were entertained of his religious bias. So long as the em-
peror, his benefactor, lived, William believed in the pope; but it was feared,
with good ground, that the predilection for the reformed religion which had
been imparted to his young heart had never entirely left it. "Whatever
church he may, at certain periods of his life, have preferred, each might
console itself with the reflection that none other possessed him more entirely.
In later years, he went over to Calvinism with almost as little scruple as in
his early childhood he deserted the Lutheran profession for the Romish.
He defended the rights of the Protestants, rather than their opinions, against
Spanish oppression : not their
faith, but their wrongs, had made
him their brother.
These general grounds for sus-
picion appeared to be justified by
a discovery of his real intentions,
which accident had made. Wil-
liam had remained in France as
hostage for the Peace of Cateau-
Cambr^sis, in concluding which he
had borne a part ; and here,
through the imprudence of Henry
II, who imagined he spoke with
the confidant of the king of Spain,
he became acquainted with a se-
cret plot, which the French and
Spanish courts had formed against
Protestants of both kingdoms.
The prince hastened to communi-
cate this important discovery to
his friends in Brussels, whom it so
nearly concerned, and the letters which he exchanged on the subject fell, unfor-
tunately, into the hands of the king of Spain. Philip was less surprised at this
decisive disclosure of William's sentiments, than incensed at the disappoint-
ment of his scheme; and the Spanish nobles, who had never forgiven the prince
that moment when, in the last act of his life, the greatest of emperors leaned
upon his shoulders, did not neglect this favourable opportunity of finally
ruining, in the good opinion of their king, the betrayer of a state secret.
WiLiiiAM THE Silent
COUNT EGMONT
Of a lineage no less noble than that of William was Lamoral, count of
Egmont* and prince of Gavre, a descendant of the dukes of Gelderland,
whose martial courage had wearied out the arms of Austria. His family
was highly distinguished in the annals of the country: one of his ancestors
had, under Maximilian, already filled the office of stadholder over Holland.
Egmont's marriage with the duchess Sabina of Bavaria reflected additional
lustre on the splendour of his birth, and made him powerful through the great-
[' This name is derived from that abbey of Egmond which was, as we said in the first chap-
ter, bestowed on Dirk I of Holland by Charles the Simple in 913.]
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEBSSION 387
ness of this alliance. Charles V had, in the year 1516, conferred on him, at
Utrecht, the order of the Golden Fleece; the wars of this emperor were the
school of his military genius, and the battles of St. Quentin and Gravelines
made him the hero of his age.
Egmont united all the eminent qualities which form the hero: he was a
better soldier than the prince of Orange, but far inferior to him as a statesman:
the latter saw the world as it really was; Egmont viewed it in the magic
mirror of an imagination that embellished all that it reflected. Intoxicated
with the idea of his own merits, which the love and gratitude of his fellow
citizens had exaggerated, he staggered on in this sweet reverie, as in a de-
lightful world of dreams. Even the most terrible experience of Spanish
perfidy could not afterwards eradicate this confidence from his soul, and on
the scaffold itself his latest feeling was hope. A tender fear for his family
kept his patriotic courage fettered by lower duties. Because he trembled
for property and life, he could not venture much for the republic. WUliam
of Orange broke with the throne, because its arbitrary power was offensive to
his pride; Egmont was vain, and therefore valued the favours of the monarch.
The former was a citizen of the world; Egmont had never been more than a
Fleming.
Two such competitors, so equal in merit, might have embarrassed Philip
in his choice, if he had ever seriously thought of selecting either of them for
the_ appointment. But the pre-eminent qualities by which they supported
their claim to this office were the very cause of their rejection; and it was
precisely the ardent desire of the nation for their election to it that irrevocably
annulled their title to the appointment.
MARGARET OF PARMA, REGENT OF THE NETHERLANDS
WhUe the general expectation was concerned with the future destinies of
the provinces, there appeared on the frontiers of the country the duchess Mar-
garet of Parma, having been summoned by the king from Italy, to assume the
government. Margaret was a natural daughter of Charles V and of a noble
Flemish lady, named Vangeest, and born 1522. Out of regard for the honour
of her mother's house, she was at first educated in obscurity; but her mother,
who possessed more vanity than honour, was not very anxious to preserve the
secret of her origin, and a princely education betrayed the daughter of the em-
peror. While yet a child, she was entrusted to the regent Margaret, her
great-aunt, to be brought up at Brussels, under her eye. This guardian she
lost in her eighth year, and the care of her education devolved on Queen Mary
of Hungary, the successor of Margaret in the regency. Ottavio Farnese, a
prince of thirteen years of age, and nephew of Paul III had obtained, with her
person, the duchies of Parma and Piacenza as her portion. Thus, by a strange
destiny, Margaret, at the age of maturity, was contracted to a boy, as in the
years of infancy she had been sold to a man. Her disposition, which was
anything but feminine, made this last alliance still more unnatural, for her
taste and inclinations were masculine, and the whole tenor of her life belied
her sex.
These unusual qualities were crowned by a monkish superstition, which
was infused into her mind by Ignatius Loyola, her confessor and teacher.
Among the charitable works and penances with which she mortified her vanity,
one of the most remarkable was that during Passion-Week, she yearly washed,
with her own hands, the feet of a number of poor men (who were most strictly
S88 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHBELANDS
forbidden to cleanse themselves beforehand), Avaited on them at table like
a servant, and sent them away with rich presents.
Margaret was born and also educated in the Netherlands. She had spent
her early youth among the people, and had acquired much of their national
manners.
According to an arrangement already made by Charles V, three councils
or chambers were added to the regent, to assist her in the administration of
state affairs. As long as Philip was himself present in the Netherlands, these
courts had lost much of their power, and the functions of the first of them,
the state council, were almost entirely suspended. Now, that he quitted
the reins of government, they recovered their former importance. In the
state council, which was to deliberate upon war and peace, and security
against external foes, sat the Bishop of Arras, the prince of Orange, Count
Egmont, the president of the privy council Wigele or Viglius van Zwychem
van Aytta, and the count of Barlaymont, president of the chamber of finance.
All knights of the Golden Fleece, all privy counsellors, and coimsellors of
finance, as also the members of the great senate at Mechlin, which had been
subjected by Charles V to the privy council in Brussels, had a seat and vote
in the coimcil of state, if expressly invited by the regent. The management
of the royal revenues and crown lands was vested in the chamber of finance,
and the privy council was occupied with the administration of justice and
the civU regulation of the coimtry, and issued all letters of grace and pardon.
The governments of the provinces, which had fallen vacant, were either filled
up afresh, or the former governors were confirmed.
Count Egmont received Flanders and Artois; the prince of Orange,
Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, and West Friesland. Other provmces were given
to some who have less claim to our attention. Philip de Montmorency, count
of Horn [Hoorn], was confirmed as admiral of the Belgian navy. Brabant,
alone, was placed under the immediate jurisdiction of the regent, who, ac-
cording to custom, chose Brussels for her constant residence. The induction
of the prince of Orange into his governments was, properly speaking, an
infraction of the constitution, since he was a foreigner; but several estates
which he either himself possessed in the provinces or managed as guardian
of his son, his long residence in the country, and above all the unlimited
confidence the nation reposed in him, gave him substantial claims in default
of a real title of citizenship. But at the very time when Philip obliged the
prince tvith these public marks of his esteem, he privately inflicted the most
cruel injury on him. Apprehensive lest an alliance with the powerful house
of Lorraine might encourage this suspected vassal to bolder measures, he
thwarted the negotiation for a marriage between him and a princess of that
family, and crushed his hopes on the very eve of their accomplishment — an
injury which the prince never forgave.
The establishment of the council of state was intended rather to flatter
the vanity of the Belgian nobility than to impart to them any real influence.
The historian Strada ^ (who drew his information with regard to the regent
from her own papers) has preserved a few articles of the secret instructions
which the Spanish ministry gave her. Among other things it is there stated,
if she observed that the councils were divided by factions, or, what would be
far worse, prepared by private conferences before the session, and in league
with one another, then she was to prorogue all the chambers and dispose
arbitrarily of the disputed articles in a more select council or committee.
In this select committee, which was called the consulta, sat the archbishop
of Arras, the president Viglius [or Wigele], and the count of Barlaymont. A
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPRESSION 389
[1555-1561 A.D.]
second maxim which the regent was especially to observe was to select the
very members of council who had voted against any decree, to carry it into
execution. By this means, not only would the people be kept in ignorance
of the originators of such a law, but the private quarrels also of the members
would be restrained, and a greater freedom insured in voting in compliance
with the wishes of the court.
In order, at the same time, to assure himself of the fidelity of the regent,
Philip subjected her, and through her all the affairs of the judicature, to
the higher control of the bishop of Arras, Granvella. In this single indi-
vidual he possessed an adequate counterpoise to the most dreaded cabal.
To him, as an infallible oracle of majesty, the duchess was referred, and in
him there watched a stern supervisor of her administration. Among all his
contemporaries, Granvella was the only one whom Philip II appears to have
excepted from his universal distrust : as long as he knew that this man was
in Brussels, he could sleep calmly in Segovia.*
GRANVELLA AND THE REGENCY
This man, an immoral ecclesiastic, an eloquent orator, a supple courtier,
and a profound politician, bloated with pride, envy, insolence, and vanity,
was the real head of the government. Next to him among the royalist party
was Viglius, president of the privy coimcil, an erudite schoolman, attached
less to the broad principles of justice than to the letter of the laws, and thus
carrying pedantry into the very councils of the state. Next in order came
the count of Barlaymont, head of the financial department — a stern and
intolerant satellite of the court, and a furious enemy to those national insti-
tutions which operated as checks upon fraud. These three individuals
formed the governante's privy council. The remainmg creatures of the king
were mere subaltern agents.
A government so composed could scarcely fail to excite discontent, and
create danger to the public weal. The first proof of incapacity was elicited
by the measures required for the departure of the Spanish troops. The
period fixed by the king had already expired, and these obnoxious foreigners
were still in the country, living in part on pillage, and each day committing
some new excess. Complaints were carried in successive gradation from the
government to the council, and from the council to the king. The Spaniards
were removed to Zealand; but instead of being embarked at any of its ports,
they were detained there on various pretexts ; until, the king requiring his
troops in Spain for some domestic project, they took their long-desired de-
parture in the beginning of the year 1561. The public discontent at this
just cause was soon, however, overwhelmed by one infinitely more important
and lasting. The Belgian clergy had hitherto formed a free and powerful
order in the state, governed and represented by four bishops chosen by the
chapters of the towns, or elected by the monks of the principal abbeys. These
bishops, possessing an independent territorial revenue, and not directly sub-
ject to the influence of the crown, had interests and feelings in common with
the nation. But Philip had prepared, and the pope had sanctioned, a new
system of ecclesiastical organisation, and the provisional government now
put it into execution. Instead of four bishops, it was intended to appoint
eighteen, their nomination being vested in the king. By a wily system of
trickery the subserviency of the abbeys was also aimed at. The consequences
of this vital blow to the integrity of the national institutions were evident;
and the indignation of both clergy and laity was universal. Every legal
390 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLANDS
[1561-1563 A.D.]
means of opposition was resorted to, but the people were without leaders ;
the states were not in session. The new bishops were appointed; Granvella
securing for himself the archiepiscopal see of Mechlin, with the title of pri-
mate of the Low Countries. At the same time the pope put the crowning
point to the capital of his ambition, by presenting him with a cardinal's hat.
The new bishops were to a man most violent, intolerant, and it may be
conscientious opponents to the wide-spreading doctrines of reform. _ The
execution of the edicts against heresy was confided to them. The provincial
governors and inferior magistrates were commanded to aid them with a
strong arm; and the most unjust and frightful persecution immediately
commenced. The prince of Orange, stadholder of Holland, Zealand, and
Utrecht, and the count of Egmont, governor of Flanders and Artois, per-
mitted no persecutions in those five provinces.
Among the various causes of the general confusion, the situation of Bra-
bant gave to that province a peculiar share of suffering. Brussels, its capital,
being the seat of government, had no particular chief magistrate, like the
other provinces. William penetrated the cause, and proposed the remedy
in moving for the appointment of a provincial governor.
Granvella energetically dissented from the proposed measure, and WUliam
immediately desisted from his demand. But he at the same time claimed,
in the name of the whole country, the convocation of the states-general.
This assembly alone was competent to decide what was just, legal, and
obligatory for each province and every town. Granvella found himself at
length forced to avow that an express order from the king forbade the con-
vocation of the states, on any pretext, during his absence.
The veil was thus rent asunder, which had in some measure concealed the
deformity of Philip's despotism. The result was a powerful confederacy in
1562 for the overthrow of Granvella, to whom they chose to attribute the
king's conduct; thus bringing into practical result the sound principle of
ministerial responsibility, without which the name of constitutional govern-
ment is but a mockery. Many of the royalist nobles united for the national
cause ; and even the governante joined her efforts to theirs, for an object
which would relieve her from the tyranny which none felt more than she did.
The duchess of Parma hated the minister, as a domestic spy robbing her of
all real authority; the royalist nobles, as an insolent upstart at every instant
mortifying their pride. But it is doubtful if any of the confederates except
the prince of Orange clearly saw that they were putting themselves in direct
and personal opposition to the king himself. WUliam alone, clear-sighted
in politics and profound in his views, knew, in thus devoting himself to the
public cause, the adversary with whom he entered the lists.
This great man, for whom the national traditions still preserve the sacred
title of "father" {Vader-Willem) , and who was in truth not merely the parent
but the political creator of the country, was at this period in his thirtieth
year. He already joined the vigour of manhood to the wisdom of age.
He boldly put himself at the head of the confederacy. He wrote to the
king, in 1563, conjointly with counts Egmont and Horn, faithfully portray-
ing the state of affairs. The duchess of Parma backed this remonstrance
with a strenuous request for Granvella's dismission. Philip's reply to the
three noblemen was a mere tissue of duplicity to obtain delay.
In the meantime every possible indignity was offered to the cardinal by
private pique and public satire. Philip, driven before the popular voice,
found himself forced to the choice of throwing off the mask at once, or of
sacrificing Granvella. An invincible inclination for manoeuvring and deceit
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 391
[1564^1565 A.D.]
decided him on the latter measure; and the cardinal, recalled but not dis-
graced, quitted the Netherlands on the 13th of March, 1564. The secret
instructions to the governant remained unrevoked; the president Viglius
succeeded to the post which Granvella had occupied; and it was clear that
the projects of the king had suffered no change.
The public fermentation subsided; the patriot lords reappeared at court;
and the prince of Orange acquired an increasing influence in the council and
over the governant, who by his advice adopted a conciliatory line of conduct
— a fallacious but still a temporary hope for the nation. But the calm was
of short duration.^ Scarcely was this moderation evinced by the government,
than PhiUp, obstinate in his designs and outrageous in his resentment, sent
an order to have the edicts against heresy put into most rigorous execution,
and to proclaim throughout the seventeen provinces the furious decree of
the council of Trent.
The revolting cruelty and illegaUty of the first edicts were already ad-
mitted. As to the decrees of this memorable coimcil, they were only adapted
for countries in submission to an absolute despotism. They were received
in the Netherlands with general reprobation. Even the new bishops loudly
denounced them as imjust innovations; and thus Philip found zealous op-
ponents in those on whom he had reckoned as his most servile tools. The
governant was not the less urged to implicit obedience to the orders of the
king by Viglius and Barlaymont, who took upon themselves an almost men-
acing tone. The duchess assembled a council of state, and asked its advice
as to her proceedings. The prince of Orange at once boldly proposed dis-
obedience to measures fraught with danger to the monarchy and ruin to
the nation. The council could not resist his appeal to their best feelings.
His proposal that fresh remonstrances should be addressed to the king met
with almost general support. The president Viglius, who had spoken in the
opening of the council in favour of the king's orders, was overwhelmed by
William's reasoning, and demanded time to prepare his reply. His agitation
during the debate, and his despair of carrying the measures against the
patriot party, brought on in the night an attack of apoplexy.
It was resolved to despatch a special envoy to Spain, to explain to Philip
the views of the council, and to lay before him a plan proposed by the prince
of Orange for forming a junction between the two coimcils and that of finance,
and forming them into one body. The object of this measure was at once to
give greater union and power to the provisional government, to create a
central administration in the Netherlands, and to remove from some obscure
and avaricious financiers the exclusive management of the national resources.
The count of Egmont, chosen by the council for this important mission,
set out for Madrid in the month of January, 1565. Philip received him with
profound hypocrisy; loaded him with the most flattering promises; sent
him back in the utmost elation: and when the credulous count returned to
Brussels, he found that the written orders, of which he was the bearer, were
in direct variance with every word which the king had uttered.
These orders were chiefly concerning the reiterated subject of the perse-
cution to be inflexibly pursued against the religious reformers. Not satisfied
with the hitherto established forms of punishment, Philip now expressly
commanded that the more revolting means decreed by his father in the
rigour of his early zeal, such as burning, living burial, and the like, should be
adopted; and he somewhat more obscurely directed that the victims should
be no longer publicly immolated, but secretly destroyed. He endeavoured,
by this vague phraseology, to avoid the actual utterance of the word " inqui-
392 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1566 A.l>.]
sition"; but he thus virtually established that atrocious tribunal, with
attributes still more terrific than even in Spain; for there the condemned had
at least the consolation of dying in open day, and of displaying the fortitude
which is rarely proof against the horror of a private execution.
Even Viglius was terrified by the nature of Philip's commands; and the
patriot lords once more withdrew from all share in the government, leaving
to the duchess of Parma and her ministers the whole responsibility of the
new measures. They were at length put into actual and vigorous execution
in the beginning of the year 1566. The inquisitors of the faith, with their
familiars, stalked abroad boldly in the devoted provinces, carrying persecu-
tion and death in their train. Numerous but partial insurrections opposed
these odious intruders. Every district and town became the scene of frightful
executions or tumultuous resistance.*'
THE INQUISITION
The great cause of the revolt which, within a few years, was to break
forth throughout the Netherlands, was the Inquisition. It is almost puerile
to look further or deeper, when such a source of convulsion lies at the very
outset of any investigation. There has been a good deal of somewhat super-
fluous discussion concerning the different kinds of inquisition. The dis-
tinction drawn between the papal, the episcopal, and the Spanish inquisitions
did not, in the sixteenth century, convince many unsophisticated minds of
the merits of the establishment in any of its shapes.* However classified or
entitled, it was a machine for inquiring into a man's thoughts, and for burn-
ing him if the result was not satisfactory. The Spanish inquisition — techni-
cally so called — was, according to Cabrera* the biographer of Philip, a "hea-
venly remedy, a guardian angel of Paradise, a lion's den in which Daniel
and other just men could sustain no injury, but in which perverse sinners
were torn to pieces."
The Spanish inquisition had never flourished in any soil but that of the
peninsula. It is possible that the king and Granvella were sincere in their
protestations of entertaining no intention of introducing it into the Nether-
lands, although the protestations of such men are entitled to but little weight.
The truth was that the Inquisition existed already in the provinces. This
establishment, like the edicts, was the gift of Charles V.
In the reign of Philip the Good, the vicar of the inquisitor-general gave
sentence against some heretics, who were burned in Lille (1448). In 1459,
Peter Troussart, a Jacobin monk, condemned many Waldenses, together with
some leading citizens of Artois, accused of sorcery and heresy. Charles V
had in the year 1522 applied for a staff of inquisitors to his ancient tutor,
whom he had placed on the papal throne.
Adrian, accordingly, commissioned Van der Hulst to be imiversal and
general inquisitor for all the Netherlands. At the same time it was exjjressly
stated that his functions were not to supersede those exercised by the bishops
as inquisitors in their own sees. In 1537, Ruard Tapper and Michael Drutius
were appomted by Paul III. The powers of the papal inquisitors had been
gradually extended, and they were, by 1545, not only entirely independent
of the episcopal inquisition, but had acquired right of jurisdiction over bishops
and archbishops, whom they were empowered to arrest and imprison.
[' The history and methods of the Inquisition in its various forms have been fully treated
in Appendix A to Volume X.]
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 393
[1565-1565 A.D.]
The instructions to the inquisitors had been renewed and confirmed by
Philip, in the very first month of his reign (28th Nov. 1555).
Among all the inquisitors, the name of Peter Titelman was now pre-
eminent. He executed his infamous functions throughout Flanders, Douai,
and Tournay, the most thriving and populous portions of the Netherlands,
with a swiftness, precision, and even with a jocularity which hardly seemed
human. He burned men for idle words or suspected thoughts; he rarely
waited, according to his frank confession, for deeds.
This kind of work, which went on daily, did not increase the love of the
people for the inquisition or the edicts. It terrified many, but it inspired
more with that noble resistance to oppression, particularly to religious oppres-
sion, which is the sublimest instinct of human nature. Men confronted the
terrible inquisitors with a courage equal to their cruelty. At Tournay, one
of the chief cities of Titelman's district, and almost before his eyes, one Ber-
trand le Bias, a velvet manufacturer, committed what was held an almost
incredible crime. Having begged his wife and children to pray for a blessing
upon what he was about to undertake, he went on Christmas-day to the
cathedral of Tournay and stationed himself near the altar. Having awaited
the moment in which the priest held on high the consecrated host, Le Bias
then forced his way through the crowd, snatched the wafer from the hands
of the astonished ecclesiastic, and broke it into bits, crying aloud, as he did
so, " Misguided men, do ye take this thing to be Jesus Christ, your Lord and
Saviour?" With these words, he threw the fragments on the ground and
trampled them with his feet.
The amazement and horror were so imiversal at such an appalling offence,
that not a finger was raised to arrest the criminal. Priests and congregation
were alike paralysed, so that he would have found no difficulty in making his
escape. He did not stir, however; he had come to the church determined
to execute what he considered a sacred duty, and to abide the consequences.
After a time he was apprehended. The inquisitor demanded if he repented
of what he had done. He protested, on the contrary, that he gloried in the
deed, and that he would die a hundred deaths to rescue from such daily pro-
fanation the name of his Redeemer, Christ. He was then put thrice to the
torture, that he might be forced to reveal his accomplices. Bertrand had
none, however, and could denounce none. A frantic sentence was then de-
vised as a feeble punishment for so much wickedness. He was dragged on a
hurdle, with his mouth closed with an iron gag, to the market-place. Here
his right hand and foot were burned and twisted off between two red-hot
irons. His tongue was then torn out by the roots, and because he still en-
deavoured to call upon the name of God, the iron gag was again applied.
With his arms and legs fastened together behind his back, he was then hooked
by the middle of his body to an iron chain, and made to swing to and fro over
a slow fire till he was entirely roasted. His life lasted almost to the end of
these ingenious tortures, but his fortitude lasted as long as his life.
In the next year, Titelman caused one Robert Ogier, of LUle, to be arrested,
together with his wife and two sons. Their crime consisted in not going to
mass, and in practising private worship at home. They confessed the offence,
for they protested that they could not endure to see the profanation of their
Saviour's name in the idolatrous sacraments. They were asked what rites
they practised in their own house. One of the sons, a mere boy, answered,
"We fall on our knees, and pray to God that he may enlighten our hearts,
and forgive our sins. We pray for our sovereign, that his reign may be pros-
perous, and his life peaceful. We also pray for the magistrates and others
394 THE HISTOEY OF. THE NETHERLANDS
[1555-1565 A.B.]
in authority, that God may protect and preserve them all." The boy's simple
eloquence drew tears even from the eyes of some of his judges; for the in-
quisitor had placed the case before the civil tribunal. The father and eldest
son were, however, condemned to the flames. "0 God!" prayed the youth
at the stake, "Eternal Father, accept the sacrifice of our lives, in the name
of thy beloved Son." "Thou liest, scoundrel!" fiercely interrupted a monk,
who was lighting the fire; " God is not your father; ye are the devil's children."
As the flames rose about them, the boy cried out once more, " Look, my father,
all heaven is opening, and I see ten hundred thousand angels rejoicing over
us. Let us be glad, for we are dying for the truth." "Thou liest! thou
liest!" again screamed the monk; "all hell is opening, and you see ten thou-
sand de-\nls thrusting you into eternal fire." Eight days afterwards, the wife
of Ogier and his other son were burned; so that there was an end of that
famUy. Such are a few isolated specimens of the maimer of proceeding in a
single district of the Netherlands.
Are these things related merely to excite superfluous horror? Are the
sufferings of these obscure Christians beneath the dignity of history? Is it
not better to deal with murder and oppression in the abstract, without enter-
ing into trivial details? The answer is that these things are the history of
the Netherlands at this epoch; that these hideous details furnish the causes
of that immense movement out of which a great republic was bom and an
ancient tyranny destroyed; and that Cardinal Granvella was ridiculous
when he asserted that the people would not open their mouths if the sei-
gniors did not make such a noise. Because the great lords " owned their very
souls," because convulsions might help to pay their debts and furnish forth
their masquerades and banquets, because the prince of Orange was ambitious
and Egmont jealous of the cardinal — therefore superficial writers found it
quite natural that the country should be disturbed, although that " vile and
mischievous animal, the people," might have no objection to a continuance
of the system which had been at work so long. On the contrary, it was
exactly because the movement was a popular and a religious movement that
it will always retain its place among the most important events of history.
Dignified documents, state papers, solemn treaties, are often of no more
value than the lambskin on which they are engrossed. Ten thousand name-
less victims, in the cause of religious and civil freedom, may build up great
states and alter the aspect of whole continents.
Upon some minds, declamation concerning liberty of conscience and re-
ligious tyranny makes but a vague impression, while an effect may be pro-
duced upon them, for example, by a dry, concrete, cjmical entry in an
account book, such as the following, taken at hazard from the register of
municipal expenses at Tournay, during the years with which we are now
occupied:
"To M. Jacques Barra, executioner, for having tortured, twice, Jean de
Lannoy, ten sous. To the same, for having executed, by fire, said Lannoy,
sixty sous. For having thrown his cinders into the river, eight sous."
This was the treatment to which thousands had been subjected in the
provinces. Men, women, and children were burned, and their "cinders"
thrown away, for idle words against Rome, spoken years before, for praying
alone in their closets, for not kneeling to a wafer when they met it in the
streets, for thoughts to which they had never given utterance, but which, on
inquiry, they were too honest to deny. Certainly with this work going on
year after year in every city in the Netherlands, and now set into renewed
and vigorous action by a man who wore a crown only that he might the better
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEBSSION 395
[1555-1565 A.D.]
torture his fellow creatures, it was time that the very stones in the streets
should be moved to mutiny.
Thus it may be seen of how much value were the protestations of Philip
and of Granvella, on which much stress has latterly been laid, that it was
not their intention to introduce the Spanish inquisition. "With the edicts
and the Netherland inquisition, such as we have described them, the step
was hardly necessary.
In fact, the main difference between the two institutions consisted in the
greater efficiency of the Spanish in discovering such of its victims as were
disposed to deny their faith. The invisible machinery was less requisite for
the Netherlands. There was comparatively little difficulty in ferreting out
the "vermin" — to use the expression of a Walloon historian of that age
(Renon de France J) — so that it was only necessary to maintain in good work-
ing order the apparatus for destroying the noxious creatures when unearthed.
Philip, who did not often say a great deal in a few words, once expressed
the whole truth of the matter in a single sentence: "Wherefore introduce
the Spanish mquisition?" said he; "the inquisition of the Netherlands is
much more pitiless than that of Spain."
Such was the system of religious persecution commenced by Charles,
and perfected by Philip. The king could not claim the merit of the invention,
which justly belonged to the emperor. At the same time, his responsibility
for the unutterable woe caused by the continuance of the scheme is not a jot
diminished.<^
THE COMPROMISE OF FEBRUARY, 1566
At length the moment came when the people had reached that pitch of
despair which is the great force of the oppressed. Up to the present moment
the prince of Orange and the counts Egmont and Horn, with their partisans
and friends, had sincerely desired the public peace, and acted in the common
interest of the king and the people. But all the nobles had not acted with
the same constitutional moderation. Many of those, disappointed on personal
accounts, others professing the new doctrines, and the rest variously affected
by manifold motives, formed a body of violent and sometimes of imprudent
malcontents. The marriage of Alessandro prince of Parma, son of the gov-
ernante, which was celebrated in 1565 at Brussels, brought together an im-
mense number of these dissatisfied nobles.
Nothing seemed wanting but a leader, to give consistency and weight to
the confederacy which was as yet but in embryo. This was doubly furnished
in the persons of Louis of Nassau and Henry of Brederode. The former,
brother of the prince of Orange, was possessed of many of those brilliant
qualities which mark men as worthy of distinction in times of peril. Edu-
cated at Geneva, he was passionately attached to the reformed religion, and
Identified in his hatred the Catholic church and the tyranny of Spain. Brave
and impetuous, he was, to his elder brother, but as an adventurous partisan
compared with a sagacious general. He loved William as well as he did their
common cause, and his life was devoted to both.
Henry of Brederode, lord of Vianen and marquis of Utrecht, was de-
scended from the ancient counts of Holland. This illustrious origin, which
in his own eyes formed a high claim to distinction, had not procured him
any of those employments or dignities which he considered his dues'
Louis of Nassau, Nicholas de Hames, and certain other gentlemen met
at the baths of Spa. At this secret assembly, the foundations of the Com-
396 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1566 A.D.]
promise were definitely laid.* A document was afterwards drawn up, which
was circulated for signatures in the early jsart of 1566. It is a mistake to
suppose that this memorable paper was simultaneously signed and sworn
to at any solemn scene like that of the Declaration of American Independence,
or like some of the subsequent transactions in the Netherland revolt arranged
purposely for dramatic effect. Several copies of the Compromise were passed
secretly from hand to hand, and in the course of two months some two thou-
sand signatures had been obtained. The original copy bore but three names
— those of Brederode, Charles of Mansfeld, and
Louis of Nassau. The composition of the paper
is usually ascribed to Philip van Mamix, lord of
Sainte-Aldegonde, although the fact is not indis-
putable.
At any rate, it is very certain that he was one
of the originators and main supporters of the
famous league. The language of the document
was such that patriotic Catholics could sign as
honestly as Protestants. It inveighed bitterly
against the tyranny of "a heap of strangers,"
who, influenced only by private avarice and am-
bition, were making use of an affected zeal for the
Catholic religion, to persuade the king into a vio-
lation of his oaths. It denounced the refusal to
mitigate the severity of the edicts. It declared
the Inquisition, which it seemed the intention of
government to fix permanently upon them, as
" iniquitous, contrary to all laws, human and di-
vine, surpassing the greatest barbarism which was
ever practised by tyrants, and as redoimding to
the dishonour of God and to the total desolation
of the country."
The signers protested, therefore, that "having
a due regard to their duties as faithful vassals of
his majesty, and especially as noblemen, and in
order not to be deprived of their estates and their
lives by those who, under pretext of religion,
wished to enrich themselves by plunder and
murder," they had bound themselves to each
other by holy covenant and solemn oath to resist
the Inquisition. They mutually promised to op-
pose it in every shape, open or covert, under whatever mask it might assume,
whether bearing the name of inquisition, placard, or edict, " and to extirpate
and eradicate the thing in any form, as the mother of all iniquity and dis-
order." They protested before God and man that they would attempt
nothing to the dishonour of the Lord or to the diminution of the king's gran-
deur, majesty, or dominion. They declared, on the contrary, an honest pur-
pose to " maintain the monarch in his estate, and to suppress all seditions,
' This appears from the sentence pronounced against De Hames (Toisin d'Or) bjjthe Blood-
Council on the 17th May, 1568. " Charge d' avoir este ung des autheurs de la seditieuse et per-
nicieuse eomuration et tigue des confederez (gui'ls a/ppellent Gompromis) et dieeUe premierement
avoir jecte lea fondemens d la fontaine de Spa, miecq le Compte Lays de Nassau et aultres et
apria environ le mois de Decemhre, 1585, farreste la signe et jure en eeste ville Se BruxeBe
en aa maiaon et a icelle attire et induict plusieurs aultres." — Regiatre des Condamnis et Ban-
nis a catiae des Troubles des Pays-Bas dep. Van 1568 d 1572.
A Costume of the Sixteenth
Century
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 397
[1566 A.D.]
tumults, monopolies, and factions." They engaged to preserve their con-
federation, thus formed, forever inviolable, and to permit none of its members
to be persecuted in any manner, in body or goods, by any proceeding founded
on the Inquisition, the edicts, or the present league.
It will be seen, therefore, that the Compromise was in its origin a covenant
of nobles. It was directed against the foreign influence by which the Nether-
lands were exclusively governed, and against the Inquisition, whether papal,
episcopal, or by edict. There is no doubt that the country was controlled
entirely by Spanish masters, and that it was intended to reduce the ancient
liberty of the Netherlands into subjection to a junta of foreigners sitting at
Madrid. Nothing more legitimate could be imagined than a constitutional
resistance to such a policy.'^ '
_ Men of all ranks and classes offered their signatures, and several Catholic
priests among the rest. The prince of Orange and the counts Egmont,
Horn, and Meghem declined becoming actual parties to this bold measure; and
when the question was debated as to the most appropriate way of presenting
an address to the governante, these noblemen advised the mildest and most
respectful demeanour on the part of the purposed deputation.
At the first intelligence of these proceedings, the duchess of Parma, ab-
sorbed by terror, had no resource but to assemble hastily such members of
the council of state as were at Brussels; and she entreated, by the most
pressing letters, the prince of Orange and Count Horn to resume their places
at this council. But three courses of conduct seemed applicable to the
emergency: to take up arms; to grant the demands of the confederates; or
to temporise and to amuse them with a feint of moderation, until the orders
of the king might be obtained from Spain. It was not, however, till after a
lapse of four months that the council finally met to deliberate on these
important questions; and during this long interval at such a crisis, the
confederates gained constant accession to their numbers, and completely
consolidated their plans.
The opinions in the coimcil were greatly divided as to the mode of treat-
ment towards those whom one party considered patriots acting in their
constitutional rights, and the other as rebels in open revolt against the king.
The princes of Orange and Barlaymont were the principal leaders and chief
speakers at either side. But the reasonings of the former, backed by the
urgency of events, carried the majority of the suffrages; and a promised
redress of grievances was agreed on beforehand, as the anticipated answer
to the coming demands.
THE "request" of THE " BEGGARS "
Even while the council of state held its sittings, the report was spread
through Brussels that the confederates were approaching. And at length
they did enter the city, to the amount of some hundreds of the representatives
of the first families in the coimtry.* On the following day, the 5th of April,
1566, they walked in solemn procession to the palace. Their demeanour was
highly imposing, from their mingled air of forbearance and determination.
All Brussels thronged out to gaze and sympathise with this extraordinary
spectacle, of men whose resolute step showed they were no common sup-
pliants, but whose modest bearing had none of the seditious air of faction.
The government received the distinguished petitioners with courtesy, listened
[' The total number was about four hundred instead of the thirty-five thousand soldiers
the regent had been warned to expect. — Blok.«]
398 THE HISTORY OF THE NBTHEELANDS
[1566 A.D.]
to their detail of grievances [called " the Request"], and returned a moderate,
conciliatory, but evasive answer.
The confederation, which owed its birth to and was cradled in social
enjoyments, was consolidated in the midst of a feast. The day following
this first deputation to the government, Brederode gave a grand repast to
his associates in the h6tel Kuilenburg. Three himdred guests were present.
Inflamed by joy and hope, their spirits rose high under the influence of wine,
and temperance gave way to temerity. In the midst of their carousing,
some of the members remarked that, when the governante received the written
petition. Count Barlaymont observed to her that she had "nothing to fear
from such a band of beggars'' (tas de gueux). The fact was that many of
the confederates were, from individual extravagance and mismanagement,
reduced to such a state of poverty as to justify in some sort the sarcasm.
The chiefs of the company being at that very moment debating on the name
which they should choose for this patriotic league, the title of gueux was
instantly proposed, and adopted with acclamation.*
The reproach it was originally intended to convey became neutralised,
as its general application to men of all ranks and fortunes concealed its effect
as a stigma on many to whom it might be seriously applied. Neither were
examples wanting of the most absurd and apparently dishonouring nicknames
being elsewhere adopted by powerful political parties. "Long live the
gueux!" was the toast given and tumultuously drunk by this madbrained
company; and Brederode, setting no bounds to the boisterous excitement
which followed, prociu-ed immediately and slung across his shoulders a waUet
such as was worn by pilgrims and beggars; drank to the health of all present,
in a wooden cup or porringer; and loudly swore that he was ready to sacrifice
his fortime and life for the common cause. Each man passed round the bowl,
which he first put to his lips, repeated the oath, and thus pledged himself
to the compact.
The tumult caused by this ceremony, so ridiculous in itself but so sub-
lime in its results, attracted to the spot the prince of Orange and counts
Egmont and Horn, whose presence is universally attributed by the historians
[' Notwithstanding the scepticism of Gachard * it is probable that the seigneur of Barlay-
mont will retain the reputation of originating the famous name of the "beggars." Gachard
cites Wesenbeke,' Bor,™ Le Petit," Meteren," among contemporaries, and Strada,* and Van
der Vynckf among later writers, as having sanctioned the anecdote in which the taunt of
Barlaymont is recorded. The learned and acute critic is disposed to question the accuracy of the
report, both upon a priori grounds, and because there is no mention made of the circumstance
either in the official or confidential correspondence of the duchess Margaret with the king. It
is possible, however, that the duchess in her agitation did not catch the expression of Barlay-
mont, or did not understand it, or did not think it worth while to chronicle it, if she did. It
must be remembered that she was herself not very familiar with the French language, and that
she was writing to a man who thought that "pistoUe meant some kind of knife." She cer-
tainly did not and could not report everything said upon that memorable occasion. On the
other hand, some of the three hundred gentlemen present might have heard and understood
better than Madame de Parma the sarcasm of the finance minister, whether it were uttered
upon their arrival in the council-chamber, or during their withdrawal into the hall. The testi-
mony of Pontus Payen,9 a contemporary, almost always well informed, and one whose position
as a Catholic Walloon, noble and oflScial, necessarily brought him into contact with many per-
sonages engaged in the transactions which he describes, is worthy of much respect. It is to be
observed, too, that this manuscript alludes to a repetition by Barlaymont of his famous sarcasm
upon the same day. To the names of contemporary historians, cited by Gachard, may be
added those of Van der Haer "■ and of two foreign writers. President De Thou » and Cardinal
Bentivoglio,* Hooft," not a contemporary certainly, but born within four or five years of the
event, relates the anecdote, but throws a doubt upon its accuracy. Those inclined to acquit the
baron of having perpetrated the immortal witticism will give him the benefit of the doubt if
they think it a reasonable one. That it is so, they have tM high authority of M. Gachard and
of the provost Hooft, — Motlbt."*]
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 399
[1566 A.D.^
to accident. They entered; and Brederode, who did the honours of the
mansion, forced them to be seated, and to join in the festivity. The ap-
pearance of three such distinguished personages heightened the general
excitement; and the most important assemblage that had for centuries met
together in the Netherlands mingled the discussion of affairs of state with all
the burlesque extravagance of a debauch.
But this frantic scene did not finish the affair. What they resolved on
while drunk, they prepared to perform when sober. Rallying-signs and
watchwords were adopted and soon displayed.
It was thought that nothing better suited the
occasion than the immediate adoption of the
costume as well as the title of beggary. In a very
few days the city streets were filled with men in
grey cloaks, fashioned on the model of those used
by mendicants and pilgrims. Each confederate
caused this uniform to be worn by every mem-
ber of his family, and replaced with it the livery
of his servants. Several fastened to their girdles
or their sword-hilts small wooden drinking-cups,
clasp-knives, and other symbols of the begging
fraternity; while all soon wore on their breasts
a medal of gold or silver, representing on one side
the effigy of Philip, with the words, " Faithful to
the king," and on the reverse, two hands clasped,
with the motto, "Jusqu'h la besace " (even to the
wallet). From this origin arose the application
of the word gv£ux, in its political sense, as com-
mon to all the inhabitants of the Netherlands
who embraced the cause of the Reformation, and
took up arms against their tyrant.
Having presented two subsequent remon-
strances to the governante and obtained some
consoling promises of moderation, the chief
confederates quitted Brussels, leaving several
directors to sustain their cause in the capital;
while they themselves spread into the various
provinces, exciting the people to join the legal
and constitutional resistance with which they
were resolved to oppose the march of bigotry
and despotism.
A new form of edict was now decided on by the governante and her
coimcil; and after various insidious and illegal but successful tricks, the con-
sent of several of the provinces was obtained to the adoption of measures
that, under a guise of comparative moderation, were little less abominable
than those commanded by the king. These were formally signed by the
council, and despatched to Spain to receive Philip's sanction, and thus acquire
the force of law. The embassy to Madrid was confided to the marquis of
Bergen and the baron of Montigny, the latter of whom was brother to Count
Horn, and had formerly been employed on a like mission. Montigny appears
to have had some qualms of apprehension in imdertaking this new office.
His good genius seemed for a while to stand between him and the fate which
awaited him. An accident which happened to his colleague allowed an ex-
cuse for retarding his journey. But the governante urged him away: he
A Man of iNrEBiOR Rank, Six-
teenth Century
400 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1566 A.D.]
set out, and reached his destination — not to defend the cause of his country
at the foot of the throne, but to perish a victim to his patriotism.
The situation of the patriot lords was at this crisis peculiarly embarrassing.
The conduct of the confederates was so essentially tantamount to open re-
bellion, that the prince of Orange and his friends found it almost impossible
to preserve a neutrality between the court and the people. All their wishes
urged them to join at once in the public cause; but they were restrained by
a lingering sense of loyalty to the king, whose employments they still held,
and whose confidence they were, therefore, nominally supposed to share.
Be their individual motives or reasoning what they might, they at length
adopted the alternative, and resigned their places. Count Horn retired to
his estates; Count Egmont repaired to Aix-la-Chapelle [Aachen], under the
pretext of being ordered thither by his physicians; the prince of Orange re-
mained for a while at Brussels.
In the meanwhile the confederation gained ground every day. Its meas-
ures had totally changed the face of affairs in all parts of the nation. The
general discontent now acquired stability and consequent importance. The
chief merchants of many of the towns enrolled themselves in the patriot
band.
THE CALVINIST OUTBREAK
An occasion so favourable for the rapid promulgation of the new doctrines
was promptly taken advantage of by the French Huguenots and their Protes-
tant brethren of Germany. The disciples of reform poiued from all quarters
into the Low Coimtries, and made prodigious progress, with all the energy
of proselytes, and too often with the fury of fanatics. The three principal
sects into which the reformers were divided were those of the Anabaptists,
the Calvinists, and the Lutherans. The first and least nxmierous were chiefly
established in Friesland. The second were spread over the eastern provinces.
Their doctrines being already admitted into some kingdoms of the north,
they were protected by the most powerful princes of the empire. The third,
and by far the most numerous and wealthy, aboimded in the southern prov-
inces, and particularly in Flanders. They were supported by the zealous
efforts of French, Swiss, and German ministers; and their dogmas were nearly
the same as those of the established religion of England. The city of Antwerp
was the central point of union for the three sects; but the only principle they
held in common was their hatred against popery, the Inquisition, and Spain.
The governante had now issued orders to the chief magistrates to pro-
ceed with moderation against the heretics — orders which were obeyed in
their most ample latitude by those to whose s3Tnpathies they were so congenial.
Until then, the Protestants were satisfied to meet by stealth at night; but
under this negative protection of the authorities they now boldly assembled
in public. Field-preachings commenced in Flanders; and the minister who
first set this example was Herman Strieker, a converted monk, a native of
Overyssel, a powerful speaker and a bold enthusiast. He soon drew together
an audience of seven thousand persons. A furious magistrate rushed among
this crowd, and hoped to disperse them sword in hand; but he was soon
struck down, mortally woimded, with a shower of stones. Irritated and
emboldened by this rash attempt, the Protestants assembled in stUl greater
numbers near Alost; but on this occasion they appeared with poniards,
guns, and halberds. They entrenched themselves under the protection of
wagons aud all sorts of obstacles to a sudden attack; placed outposts and
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 401
[1566 A.D.1
videttes; and thus took the field in the doubly dangerous aspect of fanaticism
and war.
Similar assemblies soon spread over the whole of Flanders, inflamed by
the exhortations of Strieker and another preacher, called Peter Dathen, of
Poperinghe. It was calculated that fifteen thousand men attended some
of these preachings; while a third apostle of Calvinism, Ambrose Ville, a
Frenchman, successfully excited the inhabitants of Tournay, Valenciennes,
and Antwerp, to form a common league for the promulgation of their faith.
The sudden appearance of Brederode at the latter place decided their plan,
and gave the courage to fix on a day for its execution. An irmnense assem-
blage simultaneously quitted the three cities at a preconcerted time; and
when they imited their forces at the appointed rendezvous, the preachings,
exhortations, and psalm-singing commenced, under the auspices of several
Huguenot and German ministers, and continued for several days in all the
zealous extravagance which may be well imagined to characterise such a
scene.
The citizens of Antwerp were terrified for the safety of the place, and
courier after courier was despatched to the governante at Brussels to implore
her presence. The duchess, not daring to take such a step without the au-
thority of the king, sent Coimt Meghem as her representative, with proposals
to the magistrates to call out the garrison. The populace soon imderstood
the object of this messenger; and assailing him with a violent outcry, forced
him to fly from the city. Then the Calvinists petitioned the magistrates
for permission to openly exercise their religion, and for the grant of a temple
in which to celebrate its rites. The magistrates in this conjuncture re-
newed their application to the governant, and entreated her to send the prince
of Orange, as the only person capable of saving the city from destruction.
The duchess was forced to adopt this bitter alternative; and the prince, after
repeated refusals to mix again in public affairs, yielded at length, less to the
supplications of the governante than to his own wishes to do another service
to the cause of his country. At half a league from the city he was met by
Brederode, with an immense concourse of people of all sects and opinions,
who hailed him as a protector from the tyranny of the king, and a saviour
from the dangers of their own excess. Nothing could exceed the wisdom,
the firmness, and the benevolence with which he managed all conflicting
interests and preserved tranquillity amidst a chaos of opposing prejudices
and passions.
From the first establishment of the field-preachings the governante had
implored the confederate lords to aid her for the re-establishment of order.
Brederode seized this excuse for convoking a general meeting of the associates,
which consequently took place at the town of St. Trond, in the district of
Li^ge (July 13th, 1566). Full two thousand of the members appeared on
the summons. The language held in this assembly was much stronger and
less equivocal than that formerly used. The delay in the arrival of the king's
answer presaged ill as to his intentions; whUe the rapid growth of the public
power seemed to mark the present as the time for successfully demanding all
that the people required. Several of the Catholic members, still royalists
at heart, were shocked to hear a total liberty of conscience spoken of as one
of the privileges sought for. The yoimg count of Mansfeld, among others,
withdrew immediately from the confederation; and thus the first stone
seemed to be removed from this imperfectly constructed edifice.
The prince of Orange and Count Egmont were applied to, and appointed
by the governante, with full powers to treat with the confederates. Twelve of
H. W. — ' VOL. xni. 2d
402 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1566 1..D.]
the latter, among whom were Louis of Nassau, Brederode, and Kuilenburg
[or Culenborg], met them by appointment at Duffle, a village not far from
Mechlin. The result of the conference was a respectful but firm address to
the governante, repelling her accusations of having entered into foreign treaties;
declaring their readiness to march against the French troops, should they
set foot in the country; and claiming, with the utmost force of reasoning,
the convocation of the states-general. This was replied to by an entreaty
that they would still wait patiently for twenty-four days, in hopes of an
answer from the king; and she sent the marquis of Bergen in all speed to
Madrid, to support Montigny in his efforts to obtain some prompt decision
from Philip.
The king, who was then at Segovia, assembled his council, consisting of
the duke of Alva and eight other grandees. The two deputies from the
Netherlands attended the deliberations, which were held for several successive
days; but the king was never present. The whole state of affairs being de-
bated with what appears a calm and dispassionate view, considering the
hostile prejudices of this council, it was decided to advise the king to adopt
generally^ a more moderate line of conduct in the Netherlands, and to abolish
the Inquisition; at the same time prohibiting imder the most awful threats all
confederation, assemblage, or public preachings, under any pretext whatever.
The king's first care on receiving this advice was to order, in all the principal
towns of Spain and the Netherlands, prayer and procession to implore the
divine approbation on the resolutions which he had formed. He appeared
then in person at the council of state, and issued a decree, by which he refused
his consent to the convocation of the states-general, and bound himself to
take several German regiments into his pay. He ordered the duchess of
Parma, by a private letter, to immediately cause to be raised three thousand
cavalry and ten thousand foot, and he remitted to her for this purpose three
hundred thousand florins in gold. He next wrote with his own hand to
several of his partisans in the various towns, encouraging them in their fidelity
to his purposes, and promising them his support. He rejected the adoption
of the moderation recommended to him; but he consented to the abolition
of the Inquisition in its most odious sense, re-establishing that modified
species [the Episcopal inquisition] which had been introduced into the Nether-
lands by Charles V. The people of that devoted country were thus successful
in obtaining one important concession from the king, and in meeting unex-
pected consideration from this Spanish council. Whether these measures
had been calculated with a view to their failure, it is not now easy to determine:
at all events they came too late [Aug. 12th, 1566]. When Philip's letters
reached Brussels, the iconoclasts or image-breakers were abroad.
It requires no profound research to comprehend the impulse which leads
a horde of fanatics to the most monstrous excesses. That the deeds of the
iconoclasts arose from the spontaneous outburst of mere vulgar fury, admits
of no doubt.?
The historian Strada ^ was a contemporary of these scenes and has vividly
described them, from the Spanish and Jesuit viewpoint. The old translation
of Sir Robert Stapleton well accords with the spirit."
STRADA's account of the image-breaking frenzy (1566)
The people, partly corrupted with heresie, partly dreading the Inquisition,
exceedingly favoured the hereticks that fought to overthrow that judicature.
Upon Assumption-eve, they began to rifle the low-countrey churches; first
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPRESSION 403
[1566 A.D.]
rising in the lower Flanders. In these parts a few of the raskall sort of
here ticks met and joyned themselves with some companies of thieves, upon
the day appointed for proclaiming war against heaven, led on by no com-
mander but impietie; their arms were staves, hatchets, hammers, and ropes,
fitter to pull down houses than to fight withall; some few of them had swords
and muskets. Thus accoutred, as if they had been furies vomited from heU,
they broke into the towns and villages about St. Omer, and if they had found
the doors of churches or monasteries shut, forced them open, fighting away
their religious inhabitants; and overturning the altars, they defaced the
monuments of saints, and broke to pieces their sacred images. Whatsoever
they saw dedicated to God, and to the blessed, they pulled it down and trod
it under their feet to dirt, whilst their ringleaders clapt them on the backs
and incouraged them with all their force to destroy the idols.
The hereticks, glad of this successe, with unanimous consent, shouted
and cryed aloud — " Let us to Ypres ! " that being a city much frequented by
the Calvinists. And they were drawn thither, as weU out of hope of protec-
tion, as out of hatred they bare to the bishop of that city, Martin Rithovins,
an eminently virtuous and learned man, and therefore meriting the spleen
of hereticks. Whereupon they ran violently thither, gathering upon the
way such vagabonds and beggars as joyned with them out of hope of phmder.
And as a snowball rolling from the top of a hill grows still greater by the
accesse of new snow, through which it passes, and wherein it is involved; so
these thievish vagabonds multiplying by the way, the farther they go the
more they rage, and the more considerable their thievish strength appears.
And when they had pUlaged a few small villages about Ypres, upon the
very day of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin, the citizens of Ypres open-
ing their gates unto them, they entered the town, and went directly to the
cathedral church, where everyone fell to work. Some set ladders to the
walls, with hammers and staves battering the pictures. Others broke asimder
the iron work, seats, and pulpits. Others, casting ropes about the great
statues of our Saviour Christ and the saints, pulled them down to the ground.
Others stole the consecrated plate, burnt the sacred books, and stript the
altars of their holy ornaments; and that, with so much securitie, with so
little regard of the magistrate or prelates, as you would think they had been
sent for by the common councell, and were in pay with the citie. With the
same fury they likewise burnt the bishop of Ypres' library and destroyed
the rest of the churches and religious houses of the town, reacting their
villanies, and because the first prospered, still presuming. This sacrilegious
robbery continued a whole day. Part of the people being amazed to see
them, not taking them for men, but devils in human shapes; and part re-
joicing, that now those things were done which they themselves had long
ago designed. Nor had the magistrate and senatours any greater care of
religion.
The Sack of the Antwerp Cathedral
Upon the 21st of August, the hereticks, increasing in their number, came
into the great church with concealed weapons; as if they had resolved, after
some light skirmishes for a few days past, to come now to a battel. And
expecting till even-song was done, they shouted with a hideous cry — "Long
live the Gheuses!" nay, they commanded the image of the Blessed Virgin
to repeat their acclamation, which, if she refused to do, they madly swore
they would beat and kill her.
Hearing the clock strike the last houre of the day, and darkness adding
404
THE HISTOEY OF THE KETHEELANDS
[1566 A.B.]
confidence, one of them (lest their wickedness should want formality) began
to sing a Geneva Psalme, and as if the trumpet had sounded a charge, the
spirit moving them altogether, they fell upon the effigies of the mother of
God, and upon the pictures of Christ and his saints: some tumbled them
down and trod upon them; others thrust swords into their sides; others
chopped off their heads with axes — with so much concord and forecast in
their sacrilege that you would think everyone had his severall work assigned
him. For the very harlots, those common appurtenances to thieves and
drunkards, catching up the wax candles from the altars, and from the vestry,
held them to light the men that were at work.' Part whereof, getting upon
the altars, cast down the sacred plate, broke asunder the picture frames,
defaced the painted walls; part, setting up ladders, shattered the goodly
organes, broke the windows flourished with a new kind of paint.
Huge statues of saints that stood in the walls upon pedistalls, they im-
f astened and hurled down,
among which, an ancient
and great crucifix with
the two thieves hanging
on each hand of our Sa-
viour, that stood right
against the high altar,
they pulled down with
ropes and hewed it in
pieces; but touched not
the two thieves, as if they
onety worshipped them,
and desired them to be
their good lords. Nay,
they presumed to break
open the conservatory of
the celestial bread; and
putting in their polluted
hands, to pull out the
blessed body of Our Lord.
Those base offscourmgs of men trod upon the Deity adored and dreaded by
the angels. The pixes and chalices which they found in the vestry they filled
with wine prepared for the altar, and drank them off in derision. They
greased their shoes with the chrisme or holy oyl; and after the spoyl of all
these things, laughed and were very merry at the matter. My meaning is
not lest I should scandalise mankind, nor suits it with history to repeat all
these foul actions wherewith, in the destruction of holy things, these traitours
to God and his saints glutted their cruelty.
But the greatest wonder was to see them make so quick dispatch that one
of the fairest and greatest churches of Europe, full of pictures and statues,
richly adorned with about seventy-five altars, by a few men (for they were
not above one hundred as the governesse wrote to the king that she was cer-
tainly informed), should before midnight, when they began but in the evening,
have nothing at all left entire or improfaned. Truly if the hundred men had
not an hundred hands apiece, that in so short a space demolished such a
[' Qresham, the English agent, is quoted by his biographer Burgon," as follows : " And
coming into Oure Lady Church, yt looked like hell where were above 1,000 torches brannying
and syche a noise ! as yf heven and erth had gone together, with f aUying of images and faUying
down of costly works."]
The Pobt ov Antwerp in 1520
(Facsimile of a drawing b7 Albert Dfirer)
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPKESSION 405
[1566 A.S.]
multitude of things, it is not unreasonable to believe (which I know some at
that time suspected) that devils, mixing with them, joyned in dispatching
their own work; or at least that the furious violence which (in scorn of reli-
gion) stript the altars, mangled the statues and pictures, defaced the tombes,
and in foure houres' time robbed and laid waste so goodly a church, could
not have any other cause but the immediate repulsion of those rebellious and
infernall spirits, that add both rage and strength to sacrilegious villains,
offering an acceptable sacrifice to hell.
While this was done at and about Antwerp, the rage of these traitours
was no lesse, upon the very same dayes at Ghent, Oudenarde, and other towns
in Flanders, from the river of Lys as farre as Schelde and Dender, all the
churches and holy ornaments going to wrack. For this destruction was
more like an earthquake, that devours all at once, than like the plague that
steals upon a coimtry by degrees. Insomuch, as the same tainture and
whirlwind of religion, in an in tant, miserably involved and laid waste Bra-
bant, Flanders, Holland, Zealand, Gelderland, Friesland, Overyssel, and
almost all the low countreys except three or four provinces — viz., Namur,
Luxemburg, Artois, and part of Hainault. And as of old, in the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, they tell us that twelve cities were swallowed by an earth-
quake in one night, so in the low coimtreys, not the like number of cities,
but provinces, by the spirit, struggling and bursting out from hell, were
devoured, with so sudden, with so great a mine, that the Netherlands, which
had as many populous cities, towns, and villages, as any part of Europe,
within ten days was overwhelmed in this calamitie; the particular province
of Flanders having four hvmdred consecrated houses either profaned or burnt
to the ground.^
RESULTS OF THE OUTBREAK; THE ACCORD
Such, in general outline and in certain individual details, was the cele-
brated iconomachy of the Netherlands.* The movement was a sudden
explosion of popular revenge against the symbols of that Church by which
the reformers had been enduring such terrible persecution. It was also an
expression of the general sympathy for the doctrines which had taken posses-
sion of the national heart. It was the depravation of that instinct which
had in the beginning of the summer drawn Calvinists and Lutherans forth
in armed bodies, twenty thousand strong, to worship God in the open fields.
The difference between the two phenomena was that the field-preaching was
a crime committed by the whole mass of the reformers — men, women, and
children confronting the penalties of death, by a general determination;
while the image-breaking was the act of a small portion of the populace. A
hundred persons belonging to the lowest order of society sufficed for the dese-
cration of the Antwerp churches. It was, said Orange, "a mere handful of
rabble" who did the deed. Sir Richard Clough saw ten or twelve persons
entirely sack church after church, while ten thousand spectators looked on,
indifferent or horror-struck. The bands of iconoclasts were of the lowest
character, and few in number. Perhaps the largest assemblage was that
which ravaged the province of Tournay, but this was so weak as to be entirely
routed by a small and determined force. The duty of repression devolved
upon both Catholics and Protestants. Neither party stirred. AH seemed
overcome with special wonder as the tempest swept over the land.
[• This incident is not to be confused witli the iconoolasm of the eighth century, which
was far more bloody : it is described in the history of the Eastern Empire, volume VII, chapter 7,
and in the history of the Papacy, volume VIII.]
406 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1566 A.D.]
The ministers of the reformed religion, and the chiefs of the Uberal party,
all denounced the image-breaking. The prince of Orange, in his private
letters, deplored the riots, and stigmatised the perpetrators.
The next remarkable characteristic of these tumults was the almost
entire abstinence of the rioters from personal outrage and from pillage. The
testimony of a very bitter, but honest Catholic at Valenciennes, is remarkable
upon this point: "Certain chroniclers," said he, "have greatly mistaken the
character of this image-breaking. It has been said that the Calvinists killed
a hundred priests in this city, cutting some of
them into pieces, and burning others over a
slow fire. I remember very well everything
which happened upon that abominable day,
and I can affirm that not a single priest was
injured. The Huguenots took good care not
to injure in any way the living images."
This was the case everywhere. Catholic and
Protestant writers agree that no deeds of
violence were committed against man or
woman.
It would be also very easy to accimiulate
a vast weight of testimony as to their for-
bearance from robbery. They destroyed for
destruction's sake, not for purposes of plim-
der. Although belonging to the lowest classes
of society, they left heaps of jewelry, of gold
and silver plate, of costly embroidery, lying
unheeded upon the ground. They felt in-
stinctively that a great passion would be con-
I mtiTiMTi -1 Mn w-'ai auj 11 taminated by admixture with paltry motives.
^' mHi^^^1tf-v ^JM fi ^^ Flanders a company of rioters hanged one
jljjfl^^. j-BsW^g^- '_^W--^^ of their own number for stealing articles to
the value of five shillings.
At Toumay, the greatest scrupulousness
was observed upon this point. The floor of
the cathedral was strewn with "pearls and
precious stones, with chalices and reliquaries
of silver and gold"; but the ministers of
the reformed religion, in company with the
magistrates, came to the spot, and found no
difficulty, although utterly without power to
prevent the storm, in taking quiet possession
of the wreck. Who will dare to censure in
very severe language this havoc among stocks and stones in a land where so
many living men and women, of more value than many statues, had been
slaughtered by the Inquisition, and where Alva's "blood tribunal" was so
soon to eclipse even that terrible institution in the number of its victims and
the amount of its confiscations?
Yet the effect of the riots was destined to be most disastrous for a time
to the reforming party. It furnished plausible excuses for many lukewarm
friends of their cause to withdraw from all connection with it. Egmont de-
nounced the proceedings as highly flagitious, and busied himself with punishing
the; criminals in Flanders. The regent was beside herself with indignation
and terror. Philip, when he heard the news, fell into a paroxysm of frenzy.
TowEB OP St. Bavon, where the Puri-
tanical. OuTBAQES Took Place
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 407
[1566 A.D.J
"It shall cost them dear!" he cried, as he tore his beard for rage; "it shall
cost them dea,r! I swear it by the soul of my father!"
Nevertheless, the first effect of the tumults was a temporary advantage to
the reformers. A great concession was extorted from the fears of the duchess
regent, who was certainly placed in a terrible position.
On the 25th of August ,came the crowning act of what the reformers
considered their most complete triumph, and the regent her deepest degra-
dation. It was found necessary, under the alarming aspect of affairs, that
liberty of worship, in places where it had been already established, should be
accorded to the new religion. Articles of agreement to this effect were ac-
cordingly drawn up and exchanged between the government and Louis of
Nassau, attended by fifteen others of the confederacy. A corresponding
pledge was signed by them that, so long as the regent was true to her engage-
ment, they would consider their previously existing league annulled, and
would assist cordially in every endeavour to maintain tranquillity and support
the authority of his majesty. The important "accord" was then duly signed
by the duchess. It declared that the Inquisition was abolished, that his
majesty would soon issue a new general edict, expressly and unequivocally
protecting the nobles against all evil consequences from past transactions,
that they were to be employed in the royal service, and that public preaching
according to the forms of the new religion was to be practised in places where
it had already taken place. Letters general were immediately despatched
to the senates of all the cities, proclaiming these articles of agreement and
ordering their execution. Thus for a fleeting moment there was a thrill of
joy throughout the Netherlands. The Inquisition was thought forever
abolished, the era of religious reformation arrived.'^
A BRIEF RESPITE
Soon after this the several governors repaired to their respective provinces,
and their efforts for the re-establishment of tranquillity were attended with
various degrees of success. Several of the ringleaders in the late excesses
were executed; and this severity was not confined to the partisans of the
Catholic church. The prince of Orange and Count Egmont, with others of
the patriot lords, set the example of this just severity.
Again the Spanish council appears to have interfered between the people
of the Netherlands and the enmity of the monarch; and the offered media-
tion of the emperor was recommended to his acceptance, to avoid the appear-
ance of a forced concession to the popular will. Philip was also strongly
urged to repair to the scene of the disturbances; and a main question of de-
bate was whether he should march at the head of an army or confide himself
to the loyalty and good faith of his Belgian subjects. But the indolence or
the pride of Philip was too strong to admit of his taking so vigorous a measure;
and all these consultations ended in two letters to the governant. In the
first he declared his firm intention to visit the Netherlands in person; refused
to convoke the states-general; passed in silence the treaties concluded with
the Protestants and the confederates; and finished by a declaration that he
would throw himself wholly on the fidelity of the country. In his second
letter, meant for the govemante alone, he authorised her to assemble the
states-general if public opinion became too powerful for resistance, but on
no account to let it transpire that he had imder any circumstances given his
consent.
During these deliberations in Spain, the Protestants in the Netherlands
408 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1566 A.D.]
amply availed themselves of the privileges they had gained. They erected
numerous wooden churches with incredible activity. Young and old, noble
and plebeian, of these energetic men, assisted in the manual labours of these
occupations: and the women freely applied the produce of their ornaments
and jewels to forward the pious work. But the furious outrages of the icono-
clasts had done infinite mischief to both political and religious freedom:
many of the Catholics, and particularly the priests, ^adually withdrew them-
selves from the confederacy, which thus lost some of its most firm supporters.
And, on the other hand, the severity with which some of its members pursued
the guilty offended and alarmed the body of the people, who could not dis-
tinguish the shades of difference between the love of liberty and the practice
of licentiousness.
The governante and her satellites adroitly took advantage of this state
of things to sow dissension among the patriots. Autograph letters from
Philip to the principal lords were distributed among them with such artful
and mysterious precautions as to throw the rest into perplexity, and give
each suspicions of the other's fidelity. The report of the immediate arrival
of Philip had also considerable effect over the less resolute or more selfish;
and the confederation was dissolving rapidly imder the operations of intrigue,
self-interest, and fear.' Even Count Egmont was not proof against the
subtle seductions of the wily monarch, whose severe yet flattering letters
half frightened and half soothed him into a relapse of royalism. But with
the prince of Orange Philip had no chance of success. It is unquestionable
that, be his means of acquiring information what they might, he did succeed
in procuring minute intelligence of all that was going on in the king's most
secret council.^
William summoned his brother Louis, the counts Egmont, Horn, and
Hoogstraten, to a secret conference at Dendermonde; and he there submitted
to them letters which he had received from Spain, confirmatory of his worst
fears. Louis of Nassau voted for open and instant rebellion; William recom-
mended a cautious observance of the projects of government, not doubting
but that a fair pretext would be soon given to justify the most vigorous
overt acts of revolt : but Egmont at once struck a death-blow to the energetic
project of one brother and the cautious amendment of the other, by declaring
his present resolution to devote himself wholly to the service of the king,
and on no inducement whatever to risk the perils of rebellion. He expressed
his perfect reliance on the justice and the goodness of Philip, when once he
should see the determined loyalty of those whom he had hitherto had so
much reason to suspect; and he exhorted the others to follow his example.
[' The nobles made a great mistake in permitting the dissolution of the confederation at
this juncture. They should not have trusted a promise forced from a hard-pressed and reluc-
tant government. They actually threw their best weapon away, voluntarily. They thought
that all was won — at least the majority thought so, and thus they separated rejoicing over the
success finally obtained. — Blok.«]
[' Philip had here to do with a head which, in cunning, was superior to his own. The
prince of Orange had, for a long time, held watch over him and his privy council in Madrid and
Segovia, through a host of spies, who reported to him everything of importance that was
transacted there. The court of this most secret of all despots had become accessible to his in-
triguing spirit, and his money ; in this manner, he had gained possession of several autograph
letters of the regent, which she had secretly written to Madrid, and had caused copies to be
circulated in triumph in Brussels, and, in a measure, under her own eyes, insomuch that she
saw with astonishment in everybody's hands what she thought was preserved with so much
care, and entreated the king for the future to destroy her despatches Immediately they were
read. William's vigilance did not confine itself simply to the court of Spain : he had spies in
France, and even in more distant courts. Ho is also charged with not having been overscrupu-
lous in regard to the means by which he acquired his intelligence, — Schtllbb.*]
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 409
[1566-1567 A.D.]
The two brothers and Count Horn implored him in their turn to abandon
this blind reliance on the tyrant; but in vain. His new and unlooked-for
profession of faith completely paralysed their plans. He possessed too largely
the confidence of both the soldiery and the people to make it possible to at-
tempt any serious measure of resistance in which he would not take a part.
The meeting broke up without coming to any decision. All those who bore
a part in it were expected at Brussels to attend the council of state; Egmont
alone repaired thither.
EARLY FAILURES OF THE REBELS
The governante now applied her whole effort to destroy the imion among
the patriot lords. She in tne mean time ordered levies of troops to the amount
of some thousands, the command of which was given to the nobles on whose
attachment she could reckon. The most vigorous measures were adopted.
Noircarmes, governor of Hainault, appeared before Valenciennes, which
being in the power of the Calvinists had assumed a most determined attitude
of resistance. He vainly summoned the place to submission, and to admit
a royalist garrison; and on receiving an obstinate refusal, he commenced
the siege in form. An undisciplined rabble of between three thousand and
four thousand gueux, imder the direction of John de Soreas, gathered together
in the neighbourhood of LUle and Tournay, with a show of attacking these
places. But the governor of the former town dispersed one party of them;
and Noircarmes surprised and almost destroyed the main body — their
leader falling in the action.
These were the first encounters of the civil war, which raged without
cessation for upwards of eighty years in these devoted countries, and which
is universally allowed to be the most remarkable that ever desolated any
isolated portion of Europe. Fierce events succeeded each other with fright-
ful rapidity.
While Valenciennes prepared for a vigorous resistance, a general sjniod
of the Protestants was held at Antwerp, and Brederode undertook an attempt
to see the governante, and lay before her the complaints of this body; but she
refused to admit him into the capital. He then addressed to her a remon-
strance in writing, in which he reproached her with her violation of the treaties,
on the faith of which the confederates had dispersed, and the majority of the
Protestants laid down their arms. He implored her to revoke the new procla-
mations, by which she prohibited them from the free exercise of their religion;
and above all things he insisted on the abandonment of the siege of Valen-
ciennes, and the disbanding of the new levies. The governante's reply was
one of haughty reproach and defiance. The gauntlet was now thrown down;
no possible hope of reconciliation remained; and the whole country flew to
arms. A sudden attempt on the part of the royalists, under Count Meghem,
against Bois-le-duc, was repulsed by eight hundred men, commanded by an
officer named Bomberg, in the immediate service of Brederode, who had forti-
fied himself in his garrison town of Vianen.
The prince of Orange maintained at Antwerp an attitude of extreme firm-
ness and caution.' His time for action had not yet arrived; but his advice
and protection were of infinite importance on many occasions. John van
Marnix, lord of Toulouse, brother of Philip of Sainte-Aldegonde, took posses-
[' The Calvinists and beggars implored William to take the leadership. They blamed his
refusal to act for their defeats, and were so exasperated at his caution that the Antwerp Calvin-
ists threatened even to kill Mm. But h« was immovable.^
410 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1566-1567 A.i>.]
sion of Osterweel on the Schelde, a quarter of a league from Antwerp, and
fortified himself in a strong position. But he was inipetuously attacked by
Lannoy of Beauvoir with a considerable force, and perished, after a desperate
defence, with full one thousand of his followers. Three hundred who laid
down their arms were immediately after the action butchered in cold blood.
Antwerp was on this occasion saved from the excesses of its divided and
furious citizens, and preserved from the horrors of pillage, by the calmness
and intrepidity of the prince of Orange. Valenciennes at length capitulated
to the royalists, disheartened by the defeat and death of Mamix, and terrified
by a bombardment of thirty-six hours. The governor, two preachers, and
about forty of the citizens were hanged by the victors, and the reformed
religion was prohibited. Noircarmes promptly followed up his success.
Maestricht, Tumhout, and Bois-le-duc submitted at his approach; and the
insurgents were soon driven from all the provinces, Holland alone excepted.
Brederode fled to Germany, where he died the following year.'
The govemante showed, in her success, no small proofs of decision. She
and her coimsellors, acting under orders from the king, were resolved on
embarrassing to the utmost the patriot lords; and a new oath of allegiance,
to be proposed to every functionary of the state, was considered as a certain
means for attaining this object without the violence of an vmmerited dis-
missal. The terms of this oath were strongly opposed to every principle of
patriotism and toleration. Count Mansfeld was the first of the nobles who
took it. The duke of Aerschot, counts Meghem, Barlaymont, and Egmont,
followed his example. The counts of Horn, Hoogstraten, Brederode, and
others, refused on various pretexts. Every artifice and persuasion was tried
to induce the prince of Orange to subscribe to this new test; but his resolution
had been for some time formed. He saw that every chance of constitutional
resistance to tyranny was for the present at an end. The time for petitioning
was gone by. The confederation was dissolved. A royalist army was in
the field ; the duke of Alva was notoriously approaching at the head of another,
more numerous. It was worse than useless to conclude a hollow convention
with the ffovernante, of mock loyalty on his part and mock confidence on hers.
Many other important considerations convinced WUliam that his only hon-
ourable, safe, and wise course was to exile himself from the Netherlands
altogether, until more propitious circumstances allowed of his acting openly,
boldly, and with effect.
WILLIAM OF ORANGE WITHDRAWS (1567)
Before he put this plan of voluntary banishment into execution, he and
Egmont had a parting interview, at the village of Willebroeck, between
Antwerp and Brussels. Count Mansfeld, and Berti, secretary to the gover-
nant, were present at this memorable meeting. The details of what passed
were reported to the confederates by one of their party, who contrived to
conceal himself in the chimney of the chamber. Nothing could exceed the
[' Tlie utter annihilation of the popular party at this period proves how erroneous is the
assertion of the Jesuit Strada '' and others, who state that the revolt of the Netherlands was to
be attributed not to the Inquisition or the introduction of the new bishops, but solely to the
machinations of some impoverished and disappointed nobles. In the first formation of the
confederacy the nobles rather obeyed than excited the popular impulse which, instead of con-
tributing to sustain, they, by their vacillation and dissensions, served but to divide and weaken.
So far as they were concerned, the movement was now entirely at an end ; and it is to their
selfishness, treachery, or inconstancy that the temporary ruin of the people's cause is to be
ascribed. — Da vies. /]
PHILIP II AND SPANISH OPPEESSION 411
[1567 A.D.]
energetic warmth with which the two illustrious friends reciprocally en-
deavoured to turn each other from their respective line of conduct; but in
vain. Egmont's fatal confidence in the king was not to be shaken; nor was
Nassau's penetrating mind to be deceived by the romantic delusion which
led away his friend. They separated with most affectionate expressions;
and Nassau was even moved to tears. His parting words were to the follow-
ing effect: "Confide, then, since it must be so, in the gratitude of the king;
but a painful presentiment (God grant it may prove a false one !) tells me that
you wUl serve the Spaniards as the bridge by which they will enter the coun-
try, and which they wiU destroy as soon as they have passed over it!" *
On the 11th of April, a few days after this conference, the prince of Orange
set out for Germany, with his three brothers and his whole family, with the
exception of his eldest son, Philip William count of Buren, whom he left
behind a student in the university of Louvain. He believed that the privi-
leges of the college and the franchises of Brabant would prove a sufficient pro-
tection to the youth; and this appears the only instance in which William's
vigilant prudence was deceived. The departure of the prince seemed to
remove all hope of protection or support from the unfortunate Protestants,
now the prey of their implacable tyrant. The confederation of the nobles
was completely broken up. The counts of Hoogstraten, Bergen, and Kuilen-
burg followed the example of the prince of Orange, and escaped to Germany;
and the greater number of those who remained behind took the new oath of
allegiance, and became reconciled to the government.
This total dispersion of the confederacy brought aU the towns of Holland
into obedience to the king. But the emigration which immediately com-
menced threatened the country with ruin.'' England and Germany swarmed
with Dutch and Belgian refugees; and all the efforts of the govemante could
not restrain the thousands that took to flight. She was not more successful
in her attempts to iafluence the measures of the king. She implored him,
in repeated letters, to abandon his design of sending a foreign army into the
country, which she represented as being now quite reduced to submission
and tranquillity. She added that the mere report of this royal invasion
(so to call it) had already deprived the Netherlands of many thousands of
its best inhabitants; and that the appearance of the troops would change
it into a desert. These arguments, meant to dissuade, were the very means
of encouraging Philip in his design. He conceived his project to be now ripe
for the complete suppression of freedom.
On the 5th of May, 1567, Alva, the celebrated captain whose reputation
was so quickly destined to sink into the notoriety of an executioner, began
his memorable march.S'
[' Hooft « alludes to a rumour, according to which Egmont said to Orange at parting,
" Adieu, landless prince !" and was answered by his friend with " Adieu, headless count!"
" Men voeght'er by dat zy voorts elkandre, Prins zander goedf, Graaf zander haaft, zouden adieu
gezeit hebben," The story has been often repeated, yet nothing could well be more insipid than
such an invention. Hooft observes that the whole conversation was reported by a person
whom the Calvinists had concealed in the chimney of the apartment where the interview took
place. It would be difficult to believe in such epigrams even had the historian himself been in
the chimney. He, however, only gives the anecdote as a rumor, which he does not himself
believe. — Motley. "*]
P Blok ' accepts an estimate that, in thirty or forty years, four hundred thousand people
emigrated.]
:.-j>??..v
CHAPTER VI
ALVA
[1567-1573 A.D.]
The revolt of the Netherlands against Spain, in 1568, changed the
political aspect of the greater part of the world. It is because of this
revolt, and the war of eighty years following, that the people of tho
United States are not a Spanish-speaking nation, but are, instead, an
En^ish-speaking one.
Had the reigning family and the authorities of Spain exercised wise
forethought in their dealings with the Netherland people, Spanish
domination — assisted by Dutch co-operation under Spanish suprem-
acy — would have rendered the whole of this territory Spanish many
years before the English would have become strong enough to at-
tempt the conquest and the independent settling of any part of the
American continent. — Vbrsteeg.*
It was determined at last that the Netherland heresy should be conquered
by force of arms. The invasion resembled both a crusade against the infidel
and a treasure-hunting foray into the auriferous Indies, achievements by
which Spanish chivalry had so often illustrated itself. The banner of the
cross was to be replanted upon the conquered battlements of three hundred
infidel cities, and a torrent of wealth, richer than ever flowed from Mexican
or Peruvian mines, was to flow into the royal treasury from the perennial
fountains of confiscation. Who so fit to be the Tancred and the Pizarro of
this bicoloured expedition as the duke of Alva, the man who had been devoted
from his earliest childhood, and from his father's grave, to hostility against
unbelievers, and who had prophesied that treasure would flow in a stream, a
yard deep, from the Netherlands so soon as the heretics began to meet with
their deserts?
Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, duke of Alva,' was now in his sixtieth year.
He was the most successful and experienced general of Spain, or of Europe.
In the only honourable profession of the age, he was the most thorough
and the most pedantic professor. Since the days of Demetrius Poliorcetes,
no man had besieged so many cities. Since the days of Fabius Cunctator, u(?
P The name is also spelled Alba, the Spanish pronunciation still remaining Alva.]
412
ALVA 413
[1B67 A.D.]
general had avoided so many battles, and no soldier, courageous as he was,
ever attained to a more sublime indifference to calumny or depreciation.
He was born in 1508, of a family which boasted imperial descent. A
Palaeologus, brother of a Byzantine emperor, had conquered the city of
Toledo, and transmitted its appellation as a family name. The father of
Fernando, Don Garcia, had been slain on the isle of Gerbes, in battle with
the Moors, when his son was but four years of age. The child was brought
up by his grandfather, Don Frederick, and trained from his tenderest infancy
to arms. His maiden sword was fleshed at Fuenterrabia, where, although
but sixteen years of age, he was considered to have contributed in no small
degree to the success of the Spanish arms. In 1530 he accompanied the
emperor in his campaign against the Turk. His mad ride from Hungary to
Spain and back again, accomplished in seventeen days for the sake of a brief
visit to his newly married wife, is not the least attractive episode in the his-
tory of an existence which was destined to be so dark and sanguinary. In
1546 and 1547 he was generahssimo in the war against the Smalkaldian
League.
Having accompanied Philip to England in 1554, on his matrimonial expe-
dition, he was destined in the following years, as viceroy and generalissimo
of Italy, to be placed in a series of false positions. A great captain engaged
in a little war, the champion of the cross in arms against the successor of
St. Peter, he had extricated himself, at last, with his usual adroitness, but
with very little glory. While he had been paltering with a dotard, whom he
was forbidden to crush, Egmont had struck down the chosen troops of France,
and conquered her most illustrious commanders. Here was the impardonable
crime which could only be expiated by the blood of the victor. Unfortunately
for his rival, the time was now approaching when the long-deferred revenge
was to be satisfied.
On the whole, the duke of Alva was inferior to no general of his age. As
a disciplinarian he was foremost in Spain, perhaps in Europe. As a states-
man, he had neither experience nor talent. As a man, his character was
simple. He did not combine a great variety of vices, but those which he
had were colossal, and he possessed no virtues. He was neither lustful nor
intemperate, but his professed eulogists admitted his enormous avarice,
while the world has agreed that such an amount of stealth and ferocity, of
patient vindictiveness and universal bloodthirstiness, were never found in a
savage beast of the forest, and but rarely in a human bosom. As difficult
of access as Philip himself, he was even more haughty to those who were
admitted to his presence. He addressed everyone with the depreciating
second person plural. Possessing the right of being covered in the presence
of the Spanish monarch, he had been with difficulty brought to renounce it
before the German emperor.
In person he was tall, thin, erect, with a small head, a long visage, lean
yellow cheeks, dark twinkling eyes, a dust complexion, black bristling hair,
and a long sable-silvered beard, descending in two waving streams upon his
breast.
Such being the design, the machinery was well selected. The best man
in Europe to lead the invading force was placed at the head of ten thousand
picked veterans. The privates in this exquisite little army, said the enthu-
siastic connoisseur Brantome," who travelled post into Lorraine, expressly
to see them on their march, all wore engraved or gilded armour, and were in
every respect equipped hke captains. They were the first who carried
muskets, a weapon which very much astonished the Flemings when it first
414 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1567 A.l>.]
rattled in their ears. The musketeers, he observed, might have been mis-
taken for princes, with such agreeable and graceful arrogance did they present
themselves. Each was attended by his servant or esquire, who carried his
piece for him, except in battle, and all were treated with extreme deference
by the rest of the army, as if they had been oflScers. The cavalry, amounting
to about twelve hundred, was under the command of the natural son of the
duke, Don Fernando de Toledo, prior of the knights of St. John.
With an army thus perfect, on a small scale, in all its departments — and
furnished, in addition, with
a force of two thousand
prostitutes, as regularly
enrolled, disciplined, and
distributed as the cavalry
or the artillery — the duke
embarked upon his mo-
mentous enterprise.
The duchess had in her
secret letters to Philip con-
tinued to express her dis-
approbation of the enter-
prise thus committed to
Alva. She had bitterly
complained that now,
when the country had
been pacified by her ef-
forts, another diould be
sent to reap all the glory, ■
or perhaps to undo all
that she had so painfully
and so successfully done.
She stated to her brother,
in most unequivocal lan-
guage, that the name of
Alva was odious enough
to make the whole Span-
ish nation detested in the
Netherlands. She also
wrote personally to Alva,
J ,, , . , . , imploring, commanding,
and tiireatemng, but with equally ill success. As to the effects of his armed
invasion upon the temper of the provinces, he was supremely indifferent.
He came as a conqueror, not as a mediator. "I have tamed people of iron
in my day, said he contemptuously; "shall I not easily crush these men of
butter?"
The Duke of Alva
(1508-1582)
THE ARRIVAL OF ALVA (1567)
At ThionvUle he was officially waited upon by Barlaymont and Noircarmes,
on the part of the regent. He at this point, moreover, began to receive depu-
tations from various cities, bidding him a hollow and trembling welcome,
and deprecating his displeasure for anything in the past which might seem
ottensive. To all such embassies he replied in vague and conventional
language) eaymg, however, to his confidential attendants: "I am here: bo
ALVA 416
11567 A.D.]
much is certain; whether I am welcome or not is to me a matter of Uttle
consequence."
At Tirlemont, on the 22nd of August, he was met by Count Egmont, who
had ridden forth from Brussels to show him a becoming respect, as the repre-
sentative of his sovereign. The count was accompanied by several other
noblemen, and brought to the duke a present of several beautiful horses.
Alva received him, however, but coldly, for he was unable at first to adjust
the mask to his countenance as adroitly as was necessary. "Behold the
greatest of all the heretics," he observed to his attendants, as soon as the
nobleman's presence was announced, and in a voice loud enough for him
to hear. After a brief interval, however, Alva seems to have commanded
himself. He passed his arm lovingly over that stately neck which he had
already devoted to the block, and the two rode along side by side in friendly
conversation; Alva, still attended by Egmont, rode soon afterwards through
the Louvain gate into Brussels.
The day of doom for all the crimes which had ever been committed in
the course of ages seemed now to have dawned upon the Netherlands. The
sword which had so long been hanging over them seemed about to descend.
Throughout the provinces there was but one feeling — cold and hopeless
dismay. Those who still saw a possibility of effecting their escape from the
fated land swarmed across the frontier. All foreign merchants deserted the
great marts. The cities became as still as if the plague-banner had been
unfurled on every house-top. Meantime the captam-general proceeded
methodically with his work. He distributed his troops through Brussels,
Ghent, Antwerp, and other principal cities. As a measure of necessity and
mark of the last humiliation, he required the municipalities to transfer their
keys to his keepmg.
In order that Egmont, Horn, and other distinguished victims might not
take alarm, and thus escape the doom deliberately arranged for them, royal
assurances were despatched to the Netherlands, cheering their despondency
and dispelling their doubts. With his own hand Philip wrote a letter, full
of affection and confidence, to Egmont. He wrote it after Alva had left
Madrid upon his mission of vengeance. The same stealthy measures were
pursued with regard to others. The prince of Orange was not likely to be
lured into the royal trap, however cautiously baited. Unfortunately he
could not communicate his wisdom to his friends.
It is difficult to comprehend so very sanguine a temperament as that to
which Egmont owed his destruction. It was not the prince of Orange alone
who had prophesied his doom. Warnings had come to the count from every
quarter, and they were now frequently repeated. Certainly he was not
without anxiety, but he had made his decision — determined to believe in
the royal word and in the royal gratitude for his services rendered.
The duke manifested the most friendly dispositions, taking care to send
him large presents of Spanish and Italian fruits, received frequently by the
government couriers. Lapped in this fatal security, Egmont not only forgot
His fears, but unfortunately succeeded in inspiring Count Horn with a portion
of his confidence. The admiral left his retirement at Weert to faU into the
pit which his enemies had been so skilfully preparing at Brussels. September
9th, the grand prior, Don Fernando, gave a magnificent dinner, to which
Egmont and Horn, together with Noircarmes, the viscount of Ghent, and
many other noblemen were invited.
At four o'clock, the dinner being finished, Horn and Egmont, accom-
panied by the other gentlemen, proceeded to the " Jassy " house, then occupied
416 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1567 A.D.]
by Alva, to take part in the deliberations proposed. They were received by
the duke with great courtesy. The council lasted till near seven in the
evening. As it broke up, Don Sancho de Avila, captain of the duke's guard,
requested Egmont to remain for a moment after the rest. After an insig-
nificant remark or two, the Spanish officer, as soon as the two were alone,
requested Egmont to surrender his sword. At the same moment the doors
of the adjacent apartment were opened, and Egmont saw himself surrounded
by a company of Spanish musqueteers and halberdmen. Finding himself
thus entrapped, he gave up his sword, saying bitterly, as he did so, that it
had at least rendered some service to the king in times which were past.
Count Horn was arrested upon the same occasion. Upon the 23rd of Sep-
tember both were removed imder a strong guard to the castle of Ghent.
The consternation was universal throughout the provinces when the arrests
became known.
The unfortunate envoys, the marquis of Bergen and the baron of Mon-
tigny, had remained in Spain under close observation. Of those doomed vic-
tims who, in spite of friendly remonstrances and of ominous warnings, had thus
ventured into the lion's den, no retreating footmarks were ever to be seen.
Their fate, now that Alva had at last been despatched to the Netherlands,
seemed to be sealed, and the marquis of Bergen, accepting the augury in its
most evil sense, immediately afterwards had sickened unto death. Before
his limbs were cold, a messenger was on his way to Brussels, instructing the
regent to sequestrate his property, and to arrest, upon suspicion of heresy,
the youthful kinsman and niece, who, by the will of the marquis, were to be
united in marriage and to share his estate. The baron of Montigny was
closely confined in the alcazar of Segovia, never to leave a Spanish prison
alive.
THE BLOODY "COUNCIL OF TROUBLES"
In the same despatch of the 9th of Sgptember, in which the duke com-
mxmicated to Philip the capture of Egmont and Horn, he announced to him
his determination to establish a new court for the trial of crimes committed
during the recent period of troubles. This wonderful tribunal was accord-
ingly created with the least possible delay. It was called the council of
Troubles, but it soon acquired the terrible name, by which it will be forever
known in history, of the Blood Council. It superseded all other institutions.
Every court, from those of the mimicipal magistracies up to the supreme
councils of the provinces, were forbidden to take cognisance in future of any
cause growing out of the late troubles. Not only citizens of every province,
but the municipal bodies and even the sovereign provincial estates themselves,
were compelled to plead, like humble individuals, before this new and ex-
traordinary tribunal.
_ It is unnecessary to allude to the absolute violation which was thus com-
mitted of all charters, laws, and privileges, because the very creation of the
council was a bold and brutal proclamation that those laws and privileges
were at an end. The constitution 6r maternal principle of this suddenly
erected court was of a twofold nature. It defined and it pimished the crime
of treason. The definitions, couched in eighteen articles, declared it to be
treason to have delivered or signed any petition against the new bishops,
the Inquisition, or the edicts; to have tolerated public preaching under any
circumstances; to have omitted resistance to the image-breaking, to the
field-preaching, or to the presentation of the Request by the nobles, and
"either through sympathy or surprise" to have assorted that the king did
ALVA 417
tlB67 A.D.]
not possess the right to deprive all the provinces of their liberties, or to have
maintained that this present tribunal was bound to respect in any manner
any laws or any charters. In these brief and simple but comprehensive
terms was the crime of high treason defined. The punishment was still
more briefly, simply, and comprehensively stated, for it was instant death
in all cases. So well, too, did this new and terrible engine perform its work
that, in less than three months from the time of its erection, eighteen hundred
human beings had suffered death by its summary proceedings; some of the
highest, the noblest, and the most virtuous in the land among the number.
Yet, strange to say, this tremendous court, thus established upon the ruins
of all the ancient institutions of the country, had not been provided with
even a nominal authority from any source whatever. The Blood Council
was merely an informal club, of which the duke was perpetual president,
while the other members were all appointed by himself.
No one who was offered the office refused it. Noircarmes and Barlay-
mont accepted with very great eagerness. Several presidents and councillors
of the different provincial tribunals were appointed, but all the Nether-
landers were men of straw.' Two Spaniards, Del Rio and Vargas, were the
only members who could vote; while their decisions were subject to reversal
by Alva. Del Rio was a man without character or talent, a mere tool in
the hands of his superiors, but Juan de Vargas was a terrible reality.
No better man could have been found in Europe for the post to which
he was thus elevated. To shed human blood was, in his opinion, the only
important business and the only exhilarating pastime of life. His youth
had been stained with other crimes. He had been obliged to retire from
Spain, because of his violation of an orphan child to whom he was guardian;
but, in his manhood, he found no pleasure but in murder. He executed
Alva's bloody work with an Industry which was almost superhuman, and
with a merriment which would have shamed a demon. His execrable jests
ring through the blood and smoke and death-cries of those days of perpetual
sacrifice. The figure of Vargas rises upon us through the mist of three cen-
turies with terrible distinctness. Even his barbarous grammar has not been
forgotten, and his crimes against syntax and against humanity have acquired
the same immortality.
Among the ciphers who composed the rest of the board was the Flemish
councillor Hessels. Hessels was accustomed to doze away his afternoon
hours at the council table, and when awakened from his nap in order that he
might express an opinion on the case then before the court, was wont to rub
his eyes and to call out "Ad patibulum, ad patibulum!" ("to the gallows
with him, to the gallows with him!") with great fervour, but in entire igno-
rance of the culprit's name or the merits of the case. His wife, naturally
distiu-bed that her husband's waking and sleeping hours were alike absorbed
with this hangman's work, more than once ominously expressed her hope
to him that he, whose head and heart were thus engrossed with the gibbet,
might not one day come to hang upon it himself; a gloomy prophecy which
the future most terribly fulfilled.
The council of Blood, thus constituted, held its first session on the 20th
of September, 1567, at the lodgings of Alva. There was a rude organisation
by which a crowd of commissioners, acting as inferior officers of the council,
were spread over the provinces, whose business was to collect information
concerning all persons who might be incriminated for participation in the
recent troubles. The greatest crime, however, was to be rich, and one which
could be expiated by no virtues, however signal. Alva was bent upon
H. w. — VOL. im. 2e
418 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1567 A.D.]
proving himself as accomplished a financier as he was indisputably a consum-
mate commander, and he had promised his master an annual income of
500,000 ducats from the confiscations which were to accompany the executions.
It was necessary that the blood torrent should flow at once through the
Netherlands, in order that the promised golden river, a yard deep, according
to his vaunt, should begin to irrigate the thirsty soil of Spain. It is obvious,
from the fundamental laws which were made to define treason at the same
moment in which they established the coimcil, that any man might be at
any instant summoned to the court.
Every man, whether innocent or
guilty, whether papist or Protes-
tant, felt his head shaking on his
shoulders. If he were wealthy,
there seemed no remedy but flight,
which was now almost impossible,
from the heavy penalties affixed by
the new edict upon all carriers, ship-
masters, and wagoners, who should
aid in the escape of heretics.
The register of every city, vil-
lage, and hamlet throughout the
Netherlands showed the daily lists
of men, women, and children thus
sacrificed at the shrine of the demon
who had obtained the mastery over
this unhappy land. It was not often
that an individual was of sufficient
importance to be tried — if trial it
could be Called — by himself. It
was found more expeditious to send
them in batches to the furnace.
Thus, for example, on the 4th of
January, eighty-four inhabitants of
Valenciennes were condemned; on
another day, ninety-five miscel-
laneous individuals from different
places in Flanders ; on another,
forty-six inhabitants of Mechlin; on
another, thirty-five persons from
different localities; and so on.
The sentences were occasionally in advance of the docket. Thus upon
one occasion a man's case was called for trial, but before the investigation
was commenced it was discovered that he had been already executed. A
cursory examination of the papers proved, moreover, as usual, that the culprit
had committed no crime. "No matter for that," said Vargas, jocosely;
" if he has died innocent, it will be all the better for him when he takes his
trial in the other world."
But however the councillors might indulge in these gentle jests among
themselves, it was obvious that innocence was in reality impossible, accord-
ing to the rules which had been laid down regarding treason. The practice
was in accordance with the precept, and persons were daily executed with
senseless pretexts, which was worse than executions with no pretexts at all.
Thus Peter de Witt of Amsterdam was beheaded, because at one of the
PoBTE DE Hal, Bbussels, ebbcted 1381. Used
BT Ai/VA AS A Bastille (1568-1573)
ALVA 419
tl567A.i>.]
tumults in that city he had persuaded a rioter not to fire upon a magistrate.
This was taken as sufficient proof that he was a man in authority among the
rebels, and he was accordingly put to death. Madame Juriaen, who, in
1566, had struck with her slipper a little wooden image of the Virgin, together
with her maid-servant, who had witnessed without denouncing the crime,
were both drowned by the hangman in a hogshead placed on the scaffold.
Death, even, did not in aU cases place a criminal beyond the reach of the
executioner. Egbert Meynartzoon, a man of high official rank, had been con-
demned, together with two colleagues, on an accusation of collecting money
in a Lutheran church. He died ia prison of dropsy. The sheriff consoled
himself by placing the body on a chair, and having the dead man beheaded
in company with his colleagues.
Thus the whole country became a charnel-house; the death-bell tolled
hourly in every village; not a family but was called to moinn for its dearest
relatives, while the survivors stalked listlessly about, the ghosts of their
former selves, among the wrecks of their former homes. The spirit of the
nation, within a few months after the arrival of Alva, seemed hopelessly
broken.
DEPARTURE OF THE REGENT (DECEMBER, 1567)
The duchess of Parma had been kept in a continued state of irritation.
She had not ceased for many months to demand her release from the odious
position of a cipher in a land where she had so lately been sovereign, and
she had at last obtained it. Philip transmitted his acceptance of her resigna-
tion by the same courier who brought Alva's commission to be governor-
general in her place. The letters to the duchess were full of conventional
compliments for her past services, accompanied, however, with a less bar-
ren and more acceptable acknowledgment, in the shape of a life income
of 14,000 ducats instead of the eight thousand hitherto enjoyed by her
highness.
The horrors of the succeeding administration proved beneficial to her
reputation. Upon the dark groimd of succeeding years the lines which
recorded her history seemed written with letters of light. Yet her conduct
in the Netherlands offers but few points for approbation, and many for
indignant censine. That she was not entirely destitute of feminine softness
and sentiments of bounty, her parting despatch to her brother proved. In
that letter she recommended to him a course of clemency and forgiveness,
and reminded him that the nearer kings approached to God in station, the
more they should endeavour to imitate him in his attributes of benignity.
But the language of this farewell was more tender than had been the spirit
of her government. One looks in vain, too, through the general atmosphere
of kindness which pervades the epistle, for a special recommendation of
those distinguished and doomed seigniors, whose attachment to her person
and whose chivalrous and conscientious endeavours to fulffi her own orders
had placed them upon the edge of that precipice from which they were shortly
to be hurled.
Meantime the second civil war in France had broken out. The hollow
truce by which the Guise party and the Huguenots had partly pretended to
deceive each other was hastened to its end, among other causes, by the march
of Alva to the Netherlands. The Huguenots had taken alarni, for they
recognised the fellowship which imited their foes in all countries against
the Reformation, and Cond6 and Coligny knew too well that the same influence
which had brought Alva to Brussels would soon create an exterminating
420 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1567-1568 A.D.]
army against their followers. Hostilities were resumed with more bitterness
than ever. The duke of Alva not only furnished Catherine de' Medici with
advice, but with two thousand foot and fifteen hundred horse, under the
count of Ajenberg, attended by a choice band of the Catholic nobility of
the Netherlands.
Alva was not meantime unmindful of the business which had served as
a pretext in the arrest of the two counts. The fortifications of the principal
cities were pushed on with great rapidity. The memorable citadel of Antwerp
in particular had already been commenced in October under the superin-
tendence of the celebrated engineers, Pacheco and Gabriel de Cerbelloni.
In a few months it was completed, at a cost of 1,400,000 florins, of which
sum the citizens, in spite of their remonstrances, were compelled to contribute
more than one quarter. To four of the five bastions, the captain-general,
with characteristic ostentation, gave his own names and titles. One was
called the Duke, the second Ferdinando, a third Toledo, a fourth Alva, while
the fifth was baptised with the name of the ill-fated engi'ieer, Pacheco.
On the 19th of January, 1568, the prince of Orange, his brother Louis
of Nassau, his brother-in-law Count van den Berg, the count Hoogstraten,
the count Kuilenburg, and the baron of Montigny were summoned in the
name of Alva to appear before the Blood Council, within thrice fourteen
days from the date of the proclamation, under pain of perpetual banishment
with confiscation of their estates. It is needless to say that these seigniors
did not obey the siunmons. They knew full well that their obedience would
be rewarded only with death. The prince replied to this summons by a
brief and somewhat contemptuous plea to the jurisdiction. As a knight of
the Fleece, as a member of the German Empire, as a sovereign prince in
France, as a citizen of the Netherlands, he rejected the authority of Alva
and of his self-constituted tribunal. His innocence he was willing to estab-
lish before competent courts and righteous judges.
From the general tenor of the document, it is obvious both that the prince
was not yet ready to throw down the gauntlet to his sovereign, nor to pro-
claim his adhesion to the new religion. On departing from the Netherlands
in the spring, he had said openly that he was still in possession of sixty thou-
sand florins yearly, and that he should commence no hostilities against
Philip, so long as he did not disturb him in his honour or his estates.
His character had, however, already been attacked, his property threat-
ened with confiscation. His closest ties of family were now to be severed
by the hand of the tyrant. His eldest child, the coimt of Buren, torn from
his protection, was to be carried into indefinite captivity in a foreign land.
It was a remarkable oversight, for a person of his sagacity, that, upon his
own departure from the provinces, he should leave his son, then a boy of
thirteen years, to pursue his studies at the college of Louvain. Thus exposed
to the power of the government, he was soon seized as a hostage for the good
behaviour of the father. A changeling, as it were, from his cradle, he seemed
completely transformed by his Spanish tuition, for he was educated and not
sacrificed by Philip. When he returned to the Netherlands, after a twenty
years' residence in Spain, it was difficult to detect in his gloomy brow, sat-
urnine character, and Jesuitical habits a trace of the generous spirit which
characterised that race of heroes of Orange-Nassau.
Events now marched with rapidity. Early in the year, the most sublime
sentence of death was promulgated which has ever been pronounced since
the creation of the world. The Roman tyrant wished that his enemies'
heads were all upon a single neck, that he might strike them off at a blow;
ALVA 421
[1568 A.D.]
the Inquisition assisted Philip to place the heads of all his Netherland sub-
jects upon a single neck for the same fell purpose. Upon the 16th of February,
1568, a sentence of the holy office condemned all the inhabitants of the Nether-
lands to death as heretics. From this universal doom only a few persons,
especially named, were excepted. A proclamation of the king, dated ten
days later, confirmed this decree of the Inquisition, and ordered it to be
carried into instant execution, without regard to age, sex, or condition.
This is probably the most concise death-warrant that was ever framed.
Three millions of people, men, women, and children, were sentenced to the
scaffold in three lines; and, as it was well known that these were not harm-
less thunders, like some bulls of the Vatican, but serious and practical meas-
ures, which were to be enforced, the horror which they produced may be easily
imagined. It was hardly the purpose of government to compel the absolute
completion of the wholesale plan in all its length and breadth; yet, in the hor-
rible times upon which they had fallen, the Netherlanders might be excused
for believing that no measure was too monstrous to be fulfilled. At any rate,
it was certain that when all were condemned, any might at a moment's
warning be carried to the scaffold, and this was precisely the course adopted
by the authorities.
Men in the highest and humblest positions were daily and hourly dragged
to the stake. Alva, in a single letter to Philip, coolly estimated the number
of executions which were to take place immediately after the expiration of
holy week " at eight hundred heads." Many a citizen, convicted of a hundred
thousand florins and of no other crime, saw himself suddenly tied to a horse's
tail with his hands fastened behind him, and so dragged to the gallows. But
although wealth was an impardonable sin, poverty proved rarely a protection.
Reasons sufficient could always be found for dooming the starveling labourer
as well as the opulent burgher. To avoid the disturbances created in the
streets by the frequent harangues or exhortations addressed to the bystanders
by the victims on their way to the scaffold, a new gag was invented. The
tongue of each prisoner was screwed into an iron ring, and then seared with
a hot iron. The swelling and inflammation which were the immediate result,
prevented the tongue from slipping through the ring, and of course effectually
precluded all possibility of speech.*^
TRIAL AND FATE OF EGMONT AND HORN (1568)
The two counts had been confined in the citadel of Ghent for more than
eight months. Their trial commenced in due form before the council of
Twelve. The indictment against Egmont consisted of ninety counts, and
that against Horn of sixty. Every action, however innocent, every omission
of duty, was interpreted on the principle, which had been laid down in
the opening of the indictment, that the two counts, in conjunction with
the prince of Orange, had planned the overthrow of the royal authority in
the Netherlands, and the usurpation of the government of the country; the
expulsion of Granvella, the embassy of Egmont to Madrid, the confederacy
of the gueux, the concessions which they made to the Protestants in the
provinces under their government — all were made to have a connection with,
and a reference to, this deliberate design. The accusations were sent to each
of the prisoners, who were required to reply to them within five days.
The first step was to demur against the tribunal which was to try them,
since, by the privilege of their order, they, as knights of the Golden Fleece,
were amenable only to the king himself, the grand master. But this
422 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1568 A.D.]
demurrer was overruled, and they were required to produce their witnesses, in
default of which they were to be proceeded against in contumaciam. Egmont
had satisfactorily answered to eighty-two counts, while Count Horn had
refuted the charges against him, article by article. The accusation and the
defence are still extant; on that defence every impartial tribunal would
have acquitted them both.
Egmont's wife, by birth a duchess of Bavaria, succeeded in obtaining
the intercessions of almost every German court in behalf of her husband.
Alva rejected them, with a declaration that they had no force in such a case
as the present. On the 1st of June, 1568, the council of Twelve declared
them guilty, and on the 4th of that month sentence of death was pronounced
against them.
The execution of twenty-five noble Netherlanders, who were beheaded
in three successive days, in the market-place at Brussels, was the terrible
prelude.
The duke had reason to hasten the execution of the sentence. Count
Louis of Nassau had given battle to the count of Arenberg, near the monastery
of Heiligerlee in Groningen, and had the good fortune to defeat him. Immedi-
ately after his victory, he had advanced against Groningen, and laid siege
to it. The success of his arms had. raised the courage of his faction, and the
prince of Orange, his brother, was close at hand with an army to support him.
On the day after the sentence was passed, the two coimts were brought,
under an escort of three thousand Spaniards, from Ghent to Brussels. Dur-
ing the night between the 4th and 5th of June the sentences were brought
to the prisoners, after they had already gone to rest. Egmont called for pen
and ink, and wrote two letters, one to his wife, the other to the king; the
latter was as foUows:
SlEB : I have learned, this evening, the sentence which your majesty has been pleased to
pronounce upon me. Although I have never had a thought, and believe myself never to have
done a deed which could tend to the prejudice of your majesty's person or service, or to the
detriment of our true ancient and Catholic religion, nevertheless I take patience to bear that
which it has pleased the good God to send. If, during these troubles in the Netherlands, I
have done or permitted aught which had a different appearance, it has been with the true and
good intent to serve God and your majesty, and the necessity of the times. Therefore, I pray
your majesty to forgive me, and to have compassion on my poor wife, my children, and my
servants ; having regard to my past services. In which hope I now commend myself to the
mercy of God.
From Brussels,
Beady to die, this 5th June, 1568.
Your majesty's very humble and loyal vassal and servant,
Lamoeal d'Egmont.
The family of the count was subsequently reinstated in all his property,
fiefs, and rights, which, by virtue of the sentence, had escheated to the royal
treasury.
Egmont paced the scaffold with noble dignity, and lamented that it had
not been permitted him to die a more honourable death for his king and his
country. Up to the last he seemed unable to persuade himself that the king
was in earnest, and that his severity would be carried any further than the
mere terror of execution. He then clenched his teeth, threw off his mantle
and robe, knelt upon the cushion and prepared himself for the last prayer.
He drew a silk cap over his eyes, and awaited the stroke. Over the corpse
and the streammg blood a black cloth was immediately thrown.
All Brussels thronged around the scaffold, and the fatal blow seemed to
fall on every heart. Loud sobs alone broke the appalling silence. The
ALVA 423
[1568 A.D.]
duke himself, who watched the execution from a window of the town-house,
wiped his eyes as his victim died.'
Shortly afterwards, Count Horn advanced on the scaffold. Of a more
violent temperament than his friend, he burst forth in bitter reproaches
against the king, and the bishop with difficulty prevailed upon him to make
a better use of his last moments than to abuse them in imprecations on his
enemies. At last, however, he became more collected, and made his confession
to the bishop, which at first he was disposed to refuse. He mounted the
scaffold with the same attendants as his friend. In passing, he saluted many
of his acquaintances; his hands were, like Egmont's, free. When he had
ascended, he cast his eyes upon the corpse which lay under the cloth, and
asked one of the by-standers if it was the body of his friend. On being an-
swered in the affirmative, he said some words in Spanish, threw his cloak
from him, and knelt upon the cushion. All shrieked aloud as he received
the fatal blow.
The heads of both were fixed upon poles which were set upon the scaffold,
where they remained until past three in the afternoon, when they were taken
down, and, with the two bodies, placed in leaden coffins and deposited in a
vault. In spite of the number of spies and executioners who surrounded
the scaffold, the citizens of Brussels would not be prevented from dipping
their handkerchiefs in the streaming blood, and carrying home with them
these precious memorials.^
Egmont is a great historical figure, but he was certainly not a great man.
His execution remains an enduring monument not only of Philip's cruelty and
perfidy but of his dulness. The king had everything to hope from Egmont
and nothing to fear. Granvella knew the man well, and, almost to the last,
could not believe in the possibility of so unparalleled a blunder as that which
was to make a victim, a martyr, and a popular idol of a personage brave
indeed, but incredibly vacillating and inordinately vain, who, by a little
management, might have been converted into a most useful instrument for
the royal purposes.
He had no sympathy with the people, but he loved, as a grand seignior,
to be looked up to and admired by a gaping crowd. He was an unwavering
Catholic, held sectaries in utter loathing, and, after the image-breaking, took
a positive pleasure in hanging ministers, together with their congregations,
and in pressing the besieged Christians of Valenciennes to extremities. Upon
more than one occasion he pronounced his unequivocal approval of the in-
famous edicts, and he exerted himself at times to enforce them within his
province. The transitory impression made upon his mind by the lofty nature
of Orange was easily effaced in Spain by court flattery and by royal bribes.
Upon the departure of Orange, Egmont was only too eager to be employed
by Philip in any work which the monarch could find for him to do. Yet this
was the man whom Philip chose, through the executioner's sword, to convert
into a popular idol, and whom Poetry has loved to contemplate as a romantic
champion of freedom.
As for Horn, he was a person of mediocre abilities and thoroughly
['Even Bentivoglio^ becomes softened in relating the pathetic scene. "I tear," wrote
Morillon to Granvella (June 7th, 1568), " that his excellency shed tears as big as pease during
the execution." (At JecU des larmes aussi grosses que poix.) — van Gkobn Pkinstebbr/ jlr-
chives. The prebendary goes on to say that "he had caused the story of the duke's tenderness
to be trumpeted in many places " (a faict sonner ou il luy a sembU convenir, quia multorum
animi exacerbeti). Morillon also quotes Alva as having had the effrontery to say that he
desired a mitigation of the punishment, but that the king had answered that he could forgive
offences against himself, but the crimes committed against God were unpardonable.^]
424 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1568 A.D.]
commonplace character. His high rank and his tragic fate are all which make
him interesting. The most interesting features in his character are his gener-
osity towarrl his absent brother and the manliness with which, as Montigny's
representative at Tournay, he chose rather to confront the anger of the gov-
ernment, and to incur the deadly revenge of Philip, than make himself the
executioner of the harmless Christians in Tournay. In this regard, his con-
duct is vastly more entitled to our respect than that of Egmont, and he was
certainly more deserving of reverence from the people, even though deserted
by all men while living, and left headless and solitary in his coffin at St.
Gudule. The hatred for Alva, which sprang from the graves of these illustrious
victims, waxed daily more intense.**
THE FIRST CAMPAIGN (1568)
Everything seemed now ripe, both at home and abroad, to favour the
enterprise on which the prince of Orange was determined to risk his fortune
and his life. But his principal resources were to be found in his genius and
courage, and in the heroic devotion partaken by his whole family in the cause
of their country. His brother, Count John, advanced him a considerable
sum of money; the Flemings and Hollanders, in England and elsewhere,
subscribed largely; the prince himself, after raising loans in every possible
way on his private means, sold his jewels, his plate, and even the furniture
of his houses, and threw the amount into the common fund.
The queen of England, the French Huguenots, and the Protestant princes
of Germany all lent him their aid in money or in men; and he opened his
first campaign with great advantage. He formed his army into four several
corps, intending to enter the country on as many different points, and by a
sudden irruption on that most vulnerable to rouse at once the hopes and the
co-operation of the people. His brothers Louis and Adolphus, at the head
of one of these divisions, had already penetrated into Friesland, and there
commenced the contest. The count of Arenberg, governor of this province,
assisted by the Spanish troops under Gonsalvo de Braccamonte, had quickly
opposed the invaders. They had met on the 23d of May near the abbey of
Heiligerlee, which gave its name to the battle; and after a short contest the
royalists were defeated with great loss. The count of Arenberg and Adolphus
of Nassau encountered in single combat, and fell by each other's hands.*
The victory was dearly purchased by the loss of this gallant prince, the first
of his illustrious family.
Alva immediately hastened to the scene of this first action, and soon
forced Count Louis to another at a place called Jemmingen, near the town
of Embden, on the 21st of July. Their forces were nearly equal — about
fourteen thousand at either side : but all the advantage of discipline and skiU
was in favour of Alva, and the consequence was the total rout of the patriots
with a considerable loss in killed and the whole of the cannon and baggage.
The entire province of Friesland was thus again reduced to obedience, and
Alva hastened back to Brabant to make head against the prince of Orange.
The latter had now under his command an army of twenty-eight thousand
men — an imposing force in point of numbers, being double that which his
rival was able to muster. He soon made himself master of the towns of
Tongres and St. Trond, and the whole province of Liege was in his power.
He advanced boldly against Alva, and for several months did all that
[' This is Strada's '' account, but others differ so much that it is possible only to say that
both men died in the battle.]
THE EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HORN AT BRUSSELS
(Drawn for the Histm-ians' History of the Worta, by Phillipps Ward)
ALVA 425
[1568-1569 A.D.]
manoeuvring could do to force him to a battle. But the wily veteran knew his
trade too well; he felt sure that in time the prince's force would disperse
for want of pay and supplies; and he managed his resources so ably that with
little risk and scarcely any loss he finally succeeded in his object. In the
month of October the prince found himself forced to disband his large but
undisciplined force;' and he retired into France to recruit his funds and
consider on the best measures for some future enterprise.
The insolent triumph of Alva knew no bounds. The rest of the year
was consumed in new executions. The hotel Kuilenburg, the early cradle
of Brederode's confederacy, was rased to the ground, and a pillar erected
on the spot commemorative of the deed; while Alva, resolved to erect a monu-
ment of his success as well as of his hate, had his own statue in brass, formed
of the cannons taken at Jemmingen, set up in the citadel of Antwerp, with
various symbols of power and an inscription of inflated pride.'^
OPPRESSIVE taxation; the amnesty
The maintenance of the army required from two to four million florins
(over a million guineas), and it was the royal treasury that had to pay the
costs. Philip, deceived by the popular attitude or overwhelmed by the
enormity of the burden imposed upon him, enjoined his general to seek in
Belgium the needed resources. A plan of taxation was even drawn up in
Madrid,^ and sent to the governor, with orders to put it into immediate
execution. It confined itself to two measures, which were to be general:
first, the immediate leA^ of a duty amounting to the hundredth part of the
value of all property, real and personal; and for the future a fixed tax of
one twentieth on the sale of all real estate and one tenth on the sale of all
merchandise and personal property. These were the taxes known as the
hundredth, twentieth, and tenth pennies.
The duke of Alva called a general assembly of the states-general at Brus-
sels, in March, 1569, and himself proposed the imposition of these taxes; but
inamediately lively protests came from all quarters. It was evident that a
tax of a tenth on all sales would deal a mortal blow to commerce, and conse-
(juently to the general prosperity of the country, already compromised by
internal troubles and by the commotions agitating the rest of Europe. The
king's partisans were the first to try to turn the governor from a measure ^ as
imprudent as it was impracticable and Viglius above aU distinguished him-
self by his frankness. He' succeeded in convincing the duke, who contented
himself with a subsidy of two millions, to which the assembly consented.
But the king and his council were far from satisfied with this transaction,
which, far from furnishing the means to pay debts already contracted, was
not even sufiicient to guarantee the maintenance of the troops in the future.
Philip had moreover some reason to accuse his general, the latter having
shown on this occasion no disposition to follow the course prescribed for him.
The monarch had sent with the scheme of taxation a proclamation of
['He melted his last plate to satisfy his clamorous German mercenaries; then, with
twelve hundred men, he joined the Huguenots in Gascony and fought under the duke of Zwei-
brilcken [or Deux Fonts]. The campaign there was also a failure. The emperor was recon-
ciled with Philip, and even Queen Elizabeth of England for the present wished him well.]
[' Motley,"* however, states that this plan of taxation was due entirely to the duke of Alva
and that the authorities at Madrid had nothing to do with it.]
[• BlokJ also points out that a cherished scheme of Alva's was the unifying of aJl the prov-
inces under one ruler with one capital and one law. This meant a sacrifice of dearly bought
and ancient municipal, religious, and individual privileges that aroused ferocious protest. The
experiment, however, failed even of trial, on account of new complications.]
426 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1668-1573 A.]).]
amnesty which was to reassure the minds of the people at the very moment
when they were to be called on to make new sacrifices. But the duke of
Alva thought this amnesty premature. He withheld its publication; and
when it was finally proclaimed the following year (1570), it contained so
many restrictions that the tardy and incomplete pardon made no favour-
able impression.
The situation, daily becoming more difficult, was further complicated by
an open rupture with England, which dealt a fatal blow to the prosperity of
Antwerp and Bruges. Elizabeth, who had succeeded Mary, had long shown
herself hostile to Philip. She made the duke of Alva feel her ill-will by the
retention of 800,000 gulden sent him by a ship that had put into Plymouth
(1568). Elizabeth had appropriated this sum, charging herself, however,
with its repayment to the Italian merchants from whom the king had bor-
rowed it. But the duke, who was awaiting this money in order to pay his
troops, had been furious and had seized the property and ships of the English
in Belgian ports. Whereupon the queen had retaliated and, not content
with forbidding all trade with the Low Countries, offered asylum to the pri-
vateers which the discontented faction began to fit out and which caused some
serious losses to commerce.
Thus came into existence the Beggars of the Sea — a band of bold,
adventurous men, whose leaders were the emigrant nobles, the rest sailors
from the coast. The success of their first attempts at piracy excited fresh
clamours against the government in Belgium; and later deeds of a less
doubtful character were to efface these obscm-e beginnings and to assign to
their names a very different place in history.
While unrest and discontent thus increased around the Spanish governor,
William of Nassau preserved a threatening attitude. This prince and his
brother Louis were equally allied with Lutheran princes of Germany and with
the leaders of the Calvinist party in France. They had even fought for the
cause of the latter; for in spite of their exile they took part in all the great
Protestant enterprises, identifying their cause with that of the cult they
professed and seeking, in each European commotion, in some way to advance
their own interests. Their hopes revived when the celebrated Coligny and
the Huguenots came to an understanding with King Charles IX (1570). A
plan was then formed to lead into the Belgian provinces a number of those
old bands which for years had been fighting in France. Coligny and his
brothers-at-arms were to enter Hainault with their French soldiers, while
the prince of Orange at the head of a German army penetrated into Limburg
and Brabant. Charles IX gave his consent to this project; the old-time jeal-
ousy against Spain made him desire the abasement and humiliation of Philip.
The duke of Alva saw the storm approaching. Pressed by the need of
money and by the orders from the court, he made fresh attempts to obtain
the consent of the states to the taxes the king wished to establish, but the
resistance was the same as in former years. Thereupon he took it upon
himself to direct without their consent the collection of the tenth and twen-
tieth penny, violating thus all the rights of the provinces, but imputing the
bold step to stern necessity. He consented, however, that a deputation
should be sent to the king — in protest. Philip received the deputies with the
greatest demonstrations of good will. It is related that he first tried to make
them accept the tax as a war contribution; but, finally yielding to their
remonstrances, he agreed to its provisional suspension.^
One of those frightful inundations to which the northern provinces were
so constantly exposed occurred in 1572, carrying away the dikes, and
ALVA 427
[1573 A.D.]
destroying lives and property to a considerable amount. In Friesland alone
twenty thousand men were victims to this calamity. But no suffering could
affect the inflexible sternness of the duke of Alva; and to such excess did he
carry his persecution that Philip himself began to be discontented, and
thought his representative was overstepping the bounds of delegated tyranny.
He even reproached him sharply in some of his despatches. The governor
replied in the same strain; and such was the effect of this correspondence
that Philip resolved to remove him from his command. But the king's
marriage with Anne of Austria, daughter of the emperor Maximilian II,
obliged him to defer his intentions for a while; and he at length named John
de la Cerda, duke of Medina-Celi, as Alva's succ;essor. Upwards of a year,
however, elapsed before this new governor was finally appointed; and he
made his appearance on the coast of Flanders with a considerable fleet, on
the 11th of May, 1572. He was afforded on this very day a specimen of
the sort of people he came to contend with; for his fleet was suddenly attacked
by that of the patriots, and many of his vessels were burned and taken before
his eyes, with their rich cargoes and considerable treasures intended for the
service of the state.^
The duke of Medina-Celi proceeded rapidly to Brussels, where he was
ceremoniously received by Alva, who however refused to resign the govern-
ment, under the pretext that the term of his appointment had not expired,
and that he was resolved first to completely suppress aU symptoms of revolt
in the northern provinces. He succeeded in effectually disgusting La Cerda,
who demanded and obtained his own recall to Spain. Alva, left once more
in undisputed possession of his power, turned it with increased vigour into
new channels of oppression. He was soon again employed in efforts to effect
the levying of his favourite taxes; and such was the resolution of the trades-
men of Brussels that, sooner than submit, they almost universally closed
their shops altogether. Alva, furious at this measure, caused sixty of the
citizens to be seized, and ordered them to be hanged opposite their own
doors. The gibbets were actually erected, when, on the very day fixed for
the executions, he received despatches that wholly disconcerted him, and
stopped their completion.*
In the night arrived the intelligence that the town of Briel had been
captured. The duke, feeling the full gravity of the situation, postponed the
chastisement which he had thus secretly planned to a more convenient season,
in order, without an instant's hesitation, to avert the consequences of this
new movement on the part of the rebels.
THE SEA BEGGARS TAKE BRIEL
Allusion has been made to those formidable partisans of the patriot
cause, the marine outlaws. Cheated of half their birthright by nature, and
now driven forth from their narrow isthmus by tyranny, the exiled Hol-
landers took to the ocean. Its boundless fields, long arable to their industry,
became more fruitful than ever now that oppression was transforming a peace-
ful seafaring people into a nation of corsairs.
The beggars of the sea asked their alms through the mouths of their
[' It was the ricliest booty which the insurgents had yet acquired by sea or land. The
fleet was laden with spices, money, jewelry, and the richest merchandise. Five hundred
thousand crowns of gold were taken, and it was calculated that the plunder altogether would
suffice to maintain the war for two years at least. One thousand Spanish soldiers and a good
amount of ammunition were also captured. — MoTliBY,'']
428 THE HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS
[1572 A.B.]
cannon. Unfortunately, they but too often made their demands upon both
friend and foe. Every ruined merchant, every banished lord, every reckless
mariner, who was wiUing to lay the commercial world under contribution
to repair his damaged fortunes, could, without much difEculty, be supplied
with a vessel and crew at some northern port, under colour of cruismg against
the viceroy's government. Nor was the ostensible motive simply a pretext.
To make war upon Alva was the leading object of aU these freebooters, and
they were usually furnished by the prince of Orange, in his capacity of sov-
ereign, with letters of marque for that purpose. The prince, indeed, did his
utmost to control and du-ect an evil which had inevitably grown out of the
horrors of the time. His admiral, William de la Marck, was, however, in-
capable of comprehending the lofty purposes of his superior. A wild, sangui-
nary, licentious noble, wearing his hair and beard unshorn, according to
ancient Batavian custom, until the death of his relative Egmont should
have been expiated, a worthy descendant of the Wild Boar of Ardeimes, this
hirsute and savage corsair seemed an embodiment of vengeance. He had
sworn to wreak upon Alva and upon popery the deep revenge owed to them
by the Netherland nobility, and in the cruelties afterwards practised by him
upon monks and priests, the Blood Council learned that their example had
made at least one ripe scholar among the rebels. He was lying at this epoch
with his fleet on the southern coast of England, from which advantageous
position he was now to be ejected in a summary manner.
The negotiations between the duke of Alva and Queen Elizabeth had
now assumed an amicable tone, and were fast ripening to an adjustment.
It was urged that the continued coimtenance afforded by the EngHsh people
to the Netherland cruisers must inevitably lead to a war with Philip. In
the latter days of March, 1572, therefore, a sentence of virtual excommuni-
cation was pronounced against De la Marck and his rovers. A peremptory
order of Elizabeth forbade any of her subjects to supply them with meat,
bread, or beer. The command being strictly complied with, their further
stay was rendered impossible. Twenty-four vessels accordingly set sail
from Dover in the very last days of March. Being almost in a state of starva-
tion, these adventurers determined to make a sudden foray upon the
coasts of North Holland. On Palm Simday they captured two Spanish
merchantmen. Soon afterwards, however, the wind becoming contrary,
they abandoned their original intention, dropped down towards Zealand, and
entered the broad mouth of the river Maas.
Among the ships was that of William of Blois, seigneur of Treslong. This
adventurous noble, whose brother had been executed by the duke of Alva
in 1568, had himself fought by the side of Count Louis at Jemmingen, and,
although covered with wounds, had been one of the few who escaped alive
from the horrible carnage. During the intervening period he had become
one of the most famous rebels on the ocean, and he had always been well
known in Briel, where his father had been governor for the king. Treslong,
who was really the hero of this memorable adventure, persuaded De k
Marck to send a message to the city of Briel, demanding its siu-render. This
was a bold summons to be made by a handful of men.
The city of Briel (or Brill) was not populous but it was well waUed and
fortified. It was, moreover, a most commodious port. The whole rebel
force was divided into two parties, one of which under Treslong made an
attack upon the southern gate. Treslong, after a short struggle, succeeded
in forcing his entrance. De la Marck and his men made a bonfire at the
northern gate, and then battered down the half-burned portal with the end
ALVA 429
[1572 A.D.]
of an old mast. Thus rudely and rapidly did the Netherland patriots con-
duct their first successful siege. The two parties, not more perhaps than
two hundred and fifty men in all, met before sunset in the centre of the city,
and the foundation of the Dutch Republic was laid. The weary spirit of free-
dom, so long a fugitive over earth and sea, had at last found a resting place,
which rude and even ribald hands had prepared.
The panic created by the first appearance of the fleet had been so exten-
sive that hardly fifty citizens had remained in the town. The rest had all
escaped, with as much property as they could carry away. The admiral,
in the name of the prince of Orange, as lawful stadholder of Philip, took
formal possession of an almost deserted city. No indignity was offered to
the inhabitants of either sex, but as soon as the conquerors were fairly es-
tablished in the best houses of the place, the inclination to plunder the churches
could no longer be restrained. The altars and images were all destroyed, the
rich furniture and gorgeous vestments appropriated to private use. Adam
van Haren appeared on his vessel's deck attired in a magnificent high mass
chasuble. Treslong thenceforth used no drinking cups in his cabin save the
golden chalices of the sacrament. Unfortunately, their hatred to popery
was not confined to such demonstrations. Thirteen unfortunate monks
and priests, who had been unable to affect their escape, were arrested and
thrown into prison, from whence they were taken a few days later, by order
of the ferocious admiral, and executed under circumstances of great. barbarity.
The news of this important exploit spread with great rapidity. Alva,
surprised at the very moment of venting his rage on the butchers and grocers
of Brussels, deferred this savage design in order to deal with the new difficulty.
He had certainly not expected such a result from the ready compliance of
Queen Elizabeth with his request. The punsters of Brussels were sure not
to let such an opportunity escape them, for the name of the captured town
was susceptible of a quibble, and the event had taken place upon All Fools'
Day.
On April Fool's Day,
Duke Alva's spectacles were stolen away
became a popular couplet. The word "spectacles," in Flemish, as well as
the name of the suddenly surprised city, being Brill, this allusion to the duke's
loss and implied purblindness was not destitute of ingenuity.
The duke, however, lost not an instant in attempting to repair the disaster.
Count Bossu, who had acted as stadholder of Holland and Zealand imder
Alva's authority, since the prince of Orange had resigned that office, was
ordered at once to recover the conquered seaport, if possible. The patriots,
being very few in number, were at first afraid to venture outside the gates
to attack the much superior force of their invaders. A carpenter, however,
dashed into the water with his axe in his hand, and swimming to the Niew-
land sluice hacked it open with a few vigorous strokes. The sea poured in
at once, making the approach to the city upon the north side impossible.
Bossu then led his Spaniards along the Niewland dike to the southern gate,
where they were received with a warm discharge of artillery, which completely
staggered them. Meantime, Treslong and Robol had, in the most daring
manner, rowed out to the ships which had brought the enemy to the island,
cut some adrift, and set others on fire. The Spaniards at the southern gate
caught sight of their blazing vessels, saw the sea rapidly rising over the dike,
became panic-struck at being thus enclosed between fire and water, and dashed
off in precipitate retreat along the slippery causeway and through the slimy
430 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1572 A.D.]
and turbid waters, which were fast threatening to overwhelm them.* Many
were drowned or smothered in their flight, but the greater portion of the force
effected their escape in the vessels which still remained within reach. This
danger averted. Admiral de la Marck summoned all the inhabitants, a large
number of whom had returned to the town after the capture had been fairly
established, and required them, as well as all the population of the island,
to take an oath of allegiance to the prince of Orange as stadholder for his
majesty.
THE EEVOLT OF THE TOWNS
The example thus set by Briel and later by Flushing was rapidly followed.
The first half of the year 1572 was distinguished by a series of triumphs
rendered still more remarkable by the reverses which followed at its close.
Of a sudden, almost as it were by accident, a small but important seaport,
the object for which the prince had so long been hoping, was secured.
Instantly afterwards, half the island of Walcheren renounced the yoke of Alva.
Next, Enkhuizen, the key to the Zuyder Zee, the principal arsenal and one
of the first commercial cities in the Netherlands, rose against the Spanish
admiral, and hung out the banner of Orange on its ramparts. The revolu-
tion effected here was purely the work of the people — of the mariners and
burghers of the city. By the same spontaneous movement, nearly all the
important cities of Holland and Zealand raised the standard of him in whom
they recognised their deliverer. The revolution was accomplished under
nearly similar circumstances everywhere. With one fierce bound of enthusi-
asm the nation shook off its chain.
Nor was it in Holland and Zealand alone that the beacon fires of freedom
were lighted. City after city in Gelderland, Overyssel, and the see of Utrecht;
all the important towns of Friesland, some sooner, some later, some without
a struggle, some after a short siege, some with resistance by the functionaries
of government, some by amicable compromise — accepted the garrisons of
the prince, and formally recognised his authority. Out of the chaos which
a long and preternatural tyranny had produced, the first struggling elements
of a new and a better world began to appear. It were superfluous to narrate
the details which marked the sudden restoration of liberty in these various
groups of cities. Traits of generosity marked the change of government in
some, circumstances of ferocity disfigured the revolution in others. The
combats were perpetual and sanguinary, the prisoners on both sides instantly
executed. On more than one occasion, men were seen assisting to hang
with their own hands and in cold blood their own brothers, who had been
taken prisoners in the enemy's ranks. When the captives were too many
to be hanged, they were tied back to back, two and two, and thus hurled into
the sea. The islanders found a fierce pleasure in these acts of cruelty. A
Spaniard had ceased to be human in their eyes. On one occasion, a surgeon
at Veer cut the heart from a Spanish prisoner, nailed it on a vessel's prow,
and invited the townsmen to come and fasten their teeth in it, which many
did with savage satisfaction. In other parts of the country the revolution
was, on the whole, accomplished with comparative calmness. Even traits
of generosity were not imcommon.
A new board of magistrates had been chosen in all the redeemed cities,
by popular election. They were required to take an oath of fidelity to the
king of Spain, and to the prince of Orange as his stadholder; to promise
[' " Door slyk, door slop, door dik en dim" are the homely but vigorous expressions of the
Netherland chronicler Bor.']
ALVA 431
[1573 A.D.]
resistance to the duke of Alva, the tenth penny, and the Inquisition; " to sup-
port every man's freedom and the welfare of the country — to protect widows,
orphans, and miserable persons, and to maintain justice and truth."
Diedrich Sonoy arrived on the 2nd of Jime at Enkhuizen. He was pro-
vided by the prince with a commission, appointing him lieutenant-governor
of North Holland or Waterland. Thus, to combat the authority of Alva,
was set up the authority of the king.' The stadholderate over Holland and
Zealand to which the prince had been appointed, in 1559, he now reassumed.
Upon this fiction reposed the whole provisional polity of the revolted Nether-
lands.
The written instructions given by the prince to his lieutenant Sonoy were
to " see that the word of God was preached, without, however, suffering any
hinderance to the Roman Church in the exercise of its religion; to restore
fugitives and the banished for conscience' sake, and to require of all magis-
trates and officers of guilds and brotherhoods an oath of fidelity." The
prince likewise prescribed the form of that oath, repeating therein, to his
eternal honour, the same strict prohibition of intolerance. "Likewise," said
the formula, " shall those of ' the religion ' offer no let or hinderance to the
Roman churches."
The prince was still in Germany, engaged in raising troops and providing
funds. He directed, however, the affairs of the insurgent provinces in their
minutest details, by virtue of the dictatorship inevitably forced upon him
both by circumstances and by the people. In the meantime, Louis of Nassau,
the Bayard of the Netherlands, performed a most unexpected and brilliant
exploit. He had been long in France, negotiating with the leaders of the
Huguenots, and, more secretly, with the court. He was supposed by all the
world to be still in that kingdom, when the startling intelligence arrived that
he had surprised and captured the important city of Mons, the capital of
Hainault.
THE STATES-GENERAL AT DORT (1572)
Meantime, the duke, who was literally "without a single real" was forced
at last to smother his pride in the matter of the tenth penny. On the 24th
of June he summoned the states of Holland to assemble on the 15th of the
ensuing month. In the missive issued for this purpose he formally agreed
to abolish the whole tax, on condition that the states-general of the Nether-
lands would furnish him with a yearly supply of two millions of florins.
The states of Holland met, indeed, on the appointed day of July, but
they assembled not in obedience to Alva but in consequence of a summons
from William of Orange. The prince had again assembled an army in Ger-
many, consisting of fifteen thousand foot and seven thousand horse, besides
a number of Netherlanders, mostly Walloons, amounting to nearly three
thousand more. Before taking the field, however, it was necessary that he
should guarantee at least three months' pay to his troops. This he could
no longer do, except by giving bonds endorsed by certain cities of Holland
as his securities. He had accordingly addressed letters in his own name to
all the principal cities, fervently adjuring them to remember, at last, what
was due to him, to the fatherland, and to their own character.
"Let not a sum of gold," said he, in one of these letters, "be so dear to
you, that for its sake you will sacrifice your fives, your wives, your children,
and all your descendants, to the latest generations; that you will bring sin
[1 With this attitude of loyalty to a sovereign and resistance to his ministers, should be
compared the similar beginnings of the French and American Revolutions.]
432 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1573 A.D.]
and shame upon yourselves, and destruction upon us who have so heartily
striven to assist you. Think what scorn you will incur from foreign nations,
what a crime you will commit against the Lord God, what a bloody yoke you
will impose forever upon yourselves and your children, if you now seek for
subterfuges; if you now prevent us from taking the field with the troops
which we have enlisted. On the other hand, what inexpressible benefits
you will confer on your coimtry, if you now help us to rescue that fatherland
from the power of Spanish vultures and wolves."
This and similar missives, circulated throughout the province of Holland,
produced a deep impression. In accordance with his suggestions, the deputies
from the nobility and from twelve cities of that province assembled on the
15th of July, at Dort. Strictly speaking, the states or government of HoUand,
the body which represented the whole people, consisted of the nobles and six
great cities. On this occasion, however, Amsterdam, being still in the power
of the king, could send no deputies; while, on the other hand, all the small
towns were invited to send up their representatives to the congress. Eight
accepted the proposal; the rest declined to appoint delegates, partly from
motives of economy, partly from timidity.
These states were the legitimate representatives of the people, but they
had no legislative powers. The people had never pretended to sovereignty,
nor did they claim it now. The source from which the government of the
Netherlands was supposed to proceed was still the divine mandate. The
prince represented the royal authority, the nobles represented both themselves
and the people of the open country, while the twelve cities represented the
whole body of burghers. Together, they were supposed to embody all
authority, both divine and hvmian, which a congress could exercise. Thus
the whole movement was directed against Alva and against Coimt Bossu,
appointed stadholder by Alva in the place of Orange. Philip's name was
destined to figure for a long time at the head of docimients by which moneys
were raised, troops levied, and taxes collected, all to be used in deadly war
against himself.
The states were convened on the 15th of July, when Paul Buys, pen-
sionary of Leyden, the tried and confidential friend of Orange, was elected
advocate of Holland. The convention was then adjourned till the 18th,
when Sainte-Aldegonde made his appearance, with full powers to act pro-
visionally in behalf of his highness. The impassioned eloquence of Sainte-
Aldegonde produced a profoimd impression. The men who had obstinately
refused the demands of Alva now unanimously resolved to pour forth their
gold and their blood at the call of Orange. "Truly," wrote the duke, a httle
later, " it almost drives me mad to see the difficulty with which your majesty's
supphes are furnished, and the liberality with which the people place their
lives and fortunes at the disposal of this rebel." It seemed strange to the
loyal governor that men should support their liberator with greater alacrity
than that with which they served their destroyer! All seemed determined,
rather than pay the tenth to Alva, to pay the whole to the prince.
The states, furthermore, by unanimous resolution, declared that they
recognised the prince as the king's lawful stadholder over Holland, Zealand,
Friesland, and Utrecht, and that t^ey would use their influence with the
other provinces to procure his appointment as protector of all the Nether-
lands during the king's absence. His highness was requested to appoint an
admiral, on whom, with certain deputies from the water-cities, the conduct
of the maritime war should devolve. With regard to religion, it was firmly
established that the public exercises of divine worship should be permitted
ALVA 433
[1572 A.D.]
not only to the Reformed Church but to the Roman Catholic — the clergy
of both being protected from all molestation.
After these proceedings, Count de la Marck made his appearance before
the assembly. His commission from Orange was read to the deputies, and
by them ratified. The prince, in that document, authorised his " dear cousin"
to enlist troops, to accept the fealty of cities, to furnish them with garrisons,
to re-establish all the local laws, municipal rights, and ancient privileges
which had been suppressed.
FIRST SUCCESSES
Meanwhile the war had opened vigorously in Hainault. Louis of Nassau
had no sooner found himself in possession of Mons than he had despatched
Genlis to France for those reinforcements which had been promised by royal
lips. On the other hand, [Alva's son] Don Frederick held the city closely
beleaguered; sharp combats before the walls were of almost daUy occurrence.
On the 7th of July William crossed the Rhine at Duisburg, with fourteen
thousand foot and seven thousand horse, enlisted in Germany, besides a
force of three thousand Walloons. On the 23rd of July he took the city of
Roermond, after a sharp cannonade, at which place his troops already began
to disgrace the honourable cause in which they were engaged, by imitating
the cruelties and barbarities of their antagonists; many priests and monks
were put to death by the soldiery under circumstances of great barbarity.
The prince, incensed at such conduct, but being unable to exercise very
stringent authority over troops whose wages he was not yet able to pay in
full, issued a proclamation denouncing such excesses and commanding his
followers, upon pain of death, to respect the rights of all individuals, whether
papist or Protestant, and to protect religious exercises both in Catholic and
Reformed churches.
It was hardly to be expected that the troops enlisted by the prince in
the same great magazine of hireling soldiers, Germany, whence the duke
also derived his annual supplies, would be likely to differ very much in their
propensities from those enrolled under Spanish banners; yet there was a vast
contrast between the characters of the two commanders. One leader in-
culcated the practice of robbery, rape, and murder, as a duty, and issued
distinct orders to butcher "every mother's son" in the cities which he cap-
tured; the other restrained every excess to the utmost of his abUity, protecting
not only life and property but even the ancient religion.
The prince had been delayed for a month at Roermond; because, as he
expressed it, "he had not a single sou," and because, in consequence, the
troops refused to advance into the Netherlands. Having at last been fur-
nished with the requisite guarantees from the Holland cities for three months'
pay, on the 27th of August he crossed the Maas and took his circuitous way
through Diest, Tirlemont, Sichem, Dendermonde, Louvain, Mechlin, Oude-
narde, NiveUes. Many cities and villages accepted his authority and
admitted his garrisons.
Louvain purchased its neutrality for the time with 16,000 ducats; Brussels
obstinately refused to listen to him, and was too powerful to be forcibly
attacked at that juncture; other important cities, convinced by the argu-
ments and won by the eloquence of the various proclamations which he scat-
tered as he advanced, ranged themselves spontaneously and even enthusi-
astically upon his side. How different would have been the result of his
campaign but for the imexpected earthquake which at that instant was to
H. -W. — yOL. XXJJL, Ze
434 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1572 A.D.J
appal Christendom, and to scatter all his well-matured plans and legitimate
hopes. His chief reliance, under providence and his own strong heart, had
been upon French assistance.
On the 11th of August, Coligny had written hopefully of his movements
towards the Netherlands, sanctioned and aided by his king. A fortnight
from that day occurred the "Paris wedding" [the St. Bartholomew massacre],
and the admiral, with thousands of his religious confederates, invited to
confidence by superhuman treachery, and lulled into security by the music
of August marriage-bells, was suddenly butchered in the streets of Paris by
royal and noble hands.
The prince proceeded on his march, but he felt convinced that, with the
very arrival of the awful tidings, the fate of that campaign was sealed, and
the fall of Mons inevitable. In his own language, he had been struck to the
earth " with the blow of a sledge-hammer" ; nor did the enemy draw a different
augury from the great event. Nothing certainly could, in Philip's appre-
hension, be more delightful than this most unexpected and most opportune
intelligence. Charles IX, whose intrigues in the Netherlands he had long
known, had now been suddenly converted by this stupendous crime into his
most powerful ally, while at the same time the Protestants of Europe would
learn that there was still another crowned head in Christendom more deserving
of abhorrence than himself.
Such was the condition of affairs when the prince of Orange arrived at
P6ronne, between Binche and the duke of Alva's entrenchments. "The
besieging army was rich in notabilities of elevated rank. Don Frederick
of Toledo had hitherto commanded, but on the 27th of August the dukes of
Medina-Celi and of Alva had arrived in the camp. Directly afterwards came
the warlike archbishop of Cologne, at the head of two thousand cavalry. There
was but one chance for the prince of Orange, and experience had taught him,
four years before, its slenderness.* He might still provoke his adversary
into a pitched battle, and he relied upon God for the result. In his own
words, " he trusted ever that the great God of armies was with him, and would
fight in the midst of his forces."
The Huguenot soldiers within Mons were in despair and mutiny; Louis
of Nassau lay in his bed consuming with a dangerous fever; Genlis had been
taken prisoner, and his army cut to pieces; Coligny was murdered, and Pro-
testant France paralysed; the troops of Orange, enlisted but for three months,
were already rebellious, and sure to break into open insubordination when
the consequences of the Paris massacre should become entirely clear to them.
At midnight September 11, the Spaniards made a sudden attack, the
sentinels were cut down, the whole army surprised, and for a moment power-
less, while, for two hours long, from one o'clock in the morning until three,
the Spaniards butchered their foes, hardly aroused from their sleep, ignorant
by how small a force they had been thus suddenly surprised, and unable
in the confusion to distinguish between friend and foe.
The boldest, led by Julian Romero, made at once for the prince's tent.
His guards and himself were in profound sleep, but a small spaniel was a
more faithful sentinel. The creature sprang forward, barking fiu-iously at
the sound of hostile footsteps, and scratching his master's face with his paws.
[' Blok^ calls attention to tlae fact that William was now suffering, in addition to his po-
litical distresses, a grievous domestic calamity : Anna of Saxony, whom he had taken to wife
after some opposition, repeatedly offered submission to Alva, and finally was found guilty of
adultery with the father of the great painter Rubens. She was shut up in prison at Dillen-
burg, in March, 1571, as a madwoman, and died insane. Meanwhile Alva kept paid assassins
on the hunt for William's life.]
ALVA 435
[1573 A.D.]
There was but just time for the prince to mount a horse which was ready
saddled, and to effect his escape through the darkness, before his enemies
sprang into the tent. His servants were cut down, his master of the horse
and two of his secretaries, who gained their saddles a moment later, all lost
their lives; and but for the little dog's watchfulness WUliam of Orange,
upon whose shoulders the whole weight of his country's fortunes depended,
would have been led within a week to an ignominious death. To his dying
day, the prince ever afterwards kept a spaniel of the same race in his bed-
chamber. Six hundred of the prince's troops had been put to the sword,
while many others were burned in their beds, or drowned in the little rivulet
which flowed outside their camp. Only sixty Spaniards lost their lives.
COLLAPSE OF WILLIAM's PLANS
The whole marrow of William's enterprise had been destroyed in an
instant by the massacre of St. Bartholomew. He retreated to Peronne and
Nivelles, an assassin, named Heist, a German by birth but a French chevalier,
following him secretly in his camp, pledged to take his life for a large reward
promised by Alva — an enterprise not destined, however, to be successful.
The soldiers flatly refused to remain an hour longer in the field, or even
to furnish an escort for Count Louis, if, by chance, he could be brought out
of the town. The prince was obliged to inform his brother of the desperate
state of his affairs, and to advise him to capitulate on the best terms which
he could make. With a heavy heart, he left the chivalrous Louis besieged
in the city which he had so gallantly captured, and took his way across the
Maas towards the Rhine. A furious mutiny broke out among his troops.
His life was, with difficulty, saved from the brutal soldiery infuriated at
his inability to pay them except in the overdue securities of the Holland
cities. Crossing the Rhine at Orsoy, he disbanded his army.
Yet even in this hour of distress and defeat, the prince seemed more
heroic than many a conqueror in his day of triumph. He went to Holland,
the only province which remained true, and which still looked up to him as
its saviour; but he went thither expecting and prepared to perish. "There I
will make my sepulchre," was his simple and sublime expression in a private
letter to his brother.
Meanwhile, Count Louis lay confined to his couch with a burning fever.
His soldiers refused any longer to hold the city.
On the 19th of September, accordingly, articles of capitulation were signed.
The town was given over to Alva, but all the soldiers were to go out with their
weapons and property. After Louis and his troops had retired, Noircarmes,
in brutal violation of the terms upon which thfe town had surrendered, now
set about the work of massacre and pUlage. A commission of Troubles, in
close imitation of the famous Blood Council at Brussels, was established,
the members of the tribunal being appointed by Noircarmes and all being
inhabitants of the town. The council commenced proceedings by condemn-
ing all the volunteers, although exprecdy included in the capitulation. Their
wives and children were all banished; their property was all confiscated.
On the 15th of December the executions commenced.
SPANISH ATROCITIES
The Spaniards had thus recovered Mons, by which event the temporary
revolution throughout the whole Southern Netherlands was at an end. The
436
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1573 A.D.]
keys of that city unlocked the gates of every other in Brabant and Flanders.
The towns which had so lately embraced the authority of Orange now has-
tened to disavow the prince and to return to their ancient, hypocritical, and
cowardly allegiance. The new oaths of fidelity were in general accepted by
Alva, but the beautiful archiepiscopal city of Mechlin was selected for an
example and a sacrifice. There were heavy arrears due to the Spanish troops.
To indemnify them, and to make good his blasphemous prophecy of divine
chastisement for its past misdeeds, Alva now
abandoned this town to the license of his
soldiery.
Three days long the horrible scene con-
tinued — one day for the benefit of the Span-
iards, two more for that of the Walloons and
Germans. All the churches, monasteries, reli-
gious houses of every kind were completely
sacked. Every valuable article which they
contained, the ornaments of altars, the reli-
quaries, chalices, embroidered cm-tains, and
carpets of velvet or damask, the golden robes
of the priests, the repositories of the host, the
precious vessels of chrism and extreme unction,
the rich clothing and jewelry adorning the
effigies of the Holy Virgin — all were indis-
criminately rifled by the Spanish soldiers. The
holy wafers were trampled under foot, the
sacramental wine was poured upon the ground,
and, in brief, all the horrors which had been
conunitted by the iconoclasts in their wUdest
moments, and for a thousandth part of which
enormities heretics had been burned in droves,
were now repeated in Mechlin by the especial
soldiers of Christ, by Roman Catholics who had
been sent to the Netherlands to avenge the
insults offered to the Roman Catholic faith.
The motive, too, which inspired the sacri-
legious crew was not fanaticism, but the
desire of plunder.
The iconoclasts of 1566 had destroyed mil-
lions of property for the sake of an idea, but they had appropriated nothing.
Moreover, they had scarcely injured a human being, confining their wrath to
graven images. The Spaniards at Mechlin spared neither man nor woman.
The murders and outrages would be incredible, were they not attested by
most respectable Catholic witnesses. Men were butchered m their houses, in
the streets, at the altars. Women were violated by hundreds in churches and
in graveyards. Moreover, the deed had been as deliberately arranged as
it was thoroughly performed. It was sanctioned by the highest authority.
Zutphen attempted a feeble opposition to the entrance of the king's troops,
and received a dreadful chastisement in consequence. Alva sent orders to
his son to leave not a single man alive in the city, and to bum every house
to the ground. The duke's command was almost literally obeyed. As the
work of death became too fatiguing for the butchers, five hundred innocent
burghers were tied two and two, back to back, and drowned like dogs in the
river Yssel. A few stragglers, who had contrived to elude pursuit at first,
A Noblewoman op the Six-
teenth Cbntuky
ALVA 437
[1572 A.D.]
were afterwards taken from their hiding-places, and hung upon the gallows
by the feet, some of which victims suffered days and nights of agony before
death came to their relief. Nearly all of the inhabitants of Naarden were
similarly destroyed, and for a long time Naarden ceased to exist. Alva
wrote, with his usual complacency in such cases, to his sovereign, that they
had cut the throats of the burghers and all the garrison, and that they had
not left a mother's son alive. The statement was almost literally correct,
nor was the cant with which these bloodhounds commented upon their crimes
less odious than their guilt.
It is not without reluctance, but still with a stern determination, that the
historian should faithfully record these transactions. To extenuate would
be base; to exaggerate impossible. It is good that the world should not
forget how much wrong has been endured by a single nation at the hands of
despotism, and in the sacred name of God. There have been tongues and
pens enough to narrate the excesses of the people, bursting from time to
time out of slavery into madness. It is good, too, that those crimes should
be remembered, and freshly pondered; but it is equally wholesome to study
the opposite picture. Tyranny, ever young and ever old, constantly repro-
ducing herself with the same stony features, with the same imposing mask
which she has worn through all ages, can never be too minutely examined,
especially when she paints her own portrait, and when the secret history of
her guilt is furnished by the confessions of her lovers. The perusal of her
traits will not make us love popular liberty the less.
The history of Alva's administration in the Netherlands is one of those
pictures which strike us almost dumb with wonder. Was it necessary that
many generations should wade through this blood in order to acquire for
their descendants the blessings of civil and religious freedom?
The hearts of the Hollanders were rather steeled to resistance than awed
into submission by the fate of Naarden. A fortunate event, too, was accepted
as a lucky omen for the coming contest. A little fleet of armed vessels,
belonging to Holland, had been frozen up in the neighbourhood of Amsterdam.
Don Frederick, on his arrival from Naarden, despatched a body of picked
men over the ice to attack the imprisoned vessels. The crews had, however,
fortified themselves by digging a wide trench around the whole fleet, which
thus became from the moment an almost impregnable fortress. Out of this
frozen citadel a strong band of well-armed and skilful musketeers sallied forth
upon skates as the besieging force advanced. A rapid, brilliant, and slippery
skirmish succeeded, in which the Hollanders, so accustomed to such sports,
easily vanquished their antagonists, and drove them off the field, with the
loss of several himdred left dead upon the ice. " 'Twas a thing never heard
of before to-day," said Alva, "to see a body of arquebusiers thus skirmishing
upon a frozen sea." In the course of the next four-and-twenty hours a flood
and a rapid thaw released the vessels, which all escaped to Enkhuizen, while
a frost, immediately and strangely succeeding, made pursuit impossible.
The Spaniards were astonished at these novel manoeuvres upon the ice.
It is amusing to read their elaborate descriptions of the wonderful appendages
which had enabled the Hollanders to glide so glibly into battle with a superior
force, and so rapidly to glance away, after achieving a signal triumph. Never-
theless, the Spaniards could never be dismayed, and were always apt scholars,
even if an enemy were the teacher. Alva immediately ordered seven thousand
pairs of skates, and his soldiers soon learned to perform military evolutions
with these new accoutrements as audaciously, if not as adroitly, as the Hol-
landers.
438 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHBELANDS
[157a-1573 A.D.]
THE SIEGE OF HAARLEM (1572-1573)
On December 11th, 1572, Don Frederick appeared before the walls of
Haarlem and proceeded regularly to invest the place, nor did he cease
reinforcing himself until at least thirty thousand men, including fifteen
hundred cavalry, had been encamped around the city. Against this immense
force, nearly equal in number to that of the whole population of the city, the
garrison within the walls never amounted to more than four thousand men,
one thousand pioneers or delvers, three thousand fighting men, and about three
hundred fighting women. The last was a most efficient corps, all females of
respectable character, armed with sword, musket, and dagger. The chief,
Kanau Hasselaer, was a widow of distinguished family and unblemished
reputation, about forty-seven years of age, who, at the head of her amazons,
participated in many of the most fiercely contested actions of the siege, both
within and without the walls.
Meantime, the prince of Orange, from his headquarters at Sassenheim, on
the southern extremity of the mere, made every effort to throw succom- into
the place. The famous siege lasted during the winter and early spring.
Alva might well write to his sovereign, that "it was a war such as never
before was seen or heard of in any land on earth." Yet the duke had known
near sixty years of warfare. After nearly six years' experience, he had found
its "people of butter" less malleable than even those "iron people" whom
he boasted of having tamed.
All efforts at relief failing, however, the ravages of starvation compelled
a formal surrender on the 12th of July, 1573. On the following morning the
massacre commenced. The plunder had been commuted for two hundred
and forty thousand guilders, which the citizens bound themselves to pay
in four instalments; but murder was an indispensable accompaniment of
victory and admitted of no compromise. The garrison were immediately
butchered. Five executioners, with their attendants, were kept constantly
at work; and when at last they were exhausted with fatigue, or perhaps
sickened with horror, three hundred wretches were tied two and two, back to
back, and drowned in the Haarlem Lake.
At last, after twenty-three hundred human creatures had been murdered
in cold blood, within a city where so many thousands had previously perished
by violent or by fingering deaths, the blasphemous farce of a pardon was
enacted. Ten thousand two hundred and fifty-six shots had been discharged
against the walls during the siege. Twelve thousand of the besieging army
had died of wounds or disease, during the seven months and two days
between the investment and the surrender.
REVIVAL OF DUTCH EFFORTS
It was obvious that, if the reduction of Haarlem were a triumph, it was
one which the conquerors might well exchange for a defeat. At any rate, it
was certain that the Spanish empire was not strong enough to sustain many
more such victories. If it had required thirty thousand choice troofjs, among
which were three regiments called by Alva respectively the " Invincibles,"
the "Immortals," and the "None-such," to conquer the weakest city of Hol-
land in seven months, and with the loss of twelve thousand men; how many
men, how long a time, and how many deaths would it require to reduce the
rest of that little province? Even the treasures of the New World were
inadequate to pay for the conquest of that little sand-bank. Within five
ALVA 439
[1572-1573 A.D.]
years, 25,000,000 florins had been sent from Spain for war expenses in the
Netherlands. Yet this amount, with the addition of large sums annually
derived from confiscations, of five millions at which the proceeds of the
hundredth penny was estimated, and the two millions yearly for which the
tenth and twentieth pence had been compounded, was insufficient to save
the treasury from beggary and the unpaid troops from mutiny ^
Ter Goes in South Beveland and other towns were about the same period
the scenes of gallant actions, and of subsequent cruelties of the most revolting
nature, as soon as they fell into the power of the Spaniards. Horrors like
these were sure to force reprisals on the part of the maddened patriots. De
la Marck carried on his daring exploits with a cruelty which excited the indig-
nation of the prince of Orange, by whom he was removed from his command.
The contest was for a while prosecuted, with a decrease of vigour propor-
tioned to the serious losses on both sides; money and the munitions of war
began to fail; and though the Spaniards succeeded in taking the Hague, they
were repulsed before Alkmaar with great loss, and their fleet was almost
entirely destroyed in a naval combat on the Zuyder Zee. The count Bossu,
their admiral, was taken in this fight, with about three hundred of his best
sailors.*
The states of the Netherlands had been formally assembled by Alva in
September, at Brussels, to devise ways and means for continuing the struggle.
It seemed to the prince a good opportunity to make an appeal to the patriotism
of the whole country. He furnished the province of Holland, accordingly,
with the outlines of an address which was forthwith despatched, in their own
and his name, to the general assembly of the Netherlands:
" 'Tis only by the Netherlands that the Netherlands are crushed," said the appeal.
"Whence has the duke of Alva the power of which he boasts, but from yourselves — from
Netherland cities? Whence his ships, supplies, money, weapons, soldiers? From the Nether-
land people. Why has poor Netherland thus become degenerate and bastard ? Whither has
fled the noble spirit of our brave forefathers, that never brooked the tyranny of foreign nations,
nor suffered a stranger even to hold office within our borders? If the little province of Holland
can thus hold at bay the power of Spain, what could not all the Netherlands — Brabant, Flan-
ders, Friesland, and the rest united — accomplish? "
At almost the same time the prince drew up and put in circulation one
of the most impassioned productions which ever came from his pen. It was
entitled, an "Epistle, in form of supplication, to his royal majesty of Spain,
from the prince of Orange and the states of Holland and Zealand." The
document produced a profound impression throughout Christendom. It
was a loyal appeal to the monarch's loyalty — a demand that the land privi-
leges should be restored, and the duke of Alva removed. It contained a
startling picture of his atrocities and the nation's misery, and, with a few
energetic strokes, demolished the pretence that these sorrows had been caused
by the people's guilt. In this connection the prince alluded to those acts
of condemnation which the governor-general had promulgated under the
name of pardons, and treated with scorn the hypothesis that any crimes had
been committed for Alva to forgive.
After having set forth the tyranny of the government and the innocence
of the people, the prince, in his own name and that of the states, announced
the determination at which they had arrived:
" The tyrant," he continued, " would rather stain every river and brook with our blood,
and hang our bodies upon every tree in the country, than not feed to the full his vengeance,
and steep himself to the lips in our misery. Therefore we have taken up arms against the
duke of Alva and bis adherents, to free ourselves, our wives, and cliildiea iiom, uis blood-
440 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1573 A.B.]
thirsty hands. If he prove too strong for us, we will rather die an honourable death and lea-ve
a praiseworthy fame, than bend our necks and reduce our dear fatherland to such slavery.
Herein are all our cities pledged to each other to stand every siege, to dare the utmost, to
endure every possible misery, yea, rather to set fire to all our homes, and be consumed with
them into ashes together, than ever submit to the decrees of this cruel tyrant."
As Alva's administration drew to a close it was marked by disaster and dis-
grace on land and sea. The brilliant exploits by which he had struck terror
into the heart of the Netherlanders, at Jemmingen and in Brabant, had been
effaced by the valour of a handful of Hollanders, without discipline or expe-
rience. To the patriots, the opportune capture of so considerable a personage
as Bossu, the admiral and governor of the northern province, was of great
advantage. Such of the hostages from Haarlem as had not yet been executed
now escaped with their lives. Moreover, Sainte-Aldegonde, the eloquent
patriot and confidential friend of Orange, who was taken prisoner a few weeks
later, in an action at Maeslandsluis, was preserved from inevitable destruction
by the same cause. The prince hastened to assure the duke of Alva that the
same measure would be dealt to Bossu as should be meted to Sainte-Alde-
gonde. It was, therefore, impossible for the governor-general to execute his
prisoner, and he was obliged to submit to the vexation of seeing a leadiag
rebel and heretic in his power, whom he dared not strike. Both the distin-
guished prisoners eventually regained their liberty.
THE BECALL OF ALVA (1573)
The duke was, doubtless, lower sunk in the estimation of all classes than
he had ever been before, during his long and generally successful life. The
reverses sustained by his army, the belief that his master had grown cold
towards him, the certainty that his career in the Netherlands was closing
without a satisfactory result, the natural weariness produced upon men's
minds by the contemplation of so monotonous and unmitigated a tyranny
during so many years, all contributed to diminish his reputation. He felt
himself odious alike to princes and to plebeians. With his cabinet councillors
he had long been upon unsatisfactory terms. President Tisnacq had died
early in the summer, and Viglius, much against his wUl, had been induced,
provisionally, to supply his place. But there was now hardly a pretence
of friendship between the learned Frisian and the Governor. Each cordially
detested the other.
The duke had contracted in Amsterdam an enormous amount of debt,
both public and private. He accordingly, early in November, caused a procla-
mation to be made throughout the city by sound of trumpet, that all persons
having demands upon him were to present their claims, in person, upon a
specified day. During the night preceding the day so appointed, the duke
and his train very noiselessly took their departure, without notice or beat of
drum. By this masterly generalship his unhappy creditors were foiled upon
the very eve of their anticipated triumph; the heavy accoimts which had
been contracted on the faith of the king and the governor remained for the
most part unpaid, and many opulent and respectable families were reduced
to beggary. Such was the consequence of the unlimited confidence which
they had reposed in the honour of their tyrant.
On the 17th of November, 1573, Don Luis de Requesens y Cufiiga, grand
commander of St. lago, the appointed successor of Alva, arrived in Brussels,
where he was received with great rejoicings. The duke, on the same day,
wrote to the king "kissing his feet" for thus relieving him of his functions.
ALVA 441
[1573 A.B.]
On the 18th of December, 1573, the duke of Alva departed from the provinces
forever. He had kept his bed for the greater part of the time during the
last few weeks of his government — partly on accoimt of his gout, partly
to avoid being seen in his humihation; but mainly, it was said, to escape the
pressing demands of his creditors. He expressed a fear of travelling home-
ward through France, on the ground that he might very probably receive a
shotout of a window as he went by. He complained pathetically that, after
all his labours he had not " gained the approbation of the king, " while he had
incurred "the malevolence and universal hatred of every individual in the
country."
On his journey from the Netherlands he is said to have boasted that he
had caused eighteen thousand six hundred inhabitants of the provinces to
be executed during the period of his government.* The number of those
who had perished, by battle, siege, starvation, and massacre, defied computa-
tion. The duke was well received by his royal master, and remained in
favour imtil a new adventure of Don Frederick brought father and son into
disgrace. Having deceived and abandoned a maid of honour, he suddenly
espoused his cousin, in order to avoid that reparation by marriage which
was demanded for his offence. In consequence, both the duke and Don
Frederick were imprisoned and banished, nor was Alva released till a general
of experience was required for the conquest of Portugal. Thither, as it were
with fetters on his legs, he went. After having accomplished the military
enterprise entrusted to him, he fell into a lingering fever, at the termination
of which he was so much reduced that he was only kept alive by milk, which
he drank from a woman's breast. Such was the gentle second childhood of
the man who had almost literally been drinking blood for seventy years. He
died on the 12th of December, 1582.
motley's estimate of ALVA
The duke's military fame was unquestionable when he came to the prov-
inces, and both in stricken fields and in long campaigns he showed how thor-
oughly it had been deserved; yet he left the Netherlands a bafiled man.
As a commander, therefore, he gained, upon the whole, no additional
laurels during his long administration of the Netherlands. As a financier,
he exhibited a wonderful ignorance of the first principles of political economy.
As an administrator of the civil and judicial affairs of the country, he at
once reduced its institutions to a frightful simplicity. He strode with gigantic
steps over haughty statutes and popular constitutions; crushing alike the
magnates who claimed a bench of monarchs for their jury, and the ignoble
artisans who could appeal only to the laws of their land. From the pompous
and theatrical scaffolds of Egmont and Horn, to the nineteen halters prepared
by Master Karl to hang up the chief bakers and brewers of Brussels on their
own thresholds; from the beheading of the twenty nobles on the horse-market,
in the opening of the governor's career, to the roasting alive of Uitenhoove
at its close; from the block on which fell the honored head of Antony Straalen,
to the o]3SCure chair in which the ancient gentlewoman of Amsterdam suffered
death for an act of vicarious mercy; from one year's end to another's; from
the most signal to the most squalid scenes of sacrifice — the eye and hand
P Gachard," after a close study of the documents, thinks that Alva boasted extravagantly
and that the eighteen thousand victims of his Blood Council should be reduced to six or eight
thousand. He adds grimly that " even the smaller number will suffice to justify the execration
to which history has devoted the name of the duke of ALva,"]
442 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
of the great master directed, without weariness, the task imposed by the
sovereign.
With all the bloodshed at Mons, and Naarden, and Mechlin, and by the
council of Tumults, daily, for six years long, still crying from the ground,
he taxed himself with a misplaced and foolish tenderness to the people. He
assured the king that when Alkmaar should be taken, he would not spare a
"living soul among its whole population"; and, as his parting advice, he
recommended that every city in the Netherlands should be burned to the
ground, except a few which could be occupied permanently by the royal troops.
On the whole, so finished a picture of a perfect and absolute tyranny has
rarely been presented to mankind by history, as in Alva's administration of
the Netherlands.
No mode in which human beings have ever caused their fellow creatures
to suffer was omitted from daily practice. Men, women, and children, old
and young, nobles and paupers, opulent burghers, hospital patients, lunatics,
dead bodies, all were indiscriminately made to furnish food for the scaffold
and the stake. Men were tortured, beheaded, hanged by the neck and by the
legs, burned before slow fires, pinched to death with red-hot tongs, broken
upon the wheel, starved, and flayed alive. Their skins, stripped from the
living body, were stretched upon drums, to be beaten in the march of their
brethren to the gallows. The bodies of many who had died a natural death
were exhumed, and their festering remains hanged upon the gibbet, on pre-
text that they had died without receiving the sacrament, but in reality that
their property might become the legitimate prey of the treasury.
Marriages of long standing were dissolved by order of government, that
rich heiresses might be married against their will to foreigners whom they
abhorred. Women and children were executed for the crime of assisting
their fugitive husbands and parents with a penny in their utmost need, and
even for consoling them with a letter in their exile. Such was the regular
course of affairs as administered by the Blood Council. The additional bar-
barities committed amid the sack and ruin of those blazing and starving cities
are almost beyond belief; unborn infants were torn from the living bodies
of their mothers; women and children were violated by thousands; and
whole populations burned and hacked to pieces by soldiers in every mode
which cruelty, in its wanton ingenuity, could devise. Such was the admini-
stration, of which Vargas affirmed, at its close, that too much mercy, " nimia
misericordia," had been its ruin.
The character of the duke of Alva, so far as the Netherlands are con-
cerned, seems almost like a caricature. As a creation of fiction, it would
seem grotesque: yet even that hardy, historical scepticism which delights in
reversing the judgment of centuries, and in re-establishing reputations long
since degraded to the dust, must find it difficult to alter this man's posi-
tion. No historical decision is final; an appeal to a more remote posterity,
founded upon more accurate evidence, is always valid : but when the verdict
has been pronounced upon facts which are undisputed, and upon testimony
from the criminal's lips, there is little chance of a reversal of the sentence.
The time is past when it could be said that the cruelty of Alva, or the
enormities of his administration, have been exaggerated by party violence.
Human invention is incapable of outstripping the truth upon this subject.
To attempt the defence of either the man or his measures at the present
day is to convict oneself of an amount of ignorance or of bigotry against
which history and argument are alike powerless. The publication of the
duke's letters in the correspondence of Simancas and in the Besan9on papers,
ALVA
443
together with that compact mass of horror long before the world under the
title of Sententien van Alva in which a portion only of the sentences of death
and banishment pronounced by him during his reign have been copied from
the official records — these in themselves would be a sufficient justification
of all the charges ever brought by the most bitter contemporary of Holland
or Flanders. If the investigator should remain sceptical, however, let him
examine the Registre des Condamnes et Bannis h Cause des Trovhl&s des Pays-
Bas in three, together with the Records of the Conseil des Troubles, in forty-
three folio volumes, in the Royal Archives at Brussels. After going through
all these chronicles of iniquity, the most determined historic doubter will
probably throw up the case. It is an affectation of philosophical candour to
extenuate vices .which are not only avowed, but claimed as virtues.^'
CHAPTER VII
PROGRESS TOWARDS UNION
[1573-1579 A.D.]
The horrors of Alva's administration had caused men to look back with
fondness upon the milder and more vacillating tyranny of the duchess Mar-
garet. From the same cause the advent of the grand commander was hailed
with pleasure and with a momentary gleam of hope.
Don Luis de Requesens and Cuiiiga, grand commander of Castile and late
governor of Milan, was a man of mediocre abilities, who possessed a reputation
for moderation and sagacity which he hardly deserved. His military prowess
had been chiefly displayed in the bloody and barren battle of Lepanto, where
his conduct and counsel were supposed to have contributed, in some measure,
to the victorious result. His administration at Milan had been characterised
as firm and moderate. Nevertheless his character was regarded with anything
but favpurable eyes in the Netherlands. Men told each other of his broken
faith to the Moors in Granada, and of his unpopularity in Milan, where, not-
withstanding his boasted moderation, he had, in reality, so oppressed the
people as to gain their deadly hatred. They complained, too, that it was an
insult to send, as governor-general of the provinces, not a prince of the blood,
as used to be the case, but a simple " gentleman of cloak and sword."
It was now evident to the world that the revolt had reached a stage in
which it could be terminated only by absolute conquest or concession. The
new governor accordingly, in case the Netherlanders would abandon every
object for which they had been so heroically contending, was empowered
to concede a pardon. It was expressly enjoined upon him, however, that
no conciliatory measures should be adopted in which the king's absolute
supremacy, and the total prohibition of every form of worship but the Roman
Catholic, were not assumed as a basis. Now, as the people had been con-
tending at least ten years long for constitutional rights against prerogative,
444
PEOGEESS TOWAEDS UNION 445
and at least seven for liberty of conscience against papistry, it was easy to
foretell how much effect any negotiations thus commenced were likely to
produce.
COST OF THE WAR
The rebellion had been an expensive matter to the Crown. The army in
the Netherlands numbered more than sixty-two thousand men, eight thou-
sand being Spaniards, the rest Walloons and Germans. Forty millions of
dollars had already been sunk, and it seemed probable that it would require
nearly the whole annual produce of the American mines to sustain the war.
The transatlantic gold and silver, disinterred from the depths where they
had been buried for ages, were employed, not to expand the current of a
healthy, life-giving commerce, but to be melted into blood. The sweat and
the tortures of the king's pagan subjects in the primeval forests of the New
World were made subsidiary to the extermination of his Netherland people
and the • destruction of an ancient civilisation. To this end had Columbus
discovered a hemisphere for Castile and Aragon, and the new Indies revealed
their hidden treasures?
Forty millions, of ducats had been spent. Six and a half millions of
arrearages were due to the army, while its current expenses were six hundred
thousand a month. The military expenses alone of the Netherlands were
accordingly more than seven millions of dollars yearly, and the mines of
the New World produced, during the half-century of Philip's reign, an anunal
average of only eleven. Against this constantly-increasing deficit, there was
not a stiver in the exchequer, nor the means of raising one. The tenth penny
had been long virtually extinct, and was soon to be formally abolished.
Confiscation had ceased to afford a permanent revenue, and the estates
obstinately refused to grant a dollar. Such was the condition to which the
unrelenting tyranny and the financial experiments of Alva had reduced the
coxmtry. It was therefore obvious to Requesens that it would be useful at
the moment to hold out hopes of pardon and reconciliation.
MILITARY AFFAIRS
It was, however, not possible to apply these hypocritical measures imme-
diately. The war was in full career and could not be arrested even in that
wintry season. The patriots held Mondragon closely besieged in Middelburg,
the last point in the Isle of Walcheren which held for the king.^ There was a
considerable treasure in money and merchandise shut up in that city; and,
moreover, so deserving and distinguished an officer as Mondragon could not
be abandoned to his fate. At the same time, famine was pressing him sorely.
[' The Spanish garrison, under Mondragon, had now sustained a blockade of nearly two
years, with a constancy and fidelity which the Hollanders themselves could not surpass. Don
Sancho de Avila, admiral of the Spanish fleet, had from time to time been able to throw in sup-
plies, but it was invariably a work of much danger and difficulty, and attended with heavy loss
both of men and ships, the gueux being constantly victorious in the numerous skirmishes which
occurred. The attempt to preserve Middelburg had cost the king of Spain no less a sum than
7,000,000 florins, besides the pay of the soldiers. The gueux (or, as they were usually called,
" watergueux"), on the other hand, had no regular fund to depend upon for either pay or
subsistence, being chiefly supported by the inhabitants of the places where they anchored, who
gave them bread, money, and such other necessaries as they could afford ; when this resource
failed, they went in chase of the merchant ships going to Flanders, and lived upon the booty
they thus captured ; sometimes, however, they were reduced to extreme scarcity, and even the
highest officers were content to subsist for weeks together on nothing but salted herrings. —
Davibs."]
446 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1573-1574 A.D.]
On the other hand, the situation of the patriots was not very encouraging.
Their superiority on the sea was unquestionable, for the Hollanders and
Zealanders were the best sailors in the world, and they asked of their country
no payment for their blood but thanks. The land forces, however, were
usually mercenaries, who were apt to mutiny at the ' commencement of an
action if, as was too often the case, their wages could not be paid. Holland
was entirely cut in twain by the loss of Haarlem and the leaguer of Leyden,
no communication between the dissevered portions being possible, except
with difficulty and danger. The states, although they had done much for
the cause, and were prepared to do much more, were too apt to wrangle
about economical details. They irritated the prince of Orange by huxtering
about subsidies to a degree which he could hardly brook. He had strong
hopes from France.^
Requesens had first of all to purchase, by victories over the people, the
right to o£fer them peace. He fitted out at Antwerp and at Bergen-op-Zoom
an expedition against the Zealand islands. But the indefatigable Boisot
headed it off, attacked the fleet from Bergen-op-Zoom before it could effect
a junction with the other, and captiu:ed a majority of the ships (January,
1574); Midd6lburg surrendered February 18th. This defeat, which would
have discouraged a less able leader, did not stop Requesens.
The bulk of his troops was assembled on the banks of the Schelde awaiting
transportation to Zealand. He led them in the direction of the Maas, whither
he summoned at the same time the division encamped before Leyden; and
thus, placing himself at the head of his entire body of troops, he set out to
meet a German army which the prince of Orange was awaiting. This army,
ten thousand men strong, had just crossed Limburg under the leadership of
Counts Louis and Henry of Nassau. The governor came upon them above
Nimeguen on a wide plain known as the Mooker Heath or Mookerheyde. He
offered them battle; and the two counts, who accepted it, were disastrously
defeated and included in the number of dead. (April 15th, 1574.)
After having re-established by this success the honour of his arms, the
governor had to contend, for a time, with mutiny among his soldiers. The
Spaniards, to whom twenty-eight months' pay was owing, rebelled against
their officers, elected a chief called an eletto, and marched upon Antwerp, where
the garrison permitted them to enter the town. They were threatening to
sack the city when Requesens succeeded in pacifying them by distributing
all the money he could get out of the citizens or borrow elsewhere among
them. He even pawned his own plate. He then led his men to Leyden
and recommenced the siege of that place ^ with such vigour that its inhabitants
were soon reduced to the last extremity.
Requesens resolved to convoke the provincial states in order to obtain
further subsidies and ask the king for a fleet powerful enough to attain the
mastery of the sea. Philip, in truth, did order a fleet to be sent, but an
epidemic made such ravages among the sailors that the ships could not sail.
As to the states, they assembled at Brussels, May, 1574; but although the
governor made them, in the king's name, several important concessions —
general and unreserved amnesty, abolition of the new taxes, and suppression
of the council of Troubles -;— yet the public discontent wanted a more
extended satisfaction. They demanded the retirement of the foreigners and
repression of "the extortions and pillaging" of the soldiers, who treated
the king's subjects as " poor slaves and infidels." This was an allusion to the
[' In the mean while Admiral Boisot had found and defeated a Spanish fleet of twenty-two
ships o£E Antwerp, sinking fourteen of them and taking Vice-Admiral Haemstede prisoner.]
PEOGEBSS TOWAEDS UNIOIST 447
[1573-1574 A.D.J
cruelties of the Spaniards in America. Besides this they called for the
restoration of ignored and broken privileges, and some agreement with the
provinces which had taken up arms. The deputies, taken aside one after
another, proved inflexible. They refused to vote the money, and the governor
got nothing from them but complaints and remonstrances. Such was the
bitterness of the language that Requesens was affrighted at the ferment they
raised. "God preserve us," he exclaimed, "from such estates! " For a
moment he seemed to despair of the future. Nevertheless, he made a suffi-
ciently favourable response to the demands he had received, and obtained a
promise of the subsidy.<i
THE SIEGE OF LEYDEN
The invasion of Louis of Nassau had, as already stated, effected the raising
of the first siege of Leyden. That leaguer had lasted from the 31st of Octo-
ber, 1573, to the 21st of March, 1574. By an extraordinary and culpable
carelessness, the citizens, neglecting the advice of the prince, had not taken
advantage of the breathing time thus afforded them to victual the city and
strengthen the garrison. On the 26th of Ma)'', Valdez reappeared before the
place, at the head of eight thousand Walloons and Germans.
In the course of a few days Leyden was thoroughly invested, no less
than sixty-two redoubts, some of them having remained imdestroyed from
the previous siege, now girdling the city. On the other hand, there were no
troops in the town, save a small corps of "freebooters," and five companies
of the burgher guard. The main reliance of the city was on the stout
hearts of its inhabitants within the walls, and on the sleepless energy of
William the Silent without. The prince implored them to hold out at least
three months, assuring them that he would, within that time, devise the
means of their deliverance.
It was now thought expedient to publish the amnesty which had been so
long in preparation, and this time the trap was more liberally baited. The
pardon, which had passed the seals upon the 8th of March, was formally
issued by the grand commander on the 6th of June. By the terms of this
document the king invited all his erring and repentant subjects to return to
his arms, and to accept a full forgiveness for their past offences, upon the sole
condition that they should once more throw themselves upon the bosom of
the Mother Church.
It was received with universal and absolute contempt. No man came
forward to take advantage of its conditions, save one brewer in Utrecht, and
the son of a refugee peddler from Leyden. With these exceptions, the only
ones recorded, Holland remained deaf to the royal voice although certain
Netherlanders belonging to the king's party, and familiarly called " Glippers,"
despatched from the camp many letters to their rebellious acquaintances in
the city. In these epistles the citizens of Leyden were urgently and even
pathetically exhorted to submission.
The prince had his headquarters at Delft and at Rotterdam. He still
held in his hand the keys with which he could unlock the ocean gates and let
the waters in upon the land, and he had long been convinced that nothing
could save the city but to break the dikes. Leyden was not upon the sea,
but he could send the sea to Leyden, although an army fit to encounter the
besieging force under Valdez could not be levied. The damage to the fields,
villages, and growing crops would be enormous; but he felt that no other
course could rescue Leyden, and with it the whole of Holland, from destruction.
448 THE HISTOEY OF THE NBTHBELANDS
[1574 A.D.]
His clear expositions and impassioned eloquence at last overcame all resist-
ance. By the middle of July the states fully consented to his plan, and its
execution was immediately undertaken.
"Better a drowned land than a lost land," cried the patriots, with enthu-
siasm, as they devoted their fertile fields to desolation. The enterprise for
restoring their territory, for a season, to the waves from which it had been
so patiently rescued, was conducted with as much regularity as if it had
been a profitable undertaking. A capital was formally subscribed, for which
a certain number of bonds were issued, payable at a long date. In addition
to this preliminary fund, a monthly allowance of forty-five guldens was
voted by the states, until the work should be completed, and a large sum
was contributed by the ladies of the land, who freely furnished their plate,
jewelry, and costly furniture to the furtherance of the scheme.
On the 3rd of August, the prince, accompanied by Paul Buys, chief of
the commission appointed to execute the enterprise, went in person, and
superintended the rupture of the dikes in sixteen places. The gates at Schie-
dam and Rotterdam were opened, and the ocean began to pour over the
land. While waiting for the waters to rise, provisions were rapidly collected,
according to an edict of the prince, in all the principal towns of the
neighbourhood. The citizens of Leyden were, however, already becoming
impatient, for their bread was gone. They received on the 21st of August
a letter, dictated by the prince, who now lay in bed at Rotterdam with a
violent fever, assuring them that the dikes were all pierced, and that the water
was rising.
In the city itself, a dull distrust succeeded to the first vivid gleam of hope,
while the few royalists among the population boldly taunted their fellow
citizens to their faces with the absurd vision of relief which they had so fondly
welcomed. "Go up to the tower, ye beggars," was the frequent and taunt-
ing cry — "go up to the tower, and tell us if ye can see the ocean coming
over the dry land to your relief."
The fever of the prince had, meanwhile, reached its height. He lay at
Rotterdam, utterly prostrate in body, and with mind agitated nearly to
delirium, by the perpetual and almost unassisted schemes which he was con-
structing. Never was illness more unseasonable. His attendants were in
despair, for it was necessary that his mind should for a time be spared the
agitation of business. But from his sick bed he continued to dictate words
of counsel and encouragement to the city; to Admiral Boisot, commanding
the fleet, minute directions and precautions.
By the end of the first week of September, he wrote a long letter to his
brother, assuring him of his convalescence and expressing, as usual, a calm
confidence in the divine decrees. The preparations for the relief of Leyden,
which, notwithstanding his exertions, had grown slack during his sickness,
were now vigorously resumed. On the 1st of September, Admiral Boisot
arrived out of Zealand with a small number of vessels, and with eight hun-
dred veteran sailors. A wild and ferocious crew were those eight hundred
Zealanders. Scarred, hacked, and even maimed, in the unceasing conflicts
in which their lives had passed; wearing crescents in their caps, with the
inscription, " Rather Turkish than popish"; renowned far and wide, as much
for their ferocity as for their nautical skill — the appearance of these wildest
of the " sea-beggars " was both eccentric and terrific. They were known
never to give nor to take quarter, for they went to mortal combat only, and
had sworn to spare neither noble nor simple, neither king, kaiser, nor pope,
should they fall into their power.
PROGEESS TOWAEDS UNION 449
[1874 A.1).]
More than two hundred vessels had been now assembled, carrying generally
ten pieces of cannon, with from ten to eighteen oars, and manned with twenty-
five hundred veterans, experienced both on land and water. The work was
now undertaken in earnest. The distance from Leyden to the outer dike,
over whose ruins the ocean had already been admitted, was nearly fifteen
miles. This reclaimed territory, however, was not maintained against the
sea by these external barriers alone. The flotilla made its way with ease to
the Land-scheiding, a strong dike within five miles of Leyden; but here its
progress was arrested. It was necessary to break through a twofold series
of defences.
The prince had given orders that the Land-scheiding, which was still one
and a half feet above water, should be taken possession of, at every hazard.
On the night of the 10th and 11th of September this was accomplished, by
surprise, and in a masterly manner. No time was lost in breaking it through
in several places, a work which was accomplished under the very eyes of the
enemy. The fleet sailed through the gaps; but, after their passage had been
effected in good order, the admiral found, to his surprise, that it was not the
only rampart to be carried.
The Green-way, another long dike, three-quarters of a mile further inward,
now rose at least a foot above the water, to oppose their further progress.
Promptly and audaciously Admiral Boisot took possession of this barrier
also, levelled it in many places, and brought his flotilla, in triumph, over its
ruins. Again, however, he was doomed to disappointment. A large mere,
called the Fresh-water Lake, was known to extend itself directly in his path
about midway between the Land-scheiding and the city. To this piece of
water, into which he had expected to float instantly, his only passage lay
through one deep canal. The sea which had thus far borne him on, now
diffusing itself over a very wide surface, and under the influence of an adverse
wind, had become too shallow for 'his ships. The canal alone was deep
enough, but it led directly towards a bridge, strongly occupied by the enemy.
Hostile troops, moreover, to the amount of three thousand, occupied both
sides of the canal. The bold Boisot, nevertheless, determined to force his
passage, if possible. After losing a few men, and ascertaining the impregnable
position of the enemy, he was obliged to withdraw, defeated and almost
despairing. A week had elapsed since the great dike had been pierced, and
the flotilla now lay motionless in shallow water, having accomplished less than
two miles. The wind, too, was easterly, causing the sea rather to sink than
to rise. Everjrthing wore a gloomy aspect, when, fortunately, on the 18th,
the wind shifted to the northwest, and for three days blew a gale. The waters
rose rapidly, and before the second day was closed the armada was afloat
again. Some fugitives from Zoetermeer 'dllage now arrived, and informed
the admiral that, by making a detour to the right, he could completely cir-
cumvent the bridge and the mere. They guided him, accordingly, to a com-
paratively low dike, which led between the villages of Zoetermeer and Ben-
thuyzen. A strong force of Spaniards was stationed in each place, but seized
with a panic they fled inwardly towards Leyden, and halted at the village
of North Aa.
The fleet was delayed at North Aa by another barrier, called the
" Kirkway." The waters, too, spreading once more over a wider space, and
diminishing under an east wind, which had again arisen, no longer permitted
their progress; so that very soon the whole armada was stranded anew.
The waters fell to the depth of nine inches, while the vessels required eighteen
and twenty.
a. w. — VOL. juu. 3g
450 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEKLANDS
[1574 A.D.]
Meantime, the besieged city was at its last gasp. At the dawn of each
day every eye was turned wistfully to the vanes of the steeples. So long as
the easterly breeze prevailed, they felt, as they anxiously stood on towers
and housetops, that they must look in vain for the welcome ocean. Even
the misery endured at Haarlem had not reached that depth and mtensity
of agony to which Leyden was now reduced.
The pestilence stalked at noonday through the city, and the doomed
inhabitants fell like grass beneath its scythe. From six thousand to eight thou-
sand human beings sank before this scourge alone, yet the people resolutely
held out. Leyden was sublime in its despair. A few murmurs were, how-
ever, occasionally heard at the steadfastness of the magistrates, and a dead
body was placed at the door of the burgomaster, as a silent witness against
his inflexibility. A party of the more faint-hearted even assailed the heroic
Pieter Adriaanszoon van der Werff with threats and reproaches as he passed
through the streets. He waved his broad-leaved felt hat for silence, and
then exclaimed, in language which has been almost literally preserved:
" What would ye, my friends? Why do ye murmur that we do not break
our vows and surrender the city to the Spaniards — a fate more horrible
than the agony which she .now endures? I tell you I have made an oath to
hold the city, and may God give me strength to keep my oath! I can die
but once; whether by your hands, the enemy's, or by the hand of God; my
life is at your disposal: here is my sword, plunge it into my breast, and divide
my flesh among you. Take my body to appease your hunger, but expect
no surrender, so long as I remain alive. "
The words of the stout bm-gomaster inspired a new courage. From the
ramparts they hurled renewed defiance at the enemy. " Ye call us rat-eaters
and dog-eaters," they cried, "and it is true. So long, then, as ye hear dog,
bark or cat mew within the walls, ye may know that the city holds out.
And when all has perished but ourselves, be sure that we will each devour
our left arms, retaining our right to defend our women, our liberty, and our
religion, against the foreign tyrant. When the last hour has come, with our
hands we will set fire to the city, and perish, men, women, and children to-
gether, in the flames, rather than suffer our homes to be poUuted and our
liberties to be crushed."
"As well," shouted the Spaniards, derisively, to the citizens, "as well
can the prince of Orange pluck the stars from the sky as bring the ocean to
the walls of Leyden."
A violent equinoctial gale, on the night of the 1st and 2nd of October,
came storming from the northwest, shifting after a few hours full eight points,
and then blowing still more violently from the southwest. The waters of
the North Sea were piled in vast masses upon the southern coast of HoUand,
and then dashed furiously landward, the ocean rising over the earth, and
sweeping with unrestrained power across the ruined dikes. The Kirk-way,
which had been broken through according to the prince's instructions, was
now completely overflowed, and the fleet sailed at midnight, in the midst
of the storm and darkness. There was a fierce naval midnight battle — a
strange spectacle among the branches of those quiet orchards, and with the
chimney stacks of half-submerged farm-houses rising around the contending
vessels. The enemy's vessels were soon sunk, their crews hurled into the
waves. •
As they approached some shallows, which led into the great mere, the
Zealanders dashed into the sea, and with sheer strength shouldered every
vessel through. The panic, which had hitherto driven their foes before the
PEOGEESS TOWAEDS UNION" 451
[1574 A.D.]
advancing patriots, had reached Zoeterwoude. The Spaniards, in the early
morning, poured out from the fortress, and fled precipitately. Their narrow
path was rapidly vanishing in the waves, and hundreds sank beneath the
constantly-deepening and treacherous flood. The wild Zealanders, too,
sprang from their vessels upon the crumbling dike and drove their retreating
foes into the sea. They hurled their harpoons at them, with an accuracy
acquired in many a polar chase; they plimged into the waves in the keen
pursuit, attacking them with boat-hook and dagger.
A few strokes of th.. oars brought the whole fleet close to Lammen. This
last obstacle rose formidable and frowning directly across their path. Swarm-
ing as it was with soldiers, and bristling with artillery, it seemed to defy the
armada either to carry it by storm or to pass under its guns into the city.
Boisot anchored his fleet within a respectful distance, and spent what
remained of the day in carefully reconnoitring.
Night descended upon the scene, a pitch dark night, full of anxiety to
the Spaniards, to the armada, to Leyden. Strange sights and soimds oc-
curred at different moments to bewilder the anxious sentinels. A long
procession of lights issuing from the fort was seen to flit across the bJack
face of the waters, in the dead of night, and the whole of the city wall, between
the Cow-gate and the tower of Burgundy, fell with a loud crash.^ The horror-
struck citizens thought that the Spaniards were upon them at last; the
Spaniards imagined the noise to indicate a desperate sortie of the citizens.
Everything was vague and mysterious. Day dawned, at length, after the
feverish night, and the admiral prepared for the assault. Suddenly a man
was descried, wading breast-high through the water from Lammen towards
the fleet; while, at the same time, one solitary boy was seen to wave his cap
from the summit of the fort. After a moment of doubt, the happy mystery
was solved. The Spaniards had fled, panic-struck, during the darlmess. All
obstacles being now removed, the fleet of Boisot swept by Lammen, and
entered the city on the morning of the 3rd of October. Leyden was relieved.
The quays were lined with the famishing population, as the fleet rowed
through the canals, every human being who could stand coming forth to
greet the preservers of the city. Bread was thrown from every vessel among
the crowd. The poor creatures who for two months had tasted no wholesome
human food, and who had literally been living within the jaws of death,
snatched eagerly the blessed gift, at last too liberally bestowed. Many
choked themselves to death, in the greediness with which they devoured
their bread. Magistrates and citizens, wild Zealanders, emaciated burgher
guards, sailors, soldiers, women, children — nearly every living person within
the walls all repaired without delay to the great church, stout Admiral Boisot
leading the way. After prayers, the whole vast congregation joined in the
thanksgiving hjnnn. Thousands of voices raised the song, but few were able
to carry it to its conclusion, for the universal emotion, deepened by the
music, became too full for utterance. The hjTnn was abruptly suspended,
while the multitude wept like children.
On the 4th of October, the day following that on which the relief of the
city was effected, the wind shifted to the northeast, and again blew a tempest.
It was as if the waters, having now done their work, had been rolled back
to the ocean by an omnipotent hand; for in the course of a few days the land
was bare again, and the work of reconstructing the dikes commenced.
After a brief interval of repose, Leyden had regained its former position.
[' According to Hofdyke the fallen portion was only sixteen feet ■wide.]
452
THE HISTOEY OP THE JSTETHEELANDS
[1574 A.D.]
The prince, with advice of the states, had granted the city, as a reward for
its sufferings, a ten days' annual fair, without tolls or taxes; and, as a further
manifestation of the gratitude entertained by the people of Holland and
Zealand for the heroism of the citizens, it was resolved that an academy or
university should be forthwith established within their walls. The Univer-
sity of Leyden, afterwards so illustrious, was thus founded in the very darkest
period of the country's struggle.
The document by which the institution was founded was certainly a
masterpiece of ponderous
irony, for as the fiction of
the king's sovereignty was
A M^r\ ®^^^ maintained, Philip was
' l\ ^f-iW^ gravely made to establish
''^1^ JM*T^^^ university, as a reward
lf^fr^_^^ji!lL|5i to Leyden for rebellion to
'L ',-=1
Mi
himself.
THE STADHOLDEE's POWERS
ENLAEGED
Changes fast becoming
necessary in the internal
government of the prov-
inces were undertaken dur-
ing 1574'. Hitherto the
prince had exercised his
power under the convenient
fiction of the monarch's au-
thority, systematically con-
ducting the rebellion in the
name of his majesty, and
as his majesty's stadholder.
By this process an immense
power was lodged in his
hands; nothing less, indeed,
than the supreme executive
and legislative functions of
the land.
The two provinces, even
while deprived of Haarlem
and Amsterdam, now raised
210,000 florins monthly,
whereas Alva had never been able to extract from Holland more than
271,000 florins yearly In consequence of this liberality, the cities insen-
sibly acquired a greater influence in the government. Moreover, while grow-
ing more ambitious, they became less liberal.
The prince, dissatisfied with the conduct of the cities, brought the whole
subject before an assembly of the states of Holland, on the 20th of October,
1574. He stated the inconveniences produced by the anomalous condition
of the government. He complained that the common people had often
fallen into the error that the money raised for public purposes had been
levied for his benefit only, and that they had, therefore, been less willing to
contribute to the taxes. As the only remedy for these evils, he tendered his
Old Amsterdam Gate, Haarlem
PEOGEBSS TOWAEDS UNION 453
[1574-1575 A.D.]
resignation of all the powers with which he was clothed, so that the estates
might then take the government, which they could exercise without conflict
or control. For himself, he had never desired power, except as a means of
being useful to his country, and he did not offer his resignation from unwUling-
ness to stand by the cause, but from a hearty desire to save it from disputes
among its friends. He was ready now, as ever, to shed the last drop of his
blood to maintain the freedom of the land.
This straightforward language produced an instantaneous effect. They
were embarrassed, for they did not like to relinquish the authority which
they had begun to relish, nor to accept the resignation of a man who was
indispensable. They felt that to give up William of Orange at that time was
to accept the Spanish yoke forever. At an assembly held at Delft on the
12th of November, 1574, they accordingly requested him " to continue in his
blessed government, with the council established near him," and for this end
they formally offered to him, "under the name of governor or regent," abso-
lute power, authority, and sovereign command. But they made it a condition,
that the states should be convened and consulted upon requests, impositions,
and upon all changes in the governing body. It was also stipulated that the
judges of the supreme court and of the exchequer, with other high officers,
should be appointed by and with the consent of the states.
The prince expressed himself as willing to accept the government upon
these terms. He, however, demanded an allowance of 45,000 florins monthly
for the army expenses and other current outlays. Here, however, the states
refused their consent. In a mercantile spirit, imworthy the occasion and the
man with whom they were dealing, they endeavoured to chaffer where they
should have been only too willing to comply, and they attempted to reduce
the reasonable demand of the prince to 30,000 florins. The prince denounced
the niggardliness of the states in the strongest language, and declared that he
would rather leave the country forever, with the maintenance of his owu
honour, than accept the government upon such disgraceful terms. The states,
disturbed by his vehemence, and struck with its justice, instantly, and without
further deliberation, consented to his demand. They granted the forty-five
thousand florins monthly, and the prince assumed the government, thus
remodelled.
During the autumn and early winter of the year 1574, the emperor Maxi-
milian had been actively exerting himself to bring about a pacification of the
Netherlands. Ten commissioners, who were appointed by the states for
peace negotiations, were all friends of the prince. Among them were Sainte-
Aldegonde, Paul Buys, Charles Boisot, and Doctor Junius. The plenipo-
tentiaries of the Spanish government were Leoninus, the seigneur de Ras-
singhem, Cornelius Suis, and Arnold Sasbout.
The proceedings were opened at Breda upon the 3rd of March, 1575.
They ended July 13th, with nothing accomplished. The internal government
of the insurgent provinces had remained upon the footing which we have
seen established in the autumn of 1574, but in the course of this summer
(1575), however, the foundation was laid for the union of HoUand and Zea-
land, under the authority of Orange. The selfish principle of municipal aris-
tocracy, which had tended to keep asunder these various groups of cities,
was now repressed by the energy of the prince and the strong determination
of the people.
On the 4th of June this first union was solemnised. Upon the 11th of
July, the prince formally accepted the government. Early in this year the
prince had despatched Sainte-Aldegonde on a private mission to the elector
454 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEKLANDS
[1575 A.D.]
palatine. During some of his visits to that potentate he had seen at Heidel-
berg the princess Charlotte of Bourbon, daughter of the duke of Montpensier,
the most ardent of the Catholic princes of France. A woman of beauty,
intelligence, and virtue, forced before the canonical age to take the religious,
vows, she had been placed in the convent of Jouarre, of which she had become!
abbess. Always secretly inclined to the Reformed religion, she had fled
secretly from her cloister, in the year of horrors 1572, and had found refuge
at the court of the elector palatine, after which step her father refused
to receive her letters, to contribute a farthing to her support, or even to
acknowledge her claims upon him by a single line or message of affection.
Under these circumstances the outcast princess, who had arrived at years
of maturity, might be considered her own mistress, and she was neither
morally nor legally bound, when her hand was sought in marriage by the great
champion of the Reformation, to ask the consent of a parent who loathed
her religion, and denied her existence. The legality of the divorce from Anna
of Saxony had been settled by a full expression of the ecclesiastical authority
which she most respected; the facts upon which the divorce had been founded
having been proved beyond peradventure.
So far, therefore, as the character of Mademoiselle Bourbon and the
legitimacy of her future offspring were concerned, she received ample guar-
antees. For the rest, the prince, in a simple letter, informed her that he was
already past his prime, having reached his forty-second year, and that his
fortune was encumbered not only with settlements for his chQdren by previous
marriages, but by debts contracted in the cause of his oppressed cotmtry.
A convention of doctors and bishops of France, summoned by the duke of
Montpensier, afterwards confirmed the opinion that the conventional vows
of the princess Charlotte had been conformable neither to the laws of France
nor to the canons of the Trent CoimcU. She was conducted to Brief by Sainte-
Aldegonde, where she was received by her bridegroom, to whom she was
united on the 12th of June. The wedding festival was held at Dort with
much revelry and holiday-making, "but without dancing."
In this connection, no doubt the prince consulted his inclination only. It
was equally natural that he should make many enemies by so impolitic a match.
While these important affairs, public and private, had been occurring in
the south of Holland and in Germany, a very nefarious transaction had dis-
graced the cause of the patriot party in the northern quarter. Diedrich
Sonoy, governor of that portion of Holland, a man of great bravery, but of
extreme ferocity of character, had discovered an extensive conspiracy among
certain of the inhabitants, in aid of an approaching Spanish invasion. The
governor, determined to show that the duke of Alva could not be more prompt
nor more terrible than himself, improvised, of his own authority, a tribunal
in imitation of the infamous Blood Council. Fortunately for the character
of the country, Sonoy was not a Hollander, nor was the jurisdiction of this
newly established court allowed to extend beyond very narrow limits. Eight
vagabonds were, however, arrested and doomed to tortures the most horrible,
in order to extort from them confessions implicating persons of higher posi-
tion in the land than themselves. The individuals who had been thus desig-
nated were arrested. Charged with plotting a general conflagration of the
villages and farm-houses, in conjunction with an invasion by Hierges and
other Papist generals, they indignantly protested their innocence; but two
of them, a certain Kopp Corneliszoon, and his son, Nanning Koppezoon,
were selected to undergo the most cruel tortm-e which had yet been practised
in the Netherlands.
PEOGEESS TOWAEDS UNION 46fi
[1575 A.D.]
_ It was shown that Reformers were capable of giving a lesson even to in-
quisitors in this diabolical science. The affair now reached the ears of Orange.
His peremptory orders, with the universal excitement produced in the neigh-
bourhood, at last checked the course of the outrage. It is no impeachment
upon the character of the prince that these horrible crimes were not pre-
vented. It was impossible for him to be omnipresent. Neither is it just to
consider the tortures and death thus inflicted upon innocent men an indel-
ible stain upon the cause of liberty. They were the crimes of an individual
who had been useful, but who, like the count de la Marck, had now con-
taminated his hand with the blood of the guiltless. The new tribunal never
took root, and was abolished as soon as its initiatory horrors were known.
A SPANISH EXPLOIT
The grand commander had not yet given up the hope of naval assistance
from Spain, notwithstanding the abrupt termination to the last expedition
which had been organised. It was, however, necessary that a foot-hold
should be recovered upon the seaboard, before a descent from without could
be met with proper co-operation from the land forces within, and he was
most anxious, therefore, to effect the reconquest of some portion of Zealand.
Traitors from Zealand itself now came forward to teach the Spanish com-
mander how to strike at the heart of their own country. These refugees
explained to Requesens that a narrow flat extended under the sea from
Philipsland, as far as the shore of Duiveland. A force sent through these
dangerous shallows might take possession of Duiveland and lay siege to
Zieriksee in the very teeth of the Zealand fleet, which would be unable to sail
near enough to intercept their passage.
Requesens assembled three thousand infantry, partly Spaniards, partly
Germans, partly Walloons, besides a picked corps of two hundred sappers
and miners. One half was to remain in boats, under the command of Mond-
ragon; the other half, accompanied by two hundred pioneers, to wade through
the sea from Philipsland to Duiveland and Schouwen. Each soldier of this
detachment was provided with a pair of shoes, two pounds of powder, and
rations for three days, in a canvas bag suspended at his neck. The leader
of this expedition was Don Osorio de UUoa. It was a wild night, the 27th
of September. Incessant lightning alternately revealed and obscured the
progress of the midnight march through the black waters.
As they advanced cautiously, two by two, the daring adventurers found
themselves soon nearly up to their necks in the waves, while so narrow was
the submerged bank along which they were marching, that a mis-step to the
right or left was fatal. Luckless individuals repeatedly sank to rise no more.
Meantime, as the sickly light of the waning moon came forth at intervals
through the stormy clouds, the soldiers could plainly perceive the files of
Zealand vessels through which they were to march, and which were anchored
as close to the flat as the water would allow.
Standing breast-high in the waves, and surrounded at intervals by total
darkness, they were yet able to pour an occasional well-directed volley into
the hostile ranks. The Zealanders, however, did not assail them with fire-
arms alone. They transfixed some with their fatal harpoons; they dragged
others from the path with boat-hooks; they beat out the brains of others
with heavy flails.
The night wore on, and the adventurers still fought it out manfully, but
very slowly, the main body of Spaniards, Germans, and Walloons^ soon after
4S6 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1575 A.D.}
daylight, reaching the opposite shore, having sustained considerable losses,
but in perfect order. The pioneers were not so fortunate. The tide rose
over them before they could effect their passage, and swept nearly every one
away. The rear-guard were fortunately enabled to retrace their steps.
Don Osorio, at the head of the successful adventurers, now effected his
landing upon Duiveland. Reposing themselves but for an instant after this
unparalleled march through the water, of more than six hours, they took a
slight refreshment, prayed to the Virgin Mary and to St. James, and then
prepared to meet their new enemies on land. Ten companies of French,
Scotch, and English auxiliaries lay in Duiveland, under the command of
Charles van Boisot. Strange to relate, by an inexplicable accident, or by
treason, that general was slain by his own soldiers, at the moment when the
royal troops landed. The panic created by this event became intense, as the
enemy rose suddenly, as it were, out of the depths of the ocean to attack them.
They magnified the numbers of their assailants, and fled terror-stricken in
every direction. The oity of Zieriksee was soon afterwards beleaguered.
The siege was protracted till the following June, the city holding out with
firmness. Want of funds caused the operations to be conducted with languor,
but the same cause prevented the prince from accompHshing its relief. Thus
the expedition from Philipsland, the most brilfiant military exploit of the
whole war, was attended with important results. The communication
between Walcheren and the rest of Zealand was interrupted, the province
cut in two, a foot-hold on the ocean, for a brief interval at least, acquired by
Spain. The prince was inexpressibly chagrined by these circumstances,
and felt that the moment had arrived when all honourable means were to
be employed to obtain foreign assistance.
INDEPENDENCE DECLARED (1575)
Hitherto the fiction of allegiance had been preserved, and, even by the
enemies of the prince, it was admitted that it had been retained with no dis-
loyal intent. The time, however, had come when it was necessary to throw
off allegiance, provided another could be found strong enough and frank
enough to accept the authority which Philip had forfeited. The question
was, naturally, between France and England, unless the provinces could
effect their re-admission into the body of the German Empire.
The states were summoned by the prince, to deliberate on this important
matter, at Rotterdam. On the 1st of October he formally proposed either
to make terms with their enemy (and that the sooner the better), or else,
once for all, to separate entirely from the king of Spain, and to change their
sovereign. After an adjournment of a few days, the diet again assembled
at Delft, and it was then unanimously resolved by the nobles and the cities,
that they would forsake the king and seek foreign assistance; referring
the choice to the prince, who, in regard to the government, was to take the
opinion of the states.
Thus the great step was taken, by which two little provinces declared
themselves independent of their ancient master. That declaration, although
taken in the midst of doubt and darkness, was not destined to be cancelled,
and the germ of a new and powerful commonwealth was planted. , So little,
however, did these republican fathers foresee their coming republic, that the
resolution to renounce one king was combined with a proposition to ask for
the authority of another. It was not imagined that those two slender
PKOGKESS TOWAEDS UNION 457
[1576 a.dO
columns, which were all that had yet been raised of the future stately peristyle,
would be strong enough to stand alone.
Germany, England, France, however, all refused to stretch out their
hands to save the heroic but exhaustless little provinces. It was at this
moment that a desperate but sublime resolution took possession of the prince's
mind. There seemed but one way left to exclude the Spaniards forever from
HoUand and Zealand, and to rescue the inhabitants from impending ruin.
The prince had long brooded over the scheme, and the hour seemed to have
struck for its fulfilment. His project was to collect all the vessels, of every
description, which could be obtained throughout the Netherlands. The
whole population of the two provinces, men, women, and children, together
with all the movable property of the country, were then to be embarked on
board this numerous fleet, and to seek a new home beyond the seas. The
•windmills were then to be burned, the dikes pierced, the sluices opened in
every direction, and the country restored forever to the ocean, from which
it had sprung.'
It is difficult to say whether the resolution, if providence had permitted
its fulfilment, would have been, on the whole, better or worse for humanity
and civilisation. The ships which would have borne the prince and his
fortunes might have taken the direction of the newly discovered western
hemisphere. A religious colony, planted by a commercial and liberty-loving
race, in a virgin soil, and directed by patrician but self-denying hands, might
have preceded, by half a century, the colony which a kindred race, impelled
by similar motives, and under somewhat similar circumstances and conditions,
was destined to plant upon the stern shores of New England. Had they
directed their course to the warm and fragrant islands of the East, an inde-
pendent Christian commonwealth might have arisen among those prolific
regions, superior in importance to any subsequent colony of Holland, cramped
from its birth by absolute subjection to a far-distant metropolis.
DEATH OF EBQUESENS (1576)
The unexpected death of Requesens suddenly dispelled these schemes.
A violent fever seized him on the 1st, and terminated his existence on the 5th
of March, in the fifty-first year of his life.
Requesens was a man of high position by birth and office, but a thoroughly
commonplace personage. His talents either for war or for civil employments
were not above mediocrity. His sudden death arrested, for a moment, the
ebb-tide in the affairs of the Netherlands, which was fast leaving the country
bare and desolate, and was followed by a train of unforeseen transactions.
THE RISE OF FLANDERS AND BRABANT
The suddenness of Requesens' Ulness had not allowed time for even the
nomination of a successor, to which he was authorised by letters patent from
•Bor/ relates that this plan had been definitely formed by the prince. His authority is
" a credible gentleman of quality " {een geloofawaerdig edelmcmn van qualiteit) who, at the time,
■was a member of the estates and government of Holland. Groen van Prinsterer.c however,
rejects the tale as fabulous ; or believes, at any rate, that the personage alluded to by Bor took
the prince's words too literally. It is probable that the thought was often in the prince's mind,
and found occasional expression, although it had never been actually reduced to a scheme. It
is difficult to see that it was not consistent with his character, supposing that there had been
no longer any room for hope. Hoof t » adopts the story without hesitation. Wagenaar » alludes
to it as a matter of current report.
458
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1576 A.D.]
the king. The government now devolved entirely into the hands of the
council of state, which was at that period composed of nine members. The
principal of these was Philip de Croy duke of Aerschot; the other leading
members were Viglius, counts Mansfeld and Barlaymont; and the council
was degraded by numbering, among the rest. Debris and De Roda, two of the
notorious Spaniards who had formed part of the coimcil of Blood.
The king resolved to leave the authority in the hands of this incongruous
mixture, until the arrival of Don John of Austria, his natural brother, whom
he had already named to the office of governor-general. But in the interval
the government assumed
an aspect of unprecedented
disorder, and widespread
anarchy embraced the
whole coimtry. The royal
troops openly revolted,
and fought against each
other like deadly enemies.
The nobles, divided in
their views, arrogated to
themselves in different
places the titles and powers
of command.
The siege of Zieriksee
was continued; but speedy
dissensions among the
members of the govern-
ment rendered their au-
thority contemptible, if
not utterly extinct, in the
eyes of the people. The
exhaustion of the treasury
deprived them of all power
to put an end to the mu-
tinous excesses of the Span-
ish troops, and the latter
carried their licentiousness
to the utmost bounds.
Zieriksee, admitted to a
surrender,' and saved from pillage by the payment of a large sum, was lost
to the royalists within three months, from the want of discipline in its garri-
son; and the towns and burghs of Brabant suffered as much from the excesses
of their nominal protectors as could have been inflicted by the enemy. The
mutineers at length, to the number of some thousands, attacked and carried,
by force the town of Alost^ [or Aalst]; imprisoned the chief citizens; and
levied contributions on all the country round. It was then that the council
of state found itself forced to proclaim them rebels, traitors, and enemies to
the king and the country, and called on all loyal subjects to pursue and
externiinate them wherever they were found in arms.
This proscription of the Spanish mutineers was followed by the convo-
[' The brave admiral Louis Boisot was killed wtile attempting to relieve the town, which
surrendered June 21st, 1576.]
[" According to BlokJ the soldiers congregated at Alost in such numbers as to leave Holland,
Zealand, Qelderland, and Utrecht almost free of foreign soldiery,]
Market-place and Bell-tower at Alkmaar
PEOGKESS TOWAEDS UNION 459
[1576 A.l>.]
cation of the states-general; and the government thus hoped to maintain
some show of union, and some chance of authority. But a new scene of
intestine violence completed the picture of executive inefficiency. On the
4th of September, the grand baUiff of Brabant, as lieutenant of the baron
de Hesse [or H^ze], governor of Brussels, entered the council chamber by
force, and arrested all the members present, on suspicion of treacherously
maintaining intelligence with the Spaniards. Counts Mansfeld and Barlay-
mont were imprisoned, with some others. Viglius escaped this indignity by
being absent from indisposition. This bold measure was hailed by the people
with unusual joy, as the signal for that total change in the government which
they reckoned on as the prelude to complete freedom.
The states-general were all at this time assembled, with the exception of
those of Flanders, who joined the others with but little delay. The general
reprobation against the Spaniards procured a second decree of proscription;
and their desperate conduct justified the utmost violence with which they
might be pursued. They still held the citadels of Ghent and Antwerp, as
■ well as Maestricht, which they had seized on, sacked, and pillaged with aU
the fury which a barbarous enemy inflicts on a town carried by assault.' On
the 3rd of November, the other body of mutineers, in possession of Alost,
marched to the support of their fellow brigands in the citadel of Antwerp;
and both, simultaneously attacking this magnificent city, became masters of
it in all points, in spite of a vigorous resistance on the part of the citizens.
They then began a scene of rapine and destruction unequalled in the annals
of these desperate wars, and the most opulent town in Europe was thus
reduced to ruin and desolation by a few thousand frantic ruffians.?
THE SPANISH FURY AT ANTWERP
Five thousand veteran foot soldiers, besides six hundred cavalry, armed
to the teeth, sallied from the portals of Alva's citadel. In the counterscarp
they fell upon their knees, to invoke, according to custom, the blessing of
God upon the devil's work which they were about to commit. The eletto
bore a standard, one side of which was emblazoned with the crucified Saviour,
and the other with the Virgin Mary.
The eletto was first to mount the rampart; the next instant he was shot
dead, while his followers, undismayed, sprang over his body, and poured
into the -streets. So soon as it was known that the Spaniards had crossed
the rampart, that its six thousand defenders were in full retreat, it was
inevitable that a panic should seize the city.
Their entrance once effected, the Spanish force had separated, according
to previous arrangement, into two divisions, one half charging up the long
street of St. Michael, the other forcing its way through the street of St. Joris.
"Santiago, Santiago! Espana, Espana! d sangre, a came, a jiicgo, d sacco!"
(St. James, Spain, blood, flesh, fire, sack!) — such were the hideous cries
which rang through every quarter of the city, as the savage horde advanced.
[' Even Spanish bravery recoiled at so desperate an undertaking, but unscrupulous fe-
rocity supplied an expedient wbere courage was at fault. Bach soldier was commanded to seize
a woman, and placing lier before his own body, to advance across the bridge. The. column,
thus bucklered, to the shame of Spanish chivalry, by female bosoms, moved in good order
toward the battery. The soldiers levelled their muskets with steady aim over the shoulders or
under the arms of the women whom they thus held before them. On the other hand, the
citizens dared not discharge their cannon at their own townswomen, among whose numbers
many recognised mothers, sisters, or wives. Maestricht was recovered, and an indiscriminate
slaughter instantly avenged its temporary loss.!"]
460 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1576 A.D.]
Van Ende, with his German troops, had been stationed by the marquis of
Havr6 to defend the St. Joris gate, but no sooner did the Spaniards under
Vargas present themselves than he deserted to them instantly with his whole
force. United with the Spanish cavalry, these traitorous defenders of Ant-
werp dashed in pursuit of those who had been only faint-hearted. Thus the
burghers saw themselves attacked by many of their friends, deserted by
more. Whom were they to trust? Nevertheless, Oberstein's Germans were
brave and faithful, resisting to the last, and dymg every man in his harness.
The tide of battle flowed hither and thither, through every street and narrow
lane. The confused mob of fugitives and conquerors, Spaniards, Walloons,
Germans, burghers, struggling, shouting, striking, cursing, dying, swayed
hither and thither hke a stormy sea. Every house became a fortress. It
was difficult to carry the houses by storm, but they were soon set on fire.
In a brief interval, the city hall and other edifices on the square were ia
flames. The conflagration spread with rapidity — house after house, street
after street, taking fire. Nearly a thousand buildings, in the most splendid
and wealthy quarter of the city, were soon in a blaze, and multitudes of
human beings were burned with them. The many tortuous streets which
led down a slight descent from the rear of the town-house to the quays were
all one vast conflagration. On the other side, the magnificent cathedral,
separated from the Grande place by a single row of buildings, was lighted up,
but not attacked by the flames. The tafl spire cast its gigantic shadow
across the last desperate conflict. Women, children, old men were killed in
countless numbers, and stOl, through all this havoc, directly over the heads of
the struggling throng, suspended in mid-air above the din and smoke of the
conflict, there sounded, every half quarter of every hour, as if in gentle
mockery, from the belfry of the cathedral, the tender and melodious chimes.
Never was there a more monstrous massacre, even in the blood-stained
history of the Netherlands. It was estimated that, in the covu-se of this and
the two following days, not less than eight thousand human beings were
murdered.' The Spaniards seemed to cast off even the vizard of humanity.
Hell seemed emptied of its fiends. Night fell upon the scene before the soldiers
were masters of the city; but worse horrors began after the contest was
ended. This army of brigands had come thither with a definite, practical
purpose, for it was not blood-thirst, nor lust, nor revenge which had impelled
them, but it was greediness for gold. The fire, spreading more extensively
and more rapidly than had been desired through the wealthiest quarter of
the city, had unfortunately devoured a vast amount of property. Six mil-
lions, at least, had thus been swallowed; a destruction by which no one had
profited. There was, however, much left. The strong boxes of the merchants,
the gold, silver, and precious jewelry, the velvets, satins, brocades, laces, and
' This is the estimate of Mendoza^ ; viz., two thousand five hundred slain with the sword,
and double that number burned aild drowned. Cabrera * puts the figures at seven thousand and
upwards. Bor/ and Hooft ^ give the same number of dead bodies actually found in the streets,
viz., two thousand five hundred ; and, estimating the drowned at as many more, leave the
number of the burned to conjecture. Meteren ,''■ who on all occasions seeks to diminish the
number of his countrymen slain in battle or massapre, while he magnifies the loss of his oppo-
nents, admits that from four to five thousand were slain ; adding, however, that but fifteen
hundred bodies were found, which were all bnried together in two great pits. He thus deducts
exactly one thousand from the number of counted corpses, as given by every other authority,
Spanish or Flemish. Strada ™ gives three thousand as the number of those slain with the
sword. The letter of Jerome de Roda to the king, written from the citadel of Antwerp upon
the 6th of November, when the carnage was hardly over, estimates the number of the slain at
eight thousand, and one thousand horses. This authority, coming from the very hour and
spot, and from a man so deeply implicated, may be considered conclusive. — [Blok " puts the num-
ber of slain at between six and seven thousand.]
PROGRESS TOWARDS TNIOF 461
[1576 A.D.]
similar well-concentrated and portable plunder, were rapidly appropriated.
So far the course was plain and easy, but in private houses it was more diffi-
cult. The cash, plate, and other valuables of individuals were not so easily
discovered. Torture was, therefore, at once employed to discover the hidden
treasures.
Two days longer the havoc lasted in the city. Of all the deeds of dark-
ness yet compassed in the Netherlands, this was the worst. It was called
the Spanish Fury, by which dread name it has been known for ages. The
city which had been a world of wealth and splendour was changed to a charnel-
house, and from that hour its commercial prosperity was blasted.
Rarely has so small a band obtained in three days' robbery so large an
amount of wealth. Four or five millions divided among five thousand soldiers
made up for long arrearages.
In this Spanish Fury many more were massacred in Antwerp than in the
St. Bartholomew at Paris. Almost as many living human beings were dashed
out of existence now as there had been statues destroyed in the memorable
image-breaking of Antwerp, ten years before — an event which had sent
such a thrill of horror through the heart of Catholic Christendom.
Marvellously few Spaniards were slain in these eventful days. Two
hundred killed is the largest nimiber stated. The discrepancy seems mon-
strous, but it is hardly more than often existed between the losses inflicted
and sustained by the Spaniards in such combats. Their prowess was equal
to their ferocity, and this was enough to make them seem endowed with pre-
terhuman powers.
Bor's/ estimate is two hundred Spaniards kiUed and four hundred
wounded. Hooft'^ gives the same. Mendoza? allows only fourteen Span-
iards to have been killed, and rather more than twenty wounded. Meteren '
as usual, considering the honour of his countrymen at stake, finds a grim con-
solation in adding a few to the number of the enemies slain, and gives a total
of three hundred Spaniards killed. Strada^ gives the two extremes; so
that it is almost certain that the number was not less than fourteen nor more
than two hundred. These statistics are certainly curious, for it would seem
almost impossible that a force numbering between thirty-five hundred and
five thousand men (there is this amount of discrepancy in the different esti-
mates) should capture and plunder, with so little loss to themselves, a city
of two hundred thousand souls, defended by an army of at least twelve thou-
sand besides a large proportion of burghers bearing weapons. No wonder
that the chivalrous Brantome <> was in an ecstasy of delight at the achieve-
ment, and that the Netherlanders, seeing the prowess and the cruelty of their
foes, should come to doubt whether they were men or devils.
This disproportion between the number of Spaniards and states' soldiers
slain was the same in all the great encounters, particularly in those of the
period which now occupies us. In the six months between the end of August,
1576, and the signing of the Perpetual Edict on the 17th of February, 1577,
the Spaniards killed twenty thousand, by the admission of the Netherlanders
themselves, and acknowledged less than six slain on their own side! So
much for the blood expended annually or monthly by the Netherlanders in
defence of liberty and religion. As for the money constmied, the usual esti-
mate of the expense of the states' army was from 800,000 to 1,000,000 giildens
monthly, according to Meteren.' The same historian calculates the expense
of Philip's army at 42,000,000 crowns for the nine years, from 1567 to 1576,
which would give nearly 400,000 dollars monthly, half of which, he says, came
from Spain. The Netherlanders, therefore, furnished the other half, so that
462 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLANDS
[1576 A.D.]
200,000 dollars, equal to 500,000 guldens, monthly were to be added to the
million required for their own war department. Here then was a tax of one
and a half millions monthly, or eighteen millions yearly, simply for the keep-
ing of the two armies on foot to destroy the Netherlanders and consume
their substance. The frightful loss by confiscations, plunderings, brand-
schettings, and the sackings of cities and villages innumerable, was all in
addition, of course, but that enormous amount defies calculation. The
regular expense in money which they were to meet, if they could, for the mere
pay and provision of the armies, was as above, and equal to at least sixty
millions yearly to-day, making allowance for the difference in the value
of money. This was certainly sufficient for a population of three millions.
Their frequent promise to maintain their liberty with their " goods and their
blood" was no idle boast — three thousand men and one and a half million
florins being constmied monthly.
THE PACIFICATION OF GHENT (1576)
Meantime the prince of Orange sat at Middelburg, watching the storm.
The position of Holland and Zealand with regard to the other fifteen provinces
was distinctly characterised. Upon certain points there was an absolute
sympathy, while upon others there was a grave and almost fatal difference.
It was the task of the prince to deepen the sympathy, to extinguish the differ-
ence. In Holland and Zealand there was a warm and nearly universal adhe-
sion to the reformed religion, a passionate attachment to the ancient politi-
cal liberties. The prince, although an earnest Calvinist himself, did all in
his power to check the growing spirit of intolerance towards the old religion,
omitted no opportunity of strengthening the attachment which the people
justly felt for their liberal institutions.
On the other hand, in most of the other provinces, the Catholic religion
had been regaining its ascendency. Even in 1574, the states assembled at
Brussels declared to Requesens that they would rather die the death than
see any change in their religion. That feeling had rather increased than
diminished.
As to political convictions, the fifteen provinces differed much less from
their two sisters. There was a strong attachment to their old constitutions,
a general inclination to make use of the present crisis to effect their restora^
tion. At the same time, it had not come to be the general conviction, as in
Holland and Zealand, that the maintenance of those liberties was incom-
patible with the continuance of Philip's authority. The great bond of sym-
pathy, however, between aU the seventeen was their common hatred to the
foreign soldiery. Upon this deeply embedded, immovable fulcrum of an
ancient national hatred, the sudden mutiny of the whole Spanish army served
as a lever of incalculable power. The prince seized it as from the hand of
God. Thus armed, he proposed to himself the task of upturning the mass
of oppression under which the old liberties of the country had so long been
crushed. To effect this object, adroitness was as requisite as courage.
The prince, therefore, in all his addresses and documents, was careful to
disclaim any intention of disturbing the established religion, or of making
any rash political changes.
Having sought to impress \ipon his countrymen the gravity of the position,
he led them to seek the remedy in audacity and in union. He familiarised
them with his theory that the legal, historical government of the provinces
belonged to the states-general, to a congress of nobles, clergy, and commons,
PEOGEESS TOWAEDS UNION 463
[1576 A.D.]
appointed from each of the seventeen provinces. He maintained, with
reason, that the government of the Netherlands was a representative con-
stitutional government, under the hereditary authority of the king. Letters
were addressed to the states of nearly every province. Those bodies were
urgently implored to appoint deputies to a general congress, at which a close
and formal union between Holland and Zealand with the other provinces
might be effected. The place appointed for the deliberations was the city
of Ghent. Here, by the middle of October, a large number of delegates had
already assembled although the citadel commanding the city was held by
the Spaniards.
The massacre at Antwerp and the eloquence of the prince produced a
most quickening effect upon the congress at Ghent. Their deliberations
had proceeded with decorum and earnestness, in the midst of the cannonading
against the citadel, and the fortress fell on the same day which saw the con-
clusion of the treaty.
This important instrument, by which the sacrifices and exertions of the
prince were, for a brief season at least, rewarded, contained twenty-five
articles. The prince of Orange, with the states of Holland and Zealand on
the one side, and the provinces -signing, or thereafter to sign the treaty, on
the other, agreed that there should be a mutual forgiving and forgetting,
as regarded the past. They vowed a close and faithful friendship for the
future. They plighted a mutual promise to expel the Spaniards from the
Netherlands without delay. As soon as this great deed should be done, there
was to be a convocation of the states-general, on the basis of that assembly
before which the abdication of the emperor had taken place.
By this congress, the affairs of religion in Holland and Zealand should be
regulated, as well as the surrender of fortresses and other places belonging
to his majesty. There was to be full hberty of communication and traffic
between the citizens of the one side and the other. It should not he legal,
however, for those of Holland and Zealand to attempt anything outside
their own territory against the Roman Catholic religion, nor for cause thereof
to injure or irritate any one, by deed or word. All the placards and edicts
on the subject of heresy, together with the criminal ordinances made by the
duke of Alva, were suspended, until the states-general should otherwise
ordain. The prince was to remain lieutenant, admiral, and general for his
majesty in Holland, Zealand, and the associated places, tUl otherwise pro-
vided by the states-general, after the departure of the Spaniards. The
cities and places included in the prince's commission, but not yet acknowledg-
ing his authority, should receive satisfaction from him, as to the point of
religion and other matters, before subscribing to the union. All prisoners,
and particularly the count of Bossu, should be released without ransom. All
estates and other property not already alienated should be restored, all con-
fiscations since 1566 being declared null and void. The countess palatine,
widow of Brederode, and count of Buren, son of the prince of Orange, were
expressly named in this provision. Prelates and ecclesiastical persons, having
property in Holland and Zealand, should be reinstated, if possible; but in
case of alienation, which was likely to be generally the case, there should be
reasonable compensation. It was to be decided by the states-general whether
the provinces should discharge the debts incurred by the prince of Orange in
his two campaigns. Provinces and cities should not have the benefit of this
union imtil they had signed the treaty, but they should be permitted to sign
it when they chose.
This memorable document was subscribed at Ghent on the 8th of Novem-
464 THE mSTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1576 1..D.]
ber, by Sainte-Aldegonde, with eight other commissioners appointed by the
prince of Orange and the estates of Holland on the one side, and by Elbertus
Leoninus and other deputies appointed by Brabant, Flanders, Artois, Hai-
nault, Valenciennes, Lille, Douai, Orchies, Namur, Tournay, Utrecht, and
Mechlin on the other side.
The arrangement was a masterpiece of diplomacy on the part of the
prince, for it was as effectual a provision for the safety of the reformed religion
as could be expected under the circumstances. It was much, considering
the change which had been wrought of late years in the fifteen provinces,
that they should consent to any treaty with their two heretic sisters. It
was much more that the Pacification shoiild recognise the new religion as
the established creed of Holland and Zealand, while at the same time the
infamous edicts of Charles were formally abolished. In the fifteen Catholic
provinces, there was to be no prohibition of private reformed worship. The
whole strength of the nation enlisted to expel the foreign soldiery from the
soil. This was the work of WUliam the Silent, and the prince thus saw the
labour of years crowned with at least a momentary success.
His satisfaction was very great when it was announced to him, many
days before the exchange of the signatures, that the treaty had been con-
cluded. He was desirous that the Pacification should be referred for
approval, not to the municipal magistrates only, but to the people itself. Pro-
claimed in the market-place of every city and village, it was ratified, not by
votes, but by hymns of thanksgiving, by triumphal music, by thundering of
cannon, and by the blaze of beacons, throughout the Netherlands.
Another event added to the satisfaction of the hour. The country so
recently and by deeds of such remarkable audacity conquered by the Span-
iards in the north, was recovered almost simultaneously with the conclusion
of the Ghent treaty. It was a natural consequence of the great mutiny.
The troops having entirely deserted Mondragon, it became necessary for that
officer to abandon Zieriksee, the city which had been won with so much
valour. In the begiiming of November, the capital, and with it the whole
island of Schouwen, together with the rest of Zealand, excepting Tholen,
was recovered by Count Hohenlohe, lieutenant-general of the prince of Orange,
and acting according to his instructions.
Thus on this particular point of time many great events had been crowded.
At the very same moment Zealand had been redeemed, Antwerp ruined, and
the league of all the Netherlands against the Spaniards concluded. It now
became known that another and most important event had occurred at the
same instant. On the day before the Antwerp massacre, four days before
the publication of the Ghent treaty, a foreign cavalier, attended by a Moorish
slave and by six men-at-arms, rode into the streets of Luxemburg. The
cavalier was Don Ottavio Gonzaga, brother of the prince of Melfi. The
Moorish slave was Don John of Austria, the son of the emperor, the con-
queror of Granada, the hero of Lepanto. The new governor-general had
traversed Spain and France in disguise with great celerity, and in the romantic
manner which belonged to his character. He stood at last on the threshold
of the Netherlands, but with all his speed he had arrived a few days too late.
DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA
Don John of Austria was now in his thirty-second year, having been bom
in Ratisbon on the 24th of February, 1545. His father was Charles^ V,
emperor of Germany, king of Spain, dominator of Asia, Africa, and America;
PROGEESS TOWAEDS UNION 465
[1576 A.B.]
his mother was Barbara Blomberg, washerwoman of Ratisbon. Introduced
to the emperor, origmaUy, that she might alleviate his melancholy by her
singing, she soon exhausted all that was harmonious in her nature, for never
was a more uncomfortable, unmanageable personage than Barbara in her after
life. Married to one Pyramus Kegell, who was made a military commissary
in the Netherlands, she was left a widow in the beginning of Alva's adminis-
tration. Placed under the especial superintendence of the duke, she became
the torment of that warrior's life. The terrible governor, who could almost
crush the heart out of a nation of three millions, was unable to curb this
single termagant.
Notwithstanding every effort to entice, to intimidate, and to kidnap her
from the Netherlands, there she remained, through all vicissitudes, even till
the arrival of Don John. By his persuasions or commands she was, at last,
induced to accept an exile for the remainder of her days in Spain, but
revenged herself by asserting that he was quite mistaken in supposing himself
the emperor's child; a point, certainly, upon which her authority might be
thought conclusive. Thus there was a double mystery about Don John.
He might be the issue of august parentage on one side; he was, possibly,
sprung of most ignoble blood on both. Base-bom at best, he was not sure
whether to look for the author of his being in the haUs of the Csesars or the
booths of Ratisbon mechanics.
Perhaps there was as much good faith on the part of Don John, when he
arrived in Luxemburg, as could be expected of a man coming directly from
the cabinet of Philip. The king had secretly instructed him to conciliate
the provinces, but to concede nothing. He was directed to restore the
government to its state during the imperial epoch. Seventeen provinces, in
two of which the population were all dissenters, in all of which the principle
of mutual toleration had just been accepted by Catholics and Protestants,
were now to be brought back to the condition according to which all Pro-
testants were beheaded, burned, or buried alive. The crusader of Granada
and Lepanto, the champion of the ancient church, was not likely to please
the rugged Zealanders who had let themselves be hacked to pieces rather than
say one Paternoster, and who had worn crescents in their caps at Leyden, to
prove their deeper hostility to the pope than to the Turk.
It was with a calm determination to coimteract and crush the policy of
the you&ful governor that William the Silent awaited his antagonist. Were
Don John admitted to confidence, the peace of Holland and Zealand was
gone. He had arrived, with all the self-confidence of a conqueror; he did
not know that he was to be played upon like a pipe, to be caught in meshes
spread by his own hands, to struggle blindly, to rage impotently — to die
ingloriously.*
CONCILIATORY POLICY OF DON JOHN
It is probable that his intentions were really honourable and candid.
The states-general were not less embarrassed than the prince. His sudden
arrival threw them into great perplexity, which was increased by the con-
ciliatory tone of his letter. They had now removed from Ghent to Brussels;
and first sending deputies to pay the honours of a ceremonious welcome to
Don John, they wrote to the prince of Orange, then in Holland, for his advice
in this difficult conjuncture. The prince replied by a memorial of considerable
length, dated Middelburg, the 30th of November, in which he gave them the
most wise and prudent advice; the substance of which was to receive any
propositions coming from the wily and perfidious Philip with the utmost
H. w. — VOL. xiLi. aa
466 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLANDS
[1577 A.D.]
suspicion, and to refuse all negotiations with his deputy, if the immediate
withdrawal of the foreign troops was not at once conceded and the acceptance
of the pacification guaranteed in its most ample extent.
This advice was implicitly followed; the states in the mean time taking
the precaution of assembling a large body of troops at Wavre, between Brussek
and Namur, the command of which was given to the count of Lalaing. A
still more important measure was the despatch of an envoy to England, to
implore the assistance of Elizabeth. She acted on this occasion with frank-
ness and intrepidity; giving a distinguished reception to the envoy Sweveg-
hem, and advancing a loan of £100,000, on condition that the states made no
treaty without her knowledge or participation.
To secure still more closely the federal union that now bound the different
provinces, a new compact was concluded by the deputies on the 9th of Jan-
uary, 1577, known by the title of the Union of Brussels, and signed by the
prelates, ecclesiastics, lords, gentlemen, magistrates, and others, representing
the states of the Netherlands.' A copy of this act of union was transmitted
to Don John, and after some months of cautious parleying, in the latter part
of which the candour of the prince seemed doubtful, and which the native
historians do not hesitate to stigmatise as merely assumed, a treaty was signed
at Marche-en-Fam6ne, a place between Namur and Luxemburg, in which
every point insisted on by the states was, to the surprise and delight of the
nation, fully consented to and guaranteed.
This important document is called the Perpetual Edict, bears date the
12th of February, 1577, and contains nineteen articles. They were all based
on the acceptance of the Pacification; but one expressly stipulated that the
count of Buren should be set at liberty as soon as the prince of Orange, his
father, had on his part ratified the treaty.?
In the Pacification of Ghent, the prince had achieved the price of his life-
long labours. He had banded a mass of provinces, by the ties of a common
history, language, and customs, into a league against a foreign tyranny. He
had grappled Holland and Zealand to their sister provinces by a common
love for their ancient liberties, by a common hatred to a Spanish soldiery. He
had exorcised the evil demon of religious bigotry by which the body politic
had been possessed so many years; for the Ghent treaty, largely interpreted,
opened the door to universal toleration. In the Perpetual Edict the prince
saw his work undone. Holland and Zealand were again cut adrift from the
other fifteen provinces, and war would soon be let loose upon that devoted
little territory .&
Don John made his solemn entry into Brussels on the 1st of May, and
assumed the functions of his limited authority. The conditions of the treaty
were promptly and regularly fulfilled. The citadels occupied by the Spanish
soldiers were given up to the Flemish and Walloon troops; and the departure
of these ferocious foreigners took place at once. The large sums required
to facilitate this measure made it necessary to submit for a while to the pres-
ence of the German mercenaries.
But Don John's conduct soon destroyed the temporary delusion which
had deceived the country. Whether his projects were hitherto only concealed,
[" The Ghent Pacification, which was in the nature of a treaty between the prince and the
states of Holland and Zealand on the one side, and a certain number of provinces on the other,
had only been signed by the envors of the contracting parties. Though received with deserved
and universal acclamation, it had not the authority of a popular document. This, however,
was the character studiously impressed upon the Brussels Union. The people, subdivided
according to the various grades of their social hierarchy, had been solemnly summoned to
council, and had deliberately recorded their conviction. 61
PEOGEBSS TOWAEDS UNION 467
[1577 A.D.]
or that they were now for the first time excited by the disappointment of
those hopes of authority held out to him by Philip, and which his predecessors
had shared, it is certain that he very early displayed his ambition, and very
imprudently attempted to put it in force. He at once demanded from the
council of state the command of the troops and the disposal of the revenues.
The answer was a simple reference to the Pacification of Ghent; and the
prince's rejoinder was an apparent submission, and the immediate despatch
of letters in cipher to the king, demanding a supply of troops sufficient to
restore his ruined authority. These letters were intercepted by the king of
Navarre, afterwards Henry IV of France, who immediately transmitted them
to the prince of Orange, his old friend and fellow soldier.
Public opinion, to the suspicions of which Don John had been from the
first obnoxious, was now unanimous in attributing to design all that was un-
constitutional and unfair. His impetuous character could no longer submit
to the restraint of dissimulation, and he resolved to take some bold and de-
cided measure. A very favourable opportunity was presented in the arrival
of the queen of Navarre, Marguerite of Valois, at Namur, on her way to Spa.
The prince, numerously attended, hastened to the former town under pre-
tence of paying his respects to the queen. As soon as she left the place, he
repaired to the glacis of the town, as if for the mere enjoyment of a walk,
admired the external appearance of the citadel, and expressed a desire to be
admitted inside. The young count of Barlaymont, in the absence of his
father, the governor of the place, and an accomplice in the plot with Don
John, freely admitted him. The prince immediately drew forth a pistol,
and exclaimed that that was the first moment of his goverrmient, took pos-
session of the place with his immediate guard, and instantly formed them
into a devoted garrison.
ORANGE MADE EUWARD; MATTHIAS GOVERNOR
The prince of Orange immediately made public the intercepted letters;
and, at the solicitation of the states-general, repaired to Brussels; into which
city he made a truly triumphant entry on the 23rd of September, and was
immediately nominated governor, protector, or ruward ' of Brabant — a
dignity which had fallen into disuse, but was revived on this occasion, and
which was little inferior in power to that of the dictators of Rome.? A ruward
was not exactly dictator, although his authority was universal. He was
not exactly protector, nor governor, nor stadholder. His functions were
unlimited as to time — therefore superior to those of an ancient dictator;
they were commonly conferred on the natural heir to the sovereignty —
therefore more lofty than those of ordinary stadholders. The individuals
who had previously held the ofiice in the Netherlands had usually reigned
[' The fact that the election of Orange as ruward or ruwaert of Brabant was due to violence,
though not mentioned by English and American historians of the Netherlands, has been clearly
established by Belgian scholars. In fact, the prince himself, when charged in Philip's ban
with securing his election " by force and tumult," did not deny that these means were em-
ployed, but declared in his memorable Apology that instead of seeking he had refused the
office. His subsequent acceptance of it showed that he thought it was time to use this exalted
position to baffle the designs of his enemies. The important fact, which even Motley '' does
not mention, that Orange owed his election to a popular tumult, is proved by Gachard.3 — Cor-
respondance de Ouillaume U Taciturne ; and by De Eobaulx de Soumoy,'" the learned editor
of Memoires de JBVideric Perrenot (the famous Champagny). It is noticeable that both these
competent critics trace the prince's subtle agency in this uprising, as well as in the seizure of
the duke of Aerschot and other Catholic leaders, which had such serious results for the cause
of liberty and union in the Netherlands. — Young.^]
4S8 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1576-1577 A.D.]
afterwards in their own right. Duke Albert, of the Bavarian line, for ex-
ample, had been ruward of Hainault and Holland for thirty years, during
the insanity of his brother, and on the death of Duke William had succeeded
to his title. Philip of Burgundy had declared himself ruward of Brabant
in 1425, and had shortly afterwards deprived Jacqueline of all her titles and
appropriated them to himself.^
The prince's authority, now ahnost unlimited, extended over every prov-
ince of the Netherlands, except Namur and Luxemburg, both of which ac-
knowledged Don John.
The first care of the liberated nation was to demolish the various citadels
rendered celebrated and odious by the excesses of the Spaniards. This was
done with an enthusiastic industry in which every age and sex bore a part,
and which promised well for liberty. Among the ruins of that of Antwerp
the statue of the duke of Alva was discovered, dragged through the filthiest
streets of the town, and, with all the indignity so well merited by the original,
it was finally broken into a thousand pieces.^
The country, in conferring such extensive powers on the prince of Orange,
had certainly gone too far — not for his desert, but for its own tranquillity.
It was impossible that such an elevation should not excite the discontent
and awaken the energy of the haughty aristocracy of Flanders and Brabant;
and particularly of the house of Croy, the ancient rivals of that of Nassau.
The then representative of that family seemed the person most suited to
coimterbalance William's excessive power. The duke of Aerschot was there-
fore named governor of Flanders; and he immediately put himself at the
head of a confederacy of the Catholic party, which quickly decided to offer
the chief government of the country, still in the name of Philip, to the arch-
duke Matthias, brother of the emperor Rudolf II, and cousin german to
Philip of Spain, a youth but nineteen years of age. A Flemish gentleman
named Maelsted was entrusted with the proposal. Matthias joyously con-
sented; and, quitting Vienna with the greatest secrecy, he arrived at Maes-
tricht, without any previous announcement, and expected only by the party
that had invited him, at the end of October, 1577.
The prince of Orange, instead of showing the least ssnnptom of dissatis-
faction at this underhand proceeding aimed at his personal authority, an-
nounced his perfect approval of the nomination, and was the foremost in
recommending measures for the honour of the archduke and the security of
the country. He drew up the basis of a treaty for Matthias' acceptance, on
terms which guaranteed to the council of state and the states-general the
virtual sovereignty, and left to the young prince little beyond the fine title
which had dazzled his boyish vanity. The prince of Orange was appointed
his lieutenant, in all the branches of the administration, civU, military, or
financial; and the duke of Aerschot, who had hoped to obtain an entire
domination over the puppet he had brought upon the stage, saw himself
totally foiled in his project, and left without a chance or a pretext for the
least increase to his influence.
But a still greater disappointment attended this ambitious nobleman in
the very stronghold of his power. The Flemings, driven by persecution to
a state of fury almost unnatural, had, in their antipathy to Spain, adopted
a hatred against Catholicism which had its source only in political frenzy,
while the converts imagined it to arise from reason and conviction.
Two men had taken advantage of this state of the public mind, and
[' The bulk was melted again and reconverted Toj a most natural metamorphosis into the
cannon from which it had originally sprung. — Motlby,*]
PEOGKESS TOWAEDS UlSTIOW 409
[1577-1578 A.D.]
gained over it an unbounded ascendency. They were Francis van der K^-
thulle lord of Ryhove, and Jan van Hembyze [or Imbize], who each seemed
formed to realise the beau-ideal of a factious demagogue. They had ac-
quired supreme power over the people of Ghent, and had at their command
a body of twenty thousand resolute and well-armed supporters. The duke
of Aerschot vainly attempted to oppose his authority to that of these men;
and he on one occasion imprudently exclaimed that " he would have them
hanged, even though they were protected by the prince of Orange himself."
The same night Ryhove summoned the leaders of his bands; and quickly
assembling a considerable force, they repaired to the duke's hotel, made him
prisoner, and, without allowing him time to dress, carried him away in tri-
umph. At the same time the bishops of Bruges and Ypres, the high bailiffs
of Ghent and Courtrai, the governor of Oudenarde, and other important
magistrates, were arrested — accused of complicity with the duke, but of
what particular offence the lawless demagogues did not deign to specify.
The two tribunes immediately divided the whole honours and authority of
administration — Ryhove as military, and Hembyze as civil chief.'
The latter of these legislators completely changed the forms of the gov-
ernment; he revived the ancient privileges destroyed by Charles V, and took
all preliminary measures for forcing the various provinces to join with the
city of Ghent in forming a federative republic. The states-general and the
prince of Orange were alarmed lest these troubles might lead to a renewal
of the anarchy from the effects of which the country had but just obtained
breathing time. Ryhove consented, at the remonstrance of the prince of
Orange, to release the duke of Aerschot; but William was obliged to repair
to Ghent in person, in the hope of establishing order. He arrived on the 29th
of December, and entered on a strict inquiry with his usual calmness and deci-
sion. He could not succeed in obtaining the liberty of the other prisoners,
though he pleaded for them strongly. Having severely reprimanded the
factious leaders, and pointed out the dangers of their illegal course, he re-
turned to Brussels, leaving the factious city in a temporary tranquillity
which his firmness and discretion could alone have obtained.
The archduke Matthias, having visited Antwerp, and acceded to all the
conditions required of him, made his public entry into Brussels on the 18th
of January, 1578, and was installed in his dignity of governor-general amidst
the usual fetes and rejoicings. Don John of Austria was at the same time
declared an enemy to the country, with a public order to quit it without
delay; and a prohibition was issued against any inhabitant acknowledging
his forfeited authority.
I
OUTBHEAK OF WAR
War was now once more openly declared, some fruitless negotiations having
afforded a fair pretext for hostihties. The rapid appearance of a numerous
army under the orders of Don John gave strength to the suspicions of his
former dissimulation. It was currently believed that large bodies of the Span-
ish troops had remained concealed in the forests of Luxemburg and Lorraine;
while several regiments, which had remained in France in the service of the
League, immediately re-entered the Netherlands. Alessandro Farnese prince
[" Thus audaciously, successfully, and hitherto without bloodshed, was the anti-Catholic
revolution commenced in Flanders. The event was the first of a long and most signal series.
The effect of this sudden rising of the popular party was prodigious throughout the Nether-
lands. At the same time the audacity of such extreme proceedings could hardly be counte-
nanced by any considerable party in the states-general.'']
470 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEKLANDS
[1578 A.D.]
of Parma, son of the former govemant, came to the aid of his uncle Don John
at the head of a large force of Italians; and these several reinforcements,
"with the German aujoliaries still in the coimtry, composed an army of twenty
thousand men. The army of the states-general was still larger, but far
inferior in point of discipline. It was commanded by Antoine de Goignies, a
gentleman of Hainault, and an old soldier of the school pi Charles V.
After a sharp affair at the village of Riminants, in which the royalists had
the worst, the two armies met at Gembloux [or Gemblours] on the 31st
of January, 1578.P
THE DISASTER OF GEMBLOUX (1578)
Don John, making a selection of some six hundred cavalry, all picked men,
with a thousand infantry, divided the whole into two bodies, which he placed
under command of Gonzaga and the famous old Christopher Mondragon.
These officers received orders to hang on the rear of the enemy, to harass
him, and to do him all possible damage consistent with the possibility of
avoiding a general engagement, untjl the main army under Parma and Don
John should arrive. The retiring army of the states was then proceeding
along the borders of a deep ravine, filled with mire and water, and as broad
as and more dangerous than a river. In the midst of the skirmishing, Ales-
sandro of Parma rode up to reconnoitre. He saw at once that the columns of
the enemy were marching unsteadily to avoid being precipitated into this
creek. He observed the waving of their spears, the general confusion of their
ranks, and was quick to take advantage of the fortunate moment.
He drew up his little force in a compact column. Then, with a few words
cf encouragement, he launched them at the foe. The violent and entirely
unexpected shock was even more successful than the prince had anticipated.
The hostile cavalry reeled and fell into hopeless confusion, Egmont in vain
striving to rally them to resistance. That name had lost its magic. Goignies
also attempted, without success, to restore order among the panic-struck
ranks. Assaulted in flank and rear at the same moment, and already in
temporary confusion, the cavalry of the enemy turned their backs and fled.
The centre of the states' army, thus left exposed, was now warmly attacked
by Parma. It had, moreover, been already thrown into disorder by the
retreat of its own horse, as they charged through them in rapid and disgraceful
panic. The whole army broke to pieces at once, and so great was the trepi-
dation that the conquered troops had hardly courage to run away. They
were utterly incapable of combat. Not a blow was struck by the fugitives.
Hardly a man in the Spanish ranks was wounded; while, in the course of an
hour and a half, the whole force of the enemy was exterminated.
It is impossible to state with accuracy the exact numbers slain. Some
accounts spoke of ten thousand killed, or captive, with absolutely no loss on
the royal side.
Rarely had a more brilliant exploit been performed by a handful of cavalry.
A whole army was overthrown. E-verything belonging to the enemy fell
into the hands of the Spaniards. Thirty-four standards, many field-pieces,
much camp equipage, and ammimition, besides some seven or eight thousand
dead bodies, and six hundred living prisoners, were the spoils of that winter's
day. Of the captives, some were soon afterwards hurled off the bridge at
Namur, and drowned like dogs in the Maas, while the rest were all hanged,
none escaping with life. Don John's clemency was not superior to that of
his sanguinary predecessors.
PEOGEBSS TOWARDS UNION 471
[1578 A.D.]
And so another proof was added — if proofs were still necessary — of
Spanish prowess. The Netherlanders may be pardoned if their foes seemed
to them supernatural, and almost invulnerable. How else could these enor-
mous successes be accoimted for? How else could thousands fall before the
Spanish swords, while hardly a single Spanish corpse told of effectual re-
sistance? At Jemmingen, Alva had lost seven soldiers, and slain seven thou-
sand; in the Antwerp Fury, two hundred Spaniards, at most, had fallen,
while eight thousand burghers and states' troops had been butchered; and
now at Gembloux, six, seven, eight, ten — heaven knew how many thou-
sands had been exterminated, and hardly a single Spaniard had been slain!
Undoubtedly, the first reason for this result was the superiority of the Spanish
soldiers. They were the boldest, the best disciplined, the most experienced
in the world. Their audacity, promptness, and ferocity made them almost
invincible. Moreover, they were commanded by the most renowned cap-
tains of the age.&
The news of this battle threw the states into the utmost consternation.
Brussels being considered insecure, the archduke Matthias and his council
retired to Antwerp; but the victors did not feel their forces sufficient to
justify an attack upon the capital. They, however, took Louvain, Tirlemont,
and several other towns; but these conquests were of little import in com-
parison with the loss of Amsterdam, which declared openly and unanimously
for the patriot cause. The states-general recovered their courage, and
prepared for a new contest. They sent deputies to the diet of Worms, to
ask succour from the princes of the empire. The count palatine John Kasimir
repaired to their assistance with a considerable force of Germans and English,
all equipped and paid by Queen Elizabeth. Francis duke of Alengon and
of Anjou, and brother of Henry III of France, hovered on the frontiers of
Hainault with a respectable army.'
But all the various chiefs had separate interests and opposite views;
while the fanatic violence of the people of Ghent sapped the foundations of
the pacification to which the town had given its name.^ The Walloon prov-
inces, deep-rooted in their attachment to religious bigotry, which they loved
still better than political freedom, gradually withdrew from the coinmon
cause; and without yet openly becoming reconciled with Spain, they adopted
a neutrality which was tantamount to it. Don John was, however, deprived
of all chance of reaping any advantage from these unfortunate dissensions.
He was suddenly taken ill in his camp at Bougy ; and died [probably of a
camp fever], after a fortnight's suffering, on the 1st of October, 1578, in the
33rd year of his age.P
ADMINISTRATION OP THE DUKE OF PAEMA
On the death of Don John the command of the royal army fell to his
nephew Alessandro Farnese, duke of Parma. He was descended from Charles
V through his mother the duchess Margaret, under whose administration
the first troubles had broken out. He had already fought in Belgium on
the side of his yotmg and unfortunate relative — they were both of the same
[' He had been vainly offered the sovereignty of the provinces, and called to assist under
the title of "Protector of Netherlandish liberty." Motley * accuses him of being "the most
spicable personage who had ever entered the Netherlands, "and claims that Orange encouT-
ager! him only to keep Queen Elizabeth anxious to forestall a French alliance.]
[" All Flanders was prey to a Calvinist terrorism which made the Catholics long for Don
John's iiovereignty. They had lost faith in Orange. — Blok./]
472 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLANDS
[1578-1579 A.D.]
age — and the latter, on his death-bed, had named him as his successor.
Everything justified the choice — none of the old Spanish generals exceeded
the duke in valour, military experience, prudence in council, and resources
in danger. To these qualities was joined great executive ability. Perhaps
he had more talents than virtues, but his conduct was that of a man who was
master of himself, and too used to leading others to let his own faults interfere
with his success.
He soon managed to get together, in the provinces that remained loyal
to him (Namur and Luxemburg), as many as thirty-two thousand soldiers,
almost all foreigners. This would have been but a small force to oppose to
the Belgians if harmony had reigned among the latter. But there was
already open schism between the Catholics and the Protestants. Hembyze
and Ryhove took John Kasimir's troops into the pay of the city and with this
reinforcement made themselves master of all La Flandre Flamingante, where
Protestantism had already spread among the lower classes.; all the more
eager for the change since they were experiencing a condition of affairs the
like of which had never been known before. Everywhere power was seized
by the most factious, and such was their violence that French Flanders,
Artois, and Hainault became indignant and formed a defensive alliance,
seceding in a formal manner from the confederated provinces (January 6th,
1579) .d
THE UNION OF UTRECHT (1579)
The states-general and the whole national party regarded, with prophetic
dismay, the approaching dismemberment of their common country They
sent deputation on deputation to the Walloon states, to warn them of their
danger, and to avert, if possible, the fatal measure. Treachery and religious
fanaticism had undermined the bulwark almost as soon as reared. As, in
besieged cities, a sudden breastwork is thrown up internally, when the out-
ward defences are crumbling — so the energy of Orange had been silently
preparing the Union of Utrecht, as a temporary defence until the foe should
be beaten back and there should be time to decide on their future course of
action.
During the whole month of December, an active correspondence had been
carried on between the prince and his brother John, with various agents in
Gelderland, Friesland, and Groningeii, as well as with influential personages
in the more central provinces and cities. Gelderland, the natural bulwark
to Holland and Zealand, commanding the four great rivers of the country,
had been fortunately placed under the government of the trusty John of
Nassau, that province being warmly in favour of a closer union with its sister
provinces, and particularly with those more nearly allied to itself in religion
and in language.
Already in December (1578), Count John, in behalf of his brother, had
laid before the states of Holland and Zealand, assembled at Gorkum, the
project of a new union with " Gelderland, Ghent, Friesland, Utrecht, Overyssel,
and Groningen." The proposition had been favourably entertained, and com-
missioners had been appointed to confer with other commissioners at Utrecht,
whenever they should be sunmioned by Count John. The prince chose not
to be the ostensible mover in the plan himself. He did not wish to startle
unnecessarily the archduke Matthias, nor to be cried out upon as infringing
the Ghent Pacification, although the whole world knew that treaty to be
hopelessly annulled. For these and many other weighty motives he
PEOGEBS?! TOWAEDS UNIOK 473
[1578-1579 A.D.]
proposed that the new union should be the apparent work of other hands,
and only offered to him and to the country when nearly completed.
After various preliminary meetings in December and January, the deputies
of Gelderland and Zutphen, with Count John, stadholder of these provinces,
at their head, met with the deputies of Holland, Zealand, and the provinces
between the Ems and the Lauwers, early in January, 1579, and on the 23rd
of that month, without waiting longer for the deputies of the other provinces,
they agreed provisionally upon a treaty of union which was published after-
wards on the 29th, from the town-house of Utrecht.
This memorable document — which is ever regarded as the foundation of
the Netherland Republic — contained twenty-six articles. The preamble
stated the object of the union. It was to strengthen, not to forsake the Ghent
Pacification, already nearly annihilated by the force of foreign soldiery. The
contracting provinces agreed to remain eternally united, as if they were but
one province. At the same time, it was understood that each was to retain
its particular privileges, liberties, laudable and traditionary customs, and
other laws. The cities, corporations, and inhabitants of every province were
to be guaranteed as to their ancient constitutions. The provinces, by virtue
of the union, were to defend each other " with life, goods, and blood," against
all force brought against them in the king's name or behalf. They were also
to defend each other against all foreign or domestic potentates, provinces,
or cities, provided such defence were controlled by the "generality" of the
union. For the expense occasioned by the protection of the provinces, certain
imposts find excises were to be equally assessed and collected. No truce
or peace was to be concluded, no war commenced, no impost established
affecting the "generality," but by unanimous advice and consent of the
provinces.
Upon other matters the majority was to decide, the votes being taken in
the manner then customary in the assembly of states-general. None of the
united provinces, or of their cities or corporations, was to make treaties with
other potentates or states, without consent of its confederates. If neighbour-
ing princes, provinces, or cities wished to enter into this confederacy, they
were to be received by the unanimous consent of the united provinces. A com-
mon currency was to be established for the confederacy. In the matter of
divine worship, Holland and Zealand were to conduct themselves as they
should think proper. The other provinces of the union, however, were either
to conform to the "religious peace" already laid down by Archduke Matthias
and his council, or to make such other arrangements as each province should
for itself consider appropriate for the maintenance of its internal tranquillity
— provided always that every individual should remain free in his religion,
and that no man should be molested or questioned on the subject of divine
worship as had been already established by the Ghent Pacification.
Such were the simple provisions of that instrument which became the
foundation of the powerful commonwealth of the United Netherlands. On
the day when it was concluded, there were present deputies from five provinces
only. Count John of Nassau signed first, as stadholder of Gelderland and
Zutphen. His signature was followed by those of four deputies from that
double province; and the envoys of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, and the
Frisian provinces then signed the document.
The prince himself, although in reality the principal director of the
movement, delayed appending his signature untU May the 3rd, 1579. Herein
he was actuated by the reasons already stated, and by the hope which he still
entertained that a wider imion might be established, with Matthias for its
4.74 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1579 A.D.]
nominal chief. His enemies, as usual, attributed this patriotic delay to
baser motives. They accused him of a desire to assume the governor-general-
ship himself, to the exclusion of the archduke — an insinuation which the
states of Holland took occasion formally to denounce as a calxmmy. For
those who have studied the character and history of the man, a defence
against such slander is superfluous. Matthias was but the shadow. Orange
the substance. The archduke had been accepted only to obviate the evil
effects of a political inta-igue, and with the express condition that the prince
should be his lieutenant-general in name, his master in fact. Directly after
his departure in the following year, the prince's authority, which nominally
departed also, was re-established in his own person, and by ex-press act of
the states-general.
The Union of Utrecht was the foundation-stone of the Netherland Repub-
lic: but the framers of the confederacy did not intend the establishment
of a republic, or of an independent commonwealth of any kind. They had
not forsworn the Spanish monarch. It was not yet their intention to for-
swear him. Certainly the act of union contained no allusion to such an
important step. On the contrary, in the brief preamble they expressly stated
their intention to strengthen the Ghent Pacification, and the Ghent Pacifica-
tion acknowledged obedience to the king. They intended no political innova-
tion of any kind. No doubt the formal renunciation of allegiance, which was
to follow within two years, was contemplated by many as a future probabihty;
but it could not be foreseen with certainty.
The establishment of a republic, which lasted two centuries, which threw
a girdle of rich dependencies entirely round the globe, and which attained
so remarkable a height of commercial prosperity and political influence, was
the result of the Utrecht Union; but it was not a premeditated result. The
future confederacy was not to resemble the system of the German Empire,
for it was to acknowledge no single head. It was to differ from the Achaean
League, in the far inferior amount of power which it permitted to its general
assembly, and in the consequently greater proportion of sovereign attributes
which were retained by the individual states.
It was, on the other hand, to furnish a closer and more intimate bond than
that of the Swiss confederacy, which was only a union for defence and external
purposes, of cantons otherwise independent. It was, finally, to differ from
the American federal commonwealth in the great feature that it was to be
merely a confederacy of sovereignties, not a representative republic. Its
foundation was a compact, not a constitution. The contracting parties
were states and corporations, who considered themselves as representing
small nationalities de jure et de facto, and as succeeding to the supreme power
at the very instant in which allegiance to the Spanish monarch was renounced.
The general assembly was a collection of diplomatic envoys, bound by instruc-
tion from independent states. The voting was not by heads, but by states.
The deputies were not representatives of the people, but of the states; for
the people of the United States of the Netherlands never assembled — as
did the people of the United States of America two centuries later — to lay
down a constitution, by which they granted a generous amount of power
to the union, while they reserved enough of sovereign attributes to secure
that local self-government which is the life-blood of liberty.
Could the jealousy of great nobles, the rancour of religious differences,
the Catholic bigotry of the Walloon population on the one side, contending
with the democratic insanity of the Ghent populace on the other, have been
restrained within bounds by the moderate counsels of William of Orange,
PEOGEESS TOWAEDS UNION 475
[1579 A.D.]
it would have been possible to unite seventeen provinces instead of seven,
and to save many long and blighting years of civil war.
Thus by the Union of Utrecht on the one hand, and the fast approaching
reconciUation of the Walloon provinces on the other, the work of decomposition
and of construction went hand in hand*
CHAPTER VIII
THE LAST YEARS OF WILLIAM THE SILENT
[1579-1584 A.D.]
By a few wise concessions made in good time at the origin of the troubles
and loyally maintained, Philip II might have saved intact the heritage of
the house of Burgimdy, and also preserved the old religion in the whole
extent of the seventeen provinces. As a result of adopting an inexorable
system and calling tyranny to his aid, before his death the son of Charles V
beheld his inheritance dismembered and Protestantism tritimphant and
dominant in the new republic of the united provinces. The punishment of
the proudest and most powerful king of the sixteenth century was still more
cruel.
That Batavian federation, so feeble in its commencement, gradually be-
came one of the most formidable states of Europe, and as stadholders the
descendants of the proscribed William the Silent raised themselves above
the descendants of his proscriber. They vanquished Spain and dictated
laws to it. The Dutch Republic was extending its power and commanding
admiration when the Spanish monarchy, exhausted by such a long struggle,
was drawing after it in its humiliation and its ruin the states which, unhappily
for themselves, had not been able to detach themselves irrevocably from the
fatal dominion of Philip II.
After joining the Protestants and valiantly fighting with tnem, the Bel-
gian malcontents finally abandoned them, thus deserting the great cause of
the Netherlands. But this fatal determination, which even the tumults and
aggressions of the Calvinist party could scarcely excuse, was cruelly expiated.
The submission of the Catholic Belgians to Spain, accomplished too quickly
and with too great lack of foresight, was the principal cause of the long decay
and dismemberment of the southern Netherlands.^
476
THE LAST YEAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 477
[1579 A.D.]
TAEMA BESIEGES MAESTEICHT (1579)"
After the Union of Utrecht, the North and South ceased to fight together.
The duke of Alengon, jealous of the count palatine, had abruptly returned to
France, and, as the archduke Matthias possessed neither money nor troops,
he was reduced to an absolute nullity. The duke of Parma knew how to
profit skilfully by these circumstances. He advanced into Brabant with all
his forces and compelled the troops of the states to fall back upon Antwerp.
This movement brought to light John Kasimir's German bands, isolated in
Flanders and already embroiled with the people of Ghent. Their leader had
gone to England, and, without waiting his return, they made terms with
Parma and obtained a safe conduct to return to their own country.
Then the duke, now master of the coxmtry, came down upon Maestricht.c
The investment of Maestricht was commenced upon the 12th of March, 1579.
In the city, besides the population, there were two thousand peasants, both
men and women, a garrison of one thousand soldiers, and a trained burgher
guard numbering about twelve hundred. The name of the military com-
mandant was Melchior. Sebastian Tappin, a Lorraine officer, was, in truth,
the principal director of the operations.
After a heavy cannonade from forty-six great guns, continued for several
days, a portion of the brick curtain had crumbled, but through the breach
was seen a massive terreplein, well moated, which, after six thousand shots
already delivered on the outer wall, still remained uninjured. Four thou-
sand miners, who had passed half their lives in burrowing for coal in that
anthracite region, had been furnished by the bishop of Liege, and this force
was now set to their subterranean work. A mine having been opened at a
distance, the besiegers slowly worked their way towards the Tongres gate,
while at the same time the more ostensible operations were in the opposite
direction. The besieged had their miners also, for the peasants in the city
had been used to work with mattock and pickaxe. The women, too, enrolled
themselves into companies, chose their officers — or "mine-mistresses," as
they were called — and did good service daily in the caverns of the earth.
Subterranean Fighting
Thus a whole army of gnomes were noiselessly at work to destroy and
defend the beleaguered city. The contending forces met daily, in deadly
encoimter, within these sepulchral gangways. The citizens secretly con-
structed a dam across the Spanish mine, and then deluged their foe with
hogsheads of boiling water. Hundreds were thus scalded to death. They
heaped branches and light fagots in the hostile mine, set fire to the pile, and
blew thick volumes of smoke along the passage with organ bellows, brought
from the churches for the purpose. Many were thus suffocated.
The discomfited besiegers abandoned the mine where they had met with
such able countermining, and sank another shaft, at midnight, in secret.
They worked their way, unobstructed, till they arrived at their subterranean
port, directly beneath the doomed ravelin. Here they constructed a spacious
chamber, supporting it with columns, and making all their architectural
arrangements with as much precision and elegance as if their object had been
purely aesthetic. Coffers full of powder, to an enormous amount, were then
placed in every direction. The explosion was prodigious; a part of the
tower fell with the concussion, and the moat was choked with heaps of
478 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1579 A.D.]
rubbish. The assailants sprang across the passage thus afforded, and mastered
the ruined portion of the fort.
On the 8th of April, after uniting in prayer, and listening to a speech
from Alessandro Farnese, the great mass of the Spanish army advanced to
the breach. The tried veterans of Spain, Italy, and Burgundy were met face
to face by the burghers of Maestricht, together with their wives and children.
All were armed to the teeth, and fought with what seemed superhuman
valour. The women, fierce as tigresses defending their young, swarmed to
the walls, and fought in the foremost rank. They threw pails of boiling
water on the besiegers, they hurled firebrands in their faces, they quoited
blazing pitch-hoops with unerring dexterity about their necks. The rustics
too, armed with their ponderous flails, worked as cheerfully at this bloody
harvesting as if threshing their corn at home.
A new mine — which was to have been sprung between the ravelin and
the gate, but which had been secretly coimtermined by the townspeople,
exploded with a horrible concussion, at a moment least expected by the
besiegers. Ortiz, a Spanish captain of engineers, who had been inspecting
the excavations, was thrown up bodily from the subterranean depth. He
fell back again instantly into the same cavern, and was bm-ied by the returning
shower of earth which had spouted from the mine. Forty-five years after-
wards, in digging for the foundations of a new wall, his skeleton was found.
Clad in complete armour, the helmet and cuirass still sound, with his gold
chain around his neck, and his mattock and pickaxe at his feet, the soldier
lay unmutilated, seeming almost capable of resuming his part in the same
war which, even after his half-century sleep, was still ravaging the
land.
Five htmdred of the Spaniards perished by the explosion, but none of the
defenders were injured, for they had been prepared. Recovering from the
momentary panic, the besiegers again rushed to the attack. The battle
raged. Six hundred and seventy officers, commissioned or non-commissioned,
had already fallen, more than half mortally wounded. Four thousand roy-
alists, horribly mutilated, lay on the ground.
Alessandro reluctantly gave the signal of recall at last, and accepted the
defeat. For the future, he determined to rely more upon the sapper and
miner. His numerous army was well housed and amply supplied, and he
had built a strong and populous city in order to destroy another. Relief was
impossible.
At length, on June 29th, after three months of siege, the Spanish forced
their way through a breach, and surprised at last — in its sleep — the city
which had so long and vigorously defended itself. The battle, as usual when
Netherland towns were surprised by Philip's soldiers, soon changed to a
massacre. Women, old men, and children had all been combatants; and
all, therefore, had incurred the vengeance of the conquerors. Women were
pursued from house to house, and hurled from roof and window. They were
hunted into the river; they were torn limb from limb in the streets. Men
and children fared no better; but the heart sickens at the oft-repeated tale.
Horrors, alas, were conmionplaces in the Netherlands.
On the first day four thousand men and women were slaughtered. The
massacre lasted two days longer; nor would it be an exaggerated estimate,
if we assume that the amount of victims upon the last two days was equal
to half the number sacrificed on the first.' It was said that not four hundred
' Strada d puts the total number of inhabitants of Maestricht slain during the siege at eight
thousand, of whom seventeen hundred were women.
THE LAST YBAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 479
[1579 A.D.]
citizens were left alive after the termination of the siege.* These soon wan-
dered away, their places being supplied by a rabble rout of Walloon sutlers
and vagabonds. Maestricht was depopulated as well as captured.
OEANGE BECOMES STADHOLDER OF FLANDERS
The prince of Orange, as usual, was blamed for the tragical termination to
this long drama. All that one man could do he had done to awaken his
countrymen to the importance of the siege. He had repeatedly brought the
subject solemnly before the assembly, and implored for Maestricht, almost
upon his knees. Now that the massacre to be averted was accomplished,
men were loud in reproof, who had been silent and passive while there was
yet time to speak and to work.
To save himself, they insinuated, he was now plotting to deliver the land
into the power of the treacherous Frenchman, and he alone, they asserted,
was the insuperable obstacle to an honourable peace with Spain.
A letter brought by an unknown messenger was laid before the states'
assembly, in fuU session, and sent to the clerk's table, to be read aloud. After
the first few sentences, that functionary faltered in his recital. Several
members also peremptorily ordered him to stop; for the letter proved to be
a violent and calumnious libel upon Orange, together with a strong appeal
in favour of the peace propositions then under debate at Cologne. The
prince alone, of aU the assembly, preserving his tranquillity, ordered the
dociunent to be brought to him, and forthwith read it aloud himself, from
beginning to end. Afterwards, he took occasion to express his mind concern-
ing the ceaseless calumnies of which he was the mark. He especially alluded
to the oft-repeated accusation that he was the only obstacle to peace, and
repeated that he was ready at that moment to leave the land, and to close
his lips forever, if by so doing he could benefit his country and restore her
to honourable repose. The outcry, with the protestations of attachment
and confidence which at once broke from the assembly, convinced him, how-
ever, that he was deeply rooted in the hearts of all patriotic Netherlanders,
and that it was beyond the power of slanderers to loosen his hold upon their
affection.
Meantime, his efforts had again and again been demanded to restore
order in that abode of anarchy, the city of Ghent. Early in March however,
that master of misrule, Jan van Hembyze, had once more excited the populace
to sedition. Again the property of Catholics, clerical and lay, was plundered:
again the persons of Catholics, of every degree, were maltreated. The magis-
trates, with first senator Hembyze at their head, rather encouraged than
rebuked the disorder. Hembyze, fearing the influence of the prince, indulged
in open-mouthed abuse of a man whose character he was unable even to
comprehend. In all the insane ravings, the demagogue was most ably sec-
onded by the ex-monk. Incessant and unlicensed were the invectives hurled
by Peter Dathen from his pulpit upon William the Silent's head. He de-
nounced him — as he had often done before — as an atheist in heart; as a
' Not more than three or four hundred, says Bor." Not more than four hundred, says
Hooft/ Not three hundred, says Meteren.o' This must of course be an exaggeration, for the
population had numbered thirty-four thousand at the commencement of the siege. At any
rate, the survivors were but a remnant, and they all vfandered away. The place, which had
been so recently a very thriving and industrious town, remained a desert. During the ensuing
winter most of the remaining lauildings were torn down, that the timber and woodwork might
be used as firewood by the soldiers and vagabonds who from time to time housed there.
480 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1579 1..D.]
man who changed his rehgion as easily as his garments * ; as a man who knew
no God but state expediency, which was the idol of his worship; a mere
politician, who would tear his shirt from his back and throw it in the fire, if
he thought it were taitited with religion.
Such witless but vehement denunciation from a preacher who was both
popular and comparatively sincere could not but aifect the imagination of
the weaker portion of his hearers. The faction of Hembyze became tri-
vimphant. By the influence of Ryhove, however, a messenger was despatched
to Antwerp in the name of a considerable portion of the community of Ghent.
The counsel and the presence of the man to whom all hearts in every part of the
Netherlands instinctively turned in the hour of need were once more invoked.
The prince again addressed them in language which none but he could
employ with such effect. He told them that his life, passed in service and
sacrifice, ought to witness suflaciently for his fidelity. As for the matter of
religion it was almost incredible that there should be any who doubted the
zeal which he bore the religion for which he had suffered so much. "I desire,"
he continued fervently, "that men should compare that which has been
done by my accusers during the ten years past with that which I have done.
In that which touches the true advancement of religion, I will yield to no
man. They who so boldly accuse me have no liberty of speech, save that
which has been acquired for them by the blood of my kindred, by my labours,
and my excessive expenditures. To me they owe it that they dare speak at
all." This letter (which was dated on the 24th of July, 1579) contained an
assurance that the .writer was about to visit Ghent.
On the following day, Hembyze executed a coup d'etat. Having a body
of near two thousand soldiers at his disposal, he suddenly secured the persons
of all the magistrates and other notable individuals not friendly to his policy,
and then, in violation of all law, set up a new board of eighteen irresponsible
functionaries, according to a list prepared by himself alone.
The prince came to Ghent, August 18th, 1579, great as had been the
efforts of Hembyze and his partisans to prevent his coming. His presence
was hke magic. The demagogue and his whole flock vanished like unclean
birds at the first rays of the sun. Orange rebuked the populace in the strong
and indignant language that public and private virtue, energy, and a high
purpose enabled such a leader of the people to use. He at once set aside the
board of eighteen — the Grecian-Roman-Genevese establishment of Hem-
byze — and remained in the city imtil the regular election, in conformity
with the privileges, had taken place. In company with his clerical companion,
Peter Dathen, Hembyze fled to the abode of John Kasimir, who received both
with open arms, and allowed them each a pension.
Order being thus again restored in Ghent by the exertions of the prince,
when no other human hand could have dispelled the anarchy which seemed
to reign supreme, William the Silent, having accepted the government of
Flanders, which had again and again been urged upon him, now returned
to Antwerp.'^
FURTHER SECESSION FROM THE CAUSE
The states-general in session at Antwerp had not made any serious efforts
to support the heroic defence of Maestricht, as we have seen. The assembly
['So Strada'' says: "Whetlier lie wrote truth, and was indeed a Calvinist in opinion;
or rather by that means sought to ingratiate himself with the men whose service he had use of,
some have made a doubt : it is most probable his religion was but pretended, which he could
put on like a cloak, to serve him for such a time, and put it of£ again when it was out of fashion."]
THE LAST YEAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 481
(1579-1580 A.D.]
■was divided in opinion and stripped of all authority. Under its very eyes fa-
natical preacheEs had incited the populace to fresh violence against the clergy.
On Ascension Day, a Catholic procession had been attacked and dispersed
in spite of the archduke Matthias' presence. This was an added grievance
for the malcontents, and on the, 19th. of May, 1579, the deputies of Hainault
and Artois as well as of French Flanders had ; concluded a treaty with the
duke of Parma. By this treaty the provinces returned to the king's authority
and rejected all other creeds than the Catholic religion, but they exacted that
he should send his foreign troops out of the country, and he was compelled
to put this hard condition into execution immediately after the capture of
Maestri cht.
It was not the Walloon provinces alone that returned to the king's side;
Mechlin passed about the
same time over to the duke
of Parma, and Bois-le-Duc
opened its gate to him as
well after a struggle between
the Catholic and Protestant
townspeople. Similar trou-
ble took place at Bruges,
and the preachers were
driven out by the inhabi-
tants. But a body of Scotch
troops, in the service of the
states, threw itself upon the
town and prevented its being
given over to Parma's sol-
diers. Some of the nobles*
who hitherto had fought
under the banner of the con-
federation also came to terms
with the duke of Parma when
they saw vanish the hopes of
pacification roused by a con-
gress assembled at Cologne,
through the emperor's ef-
forts. One of them who
thus set the example was the duke of Aerschot, who had taken part in the
■congress as a delegate from the provinces still under arms.
These successes, as important as they were rapid, frightened the estates;
of the large force they had raised the year before but a small body remained
garrisoned in the towns, for whom there was no means of pay. The prince
of Orange, who stUl retained some influence in the assembly, had recourse
to the old expedient of offering the Low Countries to a foreign prince; but
this time he proposed first to declare the downfall of Philip. This bold reso-
lution was adopted, in May, 1580, and homage given to the same duke of
Alengon and Anjou who had already received the title of protector — a man
of slight mind, weak and inconstant, from whom neither firmness nor wisdom
could be expected. But he could bring a French army with him and thus
provide for the immediate defence of the country; this was probably all that
[' Among these was the young count Philip of Egmont, whose father had been executed
by Alva ; Renneberg, the prince's trusted stadholder in Groningen, turned traitor iiiid was put
ill command of royalist troops.]
n. w. — VOL. xni. 2i
Old Houses of Mechlin
482 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1580 A.D.J
he could be counted on to do. William, however, knew how to reserve the
right to serve him as counsel and guide."
The war continued in a languid and desultory manner in different parts
of the country. At an action near Ingelmunster, the brave and accomplished
De la Noue was made prisoner and placed in the castle of Limburg. At
last, in June, 1585, he was exchanged, on extremely rigorous terms, for Egmont
[who had been captured]. During his captivity in this vile dungeon, De la
Noue composed not only his famous political and mihtary discourses but
several other works.
The siege of Groningen proceeded, and Parma ordered some forces under
Martin Schenk to advance to its relief. On the other hand, the meagre states
forces under Sonoy, Hohenlohe, Entes, and Count John of Nassau's young,
son, William Louis, had not yet made much impression upon the city.
After a few trifling operations before Groningen, Hohenlohe was summoned
to the neighbourhood of Koeworden, by the reported arrival of Martin Schenk^
at the head of a considerable force. On the 15th of June, the coimt marched
all night and a part of the following morning, in search of the enemy. Ho'
came up with them upon Hardenberg Heath, in a broiling summer forenoon.
Hohenlohe's army was annihilated in an hour's time, the whole population-
fled Out of Koeworden, the siege of Groningen was raised, Renneberg was set
free to resume his operations on a larger scale, and the fate of all the north-
eastern provinces was once more swinging in the wind. The boors of Drenthe
and Friesland rose again. They had already mustered in the field at an earlier
season of the year in considerable force. Calling themselves " the desperates,"
and bearing on their standard an egg-shell with the yolk running out — to-
indicate that having lost the meat they were yet ready to fight for the shell
— they had swept through the cpen country, pillaging and burning.
_ A small war now succeeded, with small generals, small armies, small cam-
paigns, small sieges. For the time, the prince of Orange was even obliged,
to content himself with such a general as Hohenlohe. As usual, he was.
almost alone. "Donee eris felix," said he, emphatically —
multos numerabis amicos,
Tempora cum erunt nubila, nullus erit,
and he was this summer doomed to a still harder deprivation by the final
departure of his brother John from the Netherlands in August, 1580. The
count had been wearied out by petty miseries. His stadholderate of Gelder-
land ' had overwhelmed him with annoyance, for throughout the northeastern
provinces there was neither system nor subordination. Never had praetor
of a province a more penurious civil list. "The baker has given notice,"
wrote Count John, in November, "that he will supply no more bread after
to-morrow, unless he is paid." The states would furnish no money to pay
the bill. It was no better with the butcher. "The cook has often no meat
to roast," said the count, in the same letter, " so that we are often obliged to
go supperless to bed." His lodgings were a half-roofed, half-finished, unfur-
nished barrack, where the stadholder passed his winter days and evenings,
in a small, dark, freezing-cold chamber, often without firewood. Having
already loaded himself with a debt of 600,000 florins, which he had spent in the
states' service, and having struggled manfully against the petty tortures of
his situation, he cannot be severely censured for relinquishing his post.
]} His oflttce was technically tbat of " Director of the college of the Nearer Union."]
THE LAST YEAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 485
[1580 iM>.]
Soon afterwards, a special legation, with Sainte-Aldegonde at its head,
was despatched to France to consult with the duke of Anjou, and settled
terms of agreement with him by the Treaty of Pl^ssis-les-Tours (on the 29th.
of September, 1580), afterwards definitely ratified by the convention ot
Bordeaux, signed on the 23rd of the following January.
The states of Holland and Zealand, however, kept entirely aloof from
this transaction, being from the beginning opposed to the choice of Anjou,
From the first to the last, they would have no master but Orange, and to him,,
therefore, this year they formally offered the sovereignty of their provinces;,
but they offered it in vain.
The conquest of Portugal had effected a diversion in the affairs of the
Netherlands. It was but a transitory one. From the moment of this con-
quest, Philip was more disposed, and more at leisure than ever, to vent his:
wrath against the Netherlands, and against the man whom he considered
the incarnation of their revolt.
THE " BAN " AGAINST WILLIAM (1580)
Cardinal Granvella had ever whispered in the king's ear the expediencjr
of taking oflf the prince bv assassination. In accordance with these sugges-
tions and these hopes, the famous ban Avas drawn up, and dated on the
15th of March, 1580. It was, however, not formally published in the;
Netherlands until the month of June of the same year.
This edict will remain the most lasting monument to the memory of Car-
dinal Granvella. It will be read when all his other state-papers and epistles
— able as they incontestably are — shall have passed into oblivion. No
panegyric of friend, no palliating magnanimity of foe, can roll away this rock
of infamy from his tomb. It was by Cardinal Granvella and by Philip that
a price was set upon the head of the foremost man of his age, as if he had
been a savage beast, and that admission into the ranks of Spain's haughty
nobility was made the additional bribe to tempt the assassin.
The ban consisted of a preliminary narrative to justify the penalty.
"For these causes," concluded the ban, "we declare him traitor and mis-
creant, enemy of ourselves and of the country. As such we banish him per-
petually from all our realms, forbidding all our subjects, of whatever quality,
to communicate with him openly or privately — to administer to him victuals,
drink, fire, or other necessaries. We allow all to injure him in property or
life. We expose the said William Nassau as an enemy of the human race —
giving his property to all who may seize it. And if any one of our subjects
or any stranger should be found sufficiently generous of heart to rid us of this
pest, delivering him to us, alive or dead, or taking his life, we will cause to be
furnished to him immediately after the deed shall have been done, the sum
of twenty-five thousand crowns in gold. If he have committed any crime,
however heinous, we promise to pardon him; and if he be not already noble,
we will ennoble him for his valour."
THE "apology" of WILLIAM
Such was the celebrated ban against the prince of Orange. It was
answered before the end of the year by the memorable Apology of the Prince of
Orange, one of the most startling documents in history. No defiance was
ever thundered forth in the face of a despot in more terrible tones. It had
become sufficiently manifest to the royal party that the prince was not to be
484 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1580 A.D.]
purchased by "millions of money," or by unlimited family advancement —
not to be 'Cajoled by flattery or offers of. illustrious friendship. It had been
decided, therefore, to. terrify him into retreat, or to remove him by murder.
The government had beenthoroughly convinced that the only way to finish
the revolt, was to "finish Orange," according to the ancient advice of Antonio
Perez. The rupture being thus complete, it was right that the "wretched
hypocrite" should answer ban with ban, rojral denunciation with sublime
scorn. He had ill deserved, however, the tHie of hypocrite, he said. When
the friend of government, he had warned them that by their complicated and
perpetual persecutions they were twisting the rope of their own ruin. Was
that hypocrisy? Since becoming their enemy, there had likewise been little
hypocrisy found in him — unless it was hypocrisy to make open war upon
government, to take their cities, to expel their armies from the country.
The proscribed rebel, towering to a moral and even social superiority
over the man who affected to be his master by right divine, repudiated the
idea of a king in the Netherlands. The word might be legitimate in Castile,
or Naples, or the Indies, but the provinces knew no such title. Philip had
inherited in those countries only the power of duke or count — a power
closely limited by constitutions more ancient than his birthright. Orange
'was no rebel then — Philip no legitimate monarch. Even were the prince
rebellious, it was no more than Philip's ancestor, Albert of Austria, had been
towards his anointed sovereign, emperor Adolphus of Nassau, ancestor of
William. The ties of allegiance and conventional authority being severed,
it had become idle for the king to affect superiority of hneage to the man whose
family had occupied illustrious stations when the Habsburgs were obscure
squires in Switzerland, and had ruled as sovereign in the Netherlands before
that overshadowing house had ever been named.
But whatever the hereditary claims of Philip in the country, he had
forfeited them by the violation of his oaths, by his tyrannical suppression of
the charters of the land; while by his personal crimes he had lost all preten-
sion to sit in judgment upon his fellow man. Was a people not justified in
rising against authority when all their laws had been trodden under foot,
•"not once only, but a million of times"? — and was William of Orange,
lawful husband of the virtuous Charlotte de Bourbon, to be denounced for
moral delinquency by a lascivious, incestuous, adulterous, and murderous
king? With horrible distinctness he laid before the monarch all the crimes
of which he believed him guilty, and having thus told Philip to his beard,
"thus didst thou," he had a. withering word for the priest who stood at his
back. "Tell me," he cried, "by whose command Cardinal Granvella ad-
ministered poison to Emperor Maximilian? I know what the emperor told
me, and how much fear he felt afterwards for the king and for all Spaniards."
He ridiculed the effrontery of men like Philip and Granvella in charging
"distrust upon others, when it was the very atmosphere of their own
existence." He proclaimed that sentiment to be the only salvation for the
country. He reminded Philip of the words which his namesake of Macedon
— a school-boy in tyranny, compared to himself — had heard from the hps of
Demosthenes — that the strongest fortress of a free people against a tyrant
was distrust. That sentiment, worthy of eternal memory, the prince declared
that he had taken from the "divine philippic," to engrave upon the heart
of the nation, and he prayed God that he might be more readily believed
than the great orator had been by his people. He treated with scorn the
price set upon his head, ridiculing this project to terrify him, for its want
of novelty, and asking the monarch if he supposed the rebel ignorant of the
THE LAST YEARS OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 485
[1580-1581 A.D.]
various bargains which had frequently been made before with cut-throats
and poisoners to take away his hfe. " I am in the hand of God," said Wil-
liam of Orange ; " my worldly goods and my life have been long since dedi-
cated to his service. He will dispose of them as seems best for his glory and
my salvation."
On the contrary, however, if it could.be demonstrated, or even hoped,
tha^/his absence would benefit the^ cause of the country, he proclaimed, himself
ready to go into exile. "Would to God," said he, in conclusion, "that my
perpetual banishment, or even my death, could bring you a true deliverance
from so many calamities. Oh, how consoling would be such banishment —
how sweet such a death! For why have I exposed my property? Was it
that I might enrich myself? Why have I lost my brothers? Was it that I
might find new ones? Why have I left my son so long a prisoner? Can you
give me another? Why have I put my life so often in danger? What re-
ward can I hope after my long services, and the almost total wreck of my
earthly fortunes, if not the prize of having acquired, perhaps at the expense
of my life, your liberty? If then, my masters, you judge that my absence or
my death can serve you, behold me ready to obey. Command me — send
me to the ends of the earth — I will obey. Here is my head, over which no
prince, no monarch, has power but yourselves. Dispose of it for your good,
for the preservation of your republic, but if you judge that the moderate
amount of experience and industry -which is in me, if you judge that the re-
mainder of my property and of my life can yet be a service to you, I dedicate
them afresh to you and to the country." ^
His motto — most appropriate to his life and character — "Je main-
tiendrai," was the concluding phrase of the document. His arms and signa-
ture were also formally appended, and the Apology, translated into most
modern languages, was sent to nearly every potentate in Christendom. It
had been previously, on the 13th of December, 1580, read before the assem-
bly of the united states at Delft,' and approved as cordially as the ban was
indignantly denounced.
ALLEGIANCE TO PHILIP FORMALLY RENOUNCED (1581)
During the remainder of the year 1580, and the half of the following year,
the seat of hostilities was mainly in the northeast — Parma, while waiting
the arrival of fresh troops, being inactive. The operations, like the armies
and the generals, were petty. Hohenlohe was opposed to Renneberg. After
a few insignificant victories, the latter laid siege to Steenwijk. Upon the
22nd of February, 1581, at the expiration of the third week, Norris succeeded
in victualling the town, and Count Renneberg abandoned the siege in despair.
The subsequent career of that unhappy nobleman was brief. On the
19th of July his troops were signally defeated by Sonoy and Norris, the fugi-
tive royalists retreating into Groningen at the very moment when their
general, who had been prevented by illness from commanding them, was
' The Apologia was drawn up by Villiers, a clergyman of learning and talent. No man,
however, at all conversant with the writings and speeches of the prince, can doubt that the
entire substance of the famous document was from his own hand. The whole was submitted
to him for his final emendations, and it seems by no means certain that it derived anything from
the hand of Villiers, save the artistic arrangement of the parts, together with certain inflations
of style, by which the general effect is occasionally marred. The appearance of the Apology
created both admiration and alarm among the friends of its author. ' ' Now is the Prince a dead
man," cried Sainte-Aldegonde, when he read it in France. Blok* agrees with Motley'' that
"the prince's part in the apology is evident."
486 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1581A.D.1
receiving the last sacraments. Remorse, shame, and disappointment had
literally brought Renneberg to his grave. "His treason," says Bor,e a
contemporary, "was a nail in his coffin," and on his deathbed he bitterly
bemoaned his crime. "Groningen! Groningen! would that I had never seen
thy walls!" he cried repeatedly in his last hours. He refused to see his
sister, whose insidious counsels had combined with his own evil passions to
make him a traitor; and he died on the 23rd of July, 1581, repentant and
submissive.*
Philip was in Portugal, preparing for his coronation in that new kingdom
— an event to be nearly contemporaneous with his deposition from the
Netherland sovereignty, so solemnly conferred upon him a quarter of a
century before in Brussels. He committed the profound error of sending
the duchess Margaret of Parma to the Netherlands again. The Nether-
landers were very moderately excited by the arrival of their former regent,
but the prince of Parma was furious. He was unflinching in his determination
to retain all the power or none. The duchess, as docile to her son after her
arrival as she had been to the king on undertaking the journey, and feeling
herself unequal to the task imposed upon her, implored Philip's permission
to withdraw, but continued to reside there imder an assumed name until
the autumn of 1583, when she was at last permitted to return to Italy.
During the summer of 1581 the same spirit of persecution which had
inspired the Catholics to inflict such infinite misery upon those of the reformed
faith in the Netherlands began to manifest itself in overt acts against the
papists by those who had at last obtained political ascendency over them.
Edicts were published in Antwerp, in Utrecht, and in different cities of Hol-
land, suspending the exercise of the Roman worship. These statutes were
certainly a long way removed in horror from those memorable placards which
sentenced the Reformers by thousands to the axe, the cord, and the- stake,
but it was still melancholy to see the persecuted becoming persecutors in their
turn.
A most important change was now to take place in the prince's condition,
a most vital measiu-e was to be consimamated by the provinces. The step,
which could never be retraced, was, after long hesitation, finally taken upon
the 26th of July, 1581, upon which day the united provinces, assembled at
the Hague, solemnly declared their independence of Philip, and renounced
their allegiance for ever.
This act was accomplished with the deliberation due to its gravity. At
the same time it left the country in a very divided condition. The Walloon
provinces had already fallen off from the cause, notwithstanding the entreaties
of the prince. The other Netherlands, after long and tedious negotiation
with Anjou, had at last consented to his supremacy, but from this arrange-
ment Holland and Zealand held themselves aloof. They were willing to con-
tract with him and with their sister provinces — over which he was soon to
exercise authority — a firm and perpetual league, but as to their own chief,
their hearts were fixed. The prince of Orange should be their lord and master,
and none other. It lay only in his self-denying character that he had not
been clothed with this dignity long before.
As it was evident that the provinces, thus bent upon placing him at their
head, could by no possibility be induced to accept the sovereignty of Anjou
— as, moreover, the act of renunciation of Philip could no longer be deferred,
[' Reuneberg was succeeded as commander of the royalists, by Francesco de Verdugo, but, as
Blok* says, guerrilla war prevailed since " both sides were liampered by lack of money and
THE LAST YEARS OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 487
{1.181 A.D.J
the prince of Orange reluctantly and provisionally accepted the supreme
power over Holland and Zealand. This arrangement was finally accomplished
Tipon the 24th of July, 1581, and the act of abjuration took place two days
afterwards. The offer of the sovereignty over the other united provinces
Lad been accepted by Anjou six months before. Thus the Netherlands
were divided into three portions — the reconciled provinces, the united
provinces under Anjou, and the northern provinces under Orange; the last
■division forming the germ, already nearly developed, of the coming republic.
WILLIAM BECOMES SOVEREIGN OF HOLLAND (1581)
The sovereignty thus pressingly offered, and thus limited as to time [to
the end of the war], was finally accepted by William of Orange, according
to a formal act dated at the Hague, 5th of July, 1581, but no powers were
conferred by this new instrument beyond those already exercised by the
prince. It was as it were a formal continuance of the functions which he had
■exercised since 1576 as the king's stadholder, according to his old commission
of 1555, although a vast difference existed in reality. The limitation as to
time was, moreover, soon afterwards secretly, and without the knowledge
of Orange, cancelled by the states. They were determined that the prince
should be their sovereign — if they could make him so — for the term of his
life.
The offer having thus been made and accepted upon the 5th of July, oaths
of allegiance and fideUty were exchanged between the prince and the states
upon the 24th of the same month. Two days afterwards, upon the 26th of
July, 1581, the memorable declaration of independence was issued by the
deputies of the united provinces, then solemnly assembled at the Hague. It
was called the Act of Abjuration.
The document by which the provinces renounced their allegiance was not
the most felicitous of their state papers. It was too prolix and technical.
Its style had more of the formal phraseology of legal documents than befitted
this great appeal to the whole world and to all time. Nevertheless, this is
but matter of taste. The Netherlanders were so eminently a law-abiding
people, that, like the American patriots of the eighteenth century, they on
most occasions preferred punctilious precision to florid declamation. They
■chose to conduct their revolt according to law. At the same time, while thus
decently wrapping herself in conventional garments, the spirit of Liberty
jevealed none the less her majestic proportions.
At the very outset of the Abjuration, these fathers of the republic laid
down wholesome truths, which at that time seemed startling blasphemies in
the ears of Christendom. "All mankind know," said the preamble, "that a
prince is appointed by God to cherish his subjects, even as a shepherd to
^uard his sheep. When, therefore, the prince does not fulfil his duty as
protector; when he oppresses his subjects, destroys their ancient liberties,
and treats them as slaves, he is to be considered, not a prince, but a tyrant.
As such, the estates of the land may lawfully and reasonably depose him,
•and elect another in his room."
Having enunciated these maxims, the estates proceeded to apply them
to their own case, and certainly never was an ampler justification for renounc-
ing a prince since princes were first instituted. The states ran through
the history of the past quarter of a century, patiently accumulating a
load of charges against the monarch, a tithe of which would have furnished
oause for his dethronement. Without passion or exaggeration they told
488 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLANDS
[1581 A.D.]
the world their wrongs. The picture was not highly coloured. On the con-
trary, it was rather a feeble than a striking portrait of the monstrous iniquity
which had so long been established over them.
They calmly observed, after this recital, that they were sufficiently justified
in forsaking a sovereign who for more than twenty years had forsaken them.
Obeying the law of nature — desirous of maintaining the rights, charters,
and liberties of their fatherland — determined to escape from slavery to
Spaniards — and making known their decision to the world, they declared';
the king of Spain deposed from his sovereignty,, and proclaimed,. that 4hey
should recognise thenceforth neither his title nor jurisdiction. Three days
afterwards, on the 29th of July, the assembly adopted a formula by which
all persons were to be required to signify their abjuration.'
Such were the forms by which the united provinces threw off their alle-
giance to Spain, and ipso facto established a republic, which was to flourish
for two centuries. This result, however, was not exactly foreseen by the
congress which deposed Philip. The fathers of the commonwealth did not
baptise it by the name of "republic." They did not contemplate a change
in their form of government. They had neither an aristocracy nor a democ-
racy in their thoughts. Like the actors in the American national drama,
these Netherland patriots were struggling to sustain, not to overthrow; un-
like them, they claimed no theoretical freedom for humanity — promulgated
no doctrine of popular sovereignty: they insisted merely on the fulfilment
of actual contracts, signed, sealed, and sworn to by many successive sover-
eigns. The deposition and election could be legally justified only by the
inherent right of the people to depose and to elect; yet the provinces, in their
declaration of independence, spoke of the divine right of kings, even while
dethroning, by popular right, their own king !
So also, in the instructions given by the states to their envoys charged
to justify the abjuration before the imperial diet held at Augsburg, twelve
months later, the highest ground was claimed for the popular right to elect
or depose the sovereign, while at the same time kings were spoken of as "ap-
pointed by God." It is true that they were described in the same clause as
" chosfehl)y the people" — which was, perhaps, as exact a concurrence in the
maxim of Vox populi vox Dei, as the boldest democrat of the day could
demand.
Such, then, being the spirit which prompted the provinces upon this great
occasion, it may be asked who were the men who signed a document of such
importance? In whose name and by what authority did they act against
the sovereign? The signers of the declaration of independence acted in the
name and by the authority of the Netherland people. The states were the
constitutional representatives of that people.^ The statesmen of that day,
discovering, upon cold analysis of facts, that Philip's sovereignty was legally
forfeited, formally proclaimed that forfeiture. Then inquiring what had
become of the sovereignty, they found it not in the mass of the people, but
> It ran as follows : " I solemnly swear tliat I will henceforward not respect, nor obey, nor
recognise the king of Spain as my prince and master ; but that I renounce the king of Spain,
and abjure the allegiance by which I may have formerly been bound to him. At the same time
I swear fidelity to the United Netherlands — to wit, the provinces of Brabant, Flanders,
Gelderland, Holland, Zealand, etc. , and also to the national council established by the estates
of these provinces ; and promise my assistance according to the best of my abilities against the
king of Spain and his adherents."
['Bloki points out the great importance in future history of this idea that "the origin
of sovereignty was not vested in the lord of the land; but in the states as representing the
subjects."]
THE LAST YEAES OP WILLIAM THE SILENT 489
[1681 A.D.]
in the representative body, which actually personated the people. The
states of the different provinces — consisting of the knights, nobles, and bur-
gesses of each — sent, accordingly, their deputies to the general assembly
at the Hague, and by this congress the decree of abjuration was issued.
The want of personal ambition on the part of William the Silent inflicted
perhaps a serious damage upon his country. He believed a single chief
requisite for the united states; he might have been, but always refused to
become that chief; and yet he has been held up for centuries by many writers
as a conspirator and a self-seeking intriguer. "It seems to me," said he,
with equal pathos and truth, upon one occasion, "that I was born in this
bad planet that all which I do might be misinterpreted." The people wor-
shipped him, and there was many an occasion when his election would have
been carried with enthusiasm. Said John of Nassau, "He refuses only on
this account — that it may not be thought that, instead of religious freedom
for the country, he has been seeking a kingdom for himself and his own private
advancement. Moreover, he believes that the connection with France will
be of more benefit to the country and to Christianity than if a peace should
be made with Spain, or than if he should himself accept the sovereignty, as
he is desired to do."
The unfortunate negotiations with Anjou, to which no man was more
opposed than Count John, proceeded therefore. In the meantime, the sover-
eignty over the united provinces was provisionally held by the national
council, and, at the urgent solicitation of the states-general, by the prince.
The archduke Matthias, whose functions were most unceremoniously brought
to an end by the transactions which we have been recording, took his leave
of the states, and departed in the month of October. Brought to the country
a beardless boy, by the intrigues of a faction who wished to use him as a tool
against William of Orange, he had quietly submitted, on the contrary, to
servo as the instrument of that great statesman. His personality during
his residence was null, and he had to expiate, by many a petty mortification,
by many a bitter tear, the boyish ambition which brought him to the Nether-
lands. The states voted him, on his departure, a pension of fifty thousand
guldens annually, which was probably not paid with exemplary regularity.
By midsummer the duke of Anjou made his appearance in the western
part of the Netherlands. The prince of Parma had recently come from
Cambray with the intention of reducing that important city. On the arrival
of Anjou, however, at the head of five thousand cavalry — nearly all of them
gentlemen of high degree, serving as volunteers — and of twelve thousand
infantry, Alessandro raised the siege precipitately, and retired towards Tour-
nay. Ajijou victualled the city, strengthened the garrison, and then, as his
cavalry had only enlisted for a summer's amusement, and could no longer
be held together, he disbanded his forces. The bulk of the infantry took
service for the states under the prince of Espinoy, governor of Tournay. The
duke himself, finding that, notwithstanding the treaty of Plessis-les-Tours
and the present showy demonstration upon his part, the states were not yet
prepared to render him formal allegiance, and being, moreover, in the heyday
of what was universally considered his prosperous courtship of Queen EUza-
beth, soon afterwards took his departure for England.
Parma, being thus relieved of his interference, soon afterwards laid siege
to the important city of Tournay. The prince of Espinoy was absent with
the army in the north, but the princess commanded in his absence. She
fulfilled her duty in a manner worthy of the house from which she sprang,
for the blood of Count Horn was in her veins. The princess appeared daily
490 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1581 15S3a,d.]
among her troops, superintending the defences, and personally directing
the officers.
The siege lasted two months. The princess made an honourable capitu-
lation with Parma. She herself, with all her garrison, was allowed to retire
with personal property, and with all the honours of war, while the sack of
the city was commuted for one hundred thousand crowns,_ levied upon the
inhabitants. The princess, on leaving the gates, was received with such a
shout of applause from the royal army that she .seemed less like a defeated
commander than a conqueror. Upon the 30th November, Parma accord-
ingly entered the place which he had been besieging since the 1st of October.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF ANJOU
The states sent a special mission to England, to arrange with the duke of
Anjou for his formal installation as sovereign. Sainte-Aldegonde and other
commissioners were already there. It was the memorable epoch in the
Anjou wooing, when the rings were exchanged between Elizabeth and the
duke, and when the world thought that the nuptials were on the point of
being celebrated.
Nevertheless, the marriage ended in smoke. There were plenty of tour-
nays, pageants, and banquets; a profusion of nuptial festivities, in short,
■where nothing was omitted but the nuptials. By the end of January, 1582,
the duke was no nearer the goal than upon his arrival three months before.
Acceding, therefore, to the wishes of the Netherland envoys he prepared for
a visit to their country, where the ceremony of his joyful entrance {La Joyeuse
Entree) as duke of Brabant and sovereign of the other provinces was to take
place. No open rupture with Elizabeth occurred.
On the 10th of February, 1582, fifteen large vessels cast anchor at Flush-
ing. The duke of Anjou, attended by the earl of Leicester, the lords Hunsdon,
Willoughby, Sheffield, Howard, Sir Philip Sidney, and many other person-
ages of high rank and reputation, landed from this fleet. He was greeted on
his arrival by the prince of Orange. Francis Hercules, son of France, duke
of Alengon and Anjou, was at that time just twenty-eight years of age; yet
not even his flatterers, or his " minions," of whom he had as regular a train as his
royal brother, could claim for him the external graces of youth or of princely
dignity. It was thought that his revolting appearance was the principal
reason for the rupture of the English marriage, and it was in vain that his
supporters maintained that if he could forgive her age, she might, in return,
excuse his ugliness.
No more ignoble yet more dangerous creature had yet been loosed upon
the devoted soil of the Netherlands. With a figure which was insignificant,
and a countenance which was repulsive, he had hoped to efface the impression
made upon Elizabeth's imagination by the handsomest man in Europe.
With a commonplace capacity, and with a narrow political education, he
intended to circumvent the most profound statesman of his age. And there,
upon the pier at Flushing, he stood between them both; between the mag-
nificent Leicester, whom he had thought to outshine, and the silent prince of
Orange, whom he was determined to outwit.
The terms of the treaty concluded at Plessis-les-Tours and Bordeaux
were now made public. The duke had subscribed to twenty-seven articles,
"which made as stringent and sensible a constitutional compact as could be
desired by any Netherland patriot. These articles, taken in connection with
the ancient charters which they expressly upheld, left to the new sovereign no
THE LAST YEAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 491
11582 A.D.]
-vestige of arbitrary power. He was merely the hereditary president of a
representative republic. He was to be duke, count, marquis, or seignior of
the different provinces on the same terms which his predecessors had accepted.
He was to transmit the dignities to his children. If there were more than
one child, the provinces were to select one of the number for their sovereign.
He was to maintain all the ancient privileges, charters, statutes, and customs,
and to forfeit his sovereignty at the first violation. He was to assemble the
states-general at least once a year. He was always to reside in the Nether-
lands. He was to permit none but natives to hold office. His right of ap-
pointment to all important posts was limited to a selection from three candi-
dates, to be proposed by the states of the province concerned, at each vacancy.
He was to maintain " the religion" and the "religious peace" in the same state
in which they then were, or as should afterwards be ordained by the states
of each province, without making any innovation on his own part. Holland
and Zealand were to remain as they were, both in the matter of religion and
otherwise. His highness was not to permit that anyone should be examined
or molested in his house, or otherwise, in the matter or under pretext cf
religion. He was to procure the assistance of the king of France for the
Netherlands. He was to maintain a perfect and a perpetual league, offensive
and defensive, between that kingdom and the provinces; without, however,
permitting any incorporation of territory. He was to carry on the war
against Spain with his own means and those furnished by his royal brother,
in addition to a yearly contribution by the estates of 2,400,000 guldens. He
was to dismiss all troops at command of the states-general. He was to make
no treaty with Spain without their consent.
ATTEMPTS TO ASSASSINATE WILLIAM
The first-fruits of the ban now began to display themselves. Sunday,
18th of March, 1582, was the birthday of the duke of Anjou, and a great
festival had been arranged, accordingly, for the evening, at the palace of
St. Michael, the prince of Orange as well as all the great French lords being
of course invited. On rising from the table. Orange led the way from the
dining-room to his own apartments. As he stood upon the threshold of the
antechamber, a youth offered him a petition. He took the paper, and as he
did so, the stranger suddenly drew a pistol and discharged it at the head
of the prince. The ball entered the neck under the right ear, passed through
the roof of the mouth, and came out under the left jawbone, carrying with it
two teeth. The pistol had been held so near that the hair and beard of the
prince were set on fire by the discharge. He remained standing, but blinded,
stunned, and for a moment entirely ignorant of what had occurred. As he
afterwards observed, he thought perhaps that a part of the house had sud-
denly fallen. Finding very soon that his hair and beard were burning, he
comprehended what had occurred, and called out quickly, " Do not kill him —
I forgive him my death!" and turning to the French noblemen present, he
added, "Alas!" what a faithful servant does his highness lose in me!"
These were his first words, spoken when, as all believed, he had been
mortally wounded. The message of mercy came, however, too late; for
two of the gentlemen present, by an irresistible impulse, had run the assassin
through with their rapiers. The halberdiers rushed upon him immediately
afterwards, so that he fell pierced in thirty-two vital places. The prince,
supported by his friends, walked to his chamber, where he was put to bed,
"while the surgeons examined and bandaged the wound. It was most
492 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1583 A.D.]
dangerous in appearance, but a very strange circumstance gave more hope than
could otherwise have been entertained. The flame from the pistol had been
so close that it had actually cauterised the wound inflicted by the ball. But
for this, it was supposed that the flow of blood from the veins which had been
shot through would have proved fatal before the wound could be dressed.
The prince, after the first shock, had recovered full possession of his
senses, and believing himself to be dying,he expressed the mostunaffected
sjnnpathy.for the condition in which the.duke of Anjou would be placed by
his death. "Alas, poor prince!" he cried frequently; "alas, what troubles
will now beset thee!" The surgeons enjoined and implored his silence, as
speaking might cause the wound to prove immediately fatal. He complied,
but wrote incessantly. As long as his heart could beat, it was impossible
for him not to be occupied with his country.
Sainte-Aldegonde, who had meantime arrived, now proceeded, in com-
pany of the other gentlemen, to examine the articles and papers taken
from the assassin. The pistol with which he had done the deed was lying
upon the floor; a naked poniard, which he would probably have used also,
had his thumb not been blown off by the discharge of the pistol, was found
in his trunk hose. In his pocket were an Agnus Dei, a taper of green wax,
two bits of hareskin, two dried toads — which were supposed to be sorcerer's
charms — a crucifix, a Jesuit catechism, a prayer-book, a pocket-book con-
taining two Spanish bills of exchange — one for two thousand, and one for
eight hundred and seventy-seven crowns — and a set of writing tablets.
These last were covered with vows and pious invocations, in reference to
the murderous affair which the writer had in hand.
The poor fanatical fool had been taught by deeper viUains than himself
that his pistol was to rid the world of a tyrant, and to open his own pathway
to heaven, if his career should be cut short on earth. To prevent so unde-
sirable a catastrophe to himself, however, his most natural conception had
been to bribe the whole' heavenly host, from the Virgin Mary downwards, for
he had been taught that absolution for murder was to be bought and sold
like other merchandise. He had also been persuaded that, after accom-
plishing the deed, HE WOULD BECOME INVISIBLE.
Sainte-Aldegonde hastened to lay the result of this examination before
the duke of Anjou. Information was likewise instantly conveyed to the
magistrates at the town-house, and these measures were successful in
restoring confidence throughout the city as to the intentions of the new gov-
ernment. Anjou immediately convened the state council, issued a summons
for an early meeting of the states-general, and published a proclamation
that all persons having information to give concerning the crime which had
just been committed, should come instantly forward, upon pain of death.
The body of the assassin was forthwith exposed upon the public square, and
was soon recognised as that of one Juan Jaureguy, a servant in the employ
of Gaspar de Anastro, a Spanish merchant of Antwerp. The letters and bills
of exchange had also, on nearer examination at the town-house, implicated
Anastro in the affair. His house was immediately searched, but the mer-
chant had taken his departure, upon the previous Tuesday, .under pretext of
pressing affairs at Calais. His cashier, Venero, and a Dominican friar, named
Anthony Zimmermann, both inmates of his family, were, however, arrested
upon suspicion. Venero wrote a full confession.
It appeared that the crime was purely a commercial speculation on the
part of Anastro. That merchant, being on the verge of bankruptcy, had
entered with Philip into a mutual contract, which the king had signed with
THE LAST YBAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 493
[1583 A.D.]
his hand and sealed with his seal, and according to which Anastro, within a
certain period, was to take the life of William of Orange, and for so doing was
to receive "80,000 ducats, and. the cross of Santiago; To he a knight com-
panion of Spain's proudest order; of chivalry was the guerdon, over ahd above
the eighty thousand pieces of silver, which Spain's monarch pronrised the
murderer, if he should succeed: The cowardly and crafty principal escaped.
The process against Venero and Zimmermann was rapidly carried through,
for both had made a full confession of their share in the crime. The prince
had enjoined from his sick-bed, however, that the case should be conducted
with strict regard to justice, and, when the execution could no longer be de-
ferred, he had sent a written request, by the hands of Sainte-Aldegonde, that
■ they should be put to death in the least painful manner. The request was
complied with, but there can be no doubt that the criminals, had it not been
made, would have expiated their offence by the most lingering tortures. Ow-
ing to the intercession of the man who was to have been their victim, they
were strangled, before being quartered, upon a scaffold erected in the market-
place, opposite the town-house. This execution took place on Wednesday^
the 28th of March, 1582.
The prince for eighteen days lay in a most precarious state. On the
5th of April the cicatrix by which the flow of blood from the neck
had been prevented, almost from the first infliction of the wound, fell off.
The veins poured forth a vast quantity of blood; it seemed impossible to
check the haemorrhage, and all hope appeared to vanish. The prince re
signed himself to his fate, and bade his children "good-night forever," saying
calmly, " it is now all over with me."
It was difficult, without suffocating the patient, to fasten a bandage tightly
enough to staunch the wound, but Leonardo Botalli, of Asti, body physician
of Anjou, was nevertheless fortunate enough to devise a simple mechanicai
expedient, which proved successful. By his advice, a succession of attend
ants, relieving each other day and night, prevented the flow of blood by keep-
ing the orifice of the wound slightly but firmly compressed with the thumb-
After a period of anxious expectation, the wound again closed, and by tho
end of the month the prince was convalescent. On the 2nd of May he went
to offer thanksgiving in the Great Cathedral, amid the joyful sobs of a vast
and most earnest throng.
The prince was saved, but unhappily the murderer had yet found an
illustrious victim. The princess of Orange, Charlotte de Bourbon — the
devoted wife who for seven years had so faithfully shared his joys and sor-
rows — lay already on her death-bed. Exhausted by anxiety, long watch-
ing, and the alternations of hope and fear during the first eighteen days,
she had been prostrated by despair at the renewed hsemorrhage. A violent
fever seized her, under which she sank on the 5th of May, three days after
the solemn thanksgiving for her husband's recovery. The prince, who loved
her tenderly, was in great danger of relapse upon the sad event, which, although
not sudden, had not been anticipated. She was a woman of rare intelligence,
accomplishment, and gentleness of disposition, whose only offence had been
to oreak, by her marriage, the church vows to which she had been forced
la her childhood, but which had been pronounced illegal by competent au-
thority both ecclesiastical and lay. For this, and for the contrast which her
virtues afforded to the vices of her predecessor, she was the mark of calumny ■
and insult.
The offer of the sovereign countship of Holland was again made to the
prince of Orange in most urgent terms. It will be recollected that he had
494 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1583 4.D.)
accepted the sovereignty on the 5th of July, 1581, only for the term of the
war. In a letter, dated Bruges, 14th of August, 1582, he accepted the dignity
without limitation. This offer and acceptance, however, constituted but
the preliminaries, for it was further necessary that the letters of renversat
should be drawn up, that they should be formally delivered, and that a new
constitution should be laid down, and confirmed by mutual oaths. After
these steps had been taken, the ceremonious inauguration or rendering of
homage was to be celebrated.
All these measures were duly arranged except the last. The installation
of the new count of Holland was prevented by his death, and the northern
provinces remained a republic, not only in fact but in name.
THE CONSTITUTION OF 1582
In political matters, the basis of the new constitution was the "Great
Privilege" of the lady Mary, the Magna Charta of the country. That mem-
orable monument in the history of the Netherlands and of municipal progress
had been overthrown by Mary's son, with the forced acquiescence of the states,
and it was therefore stipulated by the new article that even such laws and
privileges as had fallen into disuse should be revived. It was furthermore
provided that the little state should be a free countship, and should thus
silently sever its connection with the empire.
With regard to the position of the prince, as hereditary chief of the little
commonwealth, his actual power was rather diminished than increased by
his new dignity. By the new constitution he ceased to be the source of
governmental life, or to derive his own authority from above by right divine.
Orange's sovereignty was from the states, as legal representatives of the
people, and instead of exercising all the powers not otherwise granted away,
he was content with those especially conferred upon him. He could neither
declare war nor conclude peace without the co-operation of the representative
body. The appointing power was scrupulously limited.
With respect to the great principle of taxation, stricter bonds even were
provided than those which already existed. As executive head, save in his
capacity as commander-in-chief by land or sea, the new sovereign was, in
short, strictly limited by self-imposed laws. It had rested with him to dictate
or to accept a constitution. He had, in his memorable letter of August,
1582, from Bruges, laid down generally the articles prepared at Plessis and
Bordeaux, for Anjou — together with all applicable provisions of the joyous
entry of Brabant — as the outlines of the constitution for the little com-
monwealth then forming in the north. To these provisions he was willing
to add any others which, after ripe deliberation, might be thought benefi-
cial to the country. Thus limited were his executive functions. As to his
judicial authority, it had ceased to exist. The count of Holland was now the
guardian of the laws, but the judges were to administer them.
As to the count's legislative authority, it had become co-ordinate with,
if not subordinate to, that of the representative body. He was strictly pro-
hibited from interfering with the right of the separate or the general states
to assemble as often as they should think proper; and he was also forbidden
to summon them outside their own territory. This was one immense step
in the progress of representative liberty, and the next was equally important.
It was now formally stipulated that the states were to deliberate upon all
measures which " concerned justice and polity," and that no change was to
THE LAST YEAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 495
[1582 A.D.]
be made — that is to say, no new law was to pass — without their consent
as well as that of the council. Thus, the principle was established of two
legislative chambers, with the right, but not the exclusive right, of initiation
on the part of government, and in the sixteenth century one would hardly
look for broader views of civil liberty and representative government. The
foundation of a free commonwealth was thus securely laid, which, had William
lived, would have been a representative monarchy, but which his death con-
verted into a federal republic. It was necessary for the sake of unity to give
a connected outline of these proceedings with regard to the sovereignty of
Orange. The formal inauguration only remained, and this, as will be seen,
was forever interrupted.
During the course of the year 1582, the military operations on both sides
had been languid and desultory. In consequence, however, of the treaty
concluded between the' united states and Anjou, Parma had persuaded the
Walloon provinces that it had now become absolutely necessary for them to
permit the entrance of fresh Italian and Spanish troops. This, then, was
the end of the famous provision against foreign soldiery in the Walloon Treaty
of Reconciliation.
In the meantime, Farnese, while awaiting these reinforcements, had not
been idle, but had been quietly picking up several important cities. Early
in the spring he had laid siege to Oudenarde. An attempt upon Lochum,
an important city in Gelderland, was unsuccessful, the place being relieved
by the duke of Anjou's forces, and Parma's troops forced to abandon the
siege. At Steenwijk, the royal arms were more successful. With this event
the active operations under Parma closed for the year. By the end of the
autiunn, however, he had the satisfaction of numbering, under his command,
full sixty thousand well-appointed and disciplined troops, including the large
reinforcements recently despatched from Spain and Italy. The monthly
expense of this army — half of which was required for garrison duty, leaving
only the other moiety for field operations — was estimated at six hundred
and fifty thousand florins. The forces imder Anjou and the united provinces
were also largely increased, so that the marrow of the land was again in fair
way of being thoroughly exhausted by its defenders and its foes.
The incidents of Anjou's administration, meantime, during the year 1582,
had been few and of no great importance. After the pompous and elaborate
"homage-making" at Antwerp, he had, in the month of July, been formally
accepted, by writing, as duke of Gelderland and lord of Friesland. In the
same month he had been ceremoniously inaugurated at Bruges as count of
Flanders — an occasion upon which the prince of Orange had been present.
In the midst of this event, an attempt was made upon the lives both of
Orange and Anjou. An Italian, named Basa, and a Spaniard, called Salseda,
were detected in a scheme to administer poison to both princes, and when
arrested, confessed that they had been hired by the prince of Parma to com-
pass this double assassination. Basa destroyed himself in prison. His body
was, however, gibbeted, with an inscription that he had attempted, at the
instigation of Parma, to take the lives of Orange and Anjou. Salseda, less
fortunate, was sent to Paris, where he was found guilty, and executed by
being torn to pieces by four horses. Sad to relate, Lamoral Egmont, yoimger
son and namesake of the great general, was intimate with Salseda, and impli-
cated in this base design. His mother, on her death-bed, had especially
recommended the youth to the kindly care of Orange. The yoimg noble
was imprisoned; his guilt was far from doubtful; but the powerful inter-
cessions of Orange himself, combined with Egmont's near relationship to
496 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1583 A.n.]
the French queen, saved his life, and he was permitted, after a brief captivity,
to take his departure to France.'^
ANJOU S PLOT AND THE
(1583)
The duke of Anjou, intemperate, inconstaht, and unprincipled,- saw that
his authority was but the shadow of power, compared to the deep-fixed
practices of despotism which governed the other nations of Europe. The
French officers, who formed his suite and possessed all his confidence, had
no difficulty in raising his discontent into treason against the people with
The Steen at Antwerp— Scene of the Inquisition
whom he had made a solemn compact. The result of their councils was a
deep-laid plot against Flemish liberty; and its execution was ere long at-
tempted. He sent secret orders to the governors of Dunkirk, Bruges, Dender-
monde, and other towns, to seize on and hold them in his name; reserving
for himself the infamy of the enterprise against Antwerp. To prepare for
its execution, he caused his numerous army of French and Swiss to approach
the city; and they were encamped in the neighbourhood, at a place called
Borgerhout.
On the 17th of January, 1583, the duke dined somewhat earlier than usual,
under the pretext of proceeding afterwards to review his army in their camp.
He set out at noon, accompanied by his guard of two hundred horse; and
when he reached the second drawbridge, one of his officers gave the precon-
certed signal for an attack on the Flemish guard, by pretending that he had
fallen and broken his leg. The duke called out to his followers, " Courage,
courage! the town is ours!" The guard at the gate was all soon despatched;
and the French troops, which waited outside to the number of 3,000, rushed
quickly in, furiously shouting the war-cry, "Town taken! town taken! kill!
kill!" The astonished but intrepid citizens, recovering from their confusion,
instantly flew to arms. All differences in religion or politics were forgotten
in the common danger to their freedom. Catholics and Protestants, men
and women, rushed alike to the conflict.
THE LAST YEAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 497
[1583 A.D.]
The ancient spirit of Flanders seemed to animate all. Workmen, armed
with the instruments of their various trades, started from their shops and
fliung themselves upon the enemy. A baker sprang from the cellar where he
was kneading his dough, and with his oven shovel struck a French dragoon
to the ground. Those who had fire-arms, after expending their bullets,
took from their pouches and pockets pieces of money, which they bent between
their teeth, and used for charging their arquebuses. The French were
driven successively from the streets and ramparts, and the cannons planted
on the latter were immediately turned against the reinforcements which
attempted to enter the town. The French were everywhere beaten; the duke
of Anjou saved himself by flight, and reached Dendermonde, after the perilous
necessity of passing through a large tract of inundated country [the citizens
of Mechlin having cut the dikes to impede his march]. His loss in this base
enterprise amounted to fifteen hundred, while that of the citizens did not
exceed eighty men. The attempts simultaneously made on the other towns
succeeded at Dunkirk and Dendermonde; but all the others failed.
The character of the prince of Orange never appeared so thoroughly
great as at this crisis. With wisdom and magnanimity rarely equalled and
never surpassed, he threw himself and his authority between the indignation
of the country and the guilt of Anjou; saving the former from excess, and
the latter from execration. The disgraced and discomfited duke proffered
to the states excuses as mean as they were hypocritical \' and his brother,
the king of France, sent a special envoy to intercede for him. But it was the
influence of William that screened the culprit from public reprobation and
ruin, and regained for him the place and power which he might easily have
secured for himself, had he not prized the welfare of his country far above all
objects of private advantage."
The estates of the Union, being in great perplexity as to their proper
course, now applied formally, as they always did in times of danger and
doubt, to the prince, for a public expression of his views. Somewhat reluc-
tantly, he complied with their wishes in one of the most admirable of his
state papers.
He was far from palliating the crime, or from denying that the duke's
rights under the Treaty of Bordeaux had been utterly forfeited. He was
now asked what was to be done. Of three courses, he said, one must be
taken : they must make their peace with the king, or consent to a reconcilia-
tion with Anjou, or use all the strength which God had given them to resist,
single-handed, the enemy. The French could do the Netherlands more harm
as enemies than the Spaniards.
Two powerful nations like France and Spain would be too much to have
on their hands at once. How much danger, too, would be incurred by braving
at once the open wrath of the French king and the secret displeasure of the
English queen! She had warmly recommended the duke of Anjou. She
had said that honours to him were rendered to herself, and she was noW
entirely opposed to their keeping the present quarrel alive.
The result of these representations by the prince — of frequent letters
from Queen Elizabeth, urging a reconciliation — and of the professions made
by the duke and the French envoys, was a provisional arrangement, signed
on the 26th and 28th of March 1583. The negotiations, however, were
Iaaig»id. The quarrel was healed on the surface, but confidence so recently
and violently uprooted was slow, to revive. On the 28th of June, the duke
[' He ascribed tlie enterprise partly to accident, and partly to the insubordination of hia
troops. — Mo'ii.KY.'']
H. W. — VOL. xin. 2k
498 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1583-1584 A.D.1
of Anjou left Dunkirk for Paris, never to return to the Netherlands, but he
exchanged on his departure affectionate letters with the prince and the
states. M. des Pruneaux remained as his representative, and it was under-
stood that the arrangements for re-installing him as soon as possible in the
sovereignty which he had so basely forfeited, were to be pushed forward
with earnestness.
On the 12th of April, the prince of Orange was married, for the fourth
time, to Louise, widow of the seigneur de Teligny, and daughter of the illus-
trious Coligny.
In August, 1583, the states of the united provinces assembled at Midd-
elburg formally offered the general government — which imder the cu--
cumstances was the general sovereignty — to the prince, warmly urging his
acceptance of the dignity. Like all other attempts to induce the acceptance,
by the prince, of supreme authority, this effort proved ineffectual, from the
obstinate unwiUingness of his hand to receive the proffered sceptre. But,
firmly refusing to heed the overtures of the united states, and of Holland in
particular, he continued to further the re-establishment of Anjou — a measure
in which, as he deliberately believed, lay the only chance of union and inde-
pendence.
Parma, meantime, had been busily occupied in the course of the summer
in taking up many of the towns which the treason of Anjou had laid open
to his attacks. Eindhoven, Diest, Dunkirk, Nieuport, and other places,
were successively surrendered to royalist generals. On the 22nd of Septem-
ber, 1583, the city of Zutphen, too, was surprised by Colonel Tassis, on the
fall of which most important place the treason of Orange's brother-in-law.
Count van den Bergh, governor of Gelderland, was revealed. While treason
was thus favouring the royal arms in the north, the same powerful element,
to which so much of the Netherland misfortunes had always been owing,
was busy in Flanders.
Early in the spring of 1584 a formal resolution was passed by the govern-
ment of Ghent, to open negotiations with Parma. The whole negotiation
was abruptly brought to a close by a new incident, the demagogue Hembyze
having been discovered in a secret attempt to obtain possession of the city
of Dendermonde, and deliver it to Parma. The old acquaintance, ally and
enemy of Hembyze the lord of Ryhove, being thoroughly on his guard, arrested
his old comrade, who was shortly afterwards brought to trial and executed
at Ghent. Meanwhile the citizens of Ghent, thus warned by word and deed,
passed an earnest resolution to have no more intercourse with Parma, but
to abide faithfully by the union. Their example was followed by the other
Flemish cities, excepting, unfortunately, Bruges, for that important town,
being entirely in the power of Chimay, was now surrendered by him to the
royal government.
On the 10th of June, 1584, Anjou expired at Chateau Thierry, in great
torture, sweating blood from every pore, and under circumstances which, as.
usual, suggested strong suspicions of poison.
It has been seen that the ban against the prince of Orange had not been
hitherto without fruits, for, although unsuccessful, the efforts to take his
life, and earn the promised guerdon, had been incessant. The attempt of
Jaureguy, at Antwerp, of Salseda and Basa at Bruges, have been related,
and in March, 1583, moreover, one Pietro Dordogno was executed in Antwerp
THE LAST YEAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 49»
[1584 A.D.]
for endeavouring to assassinate the prince. Before his death, he confessed
that he had come from Spain solely for the purpose. In April, 1584, Hans
Hanzoon, a merchant of Flushing, had been executed for attempting to
destroy the prince by means of gunpowder, concealed under his house in that
city, and under his seat in the church. Within two years there had been
five distinct attempts to assassinate the prince, all of them with the privity
of the Spanish government. A sixth was soon to follow.
In the summer of 1584, William of Orange was residing at Delft, where
his wife, Louise de Coligny, had given birth, in the preceding winter, t.o a son,
afterwards the celebrated stadholder, Frederick Henry. The child had re-
ceived these names from his two godfathers, the kings of Denmark and of
Navarre, and his baptism had been celebrated with much rejoicing on the
12th of June, in the place of his birth.
Francis Guion, in reality Balthasar Gerard, a fanatical Catholic, before
reaching man's estate, had formed the design of murdering the prince of
Orange, " who, so long as he lived, seemed like to remain a rebel against the
Catholic king, and to make every effort to disturb the repose of the Roman
Catholic Apostolic religion." Parma had long been looking for a good man to
murder Orange, feeling — as Philip, Granvella, and all former governors of the
Netherlands had felt — that this was the only means of saving the royal
authority in any part of the provinces. Many unsatisfactory assassins had
presented themselves from time to time, and Alessandro had paid money in
hand to various individuals — Italians, Spaniards, Lorrainers, Scotchmen,
Englishmen — who had generally spent the sums received without attempt-
ing the job. Others were supposed to be still engaged in the enterprise, and
at that moment there were four persons — each unknown to the others, and of
different nations — in the city of Delft, seeking to compass the death of Wil-
liam the Silent. Shag-eared, military, hirsute ruffians — ex-captains of free
companies and such marauders — were daily offering their services; there was
no lack of them, and they had done but little. How should Parma, seeing
this obscure, under-sized, thin-bearded, run-away clerk before him, expect
pith and energy from him? He thought him quite imfit for an enterprise
of moment, and declared as much to his secret councillors and to the king.
A second letter decided Parma so far that he authorised Assonleville to
encourage the young man in his attempt, and to promise that the reward
should be given to him in case of success, and to his heirs in the event of his
death.
Certain despatches having been entrusted to Gerard, he travelled post
haste to Delft, and, to his astonishment, the letters had hardly been delivered
before he was summoned in person to the chamber of the prince. Here was
an opportunity such as he had never dared to hope for. Gerard, had, more-
over, made no preparation for an interview so entirely unexpected, had come
unarmed, and had formed no plan for escape. He was obliged to forego his
prey when most within his reach. Gerard now came to Delft. It was
Sunday morning, and the bells were tolling for church. Upon leaving the
house he loitered about the courtyard, furtively examining the premises,
so that a sergeant of halberdiers asked him why he was waiting there. Bal-
thasar meekly replied that he was desirous of attending divine worship in
the church opposite, but added, pointing to his shabby and travel-stained
attire, that, without at least a new pair of shoes and stockings, he was unfit
to join the congregation. Insignificant as ever, the small, pious, dusty
stranger excited no suspicion in the mind of the good-natured sergeant. He
forthwith spoke of the wants of Gerard to an officer, by whom they were
500 THE HISTOKY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[15M i..o.]
communicated to Orange himself, and the prince instantly ordered a sum of
money to be given him. Thus Balthasar obtained from William's charity
what Panna's thrift had denied — a fund for carrying out his purpose!
Next morning, with the money thus procured, he purchased a pair of
pistols, or small carabines, from a soldier, chaffering long about the price
because the vender could not supply a particular kind of chopped bullets or
slugs which he desired. Before the sunset of the following day that soldier
had stabbed himself to the heart, and died despairing, on hearing for what
purpose the pistols had been bought.
On Tuesday, the 10th of July, 1584, at about half-past twelve, the prmce,
with his wife on his arm, and followed by the ladies and gentlemen of his
family, went to the dining-room. At two o'clock the company rose from
table. The prince led the way, intending to pass to his private apartments
above. He had only reached the second stair, when a man emerged from
the sunken arch, and standing within a foot or two of him, discharged a
pistol full at his heart. Three balls entered his body, one of which, passing
quite through him, struck with violence against the wall beyond. The prince
exclaimed in French, as he felt the wound, " 0 my God, have mercy upon my
soul! 0 my God, have mercy upon this poor people!"
These were the last words he ever spoke, save that when his sister, Cath-
erine of Schwarzburg, immediately afterwards asked him if he commended
his soul to Jesus Christ, he faintly answered, "Yes." The prince was then
placed on the stairs for an instant, when he immediately began to swoon. He
was afterwards laid upon a couch in the dining-room, where in a few minutes
he breathed his last in the arms of his wife and sister.
The murderer succeeded in making his escape through the side door, and
sped swiftly up the narrow lane. He had almost reached the ramparts, from
which he intended to spring into the moat, when he stumbled over a heap of
rubbish. As he rose, he was seized by several pages and halberdiers, who had
pursued him from the house. He was brought back to the house, where he
immediately underwent a preliminary examination before the city magis-
trates. He was afterwards subjected to excruciating tortures; for the fury
against the wretch who had destroyed the Father of the country was uncon-
trollable, and William the Silent was no longer alive to intercede — as he had
often done before — in behalf of those who assailed his life.
After sustaining day after day the most horrible tortures, he conversed
with ease, and even eloquence, answering all questions addressed to him
with apparent sincerity. His constancy in suffering so astounded his judges
that they believed him supported by witchcraft. " Ecce homo .' " he exclaimed,
from time to time, with insane blasphemy, as he raised his blood-streaming
head from the bench.
The sentence pronounced against the assassin was execrable — a crime
against the memory of the great man whom it professed to avenge. ■ It was
decreed that the right hand of Gerard should be burned off with a red-hot
iron, that his flesh should be torn from his bones with pincers in six different
places, that he should be quartered and disembowelled alive, that his heart
should be torn from his bosom and flung in his face, and that, finally, his head
should be taken off. Not even his horrible crime, with its endless conse-
quences, nor the natural frenzy of indignation which it had excited, could
justify this savage decree, to rebuke which the murdered hero might have
almost risen from the sleep of death. The sentence was literally executed
on the 14th of July, the criminal supporting its horrors with the same astonish-
ing fortitude.
THE LAST YEAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 501
[1584 A.D.]
The reward promised by Philip to the man who should murder Orange
was paid to the heirs of Gerard. Parma informed his sovereign that the
"poor man" had been executed, but that his father and mother were still
living, to whom he recommended the payment of that "merced" which "the
laudable and generous deed had so well deserved." This was accordingly
done, and the excellent parents, ennobled and enriched by the crime of their
son, received, instead of the twenty-five thousand crowns promised in the
ban, the three seigniories of Lievremont, Hostal, and Dampmartin, in the
Franche-Comt6, and took their place at once among the landed aristocracyv
Thus the bounty of the prince had furnished the weapon by which his life
was destroyed, and his estates supplied the fund out of which the assassin's
family received the price of blood. At a later day, when the unfortunate
eldest son of Orange returned from Spain after twenty-seven years' absence,
a changeling and a Spaniard, the restoration of those very estates was offered
to him by Philip II, provided he would continue to pay a fixed proportion of
their rents to the family of his father's murderer. The education which
Philip William had received, under the king's auspices, had, however, not
entirely destroyed all his human feelings, and he rejected the proposal with
scorn. The estates remained with the Gerard family, and the patents of
nobility which they had received were used to justify their exemption from
certain taxes, until the union of Franche-Comt6 with France, when a French,
governor tore the documents in pieces and trampled them under foot.
William of Orange, at the period of his death, was aged fifty-one years
and sixteen days. He left twelve children. By his first wife, Anne of Eg-
mont, he had one son, Philip, and one daughter, Mary, afterwards married
to Count Hohenlohe. By his second wife, Anna of Saxony, he had one son,
the celebrated Maurice of Nassau, and two daughters, Anna, married after-
wards to her cousin. Count William Louis, and Emilia, who espoused Emman-
uel, son of the pretender of Portugal. By Charlotte de Bourbon, his third
wife, he had six daughters; and by his fourth, Louise de Coligny, one son,
Frederick Henry, afterwards stadholder of the republic in her most palmy
days. The prince was entombed on the 3rd of August, at Delft, amid the
tears of a whole nation. Never was a more extensive, unaffected, and legiti-
mate sorrow felt at the death of any human being.
motley's estimate of WILLIAM THE SILENT
The life and labours of Orange had established the emancipated common-
wealth upon a secure foundation, but his death rendered the union of all the
Netherlands into one republic hopeless. The efforts of the malcontent nobles,
the religious discord, the consummate ability, both political and military,
of Parma, all combined with the lamentable loss of William the Silent, ta
separate forever the southern and Catholic provinces from the northern con-
federacy. So long as the prince remained alive, he was the Father of the
whole country; the Netherlands — saving only the two Walloon provinces
— constituting a whole. Philip and Granvella were right in their estimate
of the advantage to be derived from the prince's death; in believing that an
assassin's hand could achieve more than all the wiles which Spanish or Italian
statesmanship could teach, or all the armies which Spain or Italy could muster.
Had he lived twenty years longer, it is probable that the seven provinces
would have been seventeen; and that the Spanish title would have been for-
ever extinguished both in Nether Germany and Celtic Gaul. Although
there was to be the length of two human generations more of warfare ere
502 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
Spain acknowledged the new government, yet before the termination of that
period the united states had become the first naval power and one of the most
considerable commonwealths in the world; while the civil and religious
liberty, the political independence of the land, together with the total
expulsion of the ancient foreign tyranny from the soil, had been achieved ere
the eyes of William were closed. The republic existed, in fact, from the
moment of the abjuration in 1581.
The history of the rise of the Netherland Republic has been at the same
"time the biography of William the Silent. This, while it gives unity to the
narrative, renders an elaborate description of his character superfluous. That
life was a noble Christian epic; inspired with one great purpose from its
'Commencement to its close; the stream flowing ever from one fountain with
expanding fulness, but retaining all its original purity.
He was more than anything else a religious man. From his trust in God,
he ever derived support and consolation in the darkest hours. Sincerely
and deliberately himself a convert to the Reformed Church, he was ready to
extend freedom of worship tO' Catholics on the one hand, and to Anabaptists
on the other, for no man ever felt more keenly than he that the reformer
who becomes in his turn a bigot is doubly odious.
His firmness was allied to his piety. His constancy in bearing the whole
weight of as unequal a struggle as men have ever undertaken, was the theme
of admiration even to his enemies. The rock in the ocean, " tranquil amid
jaging billows," was the favourite emblem by which his friends expressed
their sense of his firmness. A prince of high rank and with royal revenues,
he stripped himself of station, wealth, almost at times of the common neces^
saries of life, and became, in his country's cause, nearly a beggar as well as
an outlaw. Ten years after his death, the account between his executors
Land his brother John amounted to 1,400,000 florins due to the count, secured
iby various pledges of real and personal property, and it was finally settled
.upon this basis. He was besides largely indebted to every one of his powerful
relatives, so that the payment of the encumbrances upon his estate very
nearly justified the fears of his children. While on the one hand, therefore,
he poured out these enormous sums like water, and firmly refused a hearing
to the tempting offers of the royal government, upon the other hand he proved
the disinterested nature of his services by declining, year after year, the
sovereignty over the provinces; and by only accepting, in the last days of
his life, when refusal had become almost impossible, the limited, constitu-
tional supremacy over that portion of them which now makes the realm of
his descendants. He lived and died, not for himself, but for his country:
"God pity this poor people!" were his dying words.
His intellectual faculties were various and of the highest order. He had
the exact, practical, and combining qualities which make the great commander,
and his friends claimed that, in military genius, he was second to no captain
in Europe.' This was, no doubt, an exaggeration of partial attachment, but
it is certain that the emperor Charles had an exalted opinion of his capacity
for the field. His fortification of Philippeville and Charlemont, in the face
of the enemy — his passage of the Maas in Alva's sight — his unfortunate but
well-ordered campaign against that general — his sublime plan of relief, pro-
jected and successfully directed at last from his sick bed, for the besieged
city of Leyden — will always remain monuments of his practical military
skill.
» "Belli artibus neminem suo tempore parent hdbuit," says Everard van Keyd.l
THE LAST YEAES OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 503
Of the soldier's great virtues — constancy in disaster, devotion to duty,
hopefulness in defeat — no man ever possessed a larger share. He arrived,
through a series of reverses, at a perfect victory. He planted a free common-
■wealth under the very battery of the Inquisition in defiance of the most
powerful empire existing. He was, therefore, a conqueror in the loftiest
sense, for he conquered liberty and a national existence for a whole people.
The contest was long, and he fell in the struggle, but the victory was to the
dead hero, not to the living monarch. It is to be remembered, too, that he
always wrought with inferior instruments. His troops were usually mer-
cenaries, who were but too apt to mutiny upon the eve of battle, while he
"Was opposed by the most formidable veterans of Europe, commanded suc-
cessively by the first captains of the age. That, with no lieutenant of
eminent valour or experience, save only his brother Louis, and with none
a,t all after that chieftain's death, William of Orange should succeed in baffling
the efforts of Alva, Requesens, Don John of Austria, and Alessandro Farnese
— men whose names are among the most brilliant in the military annals of
the world — is in itself sufficient evidence of his wariike ability. At the
period of his death he had reduced the number of obedient provinces to two;
only Artois and Hainault acknowledging Philip, while the other fifteen were
in open revolt, the greater part having solemnly forsworn their sovereign.
"The supremacy of his pohtical genius was entirely beyond question. He
■was the first statesman of the age. The quickness of his perception was only
equalled by the caution which enabled him to mature the results of his obser-
vations. His knowledge of human nature was profoimd. He governed the
passions and sentiments of a great nation as if they had been but the keys
and chords of one vast instrument; and his hand rarely failed to evoke har-
mony even out of the wildest storms. The turbulent city of Ghent, which
eould obey no other master, which even the haughty emperor could only
crush without controlling, was ever responsive to the master-hand of Orange.
His presence scared away Hembyze and his bat-like crew, confounded the
schemes of John Kasimir, frustrated the wiles of prince Chimay, and while
he lived, Ghent was what it ought always to have remained, the bulwark,
as it had been the cradle, of popular liberty. After his death it became its
tomb.
His power of dealing with his fellow-men he manifested in the various
ways in which it has been usually exhibited by statesmen. He possessed a
ready eloquence — sometimes impassioned, of tener argumentative, always
rational. His influence over his audience was unexampled in the annals of
that country or age; yet he never condescended to flatter the people. He
never followed the nation, but always led her in the path of duty and of
honour, and was much more prone to rebuke the vices than to pander to the
passions of his hearers. He never failed to administer ample chastisement
to parsimony, to jealousy, to insubordination, to intolerance, to infidelity,
wherever it was due, nor feared to confront the states or the people in their
most angry hours, and to tell them the truth to their faces. Wliile, therefore,
he was ever ready to rebuke, and always too honest to flatter, he at the same
time possessed the eloquence which could convince or persuade. _ He knew
how to reach both the mind and the heart of his hearers. His orations,
whether extemporaneous or prepared — his written messages to the states-
general, to the provincial authorities, to the municipal bodies — his private
correspondence with men of all ranks, from emperors and kings down to
secretaries, and even children — all show an easy flow of language, a fulness
of thought, a power of expression rare in that age, a fund cf historical allusion.
504 THE HISTOEY OF THE I^ETHEELANDS
a considerable power of imagination, a warmth of sentiment, a breadth of
view, a directness of purpose — a range of qualities, in short, which would
in themselves have stamped him as one of the master-minds of his centurv
had there been no other monument to his memory than the remains of his
spoken or written eloquence. The bulk of his performances in this depart-
ment was prodigious. Not even Philip was more industrious in the cabinet.
Not even Granvella held a more facile pen. He wrote and spoke equally well
in French, German, or Flemish; and he possessed, besides, Spanish, Italian,
Latin. The weight of his correspondence alone would have almost sufficed
for the common industry of a lifetime, and although many volumes of his
speeches and letters have been published, there remain in the various archives
of ohe Netherlands and Germany many documents from his hand which will
probably never see the light. The efforts made to destroy the Netherlands
by the most laborious and painstaking of tyrants were counteracted by the
industry of the most indefatigable of patriots.
It is difficult to find many characteristics deserving of grave censure, but
his enemies have adopted a simpler process. They have been able to detect
few flaws in his nature, and therefore have denounced it in gross. It is not
that his character was here and there defective, but that the eternal jewel
was false. The patriotism was counterfeit; the self-abnegation and the
generosity were counterfeit. He was governed only by ambition — by a
desire of personal advancement. They never attempted to deny his talents,
his industry, his vast sacrifices of wealth and station; but they ridiculed the
idea that he could have been inspired by any but unworthy motives.' But as
far as can be judged by a careful observation of undisputed facts, and by a
' "A man born to the greatest fame," says Bentivoglio,^ "if, content with his fortunes,
he had not sought amid precipices for a still greater one." While paying homage to the
extraordinary genius of the prince, to his energy, eloquence, perspicacity in all kinds of affairs,
his absolute dominion over the minds and hearts of men, and his consummate skUl in improving
his own position and taking advantage of the false moves of his adversary, the cardinal pro-
ceeds to accuse him of "ambition, fraud, audacity, and rapacity." The last qualification seems
sufficiently absurd to those who have even superficially studied the life of William the Silent.
Of course, the successive changes of religion by the prince are ascribed to motives of interest
— "Videsi va/riare di Religione secondo che vario d'interessi. Da fanciullo in Oermania jv,
Lutercmo. Passato in Fiandra mostrossi Cattolico. Al principio della rivolte si dicMara
fcmtore delle nuove sette ma non professore manifesto d' alcuna ; sinche finalmente gli parve di
seguita/r quella de' Calvinisti, come la piU coniraria di tutte alia Religione Uattoliea sostemda
dal E6 di Spagna." The cardinal does not add that the conversion of the prince to the reformed
religion was at the blackest hour of the Reformation. Cabrera * is cooler and coarser. Ac-
cording to him the prince was a mere impostor. The emperor even had been often cautioned
as to his favourite's arrogance, deceit, and ingratitude, and warned that the prince was ' ' a fox
•who would eat up all his majesty's chickens." While acknowledging that he "could talk well
of public affairs," and that he "entertained the ambassadors and nobility with splendour and
magnificence," the historian proclaims him, however, " faithless and mendacious, a flatterer
and a cheat. " >" Tassis " accused the prince of poisoning Count Bossu with oysters, and that
Strada<* had a long story of his attending the death-bed of that nobleman in order to sneer at
the viaticum. We have also seen the simple and heartfelt regret which the prince expressed in
his private letters for Bossu's death and the solid service which he rendered to him in life. Of
false accusations of this nature there was no end. One of the most atrocious has been recently
resuscitated. A certain Christophe de Holstein accused the prince in 1578 of having instigated
him to murder Duke Eric of Brunswick. The assassin undertook the job, but seems to have
been deterred by a mysterious bleeding at his nose from proceeding with the business. As
this respectable witness, by his own confession, had murdered his own brother, for money, and
two merchants besides, had moreover been concerned in the killing or plundering of a " curate,
a monk, and two hermits," and had been all his life a professional highwayman and assassin,
it seems hardly worth while to discuss his statements. Probably a thousand such calumnies
were circulated at different times against the prince. Yet the testimony of this wretched male-
factor is gravely reproduced, at the expiration of near three centuries, as if it were admissible
in any healthy court of historical justice. Truly says the adage : " Calomniez toujours, il en
restera guelgue chose,"
THE LAST YEARS OF WILLIAM THE SILENT 505
diligent collation of public and private documents, it would seem that no
man — not even Washington — has ever been inspired by a purer patriotism.
At any rate, the charge of ambition and self-seeking can only be answered
by a reference to the whole picture. The words, the deeds of the man are
there. As much as possible, his inmost soul is revealed in his confidential
letters, and he who looks in a right spirit will hardly fail to find what he
desires.
Whether originally of a timid temperament or not, he was certainly
possessed of perfect courage at last. In siege and battle — in the deadly air
of pestilential cities — in the long exhaustion of mind and body which comes
from unduly protracted labour and anxiety — amid the coimtless conspiracies
of assassins — he was daily exposed to death in every shape. Within two
years, five different attempts against his life had been discovered. Rank and
fortune were offered to any malefactor who would compass the murder. He
had already been shot through the head, and almost mortally wounded.
Under such circumstances even a brave man might have seen a pitfall at
every step, a dagger in every hand, and poison in every cup. On the con-
trary he was ever cheerful, and hardly took more precaution than usual.
"God in his mercy," said he, with unaffected simplicity, "will maintain my
innocence and my honour during my life and in future ages. As to my
fortune and my life, I have dedicated both, long since, to his service. He
will do therewith what pleases him for his glory and my salvation." Thus
his suspicions were not' even excited by the ominous face of Gerard, when he
first presented himself at the dining-room door. The prince laughed off his
wife's prophetic apprehension at the sight of his murderer, and was as cheerful
as usual to the last.
He possessed, too, that which to the heathen philosopher seemed the
greatest good — the sound mind in the sound body. His physical frame was
after death found so perfect that a long life might have been in store for him,
notwithstanding all which he had endured. The desperate illness of 1574,
the frightful gunshot woimd inflicted by Jaureguy in 1582, had left no traces.
The physicians pronounced that his body presented an aspect pf perfect
health. His temperament was cheerful. At table, the pleasures of which,
in moderation, were his only relaxation, he was always animated and merry,
and this jocoseness was partly natural, partly intentional. In the darkest
hours of his country's trial, he affected a serenity which he was far from feel-
ing, so that his apparent gaiety at momentous epochs was even censured by
dullards, who could not comprehend its philosophy, nor applaud the flippaaicy
of William the Silent.'
He went through life bearing the load of a people's sorrows upon his
shoulders with a smiling face. Their name was the last word upon his lips,
save the simple affirmative with which the soldier who had been battling
for the right all his lifetime commended his soul in dying " to his great cap-
tain, Christ." The people were grateful and affectionate, for they trusted the
character of their "Father William," and not all the clouds which calumny
could collect ever dimmed to their eyes the radiance of that lofty mind to
which they were accustomed, in their darkest calamities, to look for light.
As long as he lived, he was the guiding-star of a brave nation, and when he
died the little children cried in the streets.''
CHAPTER IX
LEICESTER IN THE LOW COUNTRIES
[1584-1598 A.D.]
William the Silent, prince of Orange, had been murdered on the 10th
of July, 1584. It is difficult to imagine a more universal disaster than the
one thus brought about by the hand of a single obscure fanatic. For nearly
twenty years the character of the prince had been expanding steadily as the
difficulties of his situation increased. Habit, necessity, and the natural
gifts of the man had combined to invest him at last with an authority which
seemed more than human. There was such general confidence in his sagacity,
courage, and purity that the nation had come to think with his brain and to
act with his hand. It was natural that, for an instant, there should be a
feeling as of absolute and helpless paralysis.
The ban of the pope and the offered gold of the king had accomplished
a victory greater than any yet achieved by the armies of Spain, brilliant as
had been their triumphs on the blood-stained soil of the Netherlands. Had
that "exceeding proud, neat, and spruce" doctor of laws, William Parry,
who had been busying himself at about the same time with his memorable
project against the queen of England, proved as successful as Balthasar
Gerard, the fate of Christendom would have been still darker.
Yet such was the condition of Euroj)e at that day. A small, dull, elderly,
imperfectly educated, patient, plodding invalid, with white hair and pro-
truding under-jaw and dreary visage, was sitting day after day, seldom
speaking, never smiling, seven or eight hours out of every twenty-four, at
a writing table covered with heaps of interminable despatches, in a cabinet
far away beyond the seas and mountains, in the very heart of Spain. A
clerk or two, noiselessly opening and shutting the door, from time to time,
fetching fresh bundles of letters and taking away others — all written and
composed by secretaries or high functionaries — and all to be scrawled over
in the margin by the diligent old man in a big schoolboy's hand and style —
506
LBICESTEE IN THE LOW COUNTRIES 507
i;i584 A.D.]
if ever schoolboy, even in the sixteenth century, could write so illegibly or
■express himself so awkwardly; couriers in the courtyard arriving from or
departing for the uttermost parts of earth — Asia, Africa, America. Europe
— to fetch and carry these interminable epistles which contained the irre-
sponsible commands of this one individual, and were freighted with the doom
and destiny of countless millions of the world's inhabitants — such was the
system of government against which the Netherlands had protested and
revolted. It was a system under which their fields had been made desolate,
their cities burned and pillaged, their men hanged, burned, drowned, or
hacked to pieces; their women subjected to every outrage: and to put an
end to which they had been devoting their treasure and their blood for nearly
the length of one generation. It was a system, too, which, among other re-
sults, had just brought about the death of the foremost statesman of Europe,
and had nearly effected simultaneously the murder of the most eminent
sovereign in the world. The industrious Philip, safe and tranquil in the
depths of the Escorial, saying his prayers three times a day with exemplary
regularity, had just sent three bullets through the body of William the Silent
at his dining-room door in Delft. " Had it only been done two years earlier,"
observed the patient old man, "much trouble might have been spared me;
but it is better late than never."
Philip stood enfeoffed, by divine decree, of all America, the East Indies,
the whole Spanish peninsula, the better portion of Italy, the seventeen Nether-
lands, and many other possessions far and near; and he contemplated annex-
ing to this extensive property the kingdoms of France, of England, and Ire-
land. The holy league, maintained by the sword of Guise, the pope's ban,
Spanish ducats, Italian condottieri, and German mercenaries, was to exter-
minate heresy and establish the Spanish dominion in France. The same
machinery, aided by the pistol or poniard of the assassin, was to substitute
for English protestantism and England's queen the Roman Catholic religion
and a foreign sovereign. "The holy league," said Duplessis-Mornay,^ one
of the noblest characters of the age, "has destined us all to the same sacri-
fice. The ambition of the Spaniard, which has overleaped so many lands and
seas, thinks nothing inaccessible."
The Netherlands revolt had therefore assumed world-wide proportions.
Had it been merely the rebellion of provinces against a sovereign, the im-
portance of the struggle would have been more local and temporary. But
the period was one in which the geographical landmarks of countries were
almost removed. The dividing-line ran through every state, city, and almost
every family.
A vast responsibility rested upon the head of a monarch placed, as Philip
II found himself, at this great dividing point in modern history. To judge
him, or any man in such a position, simply from his own point of view, is
weak and illogical. History judges the man according to its point of view.
It condemns or applauds the point of view itself. The point of view of a
malefactor is not to excuse robbery and murder. Nor is the spirit of the age
to be pleaded in defence of the evil-doer at a time when mortals were divided
into almost equal troops. The age of Philip II was also the age of William
of Orange and his four brethren, of Sainte-Aldegonde, of Olden-Barneveld,
of Duplessis-Mornay, La None, Coligny, of Luther, Melanchthon, and Calvin,
Walsingham, Sidney, Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth, of Michel Monta,igne, and
William Shakespeare. It was not an age of blindness, but of glorious light.
The king perhaps firmly believed that the heretics of the Netherlands,
of France, or of England could escape eternal perdition only by being extir-
508 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1584 i.D.)
pated from the earth by fire and sword, and therefore, perhaps, felt it his
duty to devote his life to their extermination. But he believed still more
firmly that his own political authority, throughout his dominions, and his
road to almost universal empire lay over the bodies of those heretics. Three
centuries have passed since this memorable epoch; and the world knows the
fate of the states which accepted the dogma which it was Philip's life-work to
enforce, and of those who protested against the system. The Spanish and
Italian peninsulas have had a different history from that which records the
career of France, Prussia, the Dutch Commonwealth, the British Empire,
the Transatlantic Republic.
Yet the contest between those seven meagre provinces upon the sand-
banks of the North Sea, and the great Spanish Empire seemed at the moment
with which we are now occupied a sufficiently desperate one.
THE SITUATION AFTER THE DEATH OF PRINCE WILLIAM
The limit of the Spanish or "obedient" provinces, on the one hand, and
of the United Provinces on the other, cannot be briefly and distinctly stated.
The memorable treason — or, as it was called, the " Eeconciliation " of the
Walloon Provinces in the year 1583-84 — had placed the provinces of Hai-
nault, Artois, Douai, with the flourishing cities Arras, Valenciennes, Lille,
Tournay, and others — all Celtic ^Flanders,, in short — in the grasp of Spain.
Cambray was still held by the French governor. Seigneur de Balagny, who
had taken advantage of the duke of Anjou's treachery to the states to estab-
lish himself in an unrecognised but practical petty sovereignty, in defiance
both of France and Spain; while East Flanders and South Brabant still re-
mained a disputed territory, and the immediate field of contest With
these limitations, it may be assumed, for general purposes, that the terri-
tory of the united states was that of the modern kingdom of the Nether-
lands, while the obedient provinces occupied what is now the territory of
Belgium. Such, then, were the combatants in the great eighty-years' war
for civil and religious liberty; sixteen of which had now passed away.
What now was the political position of the United Provinces at this junc-
ture ?■ The sovereignty which had been held by the states, ready to be con-
ferred respectively upon Anjou and Orange, remained in the hands of the
states. There was no opposition to this theory. No more enlarged view
of the social compact had yet been taken. The people, as such, claimed no
sovereignty. Had any champion claimed it for them they would hardly
have understood him. The nation dealt with facts. After abjuring Philip
in 1581 — an act which had been accomplished by the states — the same
states in general assembly had exercised sovereign power, and had twice
disposed of that sovereign power by electing a hereditary ruler. Their right
and their power to do this had been dl«(puted by none, save by the deposed
monarch in Spain. Having the sovereignty to dispose of, it seemed logical
that the states might keep it, if so inclined. They did keep it, but only in
trust.
Even on the very day of the murder, the states of Holland, then sitting at
Delft, passed a resolution "to maintain the good cause, with God's help, to
the uttermost, without sparing gold or blood." At the same time, the six-
teen members — for no greater number happened to be present at the session
— addressed letters to their absent colleagues, urging an immediate con-
vocation of the states. Among these sixteen were Van Zuylen, Van Nyvelt,
LEICESTER IN THE LOW COUNTEIES 509
P584 A.D.]
the seigneur de Warmont, the advocate of Holland, Paul Buys, Joost de
Menin, and John van Olden-Barneveld.
The next movement, after the last solemn obsequies had been rendered
to the prince, was to provide for the immediate wants of his family. For
the man who had gone into the revolt with almost royal revenues left his
estate so embarrassed that his carpets, tapestries, household linen — nay,
even his silver spoons, and the very clothes of his wardrobe — were disposed
of at auction for the benefit of his creditors. The eldest son, Philip William,
liad been a captive in Spain for seventeen years. He had already become
thoroughly hispaniolised. All of good that he had retained was a reverence
for his father's name — a sentiment which he had manifested to an extrava-
gant extent on a memorable occasion in Madrid, by throwing out of the
window and killing on the spot a Spanish officer who had dared to mention
the great prince with insult.
The next son was Maurice, then seventeen years of age, a handsome
youth, with dark blue eyes, well-chiselled features, and full red lips, who had
already manifested a courage and concentration of character beyond his
years. The son of William the Silent, the grandson of Maurice of Saxony,
whom he resembled in visage and character, he was summoned by every
drop of blood in his veins to do life-long battle with the spirit of Spanish
absolutism, and he was already girding himself for his life's work. He as-
sumed at once for his device a fallen oak, with a young sapling springing
from its root. His motto, " Tandem fit surculus arbor " (the twig shall yet
become a tree), was to be nobly justified by his career.
The remaining son, Frederick Henry, then a six-months child, was also
destined to high fortunes, and to win an enduring name in his country's
history. For the present he remained with his mother, the noble Louise
de Coligny, who had thus seen, at long intervals, her father and two husbands
fall victims to the Spanish policy; for it is as certain that Philip knew be-
forehand, and testified his approbation of the massacre of St. Bartholomew,
as that he was the murderer of Orange.
The states of Holland implored the widowed princess to remain in their
territory, setthng a liberal allowance upon herself and her child, and she
fixed her residence at Leyden.
Very soon afterwards the states-general established a state council, as a
provisional executive board, for the term of three months, for the provinces
of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland, and such parts of Flanders and
Brabant as still remained in the union. At the head of this body was placed
young Maurice, who accepted the responsible position, after three days'
deliberation. The salary of Maurice was fixed at 30,000 florins a year. The
council consisted of three members from Brabant, two from Flanders, four
from Holland, three from Zealand, two from Utrecht, one from Mechlin, and
three from Friesland — eighteen in all. Diplomatic relations, questions of
peace and war, the treaty-making power were not entrusted to the council,
without the knowledge and consent of the states-general, which body was to
be convoked twice a year by the state council.
THE ACTIVITY OF PAEMA
Thus the provinces in the hour of danger and darkness were true to them-
selves, and were far from giving way to a despondency which under the
circumstances would not have been unnatural. For the waves of bitterness
were rolling far and wide around them. A medal, struck in Holland at this
510 THE HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS
[1584 A.D.]
period, represented a dismasted hulk reeling through the tempest. The
motto, "Incertum quo fata ferent?" (who knows whither fate is sweeping
her ?) expressed most vividly the shipwrecked condition of the country.
Alessandro of Parma, the most accomplished general and one of the most
adroit statesmen of the age, was swift to take advantage of the calamity
which had now befallen the rebellious provinces. Had he been better pro-
vided with men and money, the cause of the states might have seemed hope-
less. He addressed many letters to the states-general, to the magistracies of
various cities, and to individuals, affecting to consider that with the death of
Orange had died all authority, as well as all motive for continuing the contest
with Spain.
In Holland and Zealand the prince's blandishments were of no avail.
He was, moreover, not strong in the field, although he was far superior to
the states at this contingency. He had, besides his garrisons, something
above eighteen thousand men. The provinces had hardly three thousand
foot and two thousand five hundred horse, and these were mostly lying in
the neighbourhood of Zutphen. Alessandro was threatening at the same
time Ghent, Dendermonde, Mechlin, Brussels, and Antwerp. These five
powerful cities lie in a narrow circle, at distances varying from six miles to
thirty, and are, as it were, strimg together upon the Schelde, by which river,
or its tributary, the Senne, they are all threaded. It would have been im-
possible for Parma, with one hundred thousand men at his back, to undertake
a regular and simultaneous siege of these important places. His purpose
was to isolate them from each other and from the rest of the country, by
obtaining the control of the great river, and so to reduce them by famine.
The scheme was a masterly one, but even the consummate ability of Farnese
would have proved inadequate to the undertaking, had not the preliminary
assassination of Orange made the task comparatively easy.
Upon the 17th of August Dendermonde surrendered, and no lives were
taken save those of two preachers, one of whom was hanged, while the
other was drowned. Upon the 7th of September Vilvorde capitulated, by
which event the water-communication between Brussels and Antwerp was
cut off.
The noble city of Ghent — then as large as Paris, thoroughly surrounded
with moats, and fortified — was ignominiously surrendered September 17th.
The fall of Brussels was deferred till March, and that of Mechlin to the 19th
July, 1585; but the surrender of Ghent foreshadowed the fate of Flanders
and Brabant. Ostend and Sluys, however, were still in the hands of the
patriots, and with them the control of the whole Flemish coast. The com-
mand of the sea was destined to remain for centuries with the new republic.
The prince of Parma, thus encouraged by the great success of his intrigues,
was determined to achieve still greater triumphs with his arms, and steadily
proceeded with his large design of closing the Schelde and bringing about
the fall of Antwerp. That siege WaS one of the most brilliant military opera-
tions of the age and one of the most memorable in its results.^
But these domestic victories of the prince of Parma were barren in any
of those results which humanity would love to see in the train of conquest.
The reconciled provinces presented the most deplorable spectacle. The
chief towns were almost depopulated. The inhabitants had in a great measure
fallen victims to war, pestilence, and famine. Little inducement existed to
replace by marriage the ravages caused by death, for few men wished to
propagate a race which divine wrath seemed to have marked for persecution.
The thousands of villages which had covered the face. of the country were
LEICESTER IN THE LOW COUNTRIES 511
[1584 A.D.]
absolutely abandoned to the wolves, which had so rapidly increased that they
attacked not merely cattle and children, but grown-up persons. The dogs^
driven abroad by hunger, had become as ferocious as other beasts of prey,
and joined in large packs to hunt down brutes and men. Neither fields, nor
woods, nor roads were now to be distinguished by any visible limits. All
was an entangled mass of trees, weeds, and grass. The prices of the neces-
saries of life were so high that people of rank, after selling everything to buy
bread, were obliged to have recourse to open beggary in the streets of the
great towns.'^
ANTWERP BESIEGED (1584)
The fall of Ghent had enabled Parma to resume his attack on Antwerp.
The Antwerpers having inundated the whole country from Hulst to Beveren,
he erected strong forts along the Kowenstyn dike, to prevent the passage of
vessels to Lillo and Antwerp from Zealand.
Parma, finding that the Zealand vessels continued, notwithstanding his
fortifications along the dike, to pass up the Schelde to Antwerp, resolved upon
the stupendous and apparently impracticable undertaking of throwing a
bridge across the broad, deep, and rapid part of that river between Antwerp
and Calloo. Its execution was entrusted to Sebastian Baroccio, an Italian
engineer of eminent ability, who built a fort at each end of the intended work,
which he named the St. Philip and the St. Mary. By means of this "stoc-
cade," as it was called, the river was narrowed, 1,250 feet being left between
the two blockhouses at the ends. This space Baroccio filled with boats,
placed at a distance of about twenty feet from each other, and fastened by
two anchors against the flood and ebb tide; these boats, linked together
by four strong cables, were connected with each other by means of masts,
over which were laid planks; thirty men were stationed in each boat, with a
cannon fore and aft. Besides this defence, Parma stationed all the men-of-
war he could collect both aibove and below the bridge.
The besieged had relied on the impossibility of his achieving an enterprise
of such difficulty, carried on during the winter months, when, if it escaped
being broken in pieces by the masses of floating ice in the river, it could
easily be destroyed by the Holland and Zealand vessels, which in the long
dark nights might approach it unperceived. Both these expectations turned
out delusive. The winter proved remarkably mild, so that there was not
sufficient ice in the river to do the slightest damage to the works; and the
assistance from Holland and Zealand, which the Antwerpers besought with
reiterated entreaties, did not arrive.
Prince Maurice, however, and the council of Zealand, issued repeated
orders to William of Treslong, admiral of Zealand, to sail into the Schelde,
with which he refused compliance, alleging that his fleet- was not suSiciently
strong to risk the attempt. Treslong, who was strongly suspected of a secret
understanding with the enemy, was afterwards deprived of his office and
thrown into prison, Justin of Nassau, natural son of the prince of Orange,
being created admiral in his stead; but the irrevocable opportunity had
passed away, and Parma was left unmolested during the long period of seven
months to complete a work of which the ultimate fall of Antwerp was the
inevitable consequence.
The embarrassed condition of their affairs determined the Netherlanders,
notwithstanding the severe lesson afforded them by past experience, to put
themselves once more under the protection of a foreign prince. The late
duke of Brabant had declared by will his brother, Henry III of France, heir
51? THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1585 A.D.]
to all his rights over the Netherlands, and in an assembly held at Delft the
states of Brabant, Flanders, and Mechlin strongly advocated the full acknowl-
edgment of the king of France as sovereign. In Holland and Zealand the
proposition gave rise to vehement and lengthened debates.
A strong party existed in favour of seeking the protection of England in
preference to that of France.' The sovereign of England, it was said, sought
no further dominion over the Netherlands than the possession of a sufficient
The Sieqe of Antvtebp (fkom an Old Print), showiko thh iNirsDA'jiojr op thb CouNTaY
number of towns to insure the indenmification of her expenses; she was of
the same religion as the Netherlanders, and her power, though inferior to that
of France, was chiefly maritime, and therefore more available for their defence.
On the other hand, it was urged that the government of the English in Ireland,
and wherever they had dominion, was harsh and insolent; that the succession
to the crown was uncertain, and would most probably fall to the queen of
Scotland, a Catholic, and a devoted friend of Spain; that France had more
power and opportunity to defend th„m from their enemies, owing to the
situation of the two countries, and the facility wherewith she might impede
the passage of troops and supplies from Spain; the succession to the throne,
also, would devolve on the king of Navarre, himself a Protestant, and of a
family which had always shown itself friendly towards the reformed religion.
Upon these grounds, the states of Zealand and the council of state of Holland
recommended the treaty withrFrance, which was opposed principally by the
[' Among the most ardent of the English party was the famous Paul. .Bu_TS,.tlie advocate
of Holland. "When his efforts failed he was forced to resign. After a year's interiin the office
was given in March, 1586, to the still more famous pensionary of Uotterdam, Jan van Olden-
Barneveld.]
LEICESTER IN THE LOW COUNTEIES SIS
flB85 A.D.]
councils of the towns. At length the entreaties of Brabant, Flanders, and
Mechlin prevailed with the states of Holland to give a reluctant consent.
It did not appear that the king would long hesitate to accept conditions
of so_ highly flattering a nature, in the framing of which, indeed, we recognise
nothing of the usual spirit of freedom and jealous watchfulness of the Dutch
people. But the feeble and irresolute king, instead of grasping at once the
powerful weapon which the possession of the Netherlands would have placed
in his hands both against Spain and the disaffected of his own kingdom, re-
fused for the present the offer of the deputies, alleging thaf the disturbances
excited in his kingdom by the king of Spain prevented his affording the Nether-
landers any assistance.
The city of Brussels had long been grievously straitened for want of pro-
visions, in consequence of the obstruction of the Schelde by the bridge of
boats. Brussels surrendered, therefore, on conditions sufficiently favourable,
except that the privileges of the town were to be retrenched according to the
pleasure of the king. Nearljr at the same time the Catholics in the city of
Nimeguen found themselves in sufficient number and strength to drive out
the garrison of the states and place the town under the government of the
prince of Parma. The like happened with respect to Doesborgh. Ostend
was also attempted by La Motte, governor of Gravelines, who, with a de-
tachment of soldiers, surprised and took possession of the part called the Old
Town, which was but weakly fortified. But Ostend was not destined to
sink thus ingloriously imder the power of the enemy; an honourable place
was yet reserved for her on the page of history as a martyr to the cause of
liberty. The citizens, joining their arms with those of the garrison, attacked
La Motte before the remainder of his troops arrived, or he had time to
strengthen himself in his position, and drove him back with a loss of two him-
red men and forty officers.*
The details of the military or political operations by which the reduction
of most of these places was effected possess but little interest. The siege
of Antwerp, however, was one of the most striking events of the age.
All the science then at command was applied both by the prince and by
his burgher antagonists to the advancement of their ends — hydrostatics,
hydraulics, engineering, navigation, gunnery, pyrotechnics, mining, geometry,
wore summoned as broadly, vigorously, and intelligently to the destruction
or preservation of a trembling city as they have ever been, in more commercial
days, to advance a financial or manufacturing purpose. Land converted
into water and water into land, castles built upon the breast of rapid streams,
rivers turned froni their beds and taught new courses, the distant ocean
driven across ancient bulwarks, mines dug below the sea, and canals made to
percolate obscene morasses — which the red hand of war, by the very act,
converted into blooming gardens — a mighty stream bridged and mastered
in the very teeth of winter, floating icebergs, ocean-tides, and an alert and
desperate foe, ever ready with fleets and armies and batteries — such were
the materials of which the great spectacle was composed: a spectacle which
enchained the attention of Europe for seven months, and on the result of
which, it was thought, depended the fate of all the Netherlands and, perhaps,
of all Christendom."
Seeking too late to repair the fatal error committed in allowing Parma
to complete his bridge, the count of Hohenlohe and Justin of Nassau, admiral
of Zealand, with a considerable force of Holland and Zealand vessels, captured
the fort of Liefhenshoek. Numerous plans were devised for the purpose
of breaking down the bridge, and among the rest Giambelli, an engineer of
H. T. — VOIi. XITT. 3Ij
514 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1585 A.D.]
Mantua (the same who was in the service of Queen Elizabeth at the defeat
of the armada), undertook to blow it up by means of two fire-ships, laden
each with six or seven thousand pounds of powder. One of these, taking
fire before it had approached sufficiently hear the works, proved useless;
but the other, named the Hope, of about eighty tons' burden, exploded with
fatal and terrific effect.
The Spanish soldiers, thinking that the intention was to set fire to the
bridge, crowded upon it for the purpose of extinguishing the flames, when the
vessel blew up, and above eight hundred were mingled in one horrible and
promiscuous slaughter. Parma himself, who had quitted the bridge only a
few moments before, was struck down stunned, but quickly recovered his
senses and with them his accustomed intrepidity. The shock was so violent
that it was felt at the distance of nine miles; the waters of the Schelde, driven
from their bed, inundated the surrounding country, and entirely filled the
fort of St. Mary, at the Flanders end of the bridge.
But it seemed destined that all the efforts made for the delivery of Antwerp
should be untimely or incomplete. The crew of the boat which Hohenlohe
sent to reconnoitre were afraid to approach sufficiently near to ascertain
the amount of damage done; and, in consequence, both the Antwerpers and
a fleet of Holland and Zealand vessels, stationed at Lillo, were left in ignorance
of the rupture of the bridge till Parma had time to repair it, which he effected
with his customary celerity in two or three days.
Among other measures of defence adopted by the citizens of Antwerp,
they had constructed an enormous vessel, or rather floating castle, being
regularly fortified, at an expense of 1,000,000 florins, with which they hoped
to break through the bridge; and so sanguine were they of the effect it was
to produce, that, with a presumption but Ul justified bj'' the event, they named
it the End of the Tifar {Fin de la Chierre). But its vast bulk rendered it wholly
unmanageable, and having stranded in the mud near Oordam, all efforts to set
it afloat again proved unavailing. Meanwhile, the scarcity of com within
the walls of Antwerp became extreme, although the government successfully
endeavoured to conceal it for some time from the people, by keeping the price
of bread down to its usual standard. As, however, the discovery of the fact
could not much longer be delayed, and no hope of assistance appeared either
by sea or land, since Parma had possessed himself of all the surrounding
forts, they deemed it advisable to propose terms of surrender.
The negotiations were opened by Sainte-Aldegonde, one of the strongest
advocates for a pacification. Reasons of policy combined with the natural
generosity of Parma's disposition to induce him to grant the most favom-able
terms. The affair, therefore, was not long pending; the inhabitants received
a general pardon and oblivion of offences; those of the reformed religion were
allowed to remain two years in the city, and within that time to dispose of
their property as they pleased; a ransom of 400,000 guilders was to be paid;
and the ifl-omened citadel was to be restored, but with a promise that it
should be destroyed as soon as Holland and Zealand returned to the obedience
of the king. Notwithstanding the permission granted them to remain,
however, the Reformers did not wait for the triumphal entry of Parma into
Antwerp. Three days after the surrender they held their last melancholy
service, and within a short time the whole body, among whom the most
intelligent, wealthy, and industrious burghers were numbered, retired into
exile, the greater portion to Holland and Zealand.
The consequence of the surrender of Antwerp was to deprive the states
of the services of one of the earliest, the most active, and the most devoted
LEICESTBE IN" THE LOW COUNTKIES 615
[1585 A.B.]
defenders of Netherland liberty. It is utterly impossible to believe that
Sainte-Aldegonde, a man of the very highest virtues and attainments, could
for a moment contemplate betraying that cause for which he had made such
vast sacrifices.^ He presented an
able defence of his conduct to the
states, and his cause was strenu-
ously pleaded by the renowned
De la Noue; but, severe in pun-
ishing the slightest appearance of
treachery, the states excluded him
from any share in pubhc affairs
until several years after, when he
was employed by Prince Maurice
in an embassy to France.
The loss of Sainte-Aldegonde
was in some, though a small de-
gree repaired by the acquisition of
Martin Schenk, an able and, ex-
perienced captain, who, having
formerly deserted to the royalist
side, now, finding that he was
treated by Parma with less con-
sideration than he imagined due
to him, returned to his allegiance
imder the states, and delivered his
fortress of Blyenbeek into the
hands of the count of Mors. The
states now despatched a solemn embassy to England, for the purpose of solicit
ing the queen to become sovereign of the United Provinces.^
Alessandbo Fabnesh, Prince of Pabua
(1646-1592)
MOTLEY'S PORTRAIT OF OLDEN-BARNEVELD
_ There was at this moment one Netherlander, the chief of the present
mission to England, already the foremost statesman of his country, whose
name will not soon be effaced from the record of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. That man was Jan van Olden-Barneveld.^ He was now in his
thirty-eighth year, having been bom at Amersfoort on the 14th of September,
1547. He bore an imposing name, for the Olden-Barnevelds of Gelderland
were a race of unquestionable and antique nobility. His enemies, however,
questioned his right to the descent which he claimed.
He had been a profovmd and indefatigable student from his earliest youth.
[i It is certain, whatever his motives, that his attitude had completely changed. For it
■was not Antwerp alone that he had reconciled, or was endeavouring to reconcile, with the king
of Spain, but Holland and Zealand as well, and all the other independent provinces. The an-
cient champion of the patriot army, the earliest signer of the Compromise, the bosom friend of
William the Silent, the author of the " Wilhelmus " national song, now avowed his conviction,
in a published defence of his conduct against the calumnious attacks upon it, that it was " im-
possible, with a clear conscience, for subjects, under any circumstances, to take up arms against
Philip, their king." Certainly if he had always entertained that opinion he must have suf-
fered many pangs of remorse during his twenty years of active and illustrious rebellion. He
now made himself secretly active in promoting the schemes of Parma and in counteracting
the negotiation with England. He flattered himself, with an infatuation which it is difficult
to comprehend, that it would be possible to obtain religious liberty for the revolting provinces,
although he had consented to its sacrifice in Antwerp. — Motley."]
[' In his biography of this man, Motley » adopts Barneveld, the English and French form
of the name, whBe confessing that " Oldenbarnevelt " was more correct.]
616 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
1158SA.B.]
He had read law at Leyden, in France, at Heidelberg. Here, in the head-
quarters of German Calvinism, his youthful mind had long pondered the
dread themes of foreknowledge, judgment absolute, free will, and predesti-
nation. Perplexed in the extreme, the youthful Jan bethought himself of
an inscription over the gateway of his famous but questionable great-grand-
father's house at Amersfoort — '' Nil scire tutissima fides " [To know nothing
is the safest creed]. He resolved thenceforth to adopt a system of ignorance
upon matters beyond the flaming walls of the world; to do the work before
him manfully and faithfully while he walked the earth, and to trust that a
benevolent Creator would devote neither him nor any other man to eternal
hell-fire. For this most offensive doctrine he was howled at by the strictly
pious, while he earned still deeper opprobriimi by daring to advocate religious
toleration. In face of the endless horrors inflicted by the Spanish Inquisition
upon his native land, he had the hardihood — although a determined Prol^
estant himself — to claim for Roman Catholics the right to exercise their
religion in the free states on equal terms with those of the reformed faith.
At a later period the most zealous Calvinists called him pope John.
After completing his very thorough legal studies, he had practised as an
■advocate in Holland and Zealand. An early defender of civil and religious
ireedom, he had been brought into contact with William the Silent, who
recognised his ability. He had borne a snap-hance on his shoulder as a
volunteer in the memorable attempt to relieve Haarlem, and was one of the
few survivors of that bloody night. He had stood outside the walls of Leyden
in company of the prince of Orange when that magnificent destruction of the
dikes had taken place by which the city had been saved from the fate im-
pending over it. At a still more recent period he landed from the gunboats
upon the Kowenstyn, on the fatal 26th of May. These military adventures
were, however, but brief and accidental episodes in his career, which was that
of a statesman and diplomatist. As pensionary of Rotterdam, he was con-
istantly a member of the general assembly and had already begun to guide
the policy of the new commonwealth.' His experience was considerable,
iind he was now in the high noon of his vigoiu- and his usefulness.
THE EMBASSY TO ELIZABETH (1585)
The commissioners arrived at Greenwich Stairs, and were at once ushered
into the palace. Certainly, if the provinces needed a king, they might have
wandered the whole earth over, and, had it been possible, searched through
the whole range of history, before finding a monarch with a more kingly
spirit than the great queen to whom they had at last had recourse. But the
queen, besides other objections to the course proposed by the provinces,
thought that she could do a better thing in the way of mortgages. In this,
perhaps, there was something of the penny-wise policy which sprang from
one great defect in her character. At any rate much mischief was done by
the mercantile spirit which dictated the hard chaffering on both sides the
Channel at this important juncture; for, during this tedious flint-paring,
Antwerp, which might have been saved, was falling into the hands of Philip.
It should never be forgotten, however, that the queen had no standing army,
and but a small revenue. The men to be sent from England to the Nether-
land wars were first to be levied wherever it was possible to find them."
[" Elsewhere Motley c says : " There can be no doubt that if William the Silent was the
founder of the independence of the United Provinces, Barneveld was the founder of the com-
jnonwealth itself . . . And the states-general were virtually Jan van Barneveld."]
LEICESTEE IN" THE LOW COUNTEIES 617
[1585 i..D.]
Though the queen declined accepting the sovereignty for the present, she
consented to appoint a governor-general of the United Provinces in her
name; she promised also to send at her own cost an army of five thousand
foot and one thousand horse into the Netherlands. As a security for the
repayment of her expenses, the states were to admit English garrisons into
Flushing, Rammekens, and Briel, and into two fortresses in the province of
Holland, until the debt were liquidated, the governors of the garrisons being
bound not to interfere with the political or civil government of these towns,
which was to be administered according to their own laws, by the customary
magistrates and officers, nor to levy any contribution on the inhabitants; two
Englishmen were to have a sitting in the council of state, to which also the
governors of the above-mentioned garrisons were to be admitted, to confer
on any subject relating to the queen's interests, but without the liberty of
voting. A council of war, to which the queen might appoint such persons
as the governor recommended, was, in conjunction with the council of state,
to remedy the abuses in the levy of the taxes, to abrogate all useless offices,
and to apply the public fimds as they thought expedient. Thus, it will be
seen that EUzabeth secured to herself a pretty large share of influence in the
provinces, and placed herself in such a position with regard to them that she
might easily assume the supreme power whenever she found it convenient.
Within little more than a month after the conclusion of the treaty, Sir
John Norris arrived with the English forces in Utrecht. The command of
the garrisons at Flushing and Rammekens was given to Sir Philip Sidney,
Sir Thomas Cecil being made governor of Briel and the fortresses in Holland.
The office of governor-general was conferred on Robert Dudley, earl of
Leicester, a man every way unfitted for the discharge of so delicate and im-
portant a trust. Vainglorious, ambitious, inconstant, and insincere, the
mediocrity of his talents was thrown into still deeper shade by the brilliant
luminaries which at this period surrounded the throne of Elizabeth; and
while his reputation as a public character was contemptible, in private life
it was stained by the darkest suspicions.
' The knowledge probably which Barneveld had obtained of his character
during his mission to England induced him to urge the states of Holland, on
his return, to confirm the authority of Prince Maurice as stadholder of that
province and Zealand, which they did, November 1st, 1585, before the coming
of Leicester; the prmce being bound, however, by his instructions to respect
the authority of the governor-general*
THE ENGLISH UNDER LEICESTER IN HOLLAND
The earl had raised a choice body of lancers to accompany him to the
Netherlands, but the expense of the levy had come mainly upon his own
purse. The queen had advanced five thousand pounds, which was much
less than the requisite amount. She violently accused him of cheating her,
reclaimed money which he had wrung from her on good security, and when
he repaid the sum objected to give him a discharge. As for receiving any-
thing by way of salary, that was quite out of the question. At that moment
he would have been only too happy to be reimbursed for what he was already
out of pocket. Whether Elizabeth loved Leicester as a brother or better than
a brother may be a historical question, but it is no question at all that she
loved money better than she did Leicester. Unhappy the man, whether
foe or favourite, who had pecuniary transactions with her highness.
518 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1585 A.D.]
Davison had been meantime doing his best to prepare the way in the
Netherlands for the reception of the EngUsh administration. What man
could do, without money and without authority, he had done. As might
naturally be expected, the lamentable condition of the English soldiers,
unpaid and starving — according to the report of the queen's envoy himself
— exercised anything but a salutary influence upon the minds of the Nether-
landers and perpetually fed the hopes of the Spanish partisans that a com-
position with Philip and Parma would yet take place. On the other hand,
the states had been far more liberal in raising funds than the queen had
shown herself to be, and were somewhat indignant at being perpetually
taunted with parsimony by her agents.
At last, however, the die had been cast. The queen, although rejecting
the proposed sovereignty of the Netherlands, had espoused their cause, by
solemn treaty of alliance, and thereby had thrown down the gauntlet to
Spain. She deemed it necessary, therefore, out of respect for the opinions
of mankind, to issue a manifesto of her motives to the world. The document
was published simultaneously in Dutch, French, English, and Italian.
Subsequently to the publication of the queen's memorial, and before the
departure of the earl of Leicester, Sir Philip Sidney, having received his ap-
pointment, together with the rank of general of cavalry, arrived in the isle
of Walcheren, as governor of Flushing, at the head of a portion of the
English contingent. It is impossible not to contemplate with affection so
radiant a figure, shining through the cold mists of that Zealand winter, and
that distant and disastrous epoch. There is hardly a character in history
upon which the imagination can dwell with more unalloyed delight. Not in
romantic fiction was there ever created a more attractive incarnation of
martial valour, poetic genius, and purity of heart.
At last the earl of Leicester came, embarking at Harwich, with a fleet of
fifty ships, and attended by "the flower and chief gallants of England."
Now began a triumphal progress through the land, with a series of mighty
banquets and festivities, in which no man could play a better part than
Leicester. Not Matthias, nor Anjou, nor King Philip, nor the emperor
Charles, in their triumphal progresses, had been received with more spon-
taneous or more magnificent demonstrations. Beside himself with rapture,
Leicester almost assumed the god. In Delft he is said so far to have for-
gotten himself as to declare that his family had — in person of Lady Jane
Grey, his father, and brother — been unjustly deprived of the crown of Eng-
land; an indiscretion which caused a shudder in all who heard him.
Spain moved slowly. Philip the Prudent was not sudden or rash, but
his whole life had proved and was to prove him inflexible in his purposes,
and patient in his attempts to carry them into effect. Before the fall of
Antwerp he had matured his scheme for the invasion of England, in most
of its details — a necessary part of which was of course the reduction of
Holland and Zealand.
What now was the disposition and what the means of the provinces to
do their part in the contest? If the twain, as Holland wished, had become
of one flesh, would England have been the loser ? Was it quite sure that
Elizabeth — had she even accepted the less compromising title which she
refused — would not have been quite as 'much the protected as the "pro-
tectress"?
It is very certain that the English, on their arrival in the provinces, were
singularly impressed by the opulent and stately appearance of the country
and its inhabitants. Notwithstanding the tremendous war which the
LEICESTEE IN THE LOW COUNTKIES 519
i[1586 A.B.]
Hollanders had been waging against Spain for twenty years, their com-
merce had continued to thrive, and their resources to increase.
But the rank and file of the English army needed strengthening. The
soldiers required shoes and stockings, bread and meat, and for these articles
there were not the necessary funds.
The English soldiers became mere barefoot starving beggars in the streets,
as had never been the case in the worst of times, when the states were their
pajnnasters.c
The states-general, being assembled at the Hague, did not limit their
welcome to mere empty compliments. They passed a resolution, January
10th, 1586, conferring on Leicester, in addition to the queen's commission,
the absolute government
of the Netherlands, as it
had been exercised in the
reign of Charles V; and
joined to this office those
of captain and admiral-
general of the United
Provinces. By this step
the states had gone too
far to recede, or the man-
ner in which their offer
-was received by Leicester
might have opened their
eyes to the real nature of
their rash and misplaced
confidence. On the propo-
sition to join the council
of state with him in the
administration, he refused
to accept an authority so
greatly circumscribed, and
the states were obliged to
concede that, besides the
two Englishmen who had
a vote in the council, he
himself might appoint a member for each province out of a double number
nominated by them. On this condition, he consented to assume the govern-
ment, in which he no sooner found himself established than he began to aim
at that uncontrolled power for which he had so early and so undisguisedly
shown his desire.
If the states-general designed, by conferring the government on Leicester,
to conciliate the favour of the queen, or to involve her as a principal in their
quarrel, they found themselves widely mistaken; since Elizabeth felt the
most violent anger at their proceedings. She immediately sent her am-
bassador. Sir Thomas Heneage, to the Hague, to coniplain, as of an extreme
insult and contempt offered to her, that her vassal should be allowed to assume
the sovereignty after she herself had refused it. At the same time, she laid
her commands upon Leicester to exercise no more authority than his com-
mission from her warranted. The states justified themselves with an ap-
pearance of great humility, at the same time contriving to give their new
.governor pretty intelligible notice of the precarious tenure by which he held
iis dignity.
Groote Kebk of Haablem, which Suffered from the
Spanish Sieqe
520 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1886 A.D.1
The haughty tone assumed by Elizabeth towards the states was no whit
lowered in the mouth of her vassal. Leicester issued an edict forbidding
the transport of provisions or ammunition to any enemy's or neutral country,
and commanding that all mercantile intercourse by bills of exchange or other-
wise should cease between the United Provinces and Spain, France, and
the nations of the Baltic. The states of Holland and Zealand had, in the
last year, issued an edict of the like import as regarded that part of the Nether-
lands in possession of their enemies, which, as it was suffering under severe
scarcity, and not easily supplied by other nations, was the surest way of
inflicting damage upon them. But with respect to Spain and Portugal,
the case was far different; since, as they could be plentifully supplied by
England, Scotland, Denmark, and the Hanse towns, the measure had no
other effect than to deprive Holland of an advantageous trade, and throw
it into the hands of those nations. The strong representations of the states.
of Holland to this effect were passed over imheeded by Leicester.
Besides the losses which the conmierce of Holland suffered in consequence
of this edict, incalculable damage was at this time inflicted upon it by the
unceasing piracies of the English. The navigation of the Channel was ren-
dered so imsafe to the Dutch that their ships, trading to the west, were obliged
to perform the tedious and dangerous circuit round the north of Scotland.'
Another cause of dissatisfaction between the states-general and Leicester
was the institution by the latter of a council of finance, of which he appointed
the count of Mors and Sir Henry Kiliigrew presidents, and James Ringault.
the treasurer. The creation of this body was vehemently opposed by the
council of state, not only as contrary to the instructions they were sworn,
to observe, and by which they were bound to provide for the administration
of the finances, but as throwing the public moneys, entirely into the hands
of foreigners, especially of Ringault, whose unfitness for the office conferred,
on him was notorious. Leicester, nevertheless, declaring that he was in no
wise bound by the opinions of the council, persisted in his design, and visited,
the advocate of Utrecht, Paul Buys, who had declared his opinion of Ringault.
in somewhat bold terms, with the effects of his high displeasure. Buys re-
mained in prison tUl the next year, when he was released by the states-general.
While the earl of Leicester was thus embarrassing the domestic affairs of
the United Provinces, the prince of Parma was pushing the war, with his.
usual prosperity, close to their boundaries. Sir John Norris and Hohenlohe
having captured the fort of Batenburg, Parma advanced in person to the
walls of Grave, which he cannonaded incessantly. The defenders sud-
denly lost courage, and, by their clamours and entreaties, prevailed upon
the sieur de Hemert, the governor, to surrender the same day. The earl of
Leicester was on his march to relieve Grave, when he was met by Hemert,
with the news of its capitulation. In a furious passion of anger, he retraced
his steps to Utrecht, taking Hemert with him, whom he caused to be tried
for high treason before a council of war, and executed. The death of this,
officer alienated the minds of many of the nobles in the provinces.
The sincerity of the professions made by Leicester, on this occasion, of
his anxiety to maintain fidelity and military discipline, was strongly suspected
by those who saw him bestow his highest favour and countenance on two-
of his own countrymen, of whom one, Rowland York, was a devoted adherent
of Hembyze, in Ghent, and had afterwards been chiefly instrumental in de-
' Ambassadors being sent into England in 1589 to remonstrate with the queen on this sub-
ject, it was alleged, according to Bor,* that the losses sustained by the Holland and Zealand mer-
chants amounted, within three years, to 3,000,000 guUders.
LEICESTER IN THE LOW COUNTRIES 521
[1586 A.D]
livering up Brussels to the royalists; and the other, Captain Welsh,, had borne
the principal share in the sale and surrender of Alost.
Venloo and Neuss (or Nuys) next fell before the victorious arms of Parma.
During the siege of Neuss, Leicester commanded Sir Philip Sidney to under-
take an invasion of Flanders. Under his brilliant auspices, the young Prince
Maurice commenced his glorious military career, and wetted his maiden
sword in the capture of the small town of Axel.
At length, in the month of August, Leicester took the field in person at
the head of an army of 8,000 infantry ' and 3,000 cavalry; but, not sufficiently
strong to encounter Parma, whose forces numbered 12,000 of the former and
3,500 of the latter, he sat down before Doesborgh, while his adversary was
engaged at the siege of Rhynberg. In this his first military undertaking
he was happily successful, as Doesborgh surrendered without waiting for an
assault. Thence he marched to besiege Zutphen. Parma, well aware that
this important town was but slenderly provided,' sent forward three hundred
wagons laden with corn, under a convoy. They had arrived at the village of
Warnsfeld, about half a mile from Zutphen, when a body of musketeers and
cavalry sallied out, headed by Sir Philip Sidney and several of the English
volunteers. The English troops commenced the attack with extraordinary
vigour, and forced their adversaries to retreat; during the engagement,
however, Verdugo, having been warned of the approach of the convoy, ad-
vanced at the head of a small body of troops and brought the supplies safely
into the town.«
DEATH OF SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
This battle, in which the English showed such bravery, yet also such
useless rashness, has been the subject of much controversy, the number of
English present being set as high as 3,400, though Motley c accepts Leicester's
official report that there were 550 English engaged and Parma's statement
that the Spanish numbered 3,100. As often happens in war reports, the
accounts of rival generals are most discrepant concerning each other's losses,
Leicester stating that 33 Enghsh were killed or wounded, and 250 to 350
Spaniards, while Parma sets the Spanish loss at 9 killed and 29 wounded,
and the English at 200 killed. The truth of this matter is probably that
about 33 Englishmen were lost and about 38 Spaniards. But the Spaniards
accomphshed their purposes and victualled the town.
The true fame of the skirmish rises from the fact that it put an end to
the beautiful career of Sir Philip Sidney. Seeing that old Sir William Pelham
fought in light armour, he threw off his own cuishes, or thigh-guards, and
rode everjrwhere in the thick of the fight. Finally, having had one horse
killed under him, he mounted another and charged through the Spanish
ranks: a musket-ball shattered his unprotected thigh; and his horse, too
restive to control, carried him a mile and a haK back to his own entrenchments.
It was here that the famous incident probably occurred which hallows his
fame: for his attendants brought him a bottle of water to quench his burning
thirst; but, seeing a dying English soldier cast his eyes longingly at the flask,
Sidney handed it to him instantly, saying, "Thy necessity is even greater
than mine."
Anecdotes of humanity in time of battle are always cherished by the
populace and suspected by the critical historian, and this incident has not
■, Among tliem was a regiment of 1,400 Irish, whom Strada * describes as " a rude and wild
race, naked from the hips upward ; they walked on high stilts, by means of which they were
able to cross rivers, and were formidable for their skill in the use of the bow,"
622 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1587 A.D.]
•escaped incredulity. The story seems to have appeared first in a biography
by Sidney's friend Lord Brooke, i Motley " says that he had " searched in
vain for its confirmation through many contemporary letters and chronicles,"
yet he concludes that "there is no reason for rejecting its authenticity."
The incident is comparable for its exquisite beauty with a self-sacrificing act
of Alexander the Great during the desert-march of his troops.
, Of the battle itself, Froude * says, " No dispositions could apparently have
been worse than those which Leicester made." He now gave up hope of
conquering Zutphen except by siege and retired to winter quarters. His
campaign had been, says Froude, "like a blaze of straw." He adds: "It
was well for England, it was well for the queen, that those who were entrusted
with the interests and honour of their country were not all such as Leicester,
and were not all within reach of her own paralysing hand." Fortunately the
time of his stay in the Netherlands was short."
THE FAILURE OF LEICESTER (1587)
Leicester's conduct was now become quite intolerable to the states. His
incapacity and presumption were every day more evident and more revolting.
He retired to the town of Utrecht; and pushed his injurious conduct to such
an extent that he became an object of utter hatred to the provinces. Con-
ferences took place at the Hague between Leicester and the states, in which
Barneveld overwhelmed his contemptible shuffling by the force of irresistible
eloquence and well-deserved reproaches; and after new acts of treachery
this unworthy favourite at last set out for England, to lay an account of his
government at the feet of the queen.*
The growing hatred against England may be excused, from the various
instances of treachery displayed, not only by the commander-in-chief but
by several of his inferiors in command. A strong fort, near Zutphen, under
the government of Rowland York, the town of Deventer under that of William
Stanley, and subsequently Gelderland under a Scotchman named Fallot,
were delivered up to the Spaniards by these men; and about the same time
the English cavalry committed some excesses in Gelderland and Holland,
which added to the prevalent prejudice against the nation in general. This
enmity was no longer to be concealed. The partisans of Leicester were one
by one, imder plausible pretexts, removed from the council of state; and
Elizabeth having required from Holland the exportation into England of a
large quantity of rye, it was firmly but respectfully refused, as inconsistent
with the wants of the provinces.
Prince Maurice, relieved of the caprice and jealousy of Leicester, now
united in himself the whole power of command, and commenced that brilliant
course of conduct which consolidated the independence of his country and
elevated him to the first rank of military glory. His early efforts were turned
to the suppression of the partiality which in some places existed for English
domination.*^
The miserable condition of the Spanish Netherlands, and the difficulty
of finding supplies for his troops, caused the duke of Parma to delay taking
the field until late in the summer; when, making a feint attack upon Ostend,
he afterwards commenced a vigorous siege of Sluys. This hastened the
[' After he left, a secret document was found in wbich he instructed the English governors
to pay no heed to the commands of the states, to release no prisoners, and accept no order of
removal. This discovery emphasized the general distrust of the English, and led the states to
declare Maurice ' ' prince " and to require an oath of allegiance to him.]
LEICESTER IF THE LOW COUNTRIES 523
tl587 A.D.]
Teturn of the Earl of Leicester to the. Netherlands, who arrived in Ostend with
■seven thousand foot and five hundred horse; the queen having placed in his
hands the whole of the £18,000 appointed for the payment of the soldiers.
Leicester made an attempt to master the fort of Blankenburg, in the
neighbourhood of the enemy's camp; but on intelligence that Parma was
approaching to give him battle, he hastily retreated to Ostend. As there
were, therefore, no hopes of relief from the English, and all the artillery in
the town was destroyed, except four pieces, the governor, Arnold de Groene-
"veldt, proposed a capitulation, which Parma granted, on highly honourable
conditions. The loss of Sluys exasperated the dissensions between Leicester
and the states into undisguised and irreconcilable hostility. He spared no
pains to throw on them the blame of this miscarriage, accusing them (not,
indeed, wholly without grounds) of neglecting to provide either sufficient
troops, funds, or anmiunition.
The states, on the other hand, possessed a powerful weapon against
Leicester in an intercepted letter to his secretary Junius, desiring him to use
his influence with the well-disposed in the provinces to bestow on him an
.authority free from the continual opposition and countermining of the states,
who ought to be content with the share of power they had enjoyed under
Charles V and his son, so that he might be sovereign in reality, and not in
appearance only.
But it was not with the states alone that Leicester was at variance; the
English ambassador Buckhurst, Sir John Norris, Prince Maurice, and the
count of Hohenlohe alike shared his resentment. Leicester even entertained
the design of seizing the person of the prince, together with Jan Olden-Barne-
veld, and conveying them to England; of which the latter having received
information, they retired precipitately from the Hague to Delft.
While thus at issue with all the authorities of the state, Leicester had
;still a powerful party among the clergy, whom he affected to treat on all
occasions with the most profound consideration and respect. Guided and
fostered by the preachers, the time of popular opinion had, during the first
part of Leicester's government, set strongly in his favour against the states.
But the surrender of Deventer and the fort of Zutphen had given the first
;shock to his popularity, which rapidly declined after the fall of Sluys; and
the conduct he now thought fit to pursue was such as might well have anni-
hilated the little that remained.
Eight of the nobles of Utrecht having ventured to present a petition for
the restoration of their former customs and privileges, they were seized all
on one day, and confined in the public prison; an act which, though disa-
vowed by Leicester, excited such an uproar against him in the city, that he
was fain to retire to North Holland, where he possessed a devoted partisan
in Theodore Sonoy, to whom he had given a commission as governor of that
■district, independent of the stadholder, Prince Maurice. This event was
followed by a far more dangerous disturbance at Leyden, where a number of
refugees from Flanders and Brabant formed a conspiracy to deliver the town
into the hands of Leicester, which was only prevented by a timely and for-
tuitous discovery. The states, at the same time, as weU those of Holland
as the states-general, evinced their doubts of their personal safety by trans-
ferring their assembhes from the Hague to the fortified town of Haarlem.
Greatly alarmed at these unequivocal demonstrations of hostile feeling,
and feeling too surely that his authority was irretrievably gone, Leicester
retired to Flushing, where he shortly after received a summons to return
to England, through Lord Herbert, whom the queen had appointed her
524 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1587-1588 A.D.51
ambassador to the United Provinces. Having taken leave of the states in a.
letter, couched in terms considerably more mild and moderate than any of
his previous communications, he set sail from Zealand. _ Shortly after his
arrival in England, an accusation of maladministration in his government
in the Netherlands was brought against him by Lord Buckhurst, from the
effects of which the queen permitted him to screen himself under the plea of
her private instructions; she even detained Buckhurst a prisoner in his own
house for several months; but obliged Leicester, nevertheless, to execute a,
formal act of resignation early in the following year, which finally terminated,
his misguided and unfortunate government.
But the Act of Resignation remained some time unpublished; and the
soldiers, of whom a great portion were English, took occasion from thence to
refuse obedience to the council and
Prince Maurice; being, as they de-
clared, still bound by their oath to
the late governor. The garrisons of
Medemblik, Hoorn, Naarden, Wor-
kum, Heusden, and other places, en-
couraged by secret emissaries from.
Leicester, were in a state of revolt,
from this ostensible reason. Prince
Maurice wrote to the privy council
in England, making heavy complaints,
of the conduct of their countrymen
and partisans in the provinces; in
consequence of which, Willoughby
and Sir Thomas Killigrew, received,
orders from the queen to disavow in
her name all acts of sedition against,
the council or the prince, pretended
to be done for her service. The
effects of this measure, together with
the publication of the Act of Resig-
nation by Leicester, were beneficial
in the extreme.
The time, indeed, was now come
when all trivial dissensions, all petty
jealousies, should be hushed. The gigantic armada, which was to crush Eng-
land at a blow, was now ready. Henceforth, she must fight hand in hand,
with HoUand.«
THE SPANISH AEMADA (1588)
Irritated and mortified by the assistance which Elizabeth had given tO'
the revolted provinces, Philip resolved to employ his whole power in attempt-
ing the conquest of England itself; hoping afterwards to effect with ease-
the subjugation of the Netherlands. He caused to be built, in almost every
port of Spain and Portugal, galleons, carricks, and other ships of war of the
largest dimensions; and at the same time gave orders to the duke of Parma
to assemble in the harbours of Flanders as many vessels as he could collect
together. This prodigious force obtained, in Spain, the ostentatious title of
the Invincible Armada.
The details of the progress -and the failure of this celebrated attempt
are so thoroughly the province of English history, that they would be in-
Maubice, Prince op Oranoe
(1567-1635)
LEICESTEE IN THE LOW COUNTKIES 525
'11588 A.1).]
this place superfluous. But it must not be forgotten that the glory of the
proud result was amply shared by the new republic, whose existence depended
■on it. While Howard and Drake held the British fleet in readiness to oppose
the Spanish armada, that of Holland, consisting of but twenty-five ships,
xmder the command of Justin of Nassau, prepared to take a part in the con-
flict. This gallant though illegitimate scion of the illustrious house whose
name he upheld on many occasions, proved himself on the present worthy
<of such a father as William and such a brother as Maurice. While the duke
of Medina Sidonia, ascending the channel as far as Dunkirk, there expected
the junction of the duke of Parma with his important reinforcement, Justin
-of Nassau, by a constant activity and a display of intrepid talent, contrived
to block up the whole expected force in the ports of Flanders from Lillo to
-Dunkirk. The duke of Parma found it impossible to force a passage on
any one point; and was doomed to the mortification of knowing that the
attempt was frustrated, and the whole force of Spain frittered away, discom-
flted, and disgraced, from the want of a co-operation which he could not,
liowever, reproach himself for having withheld. The issue of the memorable
•expedition which cost Spain years of preparation, thousands of men, and
millions of treasure, was received in the country which sent it forth with
consternation and rage. Philip alone possessed or affected an apathy which
he covered with a veil of mock devotion.<i
The grief and disappointment of Parma at the destruction of this power-
ful armada were intense. In accordance with the advice of others, rather
than his own judgment, he determined to employ his large and hitherto
useless army in the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom. It was the last town in Bra-
tant left to the states except Gertruydenberg. The preservation of Bergen
Tvas chiefly owing to the extraordinary courage and dexterity of two Eng-
lishmen, Grimston, a lieutenant of the garrison, and one Redhead, a sutler.
They had been offered large bribes, by two Spanish prisoners, to deliver
the North Fort into the hands of Parma. By the orders of Lord Willoughby,
to whom they discovered the affair, they pretended to give a ready consent
to the proposal, and secretly left the camp, provided with letters from the
two Spaniards to the duke of Parma. Parma obliged them to take an oath
on the sacrament that they were acting in good faith: still, however, doubt-
ing somewhat of their fidelity, he ordered their hands to be tied behind them,
and placed a Spanish soldier as guard over each, with a naked poniard,
ready to plunge into their breasts on the slightest suspicion of treachery;
thus secured, he ventured to entrust them with the conduct of the expedition.
The assailants, marching at low water over the drowned land between their
camp and the fort, found the gate open, as they expected. About fifty
•entered, when Willoughby let down the portcullis, and excluded the remainder.
Those within were immediately slain or captured; the two who guarded the
English prisoners, forgetting, in their confusion and terror, the orders they
Md received from Parma, allowed them to escape unhurt. The troops on
the outside being assailed on their retreat by an ambush on the dike, a great
number were slain, and several officers of distinction made prisoners. Grim-
ston and Redhead received a present of 1,000 florins each from the queen,
and an annuity of 600 florins.
Parma, therefore, broke up the siege, his troops abandoning the entrench-
ments in some disorder, and leaving a great portion of their arms, material,
and baggage behind them. The count of Mansfeld captured the small town
of Wachtendonck, in Gelderland, at the siege of which the bomb-shell was
first used, having been invented shortly before by an artisan of Venloo.
626 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1590-1591 A.D.J
Gertruydenberg was delivered, by its English governor, Sir John Wing-
field, to Parma on the payment of the arrears due to the troops, and a gratuity
of five months' pay in addition. Provoked beyond endurance at this mingled
insolence and treachery, the states issued a decree, condemning the whole
of the garrison to death as traitors. Several who were arrested in the prov-
inces were executed without form of law.«
Martin Schenk who had lately, for the last time, gone over to the side of the
states, had caused a fort to be built in the isle of Betewe — that possessed
of old by the Batavians — which was called by his name, and was considered
the key to the passage of the Rhine. From this stronghold he constantly
harassed the archbishop of Cologne, and had as his latest exploit surprised
and taken the strong town of Bonn (1590) . The indefatigable Schenk resolved
to make an attempt on the important town of Nimeguen. His enterprise
seemed almost crowned with success, when the inhabitants, recovering from
their fright, precipitated themselves from the town; forced the assailants
to retreat to their boats; and, carrying the combat into those overcharged
and fragile vessels, upset several, and among others that which contained
Schenk himself, who, covered with wounds, and fighting to the last gasp,
was drowned with the greater part of his followers. His body, when recovered,
was treated with the utmost indignity, quartered, and hung in portions over
the different gates of the city.
The following year (1591) was distinguished by another daring attempt
on the part of the Hollanders, but followed by a different result. A captain
named Haranguer concerted with one Adrian Vandenberg a plan for the sur-
prise of Breda, on the possession of which prince Maurice had set a great value.
The associates contrived to conceal in a boat, laden with turf (which formed
the principal fuel of the inhabitants of that part of the country), and of which
Vandenberg was master, eighty determined soldiers, and succeeded in arriving
close to the city without any suspicion being excited. One of the soldiers,
named Mathew Helt, being suddenly affected with a violent cough, implored
his comrades to put him to death, to avoid the risk of a discovery. But a
corporal of the city guard having inspected the cargo with imsuspecting
carelessness, the immolation of the brave soldier became unnecessary, and
the boat was dragged into the basin by the assistance of some of the very
garrison who were so soon to fall victims to the stratagem. At midnight
the concealed soldiers quitted their hiding places, leaped on shore, killed
the sentinels, and easily became masters of the citadel. Prince Maurice,
following close with his army, soon forced the town to submit.
The duke of Parma had snatched a short interval for the purpose of recruit-
ing his health at the waters of Spa. While at that place he received urgent
orders from Philip to abandon for a while all his proceedings in the Nether-
lands, and to hasten into France with his whole disposable force, to assist
the army of the League. The duke of Parma received his uncle's orders
with great repugnance. He nevertheless obeyed; and leaving count Mans-
feld at the head of the government, he conducted his troops against the royal
opponent.
But while this expedition added greatly to the renown of the general,
it considerably injured the cause of Spain in the Low Countries. Prince
Maurice, taking prompt advantage of the absence of his great rival, had
made himself master of several fortresses; and some Spanish regiments
having mutinied against the commanders left behind by the duke of Parma,
others, encouraged by the impunity they enjoyed, were ready on the slightest
pretext to follow their e!xample. Maurice did not lose a single opportunity
LEICESTEE IN THE LOW COUNTEIES 527
[1591 A.D.]
of profiting by circumstances so favourable; and even after the return of
Alessandro he seized on Nimeguen, despite all the efforts of the Spanish.
army,**
THE MILITARY GENIUS OF MAURICE
With the reduction of Nimeguen, which involved the submission of nearly
the whole of Gelderland, in 1591, Prince Maurice terminated his brilliant and
successful campaign; having, in the space of five months, mastered Zutphen
Deventer, Hulst, and Nimeguen, besides Delfzijl and other smaller forts. The
lateness of the season, and the continued rains, together with the sickness
of Barneveld, upon whose able and active co-operation he chiefly depended,
induced him to arrest his progress for the present, and withdraw his army
into winter quarters. On his return to Holland, he was greeted with un-
bounded joy and affection by all ranks of men. Under his auspices had
dawned the first bright hopes — the first firm expectation of ultimate success
to the cause of freedom. The military undertakings of his father had been
peculiarly and uniformly unfortunate; the small advantages gained by
Leicester had been more than counterbalanced by the discontents and cabals;
which had grown rife under his government: hitherto the provinces had had
to struggle for their actual existence in miserable dependence on the aid of
foreign princes; now they were able to treat on equal terms with those powers,
which had before disdained to receive them as subjects, and to render effective
assistance to their ally the king of France. Their own boimdaries were not
only secured, but extended; and the enemy was harassed on every side by
an army whose small numerical force was more than compensated by the
celerity of its movements, its admirable spirit, and the perfect knowledge
which every one of its members possessed of his respective duties.
The people beheld the hitherto invincible duke of Parma, indisputably
the first captain of his age, retreat, or rather fly before their young general.
Prince Maurice, indeed, though the ostensible, was not the sole nor per-
haps even the principal creator of the vast change that had been worked
in the condition of the provinces. A powerful though unseen hand had now
grasped the pivot on which public afi'airs turned. Jan Olden-Barneveld,
from the time of his appointment to the office of advocate of Holland, had
begun to acquire~that influence which ultimately became almost unbounded;.
he it was whose eloquence prevailed with the states to consent at once to all
the beneficial measures which his fertile genius suggested; and whose com-
prehensive intellect combined those plans which his unceasing diligence,
in supplying the army with material, ammunition, and provisions enabled
Prince Maurice to execute.^
Nevertheless Prince Maurice must be recognised as one of the great military
geniuses of all time. He was the true creator of the Dutch army, and recog-
nised that a small body of highly trained patriots was far superior to the rabbles
of mercenary troops on which the fate of Holland had been hanging so long.
In his tactics he had the aid of his cousin Louis William, stadholder of Fries-
land, who revived the old Greek and Roman manoeuvres in the evolutions
of small bodies of men trained to the utmost agility. These small units of
high mobility, in place of the cumbersome masses in vogue, excited the ridicule
of the old school; and the suppression of the system of "blind names," by
which a colonel often drew pay for a thousand men while actually recruiting
only a hundred, excited still greater hostility. The private soldiers were
similarly outraged by being compelled to dig trenches and build fortifications
— a supposedly menial task for which peasants had been previously hired..
sm THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1592 A.r.]
But victory is the soldier's consolation for every ill, and Maurice soon had
an army which was a model for all Europe in its organisation and adminis-
■tration, as in its proficiency in field manoeuvre and siege work.
The modernity of his ideas is also seen in the fact that he took away from
iis cavalry the spear and gave them the carbine, thus making them mounted
infantry, an ideal recently revived.
In any history of the art of war, the name of Mam-ice must appear as an
important contributor to progress."
THE DEATH OF PARMA: HIS SUCCESSOR (1592)
The duke of Parma, daily breaking down under the progress of disease,
;and agitated by reverses, repaired again to Spa, in 1592, taking at once every
possible means for the recruitment of his army and the recovery of his health,
on which its discipline and the chances of success now so evidently depended.
But all his plans were again frustrated by a renewal of Philip's peremptory
•orders to march once more into France, to uphold the failing cause of the
League against the intrepidity and talent of Henry IV.
On his return to the Netherlands (1592), the duke found himself again
under the necessity of repairing to Spa, in search of some relief from the suf-
iering which was considerably increased by the effects of a wound received in
this last campaign. In spite of his shattered constitution, he maintained to
the latest moment the most active endeavours for the reorganisation of his
army; and he was preparing for a new expedition into France, when he was
;surprised by death on the 3rd of December, 1592, at the abbey of St. Vaast,
near Arras, at the age of forty-seven years.
Alessandro of Parma was certainly one of the most remarkable and, it
:may be added, one of the greatest characters of his day. Most historians
have upheld him even higher perhaps than he should be placed on the scale;
Asserting that he can be reproached with very few of the vices of the age in
Tvhich he lived. Others consider this judgment too favourable, and accuse
him of participation in all the crimes of Philip, whom he served so zealously.
But even allowing that Alessandro's fine qualities were sullied by his com-
plicity in these odious measures, we must still in justice admit that they
were too much in the spirit of the times, and particularly of the school in
"which he was trained; and while we lament that his political or private faults
place him on so low a level, we must rank him as one of the very first masters
in the art of war in his own or any other age.
He had chosen the count of Mansfeld for his successor, and the nomination
-was approved by the king. He entered on his government under most dis-
heartening circumstances. The rapid conquests of Prince Maurice in Bra-
Isant and Flanders were scarcely less mortifying than the total disorganisation
into which those two provinces had fallen. They were ravaged by bands of
robbers called Picaroons, whose audacity reached such a height that they
opposed in large bodies the forces sent for their suppression by the govern-
ment. They on one occasion killed the provost of Flanders, and burned his
lieutenant in a hollow tree; and on another they mutilated a whole troop
of the national militia, a,nd their commander, with circumstances of most
revolting cruelty.
The authority of governor-general, though not the title, was now fully
shared by the count of Fuentes, who was sent to Brussels by the king of
Spain; and the ill effects of this double viceroyalty were soon seen in the
brilliant progress of Prince Maurice and the continual reverses sustained by
LEICESTEE IN" THE LOW COUNTEIES 529
[1593-1596 A..D.]
the royalist armies. The king, still bent on projects of bigotry, sacrificed
"without scruple men and treasure for the overthrow of Henry IV and the
success of the League. The affairs of the Netherlands seemed now a secondary
object; and he drew largely on his forces in that country for reinforcements
to the ranks of his tottering allies. A final blow was, however, struck against
the hopes of intolerance in France, and to the existence of the League, by
the conversion of Henry IV to the Catholic religion; he deeming theological
disputes, which put the happiness of a whole kingdom in jeopardy, as quite
subordinate to the public good.
Such was the prosperity of the United Provinces that they had been
enabled to send a large supply, both of money and men, to the aid of Henry,
their constant and generous ally. And notwithstanding this, their armies
and fleets, so far from suffering diminution, were augmented day by day.
Philip, resolved to summon up all his energy for the revival of the war against
the republic, now appointed the archduke Ernest, brother of the emperor
Rudolf, to the post which the disunion of Mansfeld and Fuentes rendered as
embarrassing as it had become inglorious. This prince, of a gentle and
conciliatory character, was received at Brussels with great magnificence and
general joy; his presence reviving the deep-felt hopes of peace entertained
by the suffering people. Such were also the cordial wishes of the prince ' ;
but more than one design, formed at this period against the life of Prince
Maurice, frustrated every expectation of the kind.
A priest of the province of Namur, named Michael Renichon, disguised
as a soldier, was the new instrument meant to strike another blow at the
greatness of the house of Nassau, in the person of its gallant representative,
Prince Maurice; as also in that of his brother, Frederick Henry, then ten
years of age. On the confession of the intended assassin, he was employed
by Count BarlasTnont to murder the two princes. Renichon happily mis-
managed the affair, and betrayed his intention. He was arrested at Breda,
conducted to the Hague, and there tried and executed on the 3rd of June,
1594.
In this same year a soldier named Peter Dufour embarked in a like atrocious
plot. He, too, was seized and executed before he could carry it into effect.
Prince Maurice, in the meantime, with his usual activity, passed the Maas
and the Rhine, and invested and quickly took the town of Groningen (July
24th, 1594),^ by which he consummated the establishment of the republic,
and secured its rank among the principal powers of Europe.
The archduke Ernest, finding all his efforts for peace frustrated, and all
hopes of gaining his object by hostility to be vain, became a prey to disap-
pointment and regret, and died, from the effects of a slow fever, on the 21st
of February, 1595; leaving to the count of Fuentes the honours and anxieties
of the government, subject to the ratification of the king. This nobleman
began the exercise of his temporary functions by an irruption into France,
at the head of a small army; war having been declared against Spain by
Henry IV, who, on his side, had despatched the admiral De Villars to attack
[' He convened the states-general of the loyal provinces in 1595, and sent a proposal of
peace to the Hague on the basis of the pacification of Ghent. Blok "• quotes the protests of the
loyal provinces against the ruinous Spanish policy ; they protested that little remained to them
" except one great heart-break and despair " (sinon ung iris grcmd crevecmw et disespoir). ]
P Of this success by Maurice, Motley" says : " Again the commander-in-chief enlightened
the world by an exhibition of a more artistic and humane style of warfare than previously to his
appearance on the military stage had been known." In May, 1596, the states were actually
admitted as equals in a tripartite alliance against Spain. Queen Elizabeth bitterly opposed such
recognition of a popular government, but was compelled to take the step, and the treaty was
signed at the Hague, October 31st, 1596.]
H. W. — VOL. xni. 8m
B30 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1596-1597 x.n.3
Philip's possessions in Hainault and Artois. This gallant officer lost a battle
and his life in the contest; and Fuentes, encouraged by the victory, took
some frontier towns.
Some trifling affairs took place in Brabant; but the arrival of the archduke
Albert, whom the king had appointed to succeed his brother Ernest in the
office of governor-general, deprived Fuentes of any further opportunity of
signalising his talents for supreme command. Albert arrived at Brussels on
the 11th of February, 1596, accompanied by Philip William, the prince of
Orange, who, when coimt of Buren, had been carried off from the university
of Louvain, twenty-eight years previously, and held captive in Spain durmg
the whole of that period.
THE ARCHDUKE ALBERT
The archduke Albert, fifth son of the emperor Maximilian II, and brother
of Rudolf, stood high in the opinion of Philip his uncle, and merited his
reputation for talents, bravery, and prudence. He had been early made
archbishop of Toledo, and afterwards cardinal; but his profession was not
that of these nominal dignities. He was a warrior and poUtician of consid-
erable capacity; and had for some years faithfully served the king, as viceroy
of Portugal. But Philip meant him for the more independent situation of
sovereign of the Netherlands, and at the same time destined him to be the
husband of his daughter Isabella. He now sent him, in the capacity of
governor-general, to prepare the way for the important change.
He opened his first campaign early; and, by a display of clever
manoeuvring, which threatened an attempt to force the French to raise the
siege of La Fere, in the heart of Picardy, he concealed his real design — the
capture of Calais; and he succeeded in its completion almost before it was
suspected. By prudently avoiding a battle, to which he was constantly
provoked by Henry IV who commanded the French army in person, he
established his character for miUtary talent of no ordinary degree.
He at the same time made overtures of reconciliation to the United
Provinces, and hoped that the return of the prince of Orange would be a
means of effecting so desirable a purpose. But the Dutch were not to be
deceived by the apparent sincerity of Spanish negotiation. They even
doubted the sentiments of the prince of Orange, whose attachments and
principles had been formed in so hated a school; and nothing passed between
them and him but mutual civilities. They clearly evinced their disapproba-
tion of his intended visit to Holland; and he consequently fixed his residence
in Brussels, passing his life in an inglorious neutrality.
A naval expedition formed in this year by the English and Dutch against
Cadiz, commanded by the earl of Essex,' was crowned with brilliant success,
and somewhat consoled the provinces for the contemporary exploits of the
archduke. But the following year opened with an affair which at once
proved his imceasing activity and added largely to the reputation of his
rival, Prince Maurice. The former had detached the count of Varax, with
about six thousand men, for the purpose of invading the province of Holland:
but Maurice, with equal energy and superior talent, followed his movements;
came up with him near Turnhout, on the 24th of January, 1597, and after a
[« The Dutch admiral was Duivenvoorde, lord of Warmond, and the combined fleet, de-
stroyed a Spanish squadron in Cadiz, July, 1596, returning home with booty. Previously, in
1595, some five hundred Netherlandish ships, nearly half the entire merchant marine, were
released from Spanish and Portuguese harbors where they had been detained. Their release
was partly for conciliation and partly because of Spain's need for the supplies they brought.]
LEICESTER IN THE LOW COUNTEIES 531
[1697-1598 A.D.]
sharp action, of which the Dutch cavalry bore the whole brunt, Varax was
killed, and his troops defeated with considerable loss>
_ This was in its consequences a most disastrous affair to the archduke.
His army was disorganised, and his finances exhausted; while the confidence
of the states in their troops and their general was considerably raised. During
this year Prince Maurice took a number of towns in rapid succession; and
the states, according to their custom, caused various medals, in gold, silver,
and copper, to be struck, to commemorate the victories which had signalised
their arms.
_ Philip II, feeling himself approaching the termination of his long and
agitating career, now wholly occupied himself in negotiations for peace with
France. Henry IV desired it as anxiously. The pope, Clement VIII, en-
couraged by his exhortations this mutual inclination. The king of Poland
sent ambassadors to the Hague and to London, to induce the states and
Queen Elizabeth to become parties in a general pacification. These over-
tures led to no conclusion; but the conferences between France and Spain
went on with apparent cordiality and great promptitude, and a peace was
concluded between these powers at Vervins, on the 2nd of May, 1598.
The states had used all their influence to keep Elizabeth from making
peace with Spain, and abandoning her alliance with them. Their delay in
paying their debt to her had, however, occasioned frequent outbursts of
temper and even of threats of war, but terms were finally patched up.« It
was agreed that she should henceforth be released from the obligation to
afford any further subsidies to the provinces, who engaged to assist her with
forty ships in any naval expedition she might undertake against Spain, and
with five thousand foot and five hundred horse, or an equivalent in money,
in case the king of Spain should invade any part of her dominions; the debt
which she herself had estimated at two millions was fixed at £800,000, to
be paid by instalments of £30,000 a year until the half were liquidated; the
mode of discharging the remainder to be arranged at the end of the war,
#hen, if any of the first moiety was still unpaid, the annual sum should be
reduced to £20,000. The states also bound themselves to pay the garrisons
of Briel and Flushing to the number of 1,150 men. They were permitted
to retain the English troops already in the Netherlands at their own expense,
ahd the queen was to continue to name one English member in the council
of state.e''
THE PROVINCES CEDED TO ALBERT AND ISABELLA (1598)
Shortly after the pubUcation of the treaty of Vervins, another important
act was made known to the world, by which Philip ceded to Albert and
Isabella, on their being formally affianced — a ceremony which now took
place — the sovereignty of Burgundy and the Netherlands. This act bears
' This action may be taken as a fair sample of the difficulty with which any estimate can
he formed of the relative losses on such occasions. The Dutch historians state the loss of the
royalists, in killed, at upwards of 3,000. Meteren," a good authority, says the peasants buried
2,250 ; while Bentivoglio," an Italian writer in the interest of Spain, makes the number exactly
half that amount, GrotiUs ' says that the loss of the Dutch was four men killed. Bentivoglio
States It at 100. But, at either computation, it is clear that the affair was a brilUant one on the
part of Prince Maurice. [Motley " says of it : "The nation was electrified, transformed in an
instant. Who now should henceforth have to say that one Spanish fighting man was equal
to five or ten Hollanders? Here in the open field a Spanish army, after in vain refusing a com-
bat and endeavouring to escape, had literally bitten the dust before a fourth of its own number.
And this effect was a permanent one."]
[' Blok™ well calls these "pretty stiff terms," the only cause for satisfaction being the
acceptance of only one Englishman on the council of state.]
632 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1598-1599 A,n]
date the 6th of May, 1598, and was proclaimed with all the solemnity due to
so important a transaction. It contained thirteen articles; and was based
on the misfortunes which the absence of the sovereign had hitherto caused
to the Low Countries. The Catholic religion was declared that of the state,
in its full integrity. The provinces were guaranteed against dismemberment.
The archdukes, by which title the joint sovereigns were designated without
any distinction of sex, were secured in the possession, with right of succession
to their children; and a provision was added, that in default of posterity their
possessions should revert to the Spanish crown. The infanta Isabella soon
sent her procuration to the archduke, her affianced husband, giving him full
power and authority to take possession of the ceded dominions in her name
as in his own; and Albert was inaugurated with great pomp at Brussels, on
the 22nd of August.
Having put everything in order for the regulation of the government
during his absence, he set out for Spain, for the purpose of accomplishing
his spousals, and bringing back his bride to the chief seat of their joint power.
But before his departure he wrote to the various states of the republic, and
to Prince Maurice himself, strongly recommending submission and recon-
ciliation. These letters received no answer; a new plot against the life of
Prince Maurice, by a wretched individual named Peter Pann, having aroused
the indignation of the country, and determined it to treat with suspicion and
contempt every insidious proposition from the tyranny it defied.
THE DEATH OF PHILIP II (1598)
Albert placed his uncle, the cardinal Andrew of Austria, at the head of
the temporary government, and set out on his journey. He had not made
much progress when he received accounts of the demise of Philip II, who
died, after long suffering, and with great resignation, on the 13th of Septembers
1598, at the age of seventy-two. Albert was several months on his journey
through Germany; and the ceremonials of his union with the infanta did
not take place till the 18th of April, 1599, when it was finally solemnised in
the city of Valencia in Spain.
This transaction, by which the Netherlands were positively erected into
a separate sovereignty, seems naturally to make the limits of another epoch
in their history. It completely decided the division between the northern
and southern provinces, which, although it had virtually taken place long
previous to this period, could scarcely be considersd as formally consum-
mated until now.<^
CHAPTER X
THE SWAY OF OLDEN-BARNEVELD
[1598-1609 A.D.]
The first act of the young sovereign of Spain, Philip III, was one of more
bitter hostility against the provinces than his father had ever exercised;
since he not only arrested all their ships in his ports (which had been often
done heretofore) but made the whole of the crews prisoners; caused such as
were suspected of having taken part in the expeditions of the English to be
put to the torture, and forced the remainder to work as galley-slaves. Coin-
cident with this proceeding was an edict issued in the Spanish Netherlands,
February, 1599, forbidding the inhabitants to traffic in any manner with
Holland and Zealand, or their adherents, till they had returned to obedience
under their lawful prince. But these measures, like most others devised by
Spain against her former subjects, recoiled upon herself, and tended ultimately
to the advantage of those whom they were designed to injure. The states,
on their part, issued a decree, prohibiting the ships, not only of their own
subjects but those of foreign powers, from carrying provisions or other wares
to Spain; all goods belonging to that country, wherever found, were declared
lawful prizes; permits or safe-conducts to the enemy were forbidden; and
indemnity for all injuries done by them, and for the extortion of exorbitant
ransoms, was to be levied on the hostile territories of Flanders and Brabant.
They followed up this measure by the immediate equipment of seventy-
three vessels of war, containing eight thousand men, for the purpose of either
making a descent on Spain, or intercepting the India fleets. Setting sail
from the Maas, imder the command of Peter van der Does, the armament
reached in safety the harbour of Corunna, where they found the Spanish
fleet anchored under cover of the artUlery on the shore. Unable to draw
out the enemy to a combat, and not venturing to attack them thus protected,
Van der Does changed his purpose, and, directing his course to the Canary
633
534 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1599 A.D.]
Islands, effected a landing on the largest of them, called the Gran Canaria,
which he occupied and plundered with but trifling loss. Gomra next shared
the same fate.
Sailing along the coast of Africa, he arrived at St. Thomas, an island in
the gulf of Guinea, where they found a numerous colony of Portuguese estab-
lished. The principal town surrendered at the first summons. But the
burning summer heats combined with imprudent indulgence to produce a
pestilential sickness of the most terrific description; which, in a short time,
carried off great numbers, and among the rest the admiral himself and his
nephew, George van der Does, son of the heroic defender of Leyden. The
admiral was buried in the island, and the sailors, to secure his remains from
insult, heaped the ruins of the whole town of Pavoasa upon his grave. After
the death of their commander, the ships immediately set out on their retimi
homewards; above one thousand perished on the voyage in the space of
fifteen days: and on their arrival in Holland, at the end of the winter, not
more than two captains were left alive. Such was the end of the fleet, which
had cost vast sums in preparation, and from which the most important results
had been expected. But however unprosperous the expedition, it had pro-
duced the effect of exciting great alarm in Spain, as appearing a prelude to
others of the same nature, and had put the king to considerable charges in
providing convoys for his fleets from the Indies.
It was September, 1599, before the new sovereigns arrived in their domin-
ions, which they found the scene of universal discontent. The soldiery were
on the brink of a general insurrection for want of pay, for which the treasury
was too much exhausted to provide funds; and the people, oppressed and
impoverished, were offended alike with the footing of lavish expenditure
on which the court was placed, and the Spanish manners, dress, and cus-
toms which they remarked in its members. The "archdukes" having
immediately on their coming smnmoned the states of the provinces, pre-
paratory to their inauguration, the latter required as a preliminary to the
acknowledgment of the new sovereigns the removal of the foreign troops
in garrison in the Netherlands; that the public offices should be filled only
by natives; and the conclusion of a definitive peace with the United Provinces.
To these requisitions Isabella haughtily replied that she had received the
Netherlands from her father, as a free gift without any conditions whatsoever;
and the states, bowed down by poverty and sorrow, did not venture to per-
severe in this last struggle for a remnant of their former freedom.
Prince Maurice, anxious to take advantage of the widely-spread insurrec-
tion which prevailed among the archduke's troops, more especially those in
the forts of CrSvecoeur and St. Andrew, laid siege to the former, which he
mastered with little difficulty. The garrison of St. Andrew accepted the
offer of a payment of 125,000 guilders which he made them, and delivered
the fort into his hands. Nearly the whole of the troops entered into the
service of the states, and being formed into a separate regiment (to which
the soldiers gave the name of the "NewGueux" from the ragged appearance
they made on coming out of the fort) were placed imder the command of
the young prince Frederick Henry.
From hence Prince Maurice was desirous of pursuing his success along
the course of the Maas; but at the vivid instances of the Zealanders, who
were greatly vexed and incommoded by the near neighbourhood of the enemy,
he, in concert with the states-general determined upon the invasion of
Flanders. The rendezvous of the troops was, accordingly, appointed at
Rammekens, in Walcheren, where nearly one thousand boats were collected,
THE SWAY OF OLDEN-BAENEVELD 535
[1600 A.i>.]
on board of which were embarked twelve thousand infantry, with three
thousand cavalry, four field-pieces, and thirty smaller pieces of artillery.
Having waited in vain for some days for a fair wind to carry them to Ostend,
they sailed up the Maas, and landed at the Sas de Gand; the fort of Philippine,
by which it is defended, having been first captured by Count Ernest of Nassau.
From thence, the prince began his march overland towards Nieuport.
Maurice sat down before the town, hoping to effect its reduction ere the
■enemy could collect sufficient forces for its relief. But the archduke repairing
in person with the infanta to Diest, of which his mutinous troops held posses-
sion, the latter employed her entreaties, persuasions, and promises with such
•effect that she prevailed with them again to join her husband's standard,
though under the banner of their own "eletto." With these, and the troops
a,lready in Brabant and Flanders, Albert foimd himself at the head of ten
thousand infantry and fifteen hundred horse. Marching from Bruges, he
first attacked Oldenburg, a fort commanding the passage between that town
And Nieuport, and lately captured by Prince Maurice, which surrendered
■without resistance. The loss of this fort was followed by that of Snaaskerke,
of which the g;arrison was massacred in cold blood after the surrender; and
of Breden, which was abandoned.
THE BATTLE OF NIEUPORT (1600)
Maurice sent forward Count Ernest of Nassau, with the Scottish regiment,
imder Colonel Edmonds, and a regiment of Zealanders, making together
about nineteen hundred men, with four troops of horse, to occupy a bridge
.at LefBngham on the road to Ostend, over which the hostile army must pass.
Though he used all possible expedition, Ernest found on his arrival the enemy
already in possession of the post, who, remarking the smallness of his force,
immediately advanced to the attack. His cavalry, seized with a sudden
panic, rapidly gave way, and communicating their terror to the infantry,
"the rout soon became universal; the Zealanders fled towards Ostend, but
the Scottish soldiers, heedlessly directing their course over the sand-hills
towards the sea, were piu-sued and cut in pieces by the victors. Nine hundred
were slain, and all their standards taken; but none were made prisoners,
since the archduke, who deemed himself certain of the destruction of Maurice's
army, had, it is said, given orders that no lives should be spared except those
-of the prince himself and his brother, Frederick Henry, whom he had deter-
mined to send prisoners, bound hand and foot, into Spain.
The time occupied by this calamitous encounter enabled Maurice to trans-
port his whole army across the harbour of Nieuport, which is fordable at low
"water, to the right bank of the Yperlee, where he drew up on the sands and
adjacent downs to await the coming of the hostile forces. The van of his
army was occupied by two thousand six hundred English infantry and
eighteen hundred Frieslanders, commanded by Sir Francis Vere, and his
brother Horatio; on the left of which, towards the sea, were placed Vere's
ten troops of cavalry, and six pieces of artillery; the remainder of the cavalry
imder Louis of Nassau being stationed so as to be ready to give assistance
where it was required. The main army, composed of French, Swiss, and
Prmce Frederick Henry's regiment of New Gueux, was commanded by
Coimt George de Sohnes; while the Hollanders and Utrechters, forming
the reserve, were under the special direction of Maurice himself, and led by
Sir Oliver Temple. With the hostile town of Nieuport in the rear, the river
-and enemy's forts on the right, and the sea on the left, the only mode of retreat
636 THE HISTOEY OF THE NBTHBELANDS
[1600 A.D.}
in case of a defeat was on board the ships, which must inevitably be attended
with extreme confusion and danger; and it was not improbable that during
the engagement the vessels might themselves be attacked by the garrison of
Nieuport.
Maurice, therefore, determined upon the bold and wise measure of cutting
off all hopes of safety but in victory, by commanding the vessels to set sail
for Ostend, as soon as the tide should serve.' Before their departure, he
earnestly exhorted the young prince Frederick Henry to retire on board,
that both might not perish at one blow; but his entreaties were without
effect on the heroic boy, who expressed his resolute determination to share
equally with his brother the dangers and glory of the day. At this juncture,,
a straggler from the enemy's camp, who allowed himself to be taken, gave'
intelligence of the defeat and flight of Count Ernest's detachment, which the
prince was careful to conceal from the troops, causing a report to be spread
that they had entered Ostend in safety.
After the repulse of Count Ernest, the archduke continued his march
along the sands.^ The returning tide having narrowed the space between
the sea and the downs, or sand hills, a portion of the cavalry were obliged to^
proceed along a road in the latter, considerably harassed by two field-pieces,
which Maurice had stationed so as to command it. The number of troops
which the prince had left in the forts, with the loss of Coimt Ernest's detach-
ment, had reduced his army to an equality with that of his opponent. In
other respects also, their strength was nicely balanced; the situation depriving
the allied troops of the advantage to be reaped from their superior dexterity,
and from the quick and agile movements of their battalions, in which they
greatly surpassed the Spaniards. On both, sides were disciplined and exper-
ienced troops, full of courage and ardour, these hoping to achieve by an easy
victory, won under the eyes of their sovereign, the termination of a thirty
years' war; those fighting for their freedom, their religion, the sanctity of
their homes, and even for life itself.
The shock of battle was commenced by the English, under Vere, who was
attacked by the van of the enemy's horse, followed by the musketeers: here
were concentrated the strength and fury of the contest; Vere had told Prince
Maurice that, living or dead, he would this day deserve his thanks; and he
well redeemed his pledge. Every foot of the slippery and uncertain ground
was alternately lost and won, with an intensity of toil of which it is scarcely
possible to form an idea. Vere himself was twice wounded, and had his
horse killed under him; he, nevertheless, remained at his post till his brother
Horatio came up to take the command.
The artillery played incessantly on both sides; but after two or three
murderous discharges, the enemy's cannon sank deep into the sand, which
rendered their subsequent fire of little effect; the Dutch had prudently raised
theirs on floors formed of planks and hurdles, a circumstance which contri-
buted, in no small degree, to the result of the battle. The combat had lasted
four hours, each side pouring in fresh troops, until the whole of both armies,
except a reserve of about three hundred cavalry on the side of the Dutch,
were engaged in a sharp and desperate struggle. Maurice and his brother
presented themselves in every part of the field, rousing the fainting and
[» No more heroic decision was ever taken by fighting man. — Motley. 6]
« This is one of the many instances to prove the error of passing judgment on the conduct
of a general according to the event ; had the archduke not attacked the enemy on this occasion,
there is little doubt that he would have been accused of having wantonly thrown away an.
opportunity of efiecting the entire destruction of the states' army.
THE SWAY OP OLDEN-BAENEVELD 537
[1600 A.D.]
cheering the strong; the efforts of the archduke were no less strenuous;
but the soldiers of both, who had tasted but little food or refreshment during
the day, were now grown feeble and wearied.
At length the English, from utter exhaustion, began slowly to retreat
towards the cannon in the rear, when the archduke, hoping to achieve the
victory by one bold stroke, ordered a general pursuit : at this moment, Prince
Maurice, who had been on the watch to seize some such opportunity, made an
unexpected and rapid charge with his reserve of cavalry — a movement which
caused some confusion among the enemy. Perceiving this, the troops raised
a sudden shout of victory, and rushed on to the attack with renewed ardour.
The archduke, eager to seize a chance that remained of restoring the fortune
of the day, rode with his helmet off, before the m^utineers of Diest, and vehe-
mently exhorted them to renew the fight. While thus engaged, he received
a severe wound in the face from the pike of a German soldier, which forced
him to leave the field. His departure was the signal for a general flight;
The soldiers, scattered in every direction, made their escape, favoured by the
approaching darkness. About three thousand were killed in the battle and
pursuit, of whom two hundred and fifty were officers, and the whole of their
artillery and standards taken; the admiral of Aragon and many other noble-
men were made prisoners; the archduke himself narrowly escaped capture,
but the superb white charger, on which he had made his joyeuse entrie, and
several pages and officers of his household, fell into the hands of Prince Mau-
rice, who immediately restored the latter without ransom.
Tears gushed from the eyes of Maurice, when he beheld the victory certain:
he felt that his country was saved; and, dismounting for a moment, he knelt
down on the field of battle, and offered up a short but heartfelt thanksgiving
to the Almighty: "What are we, 0 Lord," he exclaimed, "that thou hast
enlarged us with thy bounty! Glory be to thy name forever."
The wearied condition of the troops, and the number of wounded, together
with the darkness of the night and the danger from the hostUe forts in the
vicinity, deterred Maurice from pursuing the fugitives to any distance. Neither
was the victory purchased without bloodshed on the side of the conqueror;
ten hundred remained dead on the field, of whom six hundred were English,
besides those who had perished in the defeat of the morning. The prince
continued the whole night in a tent pitched upon the spot, and entertained
at supper his illustrious captive, the admiral Mendoza, to whom he observed,
in a tone of good-humoured raillery, that he was more fortunate than all his
army, since, having for four years desired to visit HoUand, he had now an op-
portunity of doing so. The admiral was sent, a few days after, to Woerden,
and subsequently exchanged, together with the rest of the captives, and the
governors of the Canary and St. Thomas's islands, for all the prisoners of war,
inhabitants or allies of the United Provinces, within the dominions of the
king of Spain and the archduke, including those whom the king had seized
in the Dutch ships and forced to work as galley-slaves. The standards, more
than one hundred in number, were deposited in the great saloon of the pro-
vincial court at the Hague.
The situation of the states-general who had followed the army to Ostend,
to be ready with their assistance and advice, and to provide necessaries for
the campaign, had been anxious in the extreme: their own safety and that
of the republic was now, they felt, placed upon the cast of a single die. But
they neglected to send six hundred cavalry, in garrison there, to secure the
bridge of Leffingham; which, if they had done, they would inevitably have
made themselves master of the person of the archduke.
.«38 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1601-1604 A.B.]
The results of this famous battle were, except in regard to the moral effects
it produced on the feelings of the belligerents, chiefly negative: a defeat would
probably have involved the subjugation, if not the utter destruction of the
republic, in the loss of her only army, and all her most eminent men; but the
-consequences of the victory were in surprising disproportion to its magnitude.
The states at this juncture committed a grave fault, by insisting that Prince
Maurice should pursue the design upon Nieuport, instead of at once attacking
the surrounding forts, which would have given them the conomand of the
open coimtry in Flanders, and which they, in consequence, left the archduke
leisure to strengthen. The prince, in obedience to their dictates, though con-
trary to his own judgment, recommenced the siege, but Albert, having rapidly
reassembled his scattered troops, enabled La Barlotte to throw a succour of
twenty-five hundred men into the town, which circumstance, coupled with
the incessant heavy rains, induced Maurice to retire within a few days; when,
hopeless of being able to midertake any further enterprise of importance,
he sent his cavalry to Brabant, and embarking his infantry for Zealand,
Teturned himself to Holland. «
Early in the spring Prince Maurice opened the campaign at the head of
sixteen thousand men, chiefly composed of English and French. The town
of Rheinberg soon fell into the hands of the prince. His next attempt was
Against Bois-le-Duc, but he was forced to raise the siege, and turn his attention
in another direction.
THE SIEGE OF OSTEND (1601-1604)
The archduke Albert had now resolved to invest Ostend,' a place of great
importance to the United Provinces, but little worth to either party in com-
parison with the dreadful waste of treasure and human life which was the
■consequence of its memorable siege. Sir Francis Vere commanded in the
place at the period of its final investment; but governors, garrisons, and
besieging forces were renewed and replaced with a rapidity which gives one
of the most frightful instances of the ravages of war. The siege of Ostend
lasted upwards of three years. It became a school for the young nobility
of all Europe, who repaired to either one or the other party to learn the
principles and the practise of attack and defence. Everything that the art
of strategy could devise was resorted to on either side. The slaughter in
the various assaults, sorties, and bombardments was enormous. Squadrons
.at sea gave a double interest to the land operations; and the celebrated
brothers Federigo and Ambrogio Spinola founded their reputation on these
opposing elements. Federigo was killed in one of the naval combats with
the Dutch galleys, and the fame of reducing Ostend was reserved for Am-
brogio. This afterwards celebrated general had undertaken the command
at the earnest entreaties of the archduke and the king of Spain, and by the
lirmness and vigour of his measures he revived the courage of the worn-out
assailants of the place. Redoubled attacks and multiplied mines at length
reduced the town to a mere mass of ruin, and scarcely left its still undaunted
garrison sufficient footing on which to prolong their desperate defence.
Ostend at length surrendered, on the 22nd of September, 1604, and the
victors marched in over its crumbled walls and shattered batteries. Scarcely
a vestige of the place remained beyond those terrible evidences of destruction.
Its ditches, filled up with the rubbish of ramparts, bastions, and redoubts,
left no distinct line of separation between the operations of its attack and its
[' Haestens <i called it, from the length of its siege, "the modern Troy."]
THE SWAY OF OLDEN-BAENEVELD BS9
tl601-1604A.D.]
defence. It resembled rather a vast sepulchre than a ruined town, a moiintain
of earth and rubbish, without a single house in which the wretched remnant
of the inhabitants could hide their heads — a monument of desolation on
which victory might have sat and wept.^
Ostend had surrendered, after a siege of three years and two months, the
garrison being permitted to march out with all the honours of war. On their
arrival in the camp near Sluys, they received, before the whole army, the
thanks of the prince and states for the eminent services they had rendered
Street Scene, Low Life, aeteb Brouweb
(1606-1637)
their country. The defence had cost the states the sum of 4,000,000 guilders,
and the loss of 50,000 men — an expenditure which, however enormous, was
yet far surpassed by that of the besiegers. Immediately after the surrender,
the archdukes came to visit the city, and found that they had lavished blood,
time, and treasure, to gain a heap of ruins.^ They subsequently offered valu-
able privileges to any persons who would fix their residence in Ostend; but
years elapsed before the people could endure the sight of a spot defiled with the
blood and whitening bones of their countrymen. The greater portion of the
citizens settled permanently at Sluys.c
During the progress of this memorable siege Queen Elizabeth of England
had died. With respect to the United Provinces she was a harsh protectress
[' Upon that miserable sandbank more than a hundred thousand men had laid down their
lives. The numbers of those who were killed or who died of disease in both armies during this
memorable siege have been placed as high as one hundred and forty thousand by GaUucci."
Meteren/ says that on the body of a Spanish officer, who fell in one of the innumerable assaults,
was found a list of all the officers and privates killed in the Catholic army up to that date
(which he does not give), and the amount was 72,184 — Motley,'']
540 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1604-1805 A.D.1
and a capricious ally. She in turns advised them to remain faithful to the old
impxu-ities of religion and to their intolerable king; refused to incorporate
them with her own states; and then used her best efforts for subjecting them
to her sway. She seemed to take pleasure in the tmcertainty to which she
reduced them, by constant demands for pa3Tnent of her loans and threats of
making peace with Spain. Thus the states-general were not much affected by
the news of her death: and so rejoiced were they at the accession of James I to
the throne of England, that all the bells of Holland rang out merry peals; bon-
fires were set blazing all over the country;' a letter of congratulation was
despatched to the new monarch; and it was speedily followed by a solemn
embassy, composed of Prince Frederick Henry, the grand pensionary
Bameveld and others of the first dignitaries of the republic. These ambassa-
dors were grievously disappointed at the reception given to them by James,
who treated them as Httle better than rebels to their lawful king.
The states-general considered themselves amply recompensed for the loss.
of Ostend, by the taking of Sluys, Rheinberg, and Graves, all of which had in
the interval surrendered to Prince Maurice; but they were seriously alarmed
on finding themselves abandoned by King James, who concluded a separate
peace with Philip III of Spain in the month of August of this year.
The two monarchs stipulated in the treaty that "neither was togiv&
support of any kind to the revolted subjects of the other." It is nevertheless-
true that James did not withdraw his troops from the service of the states;
but he authorised the Spaniards to levy soldiers in England. The United
Provinces were at once afflicted and indignant at this equivocal conduct.
Their first impulse was to deprive the English of the liberty of navigating the
Schelde. They even arrested the progress of several of their merchant ships.
But soon after, gratified at finding that James received their deputy with the-
title of ambassador, they resolved to dissimulate their resentment.
THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1605-1606
In 1605, Prince Maurice and Spinola took the field with theu* respective
armies; and a rapid series of operations placing them in direct contact dis-
played their talents in the most striking points of view. The first steps on
the part of the prince were a new invasion of Flanders and an attempt on
Antwerp, which he hoped to carry before the Spanish army could arrive to
its succour. But the promptitude and sagacity of Spinola defeated this plan,
which Maurice was obliged to abandon after some loss; while the royalist-
general resolved to signalise himself by some important movement; and, ere
his design was suspected, he had penetrated into the province of Overyssel,
and thus retorted his rival's favourite measure of carrying the war into the
enemy's country.
Several towns were rapidly reduced; but Maurice flew towards the threat-
ened provinces, and by his active measures forced Spinola to fall back on
the Rhine and take up a position near Ruhrort, where he was impetuously
attacked by the Dutch army. But the cavalry having followed up too slowly
the orders of Maurice, his hopes of surprising the royalists were frustrated;
and the Spanish forces, gaining time by this hesitation, soon changed the
fortune of the day. The Dutch cavalry shamefully took to flight, despite the
gallant endeavours of both Maurice and his brother Frederick Henry; and
at this jimcture a large reinforcement of Spaniards arrived under the
[' According to certain authorities this ostentatious celebration was conceived in some<
anxiety, purely as a measure to conciliate James I of whom they well felt uncertain,}
THE SWAY OF OLDBN-BAENBVELD 541
[1605 A.D.]
•command of Velasco. Maurice now brought forward some companies of
English and French infantry under Horatio Vere and D'Omerville, also a dis-
tinguished officer.
The battle was again fiercely renewed; and the Spaniards now gave way,
and had been completely defeated, had not Spinola put in practice an old
a,nd generally successful stratagem. He caused almost all the drums of his
army to beat in one direction, so as to give the impression that a still larger
reinforcement was approaching. Maurice, apprehensive that the former
panic might find a parallel in a fresh one, prudently ordered a retreat, which
he was able to effect in good order, in preference to risking the total disor-
ganisation of his troops. The loss on each side was nearly the same; but the
glory of this hard-fought day remained on the side of Spinola, who proved
himself a worthy successor of the great duke of Parma, and an antagonist
with whom Maurice might contend without dishonour.
The naval transactions of this year restored the balance which Spinola's
successes had begun to turn in favour of the royalist cause. A squadron of
ships, commanded by Hautain [or William de Zoete], admiral of Zealand
attacked a superior force of Spanish vessels close to Dover, and defeated them
with a considerable loSs. But the victory was sullied by an act of great
barbarity. All the soldiers found on board the captured ships were tied two
and two and mercilessly flung into the sea.* Some contrived to extricate
themselves, and gained the shore by swimming; others were picked up by
the English boats, whose crews witnessed the scene and hastened to their
relief.
The Dutch vessels pursuing those of Spain, which fled into Dover harbour,
were fired on by the cannon of the castle and forced to give up the chase.
The English loudly complained that the Dutch had on this occasion violated
their territory; ^ and this transaction laid the foundation of the quarrel
which subsequently broke out between England and the republic, and which
the jealousies of rival merchants in either state unceasingly fomented. In
this year also the Dutch succeeded in capturing the chief of the Dunkirk
privateers, which had so long annoyed their trade; and they cruelly ordered
sixty of the prisoners to be put to death. But the people, more humane than
the authorities, rescued them from the executioners and set them free.
But these domestic instances of success and inhumanity were trifling, in
comparison with the splendid train of distant events, accompanied by a
course of wholesale benevolence that redeemed the traits of petty guilt. The
maritime enterprises of Holland, forced by the imprudent pohcy of Spain to
seek a wider career than in the narrow seas of Europe, were day by day
extended in the Indies. To ruin if possible their increasing trade, Philip III
sent out the admiral Hm-tado, with a fleet of eight galleons and thirty-two
galleys. The Dutch squadron of five vessels, commanded by Wolfert Her-
manszoon, attacked them off the coast of Malabar, and his temerity was
crowned with great success. He took two of their vessels, and completely
drove the remainder from the Indian seas. He then concluded a treaty
[' This barbarous custom, called in tlie provinces voetspoelen (feetwashing), was constantly
•enforced by the authority of the states and admiralty, against the pirates of Dunkirk. At
length the sailors refused to go to sea unless it were abolished, when it was allowed to fall into
disuse. — Datibs."]
[" The English, during the combat, siding with their newly-reconciled foes, pointed the
fire of the cannon at Dover against their ancient allies, of whom they kOled more than one
hundred. The king afterwards justified this act, by complaining that the neutrality of the
English shores had been violated by the too near approach of the Dutch ; an insulting pretext,
the harder to be borne by the latter, as the pirates of Dunkirk were allowed to pursue the Hol-
land and Zealaad merchant-ships into every port of England. — Davies."]
642 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1606 A.D.]
with the natives of the isle of Banda, by which he promised to support them
against the Spaniards and Portuguese, on condition that they were to giv&
his fellow countrymen the exclusive privilege of purchasing the spices of the
island. This treaty was the foundation of the influence which the Dutch so
soon succeeded in forming in the East Indies; and they established it by a.
candid, mild, and tolerant conduct, strongly contrasted with the pride and.
bigotry which had signalised every act of the Portuguese and Spaniards.
The states-general now resolved to confine their military operations to a.
war merely defensive.* Spinola had, by his conduct during the late cam-
paign, 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 neces-
sary 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 anticipa-
tions 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, com-
manded by the count of Buquoy, was destined to join him in the neighbour-
hood of Utrecht; and he was then resolved to push forward with the whol&
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 con-
tent himself with the capture of two or three towns — a comparatively insig-
nificant 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.
Buquoy, had reduced his force below that of Maurice; but the latter, to th&
surprise of all who expected a decisive blow, retreated from before the ItaUan.
general — abandoning the town of Groenlo, which immediately fell into-
Spinola's power, and gave rise to manifold conjectures and infinite discon-
tent at conduct so Uttle 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 aumnent by every possible means.
The Dutch naval expeditions of 1606 were not more brilliant than those-
on land. Admiral Hautaia, with twenty ships, was surprised off Cape St.
[' As Blok * points out, Holland had carried so much more than her share of expense, that
the burden was growing intolerable. The debt alone was 26,000,000 florins, and in August,
1606, a secret commission with Olden-Barneveld at the head declared that further war was-
growing impossible. Olden-Barnereld even felt inclined to offer the sovereignty to a foreign
monarch.]
f' The campaign was closed. And thus the great war, which had run its stormy course-
for nearly forty years, dribbled out of existence, sinking away that rainy November in the dis-
mal fens of Zutphen. The long struggle for independence had come, almost unperceived, to-
an end. Peace had not arrived, but the work of the armies was over for many a long year.
Freedom and independence were secured. A deed or two, never to be forgotten by Netherland.
hearts, was yet to be done on the ocean, before the long and intricate negotiations for peac&
should begin, and the weary people permit themselves to rejoice ; but the prize was already
won. — MOTLBT.'']
THE SWAY OP OLDEN-BARNEVBLD 543
[1606-1607 A.D.]
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 honour.
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 resolu-
tion he had formed, knelt down on the deck, and putting up a brief prayer
for pardon for their 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.
HEEMSKEEK AT GIBEALTAB (1607)
This disastrous occurrence was soon, however, forgotten in the rejoicings'
for a brilliant victory gained in 1607 by Heemskerk, 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 signalise 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 valour to conquer or die in the approaching con-
flict. 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. Avila could scarcely believe
the evidence of his eyes at this audacity: he at first burst into laughter at-
the notion; but as Heemskerk 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 fieet, and soon forced him to action. At.
the second broadside Heemskerk had his left leg carried off by a cannon ball,
and he almost instantly died. Verhoef, the captain of the ship, concealed
the admiral's death; and the whole fleet continued the action with a valour
worthy of the spirit in which it was commenced. The victory was soon
decided: four of the Spanish galleons were simk or burned, the remainder
fled; and the citizens of Cadiz trembled with the apprehension of sack and
pillage. But the death of Heemskerk, when made known to the surviving:
victors, seemed completely to paralyse 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.
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 desu-ed it. The Portuguese made loud complaints of
the ruin that threatened their trade and then- East Indian colonies. The
Spanish ministers were fatigued with the apparently interminable contest
which baffled all their calculations. Spinola, even m the midst of his brilliant
career, found hunself so overwhelmed with debts, and so oppressed by the
reproaches of the numerous creditors who were ruined by his default of pay-
ment, that he joined in the general demand for rei)ose. In the month of
May, 1607, proposals were made by the archdukes, in compliance with the
GU THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1607 1.D.]
general desire; and their two plenipotentiaries, Van Wittenhorst and Gevaerts,
repaired to the Hague.
Public opinion in the united states was divided on this important question.
An instinctive hatred agaLast 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 contin-
uance 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 con-
quest by the enemy, or to the ruin of their liberty by the growing power of
lifeiurice. They hoped that peace would consolidate the republic and cause
the reduction of the debt, which now amounted to 26,000,000 florins. At
the head of the party who so reasoned was Barneveld; 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 Barneveld suggested a mere suspension of arms,
during which the permanent interests of both states might be calmly dis-
cussed: 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 afterwards complained
that Barneveld 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 dis-
content at this transaction, either with himself or Barneveld, laid the founda-
tion 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 coramence-
ment 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. He was a monk of the order of St. Francis, named John
Neyen, a native of Antwerp. The suspicions of the states-general seem fully
justified by the dubious tone of the various commimications, which avoided
the direct adrnission of the required preliminary as to the independence of the
United Provinces. It was at length concluded in explicit terms; and a sus-
pension 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
[' Blokft has stated various reasons for the war-party's action: "In time of war, the
supremacy of Holland and Zealand, the soul of the union, had been endured. In time of peace,
jealousy would be excited by this dominance, and the lack of a strong central government would
become more patent. Moreover, the Calvinist minority now in power would have to yield,
more or less, to the majority composed of nominal Catholics, of libertines, and of indifferent
people. The house of Orange, whose reputation Maurice had sustained during active hostili-
ties, might find its influence weaken. Maurice could not stand in his father's shadow as states-
man, and wholly lacked capacity to revise the articles of union. Thus there was much ground
for reluctance to make peace. Moreover, the war had become a source of commercial pros-
perity, which could not be checked without affecting the existence of many thousands."]
THE SWAY OP OLDEN-BARNEVELD 545
[1607-1608 A.D.]
sincerity by an attempt to corrupt Aarssens the greffier of the states-general,
or at least to influence his conduct in the progress of the treaty. Neyen pre-
sented him, in the name of the archdukes, and as a token of his esteem, with
a diamond of great value and a bond for 50,000 crowns. Aarssens accepted
these presents with the approbation of Prince Maurice, to whom he had con-
fided the circumstance, and who was no doubt delighted at what promised
An Interior — After Gerard Douw
(1613-1675)
a rupture of the negotiations. Verreyken, a counsellor of state, who assisted
Neyen in his diplomatic labours, was formally summoned before the assembled
states-general, and there Barneveld handed to him the diamond and the
bond; and at the same time read him a lecture of true republican severity on
the subject. Verreyken was overwhelmed by the violent attack: he denied
the authority of Neyen for the measure he had taken.
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
B. tr.— VOL. xiu. Zs
646 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1608 A.D.]
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 Richardot was, with Neyen and Verreyken,
ambassador from the archdukes; but Barneveld 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 civilised world in
suspense.
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 Spaui, 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 Brizuela to Spain.
The conferences at the Hague were not interrupted on this question; but
they went on slowly, months being consumed in discussions on articles of
trifling importance. They were resumed in the month of August with greater
vigour. 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 aU 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 Barneveld, who steadily maintained his influence,
laboured 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 Bergen-op-Zoom, to be more
within reach and ready to co-operate in the negotiation.
But, before matters assumed this favourable turn, discussions and dis-
putes had intervened on several occasions to render fruitless every effort of
those who so incessantly laboured for the great causes of humanity and the
THE SWAY OF OLDBN-BAENEVELD 547
[159S-1609A.D.]
feneral good. On one occasion Bameveld, disgusted with the opposition of
'rince Maurice and his partisans, had actually resigned his emplo3m[ients;
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.
THE TWELVE YEAES' TRUCE
This celebrated treaty contained thirty-two articles; and its fulfilment
on either side was guaranteed by the kings of France and England. Not-
withstanding the time taken up in previous discussions, the treaty is one of
the most vague and unspecific state papers that exist. The archdukes, in
their own names and in that of the king of Spain, declared the United Prov-
inces to be free and independent states, on which they renoimced 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 regula-
tions, 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.
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, inamediately began, like the northern division of the country, to
labour 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 benev-
olence. The whole of their dominions quickly began to recover from the
ravages of war. Agriculture and the minor operations of trade resinned 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.?
DUTCH COMMERCE AND EXPLORATION
The year 1595 is signalised in the annals of Dutch commerce as being
that of the commencement of the trade between the United Provinces and
the East Indies. The arrest of their ships by the king of Spam, in 1586,
had induced the merchants to undertake more distant voyages; since which
time, the scarcity that had prevailed for some years in Italy had afforded
them a rich harvest of traffic in carrjdng corn thither from the coimtries of
the Baltic. The restoration of plenty in that quarter caused these specula-
tions, in great measure, to cease, which obliged the mariners of Holland and
Zealand to seek out some new market for their industry; while, at the same
time, their emulation was roused by the fame of the voyages and discoveries
of the Enghsh and Portuguese.
One Cornells Houtman, of Gouda, having spent some years in Lisbon,
returned to Amsterdam, with such tempting accoimts of the profits to be
648 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLANDS
[1395-1597 A.D.]
gained by a trade with the spice islands of India, that he induced nine mer-
chants of that city to form themselves into a company for the establishment
of a commerce with the nations of the East. They equipped, entirely at
their own cost, four vessels, equally fitted for war and the transport of mer-
chandise. Setting sail from the Texel on the 2nd of April, it was Jrnie of
the next year before they reached the island of Java. Here they had to
encounter the hostility of a company of Portuguese merchants, settled at
Bantam', the capital. Three ships returned in 1597, after a voyage of more
than two years, to Amsterdam, where their arrival, laden with pepper, nut-
megs, and mace, was the signal for a general jubilee, though but 90 out of
250 of their crews were left alive.
Arctic Exploration
This enterprise had oeen preceded by an expedition undertaken in the
last year, towards the north pole, with a view of discovering a shorter and
safer passage to China than that round the cape of Good Hope. For this
purpose two Vlie-boats (so called from being built expressly for the difficult
navigation of the Vlie) were fitted out, one in Holland and the other in Zea-
land, the admiralty of these provinces providing half the expense, with
instructions to attempt the passage into the sea of Tatary, through the
straits of Weygat between Nova Zembla and Russia. At the same time,
some merchants of Amsterdam, at the suggestion of the celebrated geographer
and divine, Petrus Plancius, prepared another vessel, with the view of dis-
covering if it were possible to effect a passage into the same sea to the north
of Nova Zembla. The three vessels parted company at the island of Kildin
(69° 40'), when the two former, shaping their course north-northeast, dis-
covered Staten Island; and passing the Weygat, to which they gave the
name of the straits of Nassau, succeeded, though frequently in danger of
being enclosed by the ice or dashed in pieces by the floating bergs, in effecting
their passage into the sea of Tatary, along which they sailed as far as the
mouth of the Obi.
The Amsterdam vessel reached Lombsbay (lat. 74° 20'), but was pre-
vented from advancing further by the continual mists and the quantity of
ice, as well as the unwillingness of the crew to continue the voyage. On
the report brought by the two former vessels, the states-general were induced
to fit out seven ships m this year for the same expedition, but they added
nothing to the previous discoveries, their navigation being impeded by the
ice. Determined, however, if possible, to effect their purpose, the merchants
of Amsterdam once more equipped two vessels — the one commanded by
Jan Corneliszoon Rijp, the other by Jakob van Heemskerk, both resolute,
able, and enterprising captains, with one Willem Barentz, famed for his
skill as a pilot. Setting sail in company on the 10th of May, they separated
on the coast of Norway, when the ship of Rijp, steering towards the north-
west discovered the island of Spitzbergen, to which they gave this name
from the pointed appearance of its mountains.'
They had reached the 75th degree of north latitude, when their vessel
became firmly locked in the ice at no great distance from the shore. Hope-
less of moving, they had no other resource left than to make the best prepara-
tions they might for a residence there during the whole winter. Happily
they were well supplied with clothing, wine, and food, except meat; and hav-
' From the Dutch words " spitz," pointed, and " berg," mountain.
THE SWAY OF OLDEN-BAENEVELD ^4^
[1596-1598 A.D.]
ing found a quantity of drift-wood in a fresh-water stream, at about three
miles distance, which singularly enough remained unfrozen, they soon com-
pleted a spacious and tolerably commodious hut; from the same source,
also, they obtained ample provision of firewood. Here they ran imminent
risk of destruction from the multitude of bears which, attracted probably
by the smell, prowled day and night around their new habitation; some of
these they killed, and found their fat highly serviceable in keeping their
lamps burning during the season of darkness, which lasted from the 4th of
November to the 24th of January.
_ They remained here ten months, and the middle of June, 1596, arrived
without any appearance of proba-
bility of then- being able to float
the vessel; and fearing lest, if they
delayed longer, the ice might again
accumulate and prevent their re-
turn, they set out in two open
boats on their voyage homeward.
After a series of incredible hard-
ships and perils, from the effect of
which their pilot, Willem Barentz,
died, they arrived at Waardhuys,
on the coast of Norway, where
they met with their consort, which
they supposed to have perished
long ago. E-ijp, the commander,
having taken them on board his
vessel, set sail for Amsterdam,
where they were received as men
risen from the dead, the failure in
the object of their expedition being
wholly forgotten in admiration
at the surpassing coiu-age and
patience with which they had
endured their sufferings.^
A quarrel between the queen
of England and the Hanse towns,
which had existed for some years, became so violent in 1598 that the em-
peror banished from the empire the company of Enghsh merchant adventurers
resident in the town of Stade. Intelligence of the circumstance no sooner
reached the United Provinces, than all the principal towns sent to offer the
merchants extensive privileges, in the hope of inducing them to settle there.
After some consideration, they chose the town of Middelburg in Zealand,
whither they drew an immense trade in cloths, serges, and baize; the queen
• In the relation of this voyage, we meet with an instance of the extraordinary elasticity of
spirit, and of the predilection for their national customs, pecuUar to this people. The 5th of
January, the eve of the day of the Three Kings, is one of those periodical seasons consecrated
by the Dutch to idleness and froUc. The sufferings of the ship's crew from cold were intense ;
they had not seen the sun for two months, and many more must be passed before they could be
released from their ice-girt prison ; but, philosophically observing that because they expected
BO many sad days was no reason they should not have one merry one, they chose the chief
boatswain as their king (a potentate of like authority and functions with the Lord of Misrule in
our Christmas revels); drank to the health of the new sovereign of Nova Zembia in bumpers of
wine, which they had spared for the occasion ; tossed the pancake (de riguew on such occa-
sions) with the prescribed ceremonies, and made the dreary realms of the snow-king re-echo
foi the first time to the sounds of human mirth and jollity.
Jakob van Hbemskerk
(1567-1607)
S50 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1598-1603 A.D.]
commanding that all the wools exported from England should be consigned
to them. About the same time, the city of Amsterdam was enriched by
the settlement of an immense number of wealthy Jews, who had fled from
Portugal to avoid the renewed persecutions exercised against them on account
of their religion.
A new source of foreign commerce, also, was at this period opened to the
provinces by a treaty with the grand signior of Constantinople, from whom
they obtained entire liberty of traffic to Syria, Greece, Egypt, and Turkey,
for all their vessels sailing under the protection of the king of France. The
expedition to the East Indies vmdertaken by the merchants of Amsterdam,
in 1595, though attended with some disasters, had roused the emulationof
the other towns of Holland and Zealand. Eighty ships of considerable size
sailed this summer to the East and West Indies, to Brazil, and to the coast
of Guinea, whence they brought large quantities of ivory and gold-dust.
Nor did these novel and exciting enterprises divert them from their long-estab-
lished and profitable trade with the covmtries of the north; 640 vessels from
the Baltic arrived early in the next year in the port of Amsterdam, bearing
one hundred thousand tons of merchandise, (timber, com, hemp, tar, etc.),
of which each ton paid a duty of twenty guilders.
The Dutch East India Company
In the year 1602 is dated the erection of the famed Dutch East India
Company, a source of immense wealth to Holland, and of continual heart-
burnings and jealousies between herself and other nations. The groundwork
of this company had been formed by a few merchants of Amsterdam in 1595;
and, notwithstanding the losses and disasters subsequently occasioned by
the combined hostility of the natives and Portuguese, the trade had become
yearly more profitable, and the public appetite for it had constantly and
rapidly increased. The commanders of the Dutch vessels had been able to
obviate in some measure the effects of the misrepresentations of the Spaniards
and Portuguese on the minds of the people of India, and had made alliances
with the islanders of Banda, the king of Ternate, and of Kandy in the island
of Ceylon, and the sovereign of Achin.
Under these favourable circumstances, companies were established in
several towns both of Holland and Zealand; but they perceived, ere long,
that they unconsciously inflicted extensive damage on each other. For this
reason, the states determined upon consolidating all the companies into one
general East India Company, which for a term of twenty-one years should
have the exclusive privilege of navigating east of the cape of Good Hope,
and west of the straits of Magellan. The capital amounted to 6,600,000
guilders; the company was empowered to make alliances with the sovereigns
of India in the name of the states or chief magistrate of the provinces, to
build forts, and appoint governors taking the oath to the states. The com-
pany commenced operations by the equipment of a fleet of fourteen armed
vessels, of which Wybrand van Warwyk was appointed admiral. Wybrand
remained nearly five years abroad, and in the year 1606 discovered the island
to which he gave the name of Mauritius.
The commencement of the career of the new East India Company was
one of almost uninterrupted prosperity. In 1603 another fleet of thirteen
ships, under the command of Stephen van der Hagen, sailing to the coast
of Malabar, made with the king of Calicut an advantageous treaty of com-
merce and alliance against the Portuguese; and early in this year arrived
THE SWAY OF OLDEN-BAENEVELD 351
peos-ieos a.bj
before Ambojma, the citadel of which the Portuguese were forced to surrender.
It was a remarkable proof of the bitter and savage hatred which subsisted
between the Dutch and Spaniards that the former on this, as on most other
occasions, when they captured an enemy's ship, put the whole of the
Spaniards to death, while the Portu-
guese they brought safely to land, and
often released them without a ransom.
During the negotiations for the
truce the greater number of deputies
in the states were determined at all
hazards to insist upon the continuation
of a commerce which had now become
actually necessary to their well-being;
which employed 190 ships, and above
eight thousand men; and of which the
annual returns were estimated at 43,-
000,000 guilders. The trade with
Spain, which was offered in the stead,
was of far inferior value. It was in
vain that they had fought during forty
years for their liberty, and against
the duke of Alva's tenth, as destruc-
tive of commerce, if they were now to
endure the slavery of being excluded
from the greater portion of the world.
The provinces were the less dis-
posed to make the immense sacrifice re-
quired of them by Spain, in consequence
of the tidings which reached them in
1608, of the successes obtained by their
countrymen, and the rich prizes they
had captured in the Indian seas. A
fleet of thirteen vessels, which had been
equipped for India in 1605, xmder the
admiral Matelief, one of the directors
of the company, sailing to the penin-
sula of Malay, made alliances with the
four kings then reigning in Johore,
whose ancestors had been deprived of
Malacca by the Portuguese, and, in concert with them, in 1608, undertook
the siege of that city. He had lain before it four months, when Don Alonzo
de Castro, viceroy of India, came to its relief with a fleet of fourteen galleons
and twenty smaller vessels, on board of which were 3,700 men. The number
of the Dutch amounted to no more than 1,200. At the approach of the enemy,
Matelief broke up the siege, and re-embarked his artillery; when, advancing
to meet the Spanish fleet, a sharp contest ensued, in which each side lost
three vessels; but the Dutch had no more than eight men killed, while a
considerable number perished on the side of the Spaniards. A second engage-
ment, fought not long after, was far more decisive; two ships of Castro's
fleet were captured, a third destroyed by fire, and the remainder so entirely
disabled that, retreating into the roads of Malacca, they were burned by
the Spaniards themselves.
The advantages of this victory were counterbalanced by the loss of Tidor,
OIjD Houses op Ghent
552
THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
where, the citadel having been destroyed, in compliance with the wishes of
the king, the Portuguese regained possession of the island without diflSculty.
The publication of the truce had been received in the Spanish Netherlands
with unbounded acclamations; but the inhabitants of the United Provinces,
in whose naturally pacific disposition the long war, and the successes attendant
on it, had worked a vast change, manifested a joy less lively and imiversal.
The feelings with which it was regarded by foreign nations were those of
unbounded astonishment and admiration."
Motley has thus siunmed up the war: "A commonwealth of sand-banks,
lagoons, and meadows, less than fourteen thousand square miles in extent,
had done battle for nearly half a century with the greatest of existing powers,
a realm whose territory was nearly a third of the globe, and which claimed
universal monarchy. And this had been done with an army averaging forty-
six thousand men, half of them foreigners hired by the job, and by a sea-
faring population, volunteering into ships of every class and denomination,
from a fly-boat to a galleot of war. And when the republic had won its
independence, after this ahnost eternal warfare, it owed four or five millions
of dollars, and had sometimes an annual revenue of nearly that amount." *
In his biography of Olden-Bameveld, Motley has thus summed up the
truce:
"The convention was signed in the spring of 1609. The ten ensuing
years in Eiirope were comparatively tranquil, but they were scarcely to be
numbered among the full and fruitful sheaves of a pacific epoch. It was a
pause, a breathing spell during which the sulphurous clouds which had made
the atmosphere of Christendom poisonous for nearly half a century had sullenly
rolled away, whilst at every point of the horizon they were seen massing
themselves anew in portentous and ever-accumulating strength. To us of
a remote posterity the momentary division of epochs seems hardly discernible.
So rapidly did that fight of demons which we call the Thirty Years' War tread
on the heels of the forty years' struggle for Dutch Independence which had
just been suspended, that we are accustomed to think and speak of the Eighty
Years' War as one pure, perfect, sanguinary whole."?
CHAPTER XI
PRINCE MAURICE IN POWER
[1609-1625 A.D.]
With the exception of a bloodless mimicry of war, in a dispute over the
succession to the duchy of Jiilich, or Juliers, 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, whilst robbing France
of one of its best monarchs, deprived the United Provinces of their truest
and most powerful friend.
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 had the last shot fired by the
defeated Spaniards in the battle of Nieuport 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 stadholder were calculated to sink him below the
level of civil virtue ' and just government.
Opposed to Maurice in almost every one of his acts was Barneveld, one
of the truest patriots of any time or country; and, with the exception of
William the great prince of Orange, the most eminent citizen to whom the
affairs of the Netherlands have given celebrity. Long after the completion
P Jeannin had proposed to the states the ample provisions made for the prince and his
whole family on the occasion of the treaty. PhUip, prince of Orange, besides his share of
Til a paternal estates, received 1,000,000 guilders ; an annuity of 25,000 guilders vras conferred
on Prince lilaurice, who was likewise to retain his present offices, at a salary of 80,000 guUders
a year, with 80,000 more as an indemnification for the loss he sustained by the cessation of the
war ; and proportional pensions Were settled on Prince Henry, Count William of Nassau, stad-
holder of Priesland, the princess dowager, and even upon Justin of Nassau, the illegitimate
son of the late prince of Orange. Of the selfish rapacity of Maurice, the prominent vice of his
character, the English ambassador, Sir Ralph Win wood J" gives the following testimony : "No
one thing hath been of greater trouble to us than the craving humour of Count Maurice, who,
not satisfied with the large treatments granted by the states, demanded satisfaction for certain
pretensions, grounded upon grants to his father from the states of Brabant and Flanders, at
snch time as they were under the government of the duke of Anjou ; which demand he pressed
so hard that he gave a charge to Count William not to sign the treaty unless in this particular
he should leceive contentment." "]
653
664 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1609 A.i>.]
of the truce, every minor point in the domestic affairs of the republic seemed
merged in the conflict between the stadholder and the pensionary. Without
attempting to specify these, we may say, generally, that ahnost every one
redoundea to the disgrace of the prince and the honour of the patriot.
THE AEMINIAN CONTEOVEHST
But the main question of agitation was the fierce dispute which soon
broke out between two professors of theology of the university of Leyden,
Francis Gomarus and Jakobus Arminius [Jacob van Harmensen]. We do
not regret on this occasion that our confined limits spare us the task of re-
cording in detail controversies on points of speculative doctrine. The whole
strength of the intellects which had
long been engaged in the conflict for
national and religious liberty was now
directed to metaphysical theology, and
wasted upon interminable disputes
about predestination and grace. Barne-
veld enrolled himself among the
partisans of Arminius; Maurice eventu-
ally became a Gomarist. It was, how-
ever, scarcely to be wondered at that a
country so recently delivered from
slavery both in church and state should
run into wild excesses of intolerance.
Persecutions of various kinds were in-
dulged in against papists, anabaptists,
Socinians, and all the shades of doc-
trine into which Christianity had split.
Every minister who, in the milder spirit
of Lutheranism, strove to moderate the
rage of Calvinistic enthusiasm, was
openly denounced by its partisans; and
one, named Gaspard Koolhaas, was
actually excommimicated by a synod.
Arminius had been appointed professor at Leyden in 1603, for the mild-
ness of his doctrines, which were joined to most affable manners, a happy
temper, and a purity of conduct which no calumny could successfully traduce.
His colleague Gomarus, a native of Bruges, learned, violent, and rigid in
sectarian points, soon became jealous of the more popular professor's influ-
ence. A furious attack on the latter was answered by recrimination; and
the whole battery of theological authorities was reciprocally discharged by
one or other of the disputants.
The states of Holland interfered between them: they were sununoned to
appear before the council of state; and grave politicians listened for hours
to the dispute. Arminius obtained the advantage, by the apparent reason-
ableness of his creed, and the gentleness and moderation of his conduct. He
was meek, while Gomarus was furious; and many of the listeners declared
that they would rather die with the charity of the former than in the faith
of the latter. A second hearing was allowed them before the states of Hol-
land (August 20th, 1609). Again Arminius took the lead; and the contro-
versy went on unceasingly, till this amiable man, worn out by his exertions
Fbancis Gomarus
(1563-1641)
PRINCE MAURICE IN POWER 555
[1609-1616 A.D.]
and the presentiment of the evil which these disputes were engendering for
his country, expired October 19th, 1609, m his forty-ninth year, piously per-
sisting in his opinions.
The Gomarists now loudly called for a national synod, to regulate the
points of faith. The Arminians remonstrated on various grounds, and thus
acquired the name of "Remonstrants," by which they were soon generally
distinguished. The most deplorable contests ensued. Serious riots occurred
in several of the towns of Holland; and James I of England could not resist
the temptation of entering the polemical lists, as a champion of orthodoxy
and a decided Gomarist. His hostility was chiefly directed against Vorstius,
the successor and disciple of Arminius. He pretty strongly recommended
the states-general to have him burned for heresy. His inveterate intolerance
knew no bounds; and it completed the melancholy picture of absurdity
which the whole affair presents to reasonable minds.
In this dispute, which occupied and agitated all, it was impossible that
Barneyeld should not choose the congenial temperance and toleration of
Arminius. Maurice, with probably no distinct conviction, or much interest
in the abstract differences on either side, joined the Gomarists. His motives
were purely temporal; for the party he espoused was now decidedly as much
poUtical as religious. King James rewarded him by conferring on him the
riband of the order of the Garter vacant by the death of Henry IV of France.
The ceremony of investiture was performed with great pomp by the English
ambassador at the Hague; and James and Maurice entered from that time
into a close and uninterrupted correspondence.
BARNEVELD OUTWITS KING JAMES
During the long continuance of the theological disputes, the United
Provinces had nevertheless made rapid strides towards commercial greatness;
and the year 1616 witnessed the completion of an affair which was considered
the consolidation of their independence. This important matter was the
recovery of the towns of Briel and Flushing, and the fort of Rammekins,
which had been placed in the hands of the English as security for the loan
granted to the republic by Queen Elizabeth. The whole merit of the trans-
action was due to the perseverance and address of Bameveld acting on the
weakness and the embarrassments of King James. Religious contention
did not so fully occupy Barneveld but that he kept a constant eye on political
concerns. He was well informed on aU that passed in the English court: he
knew the wants of James, and was aware of his efforts to bring about the
marriage of his son with the infanta of Spain. The danger of such an alliance
was evident to the penetrating Barneveld, who saw in perspective the proba-
bility of the wily Spaniard's obtaining from the English monarch possession
of the strong places in question. He therefore resolved on obtaining their
recovery; and his great care was to get them back with a considerable abate-
ment of the enormous debt for which they stood pledged, and which now
amounted to 8,000,000 florins. It was finally agreed that the states should
pay in full of the demand 2,728,000 florins (about £250,000), being about one-
third of the dCT)t. Prince Maurice repaired to the cautionary towns in the
month of June, 1616, and received them at the hands of the English gov-
ernors, the garrisons at the same time entering into the service of the
repubUc.
The accomplishment of this measure afforded the highest satisfaction to
656 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
the United Provinces. It caused infinite discontent in England; and James,
with the common injustice of men who make a bad bargain (even though its
conditions be of their own seeking, and suited to their own convenience)
turned his own self-dissatisfaction into bitter hatred against him whose watch-
ful integrity had successfully laboured for his country's good. Barneveld's
leaniag towards France and the Arminians filled the measure of James' un-
worthy enmity. Its effects were soon apparent, on the arrival at the Hague
of Carleton, who succeeded Winwood as James' ambassador. The haughty
pretensions of this diplomatist, whose attention seemed tiu-ned to theological
disputes rather than politics, gave great disgust; and he contributed not a
little to the persecution which led to the tragical end of Barneveld's life.
Frans van Aarssens, son to him who proved himself so incorruptible
when attempted to be bribed by Neyen, was one of the foremost of the faction
who now laboured for the downfall of the pensionary. He was a man of
infinite dissimulation; versed in all the intrigues of courts; and so deep in
all their tortuous tactics, that cardinal Richelieu, well qualified to prize that
species of talent, declared that he knew only three great political geniuses,
of whom Francis Aarssens was one.
The honorary empire of the seas seems at this time to have been success-
fully claimed by the United Provinces: they paid back with interest the
haughty conduct with which they had been long treated by the English;
and they refused to pay the fishery duties to whiph the inhabitants of Great
Britain were subject. The Dutch sailors had even the temerity, under pre-
text of pursuing pirates, to violate the British territory: they set fire to the
town of Crookhaven, in Ireland, and massacred several of the inhabitants.
King James, Lnamersed in theological studies, appears to have passed lightly
over this outrage. But he took fire at the news that the states had prohibited
the importation of cloth dyed and dressed in England. It required the best
exertion of Barneveld's talents to pacify him.
The influence of Prince Maurice had gained complete success for the
Calvinist party, in its various titles of Gomarists, non-remonstrants, etc.
The audacity and violence of these ferocious sectarians knew no boimds.
Outrages, too many to enumerate, became common through the country;
and Arminianism was on all sides assailed and persecuted. Barneveld fre-
quently appealed to Maurice without effect; and all the efforts of the former
to obtain justice by means of the civil authorities were paralysed by the
inaction in which the prince retained the military force. Schism upon schism
was the consequence, and the whole country was reduced to that state of
anarchy so favourable to the designs of an ambitious soldier already in the
enjoyment of almost absolute power.
All efforts were subservient to the one grand object of utterly destroying,
by a public proscription, the whole of the patriot party, now identified with
Arminianism. A national sjmod was loudly clamoured for by the Gomarists
in spite of opposition on constitutional groimds. Uitenbogaard, the en-
lightened pastor and friend of Maurice, who on all occasions laboured for the
general good, now moderated, as much as possible, the violence of either
pa,rty; but he could not persuade Barneveld to render himself, by com-
pliance, a tacit accomplice in a measure that he conceived fraught with
violence to the public privileges. He had an inflexible enemy in Carleton
the English ambassador. His interference carried the question; and it was
at his suggestion that Dordrecht, or Dort, was chosen for the assembling of
the synod. Du Maurier, the French ambassador, acted on all occasions as
a mediator. /
PEINCE MAUEICB IN POWER 557
MAtmicB versus baeneveld, or autocracy versus aristocracy
To recount fully the feud between Holland's most eminent politician
and her most eminent soldier would require a further explication of fine
religious and political distinctions than is possible in this work. It is desirable
however, to contradict the impression given by many historians, that Maurice
was altogether a self-seeking tyrant and Barneveld altogether a self-effacing
patriot. It must be remembered always that Maurice refused the crown as
positively as did George Washington, ahd that Barneveld was not only a man of
a grasping and domineering nature, but also a representative of the aristocracy,
not of the popiilace. The populace was as little represented in the republic
of Holland as in the early republic of Switzerland. The internal contests
in both came about from the mutual jealousies of states and cantons.
Holland, having borne more than half of the financial and other burdens
of the seven provinces, had easily maintained control in time of war; but
with peace came a desire for equality among the other states, and a corre-
sponding unwillingness on the part of Holland to relinquish pre-eminence.
The ensuing contest has been well likened to the quarrel between the doctrines
of states' rights and of centralisation in the United States of America, with
this modification — that in the Netherlands centralisation meant the states-
general under the dominance of the states of Holland. As Motley <i says in
his biography, "The states-general were virtually John of Barneveld." And
Barneveld, being the advocate of Holland, felt a deeper concern for Holland
than for the entire seven provinces, as later many a confederate leader felt
a heavier duty to his own state than to the United States.
Involved in the tangle was Barneveld's strong feeling that the safety of
the provinces lay in thfe friendship of France, then closely allied with Spain.
He had already carried through his Spanish truce in spite of much opposition;
and this collusion with the Catholic Spanish sovereignty, at a time of great
religious bitterness, led many to believe that Barneveld was inclining to
revert to Spanish domination and was even in Spanish pay — a cruelly imjust
accusation, yet one that was honestly believed and openly averred. Further-
more, he stood for the eccentric and unpopular creed of religious tolerance;
he wore an agnostic motto, "To know nothing is the safest creed," and he
leaned towards the Arminian minority.
Prince Maurice, for his part, felt that he had many a just grievance.
During the war he had been constantly hampered by the states-general, who
disgusted him with their inexpert advice and compelled him to manoeu-
vres that often risked his whole campaign. The truce with Spain, at a
time when he felt himself capable of imposing a far more advantageous
treaty, had provoked his vain opposition. The end of war had removed him
from the field of glory and the focus of European admiration. Now, Maurice
was the direct descendant of an emperor. His father had been called the
"father of his country." He had been repeatedly offered the crown. Yet
the son. Mam-ice, had won brilliant victories where William the Silent had
been able only to manipulate defeat after defeat. If William of Orange had
deserved the crown, Maurice of Orange deserved it. He woiild not have
taJcen it, he said: and when the opportunity came, and his friends recom-
mended this step, he forbore. Later, it was indeed his bitterest charge
against Barneveld that the advocate had accused him of seeking the crown.
But, none the less, he felt that he deserved a foremost place in the govern-
ment of the country, and it irritated him to find himself constantly over-
fi58
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
reached by Bameveld. His acts became more and more dictatorial; but,
for the matter of that, Bameveld was similarly dictatorial, and if Maurice
made use of the troops he had led to such prestige, Bameveld enrolled other
troops, the Waardgelders, against them.
If Maurice sought to increase his own power, similarly Bameveld sought
both to crush the other states under the sway of Holland and to insist upon
the rion-interference of the other states in the affairs of Holland. Maurice
came gradually to represent the anti-Holland party and the anti-Bameveld
faction. He began to gain away Barneveld's majority in the states-general,
leaving him only the Holland delegatioft, and not all of that.
The intense religious disputes brought this duel between two ambitious
poUticians to that fanatic length
^~x:y^ whither religious disputes usually
tend. The states-general, imder Bar-
neveld's strong control, had at first
sought to allay the fever of the Go-
marists or Calvinists, but had only
infuriated them by this "interfer-
ence" of the state in the solemn
doctrines of the church. Bameveld
thus became an object of hatred to
the other states of the union and to
the majority of religious enthusiasts.
But Maurice gradually inclined to the
Calvinist side, and foimd himself
heading the mass of the public in the
resistance to Bameveld. Maurice was
distinctly the leader of the populace.
These statements are not meant
as palliation of the cruel excesses to
which Mam-ice afterward drifted, but
only as an offset to the unjudicial
tendency to make an ideal martyr
of the splendid but domineering
Bameveld, and a complete villain
of the illustrious warrior. Bameveld was undoubtedly the larger-minded,
the wiser, and nobler of the two men, and, above all, he stood for religious
toleration. He was, as Motley <* said, " the prime minister of Protestantism."
But he also was human, and the pity for his fate should not lead to a mis-
judgment of his historical meaning.
As Blok « admits, " Rarely has any state government been so complicated
as was that of the young commonwealth in its early years of acknowledged
independence." The union was rather adhesive than cohesive, its elements
being unhke in almost eveiy way: Holland and Zealand were countships;
Gelderland was a duchy; Sticht was a bishopric; Utrecht was more nearly
democratic. Then there were the ancient privileges to which individual
cities climg, as dearer than life.
A strong central power was lacking.' There was a council of state, but
Philippe Duplessis-Mornay
(1549-1623)
[' Was the supreme power of the union, created at Utrecht in 1579, vested in the states-
general ? They were beginning theoretically to claim it, but Bameveld denied the existence of
any such power either in law or fact. It was a league of sovereignties, he maintained ; a con-
federacy of seven independent states, united for certain purposes by a treaty made some thirty
years before. Nothing could be more imbecile, judging bj the light of subsequent events and
'• • PRmCE MAUEICE IN POWER 559
the states-general disputed its right to authority, and limited its prerogatives
more and niore. The states-general was a college of deputies from the seven
provinces, which called themselves "sovereign powers." The number of
representatives from each province was not regulated by any uniform law
nor was their term of office. The deputies had assumed ahnost no responsi-
bilities; they wished to be instructed from home on every point. The laws
they made must be proclauned by the separate provmcial states, each in its
°^F°"^^^^' .^^^ disagreement between these two groups was constant.
Ihe office of governor or stadholder was really an anachronism, Maurice
havmg been elected solely as a counterweight to the grasping Leicester.
Now he was stadholder in five of the provinces, and his cousin William Louis
of Nassau m the other two. Owing
to the fact that the stadholder
Maurice happened to have become
also the prince of Orange, his pow-
ers were enlarged into nearly royal
dignities; he was furthermore finan-
cially independent, and he had the
support of the great mass of people,
who, though they cheerfully ignored
any rights to suffrage, were yet of
inevitably great weight in carrying
any policy to success.
The shapelessness and disunity
of the government were recognised,
but no remedy could be agreed
upon. A union under a countship
had been suggested, but Maurice
said he would rather throw himself
from the tower at the Hague than
accept so limited a sovereignty as
had been offered to his father; and
the majority was not inclined to
relinquish the limitations. The city
of Utrecht, however, was prey to
various disturbances in 1610 and so
strongly inclined to uplift Maurice to the sovereignty that a civil war
threatened; but the states-general under Barneveld's leadership managed
to repress the movement.
Next the Arminian and Gomarist religious war broke out; and Barneveld,
fearing a renewal of the church disturbances of Leicester's time, felt that
only vigorous action by the states-general could avert serious trouble. He
declared it to be better to be ruled by a lord than by a mob, though he equally
abhorred hierarchy, monarchy, and democracy. He cared little about creeds,
but he cared much about peace. The states forbade the Gomarist or counter-
the experience of centuries, than such an organisation. Yet it was diflScult to show any charter,
precedent, or prescription for the sovereignty of the states-general. Necessary as such an incor-
poration was for the very existence of the union, no constitutional union had ever been enacted.
Practically the province of Holland, representing more than half the population, wealth,
strength, and intellect of the whole confederation, had achieved an irregular supremacy in the
states-general. But its undeniable superiority was now causing a rank growth of envy, hatred,
and jealousy throughout the country, and the great Advocate of Holland, who was identified
with the province, and had so long wielded its power, was beginning to reap the full harvest of
that malice. — Motley. ''1
Jakobus Abminhjb
(1560-1609)
660 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1616-1618 A.D.]
remonstrant synod, repressed the violence of preachers, and sought to gain
control over church administration by reviving an ordinance of 1591.
This provoked such fierce opposition that Bameveld, Grotius, and others
felt that miUtary repression of the mob's intolerance for the Arminians would
be needed. But where was it to be found? Not among the militia, because
the populace was generally in favour of the coimter-remonstrants. Not in
the army, for Prince Maurice had been gradually driven to take a counter-
remonstrant stand, though at first he had declined to meddle in theology
and declared that he " knew nothing of predestination whether it were green
or blue. He only knew that his flute and Bameveld's were not likely to
make music together."
Frans van Aarssens and others called loudly on Maurice to protect the
church from Arminian heresy and from Barneveld. It was the latter word
that decided him, for he seems honestly to have believed that Bameveld
was intriguing with France, Spain, and the archdukes, and was in their pay.
When, then, Barneveld, on February 23rd, 1616, asked him to help the states-
general to discipline the churchmen, he refused and demanded that a synod
be called.
The turmoil grew more furious, and Barneveld seems to have tried to
persuade the states of Holland even to offer Maurice the countship for his
support; this step they refused. Yet something must be done, he felt, to
maintain their authority. In despair he proposed that force should be em-
ployed and that four thousand mercenaries, or Waardgelders, be recruited
by the magistrates of the towns for independent action. This meant to
bring matters to a crisis and Maurice to open opposition. It was a desperate
step and against a large majority with which Maurice allied himself more and
more definitely. Bameveld foimd the states of Holland more and more timid
of solving the question of church government as definitely as he wished.
The city of Amsterdam was openly opposed to him. The states-general
showed a majority against him.
The counter-remonstrants seized a church, August 5th, 1617. In rebuke
of this, Bameveld managed to put through the states of Holland the so-called
Sharp Resolution (Scherpe Resolutie) declaring the supremacy of the states
in church matters, refusing to call any synod to debate matters in the province
of the states, empowering the levy of Waardgelders to quell disturbance,
and calling on all officials and all officers and soldiers to take an immediate
oath of obedience to the states on pain of dismissal. Several towns accord-
ingly enlisted bodies of Waardgelders, and administered the oath of obe-
dience.
This brought Maurice to the forefront of the opposition. He carried
through the states-general a motion forbidding the states of Holland to demand
the oath; they then withdrew the clause concerning the oath, but the levy of
troops went on. Now, Holland found herself without allies except Utrecht,
and not agreed within her own bounds. The storm of pamphlets and orations
against Barneveld left no part of his career, origin, or family unscathed, and
filially drove him to pubhsh an eloquent review of his life, a Remonstrantie,
appealing to Maurice to recognise his fidelity to the nation.
But, in spite of Barneveld, the states-general declared that the national
synod of churchmen should be called to solve the problems which Barneveld
believed to belong to state jurisdiction and to take measures for deciding
what and what only could be believed and preached in the Netherlands.
July 9th, 1619, the states-general demanded the disbandment of the Waard-
gelders of Utrecht. They now sent the prince and others with troops to carry
PRINCE MAUEICE IN POWER 561
[1618 A.D.]
out the order. Holland sent emissaries, Hugo Grotius among them, to per-
suade Utrecht to resist. Maurice prevailed, the Utrecht mercenaries were
disbanded, and disarmed; the municipal officers took flight, and were replaced
by counter-remonstrants chosen for life. Briel had been similarly reduced.
Holland was to be disarmed next; but eight cities declared that they
would retain their Waardgelders in spite of Maurice and as a protection against
him. Bameveld and others begged the prince not to use force. He refused
to grant the request. The mercenaries were ordered to disband. In spite
of their early bravado, they dispersed, and the threatened opposition did
not materiahse, for Barneveld refused to put himself at its head and begin a
civil war. He was warned then to take flight. This counsel also he refused."
THE ARREST OF BARNEVELD
On August 18th, 1618, Barneveld proceeded to the assembly of the states
of Holland. A messenger informed him that the prince desired to speak
with him. He accordingly went into the chamber where they were accus-
tomed to hold their conferences, and was immediately arrested by Nythof,
lieutenant of the prince's bodyguard, in the name of the states-general.
The same pretence was used towards Grotius and Hoogerbeets, who were in
like manner seized and conducted to separate apartments, each in ignorance
of what had happened to the others. To these was afterwards added Leden-
berg, secretary of the states of Utrecht.' Uitenbogaard fortunately effected
his escape to Antwerp, where he continued during the remainder of the
truce.
Although the arrest had been made in the name of the states-general, it
had never been proposed in that assembly, but was resolved on by those
members only who had accompanied Maurice to Utrecht, and executed by
order of the prince himself. Barneveld, moreover, was vmder the especial
protection of the states of Holland; and the two others as pensionaries of
Rotterdam and Leyden were under the jurisdiction of those towns, or the
court of Holland only; nor could they be legally arrested at all, imless fla-
grante delicto, without a previous complaint made to the municipal govern-
ments.
Violent and arbitrary as the arrest was, however, the states-general
signified their approval of it. The states of Holland imhesitatingly ex-
pressed their surprise that a matter of such importance should have been
resolved on and executed without their consent, or even knowledge, and
demanded in strong terms satisfaction for the injury they had sustained by
a proceeding so derogatory to the privileges and liberty of the province.
The remonstrance of the majority, accordingly, had but little weight with
the prince, who replied that what had been done was by the command of
the states-general, with whom the province of Holland must arrange the
matter of their jurisdiction. Similar applications from Rotterdam and Ley-
den met with a like reception. The sons-in-law of Bameveld, the lords of
Van der Myle, and Veenhuizen, with his son, the lord of Groeneveld, having
besought the prince that their father, in consideration of his age and infirmity,
might be allowed his own house as a prison, he threw this likewise upon the
' It was supposed by many persons that the ambassador Carleton was a party to this
transaction, from the circumstance of his having arrived at the Hague the evening before from
England, and having continued till a late hour of the night iu conversation with the prince of
Orange.
B. w, — vol. xm. go
562 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1618 A.D.]
states-general, saymg that it was their business alone. He added that their
father should suffer no more harm than himself.'
Maurice now repaired at the head of his body-guard of three hundred
troops, first to Schoonhoven, where he discharged the magistrates from their
oaths, and deposed all those members of the great council who had recom-
mended toleration in religious matters, filling their places with the most
violent of the counter-remonstrants. Thence he proceeded to effect a similar
change in Briel, Delft, and other places, which, the garrisons being favourable
to him, offered not the
slightest resistance. The
governments of Haarlem,
Leyden, and Rotterdam
soon after shared a like fate
with the rest, and Amster-
dam itself, which, though
conspicuous on the side of
the counter-remonstrants,
had only been so in conse-
quence of a small majority
in the coimcU, underwent a
similar change.
On intelligence of the
arrest of Bameveld, Louis
XIII of France com-
manded Boissize, his am-
bassador extraordinary to
the states-general, in con-
junction with Du Marnier,
to use his' utmost efforts
towards preventing them,
if possible, from proceeding
to extremities against the
prisoners, and to offer his
mediation in appeasing the
present discontents. The
states-general made answer
that the country was in no
such danger as had been
falsely represented to the
king; that the prince of
Orange had, by mild measures, and without tumult or bloodshed, remedied
the disorders that had arisen in the civil constitution, and that those which
infected the church would be appeased by the syiiod which was shortly to be
held at Dordrecht.
Jan van OliDBN-BABNEVEIiD
(1549-1691)
THE SYNOD OF DORT (OB DORDRECHT)
This measure had since the consent of Holland encountered no further
difficulty. As a preliminary, it was necessary that provincial synods should
' It is evident from the letters of this period that considerable persuasion, and even impor-
tunity, was necessary to engage Maurice to adopt the unconstitutional measures he was hurried
into ; the ministers of the church, and the English ambassador, Carleton, made themselves
particularly active.
PEINCB MAUEICE IN POWEE 563
[1618 A.D.]
be held, for the purpose of appointing delegates to the assembly, which was
fixed for the 8th of November. To secure the majority in these synods was
a measure of vital importance to the counter-remonstrants, and they ac-
cordingly employed every means they could devise to this end. The foreign
churches that had been invited to commission delegates to the s5Tiod all
complied with the request, except the Reformed church of France, whose
delegates were forbidden by the king to repair thither. At the head of
those appointed by King James was George Carleton, bishop of Llandaff.
On the 13th of November, this renowned assembly held its first meeting
at Dordrecht, in the house called the "Doel," a building and yard set apart
in the Dutch towns for the military exercises of the schuttery. The number
of ecclesiastical delegates from the provinces amounted to thirty-eight min-
isters, twenty elders, and five professors of theology; to these were added
eighteen "poHtical commissioners," or deputies from the states-general. The
whole number of delegates sent by the different foreign churches was twenty-
eight, so that the native members, being in considerable majority, were
enabled to outvote them whenever it might be found expedient.
_ The remonstrants, on the opening of the synod, demanded that they
might send deputies imder a safe conduct, to be present as parties, who should
be permitted to defend their opinions in any manner they thought best.
The political commissioners, however, determined that they could not recog-
nise any other body in the Netherland church than that which was repre-
sented by the sjmod, and that the remonstrants were to be heard in no other
way than in answer to a citation issued to those among them whom the
assembly itseh should choose. The sjmod accordingly issued citations to
thirteen ministers of that party.
During the time that intervened before the cited parties could appear,
the question was discussed of a new and accurate translation of the Bible
into the Dutch language; work begun in pursuance of an order of the states
in 1594, by Philip van Marnix, lord of Sainte-Aldegonde, who died before it
was finished. Six theologians of eminent learning were now appointed to
this task, who applied themselves to its execution with sedulous care and
diligence, and their version has accordingly been held in high esteem by
posterity. Finally, the expulsion of the remonstrants, in which act not a
third of the S3Tiod participated, was approved of by a decree of the states-
general.
The canons, consisting of the refutation and condemnation of the opinions
of the remonstrants on the five articles, and an exposition of the doctrines
held to be orthodox by the sjmod, laid down that " God has pre-ordained, by
an eternal and immutable decree, before the creation of the world, upon
whom he will bestow the free gift of his grace; that the atonement of Christ,
though sufficient for all the world, is efficacious only for the elect; that con-
version is not effected by any effort of man, but by the free grace of God
given to those only whom he has chosen from all eternity; and that it is
impossible for the elect to fall away from this grace."
The canons having been read and approved of, the 137th and 138th
sessions were occupied in passing judgment on the persons of the remon-
strants who had been cited. They were pronounced mnovators, and dis-
turbers of the church and nation; obstinate and rebeUious; leaders of faction,
teachers of false doctrine, and workers of schism; and deprived of their
offices, both ecclesiastical and academical, till such time as they had satisfied
the churches with evident signs of repentance; which sentence was subse-
quently confirmed by a decree of the states-general. Sentence of condemnar
664 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1619 A.D.]
tion was passed upon Vorstius and his doctrine: the former being declared
unfit to serve the office of preacher and minister in the Reformed church;
the latter, impious, blasphemous, and such as should be rooted out with
abhorrence. He was banished from the United Provinces on pain of death.
Thus terminated this celebrated synod with the 180th session, after having
been assembled more than seven months, at a cost to the state of 1,000,000
guilders [or £100,000]; and which, by some, has been looked up to with
reverence as an assembly of learned and pious divines, whose decrees were
inferior in purity and excellence of doctrine only to Scripture itself; while
by others it has been regarded as a meeting of bigoted polemics, whose pro-
ceedings aimed rather at the discomfiture and mortification of their antag-
onists than the discovery and promulgation of truth. Without subscribing
to either of these opinions, we may observe that, exhibiting little of the
Christian spirit of forbearance, the synod proposed no one single measure of
toleration or of concihation, nor devised any other mode of putting an end
to the divisions of the church, than the entire oppression of the weaker party;
and that, instead of tending to tmite the different sects upon the common
doctrines of the Reformation, it promulgated opinions of such an extreme
tendency as to cause a still wider alienation between the Lutherans and
Calvinists; an alienation of which the consequences were, perhaps, more
severely felt in the course of after events than is commonly supposed.*
i
THE TRIAL OF BARNEVELD
The resolute spirit displayed by the remonstrants at the synod contributed,
with some disturbances which occurred at Alkmaar and Hoorn, to exercise
a sinister influence on the destiny of the prisoners of state, the career of one
of whom was now drawing fast to a close. From the period of their arrest
they had, contrary to the provisions of the law of Holland, whereby persons
accused of a capital crime are to be tried within six weeks of their arrest,
been detained three months without examination, in order that the change
of the deputies of Holland, both in the states of that province and the states-
general, might ensure an appointment of judges by the latter entirely adverse
to them. During this time Barneveld, now past seventy years of age, had
been closely confined in the room which had served as a prison for the Spanish
commander Mendoza, after the battle of Nieuport; and, besides being sub-
jected to every petty indignity that malice could invent, was debarred the
sight of his wife and children, and deprived of the use of pen, ink, and paper,
as were also the other two captives.
On the assembly of the newly-organised states of Holland, they allowed
the states-general and prince of Orange to usurp, without opposition, that
[' Grattan/ ttus vigorously sums it up : " Theology was mystified ; religion disgraced ;
Christianity outraged. And after six months' display of ferocity and fraud, the solemn mockery
was closed by the declaration of its president that its miraculous labours had made hell tremble.
Proscriptions, banishments, and death were tho natural consequences of this synod. The
divisions which it had professed to extinguish were rendered a thousand times more violent
than before. Its decrees did incalculable ill to tho cause they were meant to promote. The
Anglican church was the first to reject the canons of Dort with horror and contempt. The
Protestants of France and Germany, and even Geneva, the nurse and guardian of Calvinism,
were shocked and disgusted, and unanimously softened down the rigour of their respective
creeds. But the moral effects of this memorable conclave were too remote to prevent the sacri-
fice which almost immediately followed the celebration of its rites. A trial by twenty-four
prejudiced enemies, by courtesy called judges, which in its progress and its result throws judi-
cial dignity into scorn, ended in the condemnation of Barneveld and his fellow patriots for
treason against the liberties they had vainly laboured to save."]
PEINCE MAtJRICE IN POWER 565
[1619 X.D.]
authority over the prisoners whicL belonged to themselves alone; and these,
with equally httle scruple, superseded the ordinary courts of justice by the
institution of a commission of inquiry, of which, besides the attorneys-general
of Utrecht and Gelderland, Pieter van Leeuwen and Lawrence Sylla, most
of the members had been deputies to Utrecht on the occasion of the dis-
banding of the Waardgelders, and the whole had rendered themselves con-
spicuous by their implacable hostility to Barneveld in particular. These
persons exercised their functions with an injustice and severity unequalled
even in the trials of the counts of Egmont and Horn, under the government
of Alva. Barneveld was subjected to twenty-three examinations, during
which he was neither allowed to take down the questions in writing, to make
memoranda of his answers, nor to refer to notes; the interrogatories were not
confined to any definite period, but extended over his whole public life, no
effort being spared to involve him in those contradictions which, from decay
of memory, or confusion of dates, might easily occur. Ledenberg, secretary
of the states of Utrecht, was so terrified by the menaces of torture which
they used, that, dreading lest he might be forced by such means to make
any admission detrimental to his friends, he committed suicide in prison.
As the commission was not invested with judicial powers, the states-
general, after the conclusion of the examinations, appointed twenty-four
judges, half the number only being Hollanders, an appointment illegal alike
in its origin and constitution. By this court Barneveld was, after forty-
eight interrogatories, found guilty, and condemned to death upon the follow-
ing accusations among others : that he had disturbed the peace of religion,
and maintained the exorbitant and pernicious maxim that the sovereignty
belonged to each province over its own ecclesiastical matters; that he had
dictated the protest of Holland, Utrecht, and Overyssel against the acts of the
states-general; that he had opposed the application of any remedies to the
disorders in the Church and State; that he had encouraged disunion and dis-
orders in the provinces, placing himself at the head of a faction, and had
held separate assemblies of deputies from eight of the towns of Holland
devoted to his interests; that in these assemblies the "severe edict" was re-
solved on, whereby the authority of the ordinary courts of justice was sus-
pended; that he was one of the principal promoters of the levy of the Waard-
gelders; that he had degraded the character of the prince of Orange by his
calumnies, accusing him of aiming at the sovereignty of the provinces; that
he had attempted to seduce the regular troops from their allegiance to the
states-general; that he had received divers large sums of money from foreign
princes, without giving due information thereof; and that he had squandered
the finances of the country, and created general distrust among the inhabitants
and allies of the provinces.
With respect to some of these charges, such as placing himself at the head
of a faction, introducing his friends into pubUc offices and the Uke, it will be
observed that similar imputations may be made at any time against any
distinguished member of a party in a free state, and certainly could never
form the ground of a criminal accusation. The "exorbitant and pernicious
maxim," that each province retained its sovereignty with regard to religious
matters, was a principle acted upon from the commencement of the revolt
of Holland, without which the Pacification of Ghent, in 1576, between the
Reformed provinces of Holland and Zealand, and the Catholic ones of Bra-
bant and Flanders, never could have been effected, and which was expressly
laid down In the exposition of the thirteenth article of the Union of Utrecht.
The only capital charge, that of entertaining a correspondence with Spain,
566 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1619 A.D.1
which before his trial had been so long and so vehemently insisted on by his
enemies, was entirely abandoned. This accusation the com-t of inquiry had
taken the utmost pains to prove, even going so far as to use alternate threats
and promises to Grotius in order to force hmi to say something in confirma-
tion of it, but had wholly failed. The states-general, aware of the doubt that the
entire innocence of the prisoner on the principal charge would tend to throw on
his guilt with respect to the whole — which, moreover, had he been guilty and
responsible for all the acts contained therein, would, neither separately nor
together, have constituted treason — issued a manifesto to the several prov-
inces, declaring that many other crimes were laid to his charge, which could
not be proved without stricter examination, such as the great age of the pris-
oner rendered inadvisable; by which was understood the application of the
torture. It is somewhat difficult to imagine why the same consideration for his
age which prevented the judges from adopting measures to prove his crime,
should not have prevailed to deter them from condemning him without proof.
THE EXECUTION OF BARNEVELD (1619)
On the evening of Simday, the 12th of May,_Pieter van Leeuwen and
Lawrence SyUa, two of the judges, entered the prison of Barneveld, for the
purpose of summoning him the next morning to receive sentence of death.
"Sentence of death," exclaimed the aged patriot; "sentence of death! I
did not expect that." He then asked permission to write a farewell letter
to his wife. While Leeuwen was gone to make his request known to the
states, he said to the attorney-general of Gelderland, "SyUa, Sylla, could
your father but see that you have allowed yourself to be employed in this
business!" — the only expression of anger or impatience which the heroic
old man permitted to escape him during the whole of this trying period.
The materials being brought him, he began to write with the utmost com-
posure, when Sylla observed to him to be careful what he said, lest it might
prevent the delivery of the letter. "What, Sylla," he answered, half smiling,
"are you come to dictate to me what I shall write in my last hour?" He
then sent to the prince of Orange, to ask his forgiveness if he had offended
him, and to entreat him to be gracious to his children.
Maurice, whether from an excess of dissimulation, or that he in fact
repented of having pushed matters so far, received the minister with tears;
he professed that he had always loved the advocate, but that two things
had vexed him: first, that he had accused him of aiming at the sovereignty,
and next, that he had exposed him to danger at Utrecht; adding that, never-
theless, he freely forgave him, and would protect his children so long as they
deserved it. As the messenger left the room the prince, calling him back,
asked him if the prisoner had made no mention of pardon. "No," he an-
swered, "he spoke not a word of it." Barneveld constantly refused to
acknowledge himseK in the slightest degree guilty of any of the accusations
brought against him, except in so far as that, sometimes, provoked at the
insults and libels directed against the states of Holland, his masters, he had
expressed himself with too much haste and acrimony: "I governed," said
he, "when I was in authority, according to the maxims of that time; and
now I am condemned to die according to the maxims of this."
Before he left his prison, Barneveld wrote his last letter to his family,
recommending his servant, John Franken, who had attended him through-
out with affectionate fidelity, to their care. He was shortly after led into
a lower room of the court-house to hear bis sentence. During the reading
PEINCE MAURICE IN POWER 667
[1619 A.D.]
he turned round quickly several times, and rose from his seat, as if about
to speak. When it was concluded, he observed that there were many things
m It which were not in the examinations; and added, "I thought the states-
general would have been satisfied with my blood, and would have allowed
my wife and children to keep what is their own." "Your sentence is read "
replied Leonard Vooght, one of the judges, "away,
away." Leaning on his staff, and with his servant on
the other side to support his steps, grown feeble with
age, Barneveld walked composedly to the place of exe-
cution, prepared before the great saloon of the court-
house. With how deep feeling must he have uttered
the exclamation as he ascended the scaffold, "0
God! what then is man?"
Kneeling down on the bare boards, he was sup-
ported_ by his servant, while the minister, John
Lamotius, delivered a prayer. When prepared
for the block, he turned to the spectators and said,
with a loud and firm voice, "My friends, believe
not that I am a traitor. I have lived a good
patriot, and such I die." He then, with his own
hands, drew his cap over his eyes, and bid-
ding the executioner "be quick," bowed
his venerable head to the stroke.* The
populace, from various feelings, some in-
spired by hatred, some by affection, dipped
their handkerchiefs in his blood, or carried
away morsels of the blood-stained wood
and sand: a few were even found to sell
these as relics. The body and head
were laid in a coffin and buried de-
cently, but with little ceremony, at
the court church of the Hague. The
states of Holland rendered to his
memory that justice which he had
been denied while living, by the
words in which they recorded his
death. After stating the time and
manner of it, and his long period of
service to his country, the resolution
concludes, " a man of great activity,
diligence, memory, and conduct; yea, remarkable in every respect. Let him
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall; and may God be merciful to
his soul,"
A Dutch Costume op the Seventeenth
Centubt
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS
The scaffold upon which the advocate had been beheaded was left stand-
ing for fifteen days after his death, with the view, as the two remaining prison-
[' The sword flickered in the sun and the head of the greatest Netherland statesman, who
had ' ' carried Holland in the heart, " rolled down in the sand . The last word about the troubles
of the Truce must be that both parties were culpable in- their actions, but that the dominant
party committed the greater sin by the judicial murder of their great opponent — a indicia! mur-
der, as Macaulay,* Motley,"* and Pruini rightly termed the atrocious execution of May 13th,
1619. Olden-Barneveld was not condemned according to the demands of justice, but according
to those of policy couflictingwith principles which he himself had earnestly espoused. -^ Bloe.»j
668 THE mSTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1619 A.D.]
ers, Grotius and Hoogerbeets, supposed, of compelling their wives and friends
by fear into an acknowledgment of their guilt, by soliciting their pardon. The
wife of Grotius, especially, was strongly urged to this course, and promises
were held out to her of a favourable hearing on the part of the prince of
Orange. But she refused to cast this dishonour on her husband, with an almost
terrific resolution: "I will not do it," she said; "if he have deserved it, let
them strike off his head." The more to alarm. the prisoners, sentence was
executed on the dead body of Ledenberg, which was hanged in the coffin
to a gallows. The accusations against Grotius and Hoogerbeets were nearly
similar to those against Barneveld. Upon these they were found guilty;
but the Prince of Orange, dreading probably, if he sacrificed Grotius to his
vengeance, that the execrations of Europe — through the greater part of
which the immortal works and fame of his wonderful genius had already
spread — would fall upon him, forbore to shed their blood. They were con-
demned to perpetual imprisonment in the castle of Louvestein.
The conduct of the dominant party, from the conclusion of the synod,
strongly evinced how much that assembly had tended to exasperate rather
than allay the spirit of persecution; and that, had not the feeling of the times
been abhorrent of bloodshed, this spirit would have displayed itseK in as
relentless a manner as it had ever done amongst the Catholics. Were it
not indeed for the change of names, we might imagine ourselves to have
turned some pages back, and to be reading again the penal edicts of the
emperor Charles and Philip III. All assemblies of the remonstrants were
strictly prohibited; and everyone who attended them was condemned to pay
a fine of twenty-five guilders. This proving ineffectual, a second edict was
promulgated, offering a reward of 500 guilders to whoever should arrest a
remonstrant minister, and 300 for a student in theology. This system of
severity was adopted against the remonstrants alone, since the Lutherans
and Anabaptists were permitted to enjoy their respective places of worship
in public, and on equal terms with the Calvinists; and the Catholics and Jews
had the liberty of holding their private assemblies.
The ministers who had appeared before the synod, and had been deprived
of their functions by that assembly, were afterwards offered a competent
maintenance by the states-general if they would bind themselves to abstain
entirely from preaching; a condition with which all except .one, Henry Leo,
steadily and repeatedly refused comphance. Sentence of banishment was,
in consequence, pronounced against them after they had, in violation of the
safe-conduct they had received, been many months under arrest, and immedi-
ately carried into effect. Without being allowed time to arrange their affairs,
or to take leave of their families, they were conveyed in carriages, provided
for them by the states-general, from the Hague to Waalwijk, amid the bene-
dictions and tears of a multitude of persons who had assembled to bid them
farewell; a mournful spectacle for those patriots who had contributed to
shed a deluge of blood for a liberty of conscience which, if it were not a right
inherent in man, themselves had formerly been far less entitled to claim than
the sufferers now before them. The professors at the University of Leyden,
not only of theology but of other sciences, were displaced, and their offices
filled with counter-remonstrants, and all the pupils who refused to subscribe
to the canons were expelled.
Notwithstanding fines, imprisonment, and banishment, however, the
remonstrants persisted in holding their assemblies. The scenes of 1565 were
acted over again. In some of the towns, the soldiers of the garrison, at the
command of the magistrates, rushed in among the defenceless multitude
PEINCE MAtJEICE IN POWER 569
[1619 A.D.]
while engaged in their devotions, and bloodshed and massacre were the
consequence. Again the people were forced to take refuge in the woods
and fields, to worship God according to their conscience. Many voluntarily
quitted their country, and retired to Antwerp; and thus, by a singular revolu-
tion in human affairs, the dominions of the archdukes, formerly the strong-
hold of religious persecutions, now became an asylum for the persecuted
refugees of a nation whose very existence was founded on religious liberty .^ >
THE ESCAPE OF GBOTIUS
_ Thus Arminianism, deprived of its chiefs, was for the time completely
stifled. The remonstrants, thrown into utter despair, looked to emigration
as their last resource. Gustavus Adolphus king of Sweden and Frederick
duke of Holstein offered them shelter and protection in their respective
states. Several availed themselves of these offers; but the states-general,
alarmed at the progress of self-expatriation, moderated their rigour, and thus
checked the desolating evil.^ Several of the imprisoned Arminians had the
good fortune to elude the vigilance of their gaolers; but the escape of Grotius
is the most remarkable of all, both from his own celebrity as one of the first
writers of his age in the most varied walks of literature, and from its peculiar
circumstances.
Grotius was freely allowed during his close imprisonment all the relaxa-
tions of study. His friends supplied him with quantities of books, which
were usually brought into the fortress in a trunk something less than four feet
long, which the governor regularly and carefully examined during the first
year. But custom brought relaxation in the strictness of the prison rules;
and the wife of the illustrious prisoner, his faithful and constant visitor,
proposed the plan of his escape, to which he gave a ready and, all hazards
considered, a courageous assent. Shut up in this trunk for two hours, and
with all the risk of suffocation, and of injury from the rude handling of the
soldiers who carried it out of the fort, Grotius was brought clear off by the
very agents of his persecutors, and safely delivered to the care of his devoted
and discreet female servant, who knew the secret and kept it well. She
attended the important consignment in the barge to the town of Gorkum;
and after various risks of discovery, providentially escaped, Grotius at length
found himself safe beyond the limits of his native land. His wife, whose
torturing suspense may be imagined the while, concealed the stratagem as
long as it was possible to impose on the gaoler with the fiction of her husband's
' It was not, however, in the spirit of disinterested charity that they were protected by the
archdake's government, but in the hope of their being made useful to cause some embarrass-
ment to the United Provinces. Neither bribes nor promises were spared to induce them to
espouse measures hostile to their country, but in vain. To such proposals their leader, Uiten-
bogaard, replied, according to Brandt," with true Dutch frankness, " Let not the king of Spain
trust to any revolt excited in our fatherland by the remonstrants ; it will never happen."
England was now shut out from the fugitives, who had formed the most exaggerated idea of
the persecuting spirit of the government of that country. The remonstrant preachers were not
unfrequently in dread of being seized and sent thither, where they conceived that the stake and
the tar-barrel awaited them.
[' Though the story of the Puritans belongs chiefly to the history of England and her
American colonies, it may be well to remember that the persecuted members of the Scrooby
church fled to Leyden in 1609, the year of the Truce. Their pastor, John Eobinson, agreed
fully with the Gomarists and was a fierce opponent of Arminian arguments. The Puritans
thus escaped persecution, and attracted little or no attention in Holland ; Motley, <* indeed,
searched the archives at the Hague in vain for even a mention of them. Eventually, they
decided to emigrate to America. The states-general declined to offer them protection in New
Amsterdam, and they obtained permission from the Virginia Company of England. They sailed
in the Ita/yflower, and reached America in 1630.°]
570 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1620 A.D.]
illness and confinement to his bed. The government, infuriated at the
result of the affair, at first proposed to hold this interesting prisoner in place
of the prey they had lost, and to proceed criminally against her. But after
a fortnight's confinement she was restored to liberty, and the country saved
from the disgrace of so ungenerous and cowardly a proceeding. Grotius
repaired to Paris, where he was received in. the most flattering maimer, and
distinguished by a pension of 1,000 crowns allowed by the king. He soon
published his vindication — one of the most eloquent and unanswerable
productions of its kind, in which those times of unjust accusations and illegal
punishments were so fertile.
END OF THE TRUCE (1620)
The expiration of the twelve years' truce was now at hand; and the United
Provinces, after that long period of intestine trouble and disgrace, had once
more to recommence a more congenial struggle against foreign enemies; for
a renewal of the war with Spain might be fairly considered a return to the
regimen best suited to the constitution of the people. The republic saw,
however, with considerable anxiety, the approach of this new contest. It
was fully sensible of its own weakness. Exile had reduced its population,
patriotism had subsided; foreign friends were dead; the troops were imused
to warfare; the hatred against Spanish cruelty had lost its excitement; the
finances were in confusion; Prince Maurice had no longer the activity of
youth; and the still more vigorous impulse of fighting for his country's
liberty was changed to the dishonorring task of upholding his own tyranny.
The archdukes, encouraged by these considerations, had hopes of bringing
back the United Provinces to their domination. They accordingly sent an
embassy to Holland with proposals to that effect. It was received with
indignation; and according to Wagenaar'' the ambassador Pecquius was
obliged to be escorted back to the frontiers by soldiers, to protect him from
the insults of the people. Military operations were, horwever, for a while
refrained from on either side, in consequence of the deaths of Philip III of
Spain and the archduke Albert. Philip IV succeeded his father at the age
of sixteen; and the archduchess Isabella found herself alone at the head of
the government in the Belgian provinces. She held the reins of power with
a firm and steady hand.
In the celebrated Thirty Years' War* which had commenced between
the Protestants and Catholics of Germany, in 1618, the former had met with
considerable assistance from the United Provinces. Barneveld, who foresaw
the embarrassments which the country would have to contend with on the
expiration of that truce, had strongly opposed its meddling in the quarrels
but his ruin and death left no restraint on the poUcy which prompted the
republic to aid the Protestant cause. Fifty thousand florins a month to the
revolted Protestants, and a like sum to the princes of the imion, were for
some time advanced. Frederick, the elector palatine, nephew of the prince,
was chosen by the Bohemians for their king: but the new monarch, aided
only by the United Provinces, and that feebly, was utterly defeated at the
battle of Prague, and obliged to take refuge in Holland.
Spinola was resolved to commence the war against the republic by some
important exploit. He therefore laid siege to Bergen-op-Zoom, a place of
great consequence, commanding the navigation of the Maas and the coasts
[' The causes and details of this conflict will be found in the volumes devoted to Spain,
France, Germanjr, and Austria,]
PEINCB MAUEICB IN POWEE 571
ri620-1623 A.i>.]
of an the islands of Zealand. But Maurice repaired to the scene of threatened
danger; a,nd succeeded, after a series of desperate efforts on both sides, in rais-
ing the siege, forcing Spinola to abandon his attempt with a loss of upwards
of 12,000 men. _ Frederick Henry in the meantime had made an incursion
into Brabant with a body of light troops; and ravaging the country up' to
the very gates of Mechhn, Louvain, and Brussels, levied contributions to
the amount of 600,000 florins. The states completed this series of good
fortune by obtaining the possession of West Friesland, by means of Count
Mansfeld, whom they had despatched thither at the head of his formidable
army, and who had, in spite of the opposition of Count Tilly, successfully
performed his mission.
THE PLOT OF BAENEVELD'S SONS (1623)
Prince Maurice had enjoyed without restraint the fruits of his ambitious
daring. His power was micontrolled and unopposed. In the midst, how-
ever, of the apparent calm, a dtep conspiracy was formed against the life of
the prince. The motives, the conduct, and the termination of this plot
excite feelings of many opposite kinds. Commiseration is mingled with
blame, when we mark the sons of Barneveld, urged on by the excess of filial
affection, to avenge their venerable father's fate. Willem of Stoutenburg
and Reinier of Groeneveld were the names of these two sons of the late pen-
sionary. The latter, of a more impetuous character than his brother, was
the principal in the plot. Instead of any efforts to soften down the hatred
of this vinfortimate family, these brothers had been removed from their
emplo3Tnents,* their property was confiscated, and despair soon urged them
to desperation.
In such a time of general discontent it was easy to find accomplices.
Seven or eight determined men readily joined in the plot: of these, two were
Catholics, the rest Arminians; the chief of whom was Henricus Slatius, a
preacher of considerable eloquence, talent, and energy. The death of the
prince of Orange was not the only object intended. During the confusion
subsequent to the hoped-for success of that first blow, the chief conspirators
intended to excite simultaneous revolts at Leyden, Gouda, and Rotterdam,
in which town the Arminians were most niunerous. A general revolution
throughout Holland was firmly reckoned on as the infallible result; and
success was enthusiastically looked for to their country's freedom and their
individual fame.
But the plot, however cautiously laid and resolutely persevered in, was
doomed to the fate of many another, and the horror of a second murder
averted from the illustrious family to whom was still destined the glory of
consolidating the country it had formed. Four sailors had laid the whole of
the project before the prince, and measures were instantly taken to arrest
[' The promise Maurice made to Barneveld, in his last moments, to protect his children, he
had violated In every possible manner. Their estates had been confiscated, notwithstanding an
ordinance of the states-general, issued in 1593, decreeing that no noble should forfeit more
than eighty guilders, except for treason, in addition to the penalty of death ; to evade which,
the judges had been reassembled a year after the delivery of the sentence, when their com-
mission had been for some time expired, to declare that their meaning was to condemn the
prisoners as guilty of high treason, of which not a word had been mentioned in the sentence.
The eldest son of the advocate, Eeinier, lord of Groeneveld, had been deprived,, for no cause
whatever except the personal animosity of the prince, of the office of deputy grand master of
the rivers and forests, which Maurice had some years before bestowed on him ; and William
Barneveld, lord of Stoutenburg, the younger son, was in like manner stripped of the govern-
ment of BerKen-op-Zoom.°1
d72 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1623-1624 A.D.]
the various accomplices. Groeneveld, Slatius, and others were inter-
cepted in their attempts at escape. Stoutenburg, the most culpable of all,
was the most fortunate. By the aid of a faithful servant, he accomplished
his escape through various perils, and finally reached Brussels, where the
archduchess Isabella took him under her special protection. He for several
years made efforts to be allowed to return to Holland; but finding them
hopeless, even after the death of Maurice, he embraced the Catholic religion,
and obtained the command of a troop of Spanish cavalry, at the head of
which he made incursions into his native country, carrying before him a black
flag with the effigy of a death's head, to announce the mournful vengeance
which he came to execute.
Fifteen persons were executed for the conspiracy. If ever mercy was
becoming to a man, it would have been pre-eminently so to Maurice on this
occasion; but he was inflexible as adamant. The mother, the wife, and the
son of Groeneveld threw themselves at his feet, imploring pardon. Prayers,
tears, and sobs were alike ineffectual. It is even said that Maurice asked the
wretched mother why she begged mercy for her son, having refused to do as
much for her husband? To which she is reported to have made the sublime
answer — "Because my son is guilty, and my husband was not."
THE LAST ACTS OF MAURICE
These bloody executions caused a deep sentiment of gloom. The con-
spiracy excited more pity for the victims than horror for the intended crune.
Maurice, from being the idol of his countrjntnen, was now become an object
of their fear and disUke. When he moved from town to toT\Ti, the people no
longer hailed him with acclamations; and even the common tokens of out-
ward respect were at times withheld. The Spaniards, taking advantage of
the internal weakness consequent on this state of public feeling in the states,
made repeated incursions into the provinces, which were now imited but in
title, not in spirit. Spinola was once more in the field, and had invested the
important town of Breda, which was the patrimonial inheritance of the
princes of Orange.
Maurice was oppressed with anxiety and regret. He could effect nothing
against his rival; and he saw his own laurels withering from his care-worn
brow. The only hope left of obtaining the so much wanted supplies of money
was in the completion of a new treaty with France and England. Cardinal
Richelieu, desirous of setting bounds to the ambition and the successes of the
house of Austria, readily came into the views of the states; and an obligation
for a loan of 1,200,000 livres during the year 1624, and 1,000,000 more for
each of the two succeeding years, was granted by the king of France, on con-
dition that the republic made no new truce with Spain without his mediation.
An aUiance nearly similar was at the same time concluded with England.
Perpetual quarrels on commercial questions loosened the ties which bound
the states to their ancient allies.* King James agreed to furnish six thousand
[i In 1623 occurred the Amboyna Massacre, long a subject of bitterness in English memory.
Amboyna, one of the Molucca Islands, had been taken from the Portuguese by the Dutch in
1607. The English entered it, but were expelled. In 1619 they secured by treaty a trading
privilege. In 1623 the Dutch claimed that the English were conspiring with the natives to
seize the island, and having wrung a confession by torture — a confession denied on the gaUows
— they put 10 Englishmen and 10 Javanese to death. Three Englishmen, being pardoned,
carried home the story of the tortures inflicted on their countrymen. The whole nation was
horrified and demanded revenge. In 1664 Holland agreed to pay the heirs of the victims
£300,000 as compensation. Amboyna was captured by the British in 1796 and in 1810/ but
PEINCB MAURICE IN POWER 57S
[1625 A.D.]
men, and supply the funds for their pay, with a provision for repajTnent by
the states at the conclusion of a peace with Spain. Prince Maurice had no
opportunity of reaping the expected advantages from these treaties.
Chagrined at his ill success, Maurice discovered too late that, in grasping
at the sole authority by the destruction of his illustrious rival, he had, in fact,
annihilated the source of his own prosperity. With the advocate, the stay
and support of his fortunes was gone; the head which had planned his most
brilliant achievements, the hand that had always been able to place money
and troops at his disposal the instant he required them, he himself had laid in
the dust; in the bitterness of his heart, he was heard to exclaim that God had
abandoned him. His present coadjutor, Adrian Duyk, who had succeeded
Barneveld, under the title of pensionary (that of advocate being ever after
dropped by tacit consent) was immeasurably inferior to him in talents,
diligence, and resources.
The disappointments and vexations Maurice suffered were supposed to
have contributed greatly to increase the disease (obstruction of the liver)
under which he had for some time laboured, and which now began to manifest
alarming symptoms. Finding his strength rapidly declining, he sunmioned
from the camp at Sprang his brother Frederick Henry, between whom and
himself there had long existed a coldness, arising from the favour which the
former had openly testified, and the still greater degree which he was sus-
pected of secretly entertaining towards the remonstrants. He now induced
him to gratify his last wish by consenting to a imion with Amelie, princess
of Solmes. Three weeks after the marriage, April 23rd, 1625, the prince of
Orange died, aged fifty-seven years and five months, having filled the office of
stadholder for nearly forty years. As he never married, he left Prince Frederick
Henry heir to all his possessions, with the exception of legacies to his sister,
the princess of Portugal, his mistress, Anne van Mechelen, and her two sons.
The character of Maurice has been often produced in bold and marked
features, in the transactions in which he bore so conspicuous a share. In
military talent he equalled the most celebrated captains of any age or nation.
Whether in the attack and defence of cities, in the enforcement of discipline
or the conduct of an army in rapid and difficult marches, his reputation is yet
unsurpassed; nor was he less distinguished by his profound knowledge of
mathematics, and his skill in the invention of miUtary engines and contrivances
for passing rivers and marshes. The Fabius of his country, he, with a hand-
fiil of soldiers, not only defended her frontiers against numerous_ armies of
veteran troops, commanded by (next to himself) the ablest generals in Europe,
but carried the war with success into the enemy's territory.
In his political capacity he appears to far less advantage. His ambition,
unlike the pure and noble passion which swayed his father, was wholly sel-
fish, devoted to his individual advancement, and directed quite as much to
the emoluments as to the dignity of his offices.
The escutcheon of Maurice is bright with the record of many a deed of
glory. But there is one dark deep stain on which the eye of posterity, un-
heeding the surrounding radiance, is constantly fixed: it is the blood of
Barneveld.
PEOSPEKITY OF THE PEBIOD
The truce, which, as the foundation of the dissensions between the heads
of the government, was productive of so many evils to the provinces, opened
in both cases restored by subsequent treaties. It should be remembered that torture was stiU
used in the courts of both England and Holland, though the methods differed.]
574 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
on the other hand a new field for the rapid adva,ncement of commerce and
navigation. The year preceding it (1608) was signalised by the invention
of the telescope, by one Zachary Jansen, an optician of Middelburg.
In the year 1609 was established the celebrated bank of i^jnsterdam,
which for a long series of years afforded such immense facilities to commerce,
and maintained its credit so high that a large portion of the wealth of Europe
was by degrees drawn into its coffers.
Alliances of commerce and amity with Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and
the Hanse towns secured to the Dutch an easy and profitable trade in the
northern seas; and their frequent voyages thither gave occasion to the estab-
lishment of a company at Amsterdam (1614), for carrying on the whale-
fishery from the coast of Nova Zembla to Davis Strait, Spitzbergen, and the
surrounding islands. The fishery, notwithstanding the opposition of the
English, who sometimes attacked and rifled the vessels on their return, was
for several years a source of considerable revenue to the proprietors. The
charter, granted at first but for three years, was renewed for four more in
1617; and the company, uniting in 1622 with another formed in Zealand,
obtained a fresh charter for twelve years, which was renewed in 1633. After
its expiration in 1645, the whales having become scarce, and the profits of
the fishery no longer sufiicing for the support of a company, it dissolved itself,
and the fishery again became free.
Shortly after the erection of this company, the states, in order to encourage
their subjects to undertake distant voyages, granted to the discoverer of a
new territory the privilege of making four voyages before anyone else was
permitted to trade thither, provided he gave information of such discovery
to the government within fourteen days of his return. The first who entitled
himself to the benefit of this regulation was the famous Jacob le Maire, a
merchant of Amsterdam, who, in the beginning of the year 1616, sailed through
the straits to which he gave his name, and completed his voyage round the
world, having discovered on his route the islands of Staten, Prince's Island,
and Barneveld, of which he took possession in the name of the states. Cape
Horn, which received its name from a native of Hoom (WUlem Schouten the
pilot), was discovered at the same time.
In the year 1609 Henry Hudson, an English pilot in the employ of the
East India Company of Holland, being sent with a single vlie-boat and twenty
men to find a northwest passage to China, discovered the river and bay which
received his name. Instead, however, of returning to Holland, he went to
England, which he was not permitted to leave. The Dutch afterwards planted
a colony on that tract of coimtry to which they gave the name of New Hol-
land, and about 1624 built the town of New Amsterdam.
The character of the Dutch people, at once energetic and patient, enter-
prising and steady, renders them peculiarly adapted for the formation of
flourishing and successful colonies. In planting them it is to be remarked
that they never sought an extension of empire, but merely an acquisition of
trade and commerce; and consequently they were always either commercial
or agricultural, never military. They attempted conquest only when forced
by the pressure of exterior circumstances — such, for instance, as the hostihties
of the Portuguese in the East Indies.
To this general rule the formation of the West India Company formed a
singular exception. The project had been agitated before the commence-
ment of the truce, but steadily opposed by Barneveld, after whose death the
states gave permission for the estabhshment of a company, which was not
however effected till 1621, when a charter was granted for the term of twenty-
PEINCE MAUEICE IN POWEE
675
four years, on conditions nearly similar to that of the East India Company,
with the sole privilege of trade from the tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good
Hope in Africa, and in America from the south boundary of Newfoimdland
and the Anian or Bering Straits, to those of Magellan and Le Maire. As
Spain claimed the sovereignty of a vast portion of this tract in America, and
was in actual possession of the places where the company purposed forming
their settlements, conquest must be a necessary preliminary; and the colo-
nists, maintaining a hostile possession, must be constantly prepared with
arms in their hands, if not engaged in actual warfare. Accordingly, at the
very outset, the company were obliged to incur the cost of equipping a large
fleet of men-of-war, instead of making an essay at first with a few vessels as
the projectors of the East India trade had done."
CHAPTER XII
CONCLUSION OF THE EIGHTY YEARS' WAR
[1625-1648 A.D.]
Feederick Henry succeeded to almost all his brother's titles and em-
ployments, and foimd his new dignities clogged with an accumulation of
difficulties sufficient to appal the most determined spirit. Everything seemed
to justify alarm and despondency. If the affairs of the republic in India
wore an aspect of prosperity, those in Europe presented a picture of past
disaster and approaching peril. Disunion and discontent, an almost insup-
portable weight of taxation, and the disputes of which it was the fruitful
source, formed the subjects of internal ill. Abroad were to be seen navigation
harassed and trammelled by the pirates of Dunkirk, and the almost defence-
less frontiers of the republic exposed to the irruptions of the enemy. The
king of Denmark, who endeavoured to make head against the imperialist and
Spanish forces, was beaten by Tilly, and made to tremble for the safety of
his own states. England did nothing towards the common cause of Pro-
testantism, in consequence of the weakness of the monarch; and civil dis-
sensions for a while disabled France from resuming the system of Henry IV
for humbling the house of Austria.
Frederick Henry was at this period in his forty-second year. His military
reputation was well established; he soon proved his political talents. He
commenced his career by a total change in the tone of government on the
subject of sectarian differences. He exercised several acts of clemency in
favour of the imprisoned and exiled Arminians, at the same time that he
upheld the dominant religion. By these measures he conciliated all parties;
and by degrees the fierce spirit of intolerance became subdued. The foreign
relations of the United Provinces now presented the anomalous policy of a
fleet furnished by the French king, manned by rigid Calvinists, and com-
manded by a grandson of Admiral Coligny, for the purpose of combating the
remainder of the French Huguenots, whom they considered as brothers in
religion, though political foes: and during the joint expedition which was
imdertaken by the allied French and Dutch troops against Rochelle, the
stronghold of Protestantism, the preachers of Holland put up prayers for the
576
CONCLUSION OF THE EIGHTY YEAES' WAR 577
[1625-1628 A.D.]
protection of those whom their army was marching to destroy. The states-
general, ashamed of this unpopular union, recalled their fleet, after some
severe fighting with that of the Huguenots. Cardinal Richelieu and the king
of France were for a time furious in their displeasure; but interests of state
overpowered individual resentments, and no rupture took place.
Charles I had now succeeded his father on the English throne. He re-
newed the treaty with the republic, who furnished him with twenty ships to
assist his own formidable fleet in his war against Spain. Frederick Henry
had, soon after his succession to the chief command, commenced an active
course of martial operations, and was successful in almost all his enterprises.^
Maurice had, before his death, made the most strenuous exertions to
collect troops for the relief of
Breda. Nevertheless, every effort
on the part of Prince Frederick
Henry to raise the siege or to in-
troduce supplies into the town
proved futile; and being reduced
to extreme scarcity of provisions,
the governor, Justin of Nassau,
capitulated to Spinola on favour-
able conditions in 1625. But the
strength of Spain, so imposing in
outward appearance, so exhausted
in reality, was now put forth only
in isolated and convulsive efforts,
followed by long intervals of
prostrate inanition. The conquest
of Breda reduced the spirit and
resources of the Spanish army, as
the siege of Bergen-op-Z^om had
done, to so low an ebb that it
was forced to act entirely on the
defensive; and the summer of the
next year passed without any
event worthy of remark. Taking
advantage of the continued inactivity of the enemy, the prince of Orange
commenced the siege of Groenlo with one hundred companies of infantry,
fifty-five of cavalry, and ninety pieces of artillery. The capture of this
strong town, within the space of a month, and in sight of a hostile army
which made strenuous attempts to relieve it, added greatly to the reputation
of Frederick Henry, more especially as his brother had in the year 1606
failed in a similar enterprise, under far more favourable circumstances.
But it was on sea that the Dutch constantly gained such advantages as
brought at once ruin and dishonour on their enemies. The West India
Company, having equipped a fleet of twenty-four vessels, placed them under
the command of one Pieter Pietersen Heijn, or "Piet Heijn of Delfshayen
— a man who, by his courage and ability, had raised hunself from a low-
station to the raiik of admiral, and had signalised himself, as well by the
share he had taken in the conquest of San Salvador as by the destruction of
twenty-six Spanish vessels in the last year. He now (1628) received orders
to sail towards America, for the purpose of intercepting the Spanish fleet,
commonly called the "silver fleet," on its return from thence laden with
specie. On his arrival off the island of Havana, he received mtelligence that
H. W. — VOL. XIII. 3 P
Pieter Pietebse Heijn, LiEnTEUAUT-AiiMiRAi.
OF Holland (1578-1629)
578 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLANDS
[1629-1631 A.D.]
the fleet was close at hand and could not escape him; and, in effect, early on
the following morning, he fell in with ten ships, which he captured in a few
hours. About mid-day eight or nine more galleons were perceived at three
leagues' distance, of which the Dutch immediately went in chase under press
of sail.
Heijn brought the whole of his booty, except two of the captured vessels,
safely into the ports of Holland. It was estimated at 12,000,000 florins, a
portion of it being 138,600 lbs-weight of pure silver. On his return the office
of lieutenant-admiral, vacant by the death of William of Nassau, who was
killed before Groenlo, was in a manner forced upon him, in spite of his modest
refusal of a dignity unbefitting, he said, his mean birth and unpolished man-
ners. To acquit himself honourably of his charge, he resolved to undertake
the extirpation of the pirates of Dunkirk.
On the 17th of June, 1629, he espied three privateers, to which he gave
chase, and coming up with his single ship, which had left the others far
behind, he placed himself between two of the enemy's vessels, and fired a
broadside into both at the same time. The third discharge of the privateer's
guns stretched him dead upon the deck; but his crew, becoming furious at
the spectacle, attacked with such vigour that they soon captured both vessels,
putting every man on board to death, in obedience to the barbarous custom
enjoined by the states. The body of Heijn was interred near that of William,
prince of Orange, at DeKt, and a monument of white marble erected to his
memory .<* *
The year 1629 brought three formidable armies at once to the frontiers
of the republic, and caused a general dismay all through the United Provinces:
but the immense treasures taken from the Spaniards enabled them to make
preparations suitable to the danger; and Frederick Henry, supported by
his cousin William of Nassau, his natural brother Justin, and other brave
and experienced officers, defeated every effort of the enemy. He took many
towns in rapid succession; and finally forced the Spaniards to abandon all
notion of invading the territories of the republic. Deprived of the powerful
talents of Spinola, who was called to command the Spanish troops in Italy,
the armies of the archduchess, under the count of Berg, were not able to
cope with the genius of the prince of Orange. The consequence was the
renewal of negotiations for a second truce. But these were received on the
part of the republic with a burst of opposition. All parties seemed decided
on that point; and every interest, however opposed on minor questions,
combined to give a positive negative on this.
The gratitude of the country for the services of Frederick Henry induced
the provinces of which he was stadholder to grant the reversion in this title
to his son, a child three years old; and this dignity had every chance of
becoming as absolute as it was now pronoimced almost hereditary, by the
means of an army of 120,000 men devoted to their chief. However, few
military occurrences took place, the sea being still chosen as the element best
suited to the present enterprises of the repubUc. In the widely-distant settle-
ments of Brazil and Batavia the Dutch were equally successfid; and the East
and West India companies acquired eminent power and increasing solidity.
The year 1631 was signalised by an expedition into Flanders consisting
' According to Cerisier," the states having upon the occasion of his death sent a message of
condolence to his mother, an honest peasant who, notwithstanding the elevation of her son,
had been content to remain in her original station, she replied : " Ay, I thought what would
be the end of him. He was always a vagabond ; but I did my best to correct him. He has got
no more thau he deserved,"
CONCLUSION OF THE EIGHTY YBAES' WAE 578
[1631-1635 A.D.]
of 18,000 men, intended against Dunkirk, but hastily abandoned, in spite
of every probability of success, by the commissioners of the states-general,
who accompanied the army and thwarted all the ardour and vigour of the
prince of Orange. But another great naval victory in the narrow seas of
Zealand recompensed the disappointments of this inglorious affair.
ALLIANCE WITH FEANCE: BELGIAN EFFORTS FOR FREEDOM (1633)
The splendid victories of Gustavus Adolphus against the imperial arms
in Germany changed the whole face of European affairs. Protestantism
began once more to raise its head; and the important conquests by Frederick
Hemy of almost all the strong places on the Maas, including Maestricht, the
strongest of all, gave the United Provmces their ample share in the glories
of the war. The death of the archduchess Isabella, which took place at
Brussels in the year 1633, added considerably to the difficulties of Spain in
the Belgian provinces.
The defection of the count of Berg, the chief general of their armies,
who was actuated by resentment on the appointment of the marquis of Sainte-
Croix over his head, threw everything into confusion, in exposing a wide-
spread confederacy among the nobility of these provinces to erect them-
selves into an independent republic, strengthened by a perpetual alliance
with the United Provinces against the power of Spain. But the plot failed,
chiefly, it is said, by the imprudence of the king of England, who let the secret
slip, from some motives vaguely hinted at, but never sufficiently explained.
After the death of Isabella, the prince of BrabanQon was arrested. The
prince of Epinoi and the duke of BurnonviUe made their escape; and the
duke of Aerschot, who was arrested in Spain, was soon liberated, in consider-
ation of some discoveries into the nature of the plot. An armistice, pub-
Ushed in 1634, threw this whole affair into complete oblivion.
The king of Spain appointed his brother Ferdinand, a cardinal and arch-
bishop of Toledo, to the dignity of governor-general of the Netherlands. He
repaired to Germany at the head of seventeen thousand men, and bore his
share In the victory of Nordlingen; after which he hastened to the Nether-
lands, and made his entry into Brussels in 1634. Richeheu had hitherto
only combated the house of Austria in these countries by negotiation and
intrigue; but he now entered warmly into the proposals made by Holland,
for a treaty offensive and defensive between Louis XIII and the repubhc.
By a treaty soon after concluded (February 8th, 1635), the king of France
engaged to invade the Belgian provinces with an army of thirty thousand
men, in concert with a Dutch force of equal number. It was agreed that,
if Belgium would consent to break from the Spanish yoke, it was to be erected
into a free state; if, on the contrary, it would not co-operate for its own free-
dom, France and Holland were to dismember and to divide it equally.
The plan of these combined measures was soon acted on. The French
army took the field under the command of the marshals De ChatiUon and
De Bt6z6; and defeated the Spaniards in a bloody battle, near Avein, in the
province of Luxemburg, on the 20th of May, 1635, with the loss of four thou-
sand men. The victors soon made a junction with the prince of Orange;
and the towns of Tirlemont, St. Trond, and some others, were quickly reduced.
The. former of these places was taken by assault, and pillaged with circum-
stances of cruelty that recall the horrors of the early transactions of the war.
Tlie prince of Orange was forced to punish severely the authors of these
offences. The consequences of this event were highly injurious to the allies.
580 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1635-1638 A.D.]
A. spirit of fierce resistance was excited throughout the invaded provinces.
Louvain set the first example. The citizens and students took arms for its
defence; and the combined forces of France and Holland were repulsed,
and forced by want of supplies to abandon the siege and rapidly retreat.
The prince-cardinal, as Ferdinand was called, took advantage of this reverse
to press the retiring French; recovered several towns; and gained all the
advantages as well as glory of the campaign. The remains of the French
army, reduced by continual combats, and still more by sickness, finally
embarked at Rotterdam to return to France in the ensuing spring, a sad
contrast to its brilliant appearance at the commencement of the campaign.
The military events for several ensuing years present nothing of sufficient
interest to induce us to record them in detail. A perpetual succession of
sieges and skirmishes afford a monotonous picture of isolated courage and
skUl; but we see none of those great conflicts which bring out the genius
of opposing generals, and show war in its grand results, as the decisive means
of enslaving or emancipating mankind. The prince-cardinal, one of the
many who on this bloody theatre displayed consummate military talents,
incessantly employed himself in incursions into the bordering provinces of
France, ravaged Picardy, and filled Paris with fear and trembling. He, how-
ever, reaped no new laurels when he came into contact with Frederick Henry,
who on almost every occasion, particularly that of the siege of Breda in 1637,
carried his object in spite of all opposition. The triumphs of war were bal-
anced; but Spain and the Belgian provinces, so long upheld by the talent of
the governor-general, were gradually become e^iausted. The revolution
in Portugal and the succession of the duke of Braganza, imder the title of
John IV, to the throne of his ancestors, . struck a fatal blow to the power of
Spain. A strict alliance was concluded between the new monarch of France
and Holland; and hostilities against the common enemy were on all sides
vigorously continued.*
It was in this year that the singular mania, " tulipo-mania" as it was
afterwards termed, the offspring of wealth and luxury, became prevalent
among the Dutch, especially in the province of Holland. The price of tulips
suddenly rose to an incredible height, the most esteemed varying from 2,600
guilders to 150 for a single root. Large fortunes were acquired by specula-
tions on this article, which, in Amsterdam alone, involved, it is said, no less
a sum than 10,000,000 guilders. Persons of all ranks, sexes, and ages neg-
lected their ordinary avocations to amuse themselves with this novel species
of gambling; but as those who purchased were often of slender means and
unable to fulfil their engagements, the speculation became so imsafe that
men lost their confidence in it, and in course of time.it died away of itself.
The Hollanders, though still retainmg their passion for tulips, have since
been able to restrain it within more reasonable bounds. However we may
condemn this idle traffic, and however well deserved the ridicule it has
incurred, it is still gratifying to reflect in what a state of ease and prosperity,
how free from care and light-hearted a people must be, who could find oppor-
tunity and inclination to devote their attention to such agreeable trifles.'^
The successes of the repubUc at sea and in their distant enterprises were
continual, and m some instances brilliant. Brazil was gradually falling
into the power of the West India Company. The East India possessions
were secure. The great victory of Tromp,' known by the name of the battle
[' He had been made vice-admiral in place of Van Dorp -who had in 1637 not only allowed
a Spanish fleet carrying four million florins, to escape him, but had allowed the Dunkirk
pirates to capture certain Dutch ships.]
CONCLUSION OF THE EIGHTY YEAES' WAR 581
[1639-1642 A.D.]
of the Downs, from bemg fought off the coast of England, on the 21st of
October, 1639, raised the naval reputation of Holland as high as it could
well be carried. Fifty ships taken, burned, and sunk were the proofs of
their admiral's triumph; and the Spanish navy never recovered the loss.
The victory was celebrated throughout Europe, and Tromp was the hero
of the day. The king of England was, however, highly indignant at the
hardihood with which the Dutch admiral broke through the etiquette of
territorial respect, and destroyed his country's bitter foes under the very
sanction of Enghsh neutrality. But the subjects of Charles I did not par-
take their monarch's feelings. They had no sjrmpathy with arbitrary and
tjTannic government; and their joy at the misfortime of their old enemies
the Spaniards gave a fair warning of the spirit which afterwards proved so
fatal to the infatuated king, who on this occasion would have protected
and aided them.
MARRIAGE OF WILLIAM AND MART
In an unsuccessful enterprise in Flanders, in 1640, Count Henry Kasimir
of Nassau was mortally wounded, adding another to the list of those of that
illustrious family whose lives were lost in the service of their country. His
brother, Count William Frederick, succeeded him in his office of stadholder
of Friesland; but the same dignity in the provinces of Groningen and Drent
devolved on the prince of Orange. The latter had conceived the desire of a
royal aUiance for his son William. Charles I readily assented to the proposal
of the states-general that this yomig prince should receive the hand of his
daughter Mary. Embassies were exchanged; the conditions of the con-
tract agreed on. The marriage took place at Whitehall, May 1st, 1641;
Tromp, with an escort of twenty ships, conducted the princess, then twelve
years old, to the country of her future husband. The republic did not view
with an eye quite favourable this advancing aggrandisement of the house
of Orange. Frederick Henry had shortly before been dignified by the king
of France, at the suggestion of Richelieu, with the title of "highness," instead
of the inferior one of "excellency"; and the states-general, jealous of this
distinction granted to their chief magistrate, adopted for themselves the
sounding appellation of "high and mighty lords." The prince of Orange,
whatever might have been his private views of ambition, had, however, the
prudence to silence all suspicion, by the mild and moderate use which he
made of the power which he might perhaps have wished to increase but never
attempted to abuse.
On the 9th of November, 1641, the prince-cardinal Ferdinand died at
Brussels in his thirty-third year; Don Francisco de Mello, a nobleman of
highly reputed talents, was the next who obtained this onerous situation.
He commenced his governorship by a succession of military operations, and
after taking some towns, and defeating the marshal De Quiche in the battle
of Honnecourt tarnished all his fame by the great faults which he committed
in the famous battle of Rocroi. The duke d'Enghien, then twenty-one years
of age, and subsequently so celebrated as the great Cond6, completely defeated
De Mello, and nearly annihilated the Spanish and Walloon mfantry. The
military operations of the Dutch army were this year remarkable only by
the gallant conduct of Prince William, son of the prince of Orange, who,
not yet seventeen years of age, defeated near Hulst, in 1642, under the eyes
of his father, a Spanish detachment in a very warm skirmish.
Considerable changes were now insensibly operating in the policy of
58S THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1643-1647 A.D.]
Europe. Cardinal Richelieu had finished his dazzling but tempestuous
career of government, in which the hand of death arrested him on the 4th
of December, 1642. Louis XIII soon followed to the grave him who was
rather his master than his minister. Anne of Austria was declared regent
during the minority of her son, Louis XIV, then only five years of age: and
Cardinal Mazarin succeeded to the station from which death alone had power
to remove his predecessor.
The civil wars in England now broke out, and their terrible results seemed
to promise to the republic the undisturbed sovereignty of the seas. The
prince of Orange received with great distinction the mother-in-law of his
son, when she came to Holland irnder pretext of conducting her daughter:
but her principal purpose was to obtain, by the sale of the crown jewels and
the assistance of Frederick Henry, funds for the supply of her unfortunate
husband's cause. The prince and several private individuals contributed
largely in money; and several experienced officers passed over to serve in
the royahst army of England. The provincial states of Holland, however,
sympathising wholly with the parliament, remonstrated with the stadholder;
and the Dutch colonists encouraged the hostile efforts of their brethren,
the Puritans of Scotland, by all the absiu"d exhortations of fanatic zeal. The
province of Holland, and some others, leaned towards the parliament; the
prince of Orange favoured the king; and the states-general endeavoured
to maintain a neutrality.
The struggle was still furiously maintained in Germany. Everything
tended to make peace necessary to some of the contending powers, as it was
at length desirable for all. Among other strong motives to that line of con-
duct, the finances of Holland were in a state perfectly deplorable. Every
year brought the necessity of a new loan; and the public debt of the provinces
now amounted to 150,000,000 florins, bearing interest at 6i per cent. Con-
siderable alarm was excited at the progress of the French army in the Belgian
provinces; and escape from the tyranny of SpaLu seemed only to lead to the
danger of submission to a nation too powerful and too close at hand not to
be dangerous, either as a foe or an ally. These fears were increased by the
knowledge that Cardinal Mazarin projected a marriage between Louis XIV
and the infanta of Spain, with the Belgian provinces, or Spanish Nether-
lands as they were now called, for her marriage portion. This project was
confided to the prince of Orange, under the seal of secrecy, and he was offered
the marquisate of Antwerp as the price of his influence towards effecting
the plan. The prince revealed the whole to the states-general. Great fer-
mentation was excited: the stadholder himself was blamed, and suspected
of comphcity with the designs of the cardinal. Frederick Henry was deeply
hurt at this want of confidence, and the injurious publications which openly
assailed his honour in a point where he felt himself entitled to praise instead
of suspicion.
DEATH OF PBEDERICK HENRY; ACCESSION OF WILLIAM II
The French laboured to remove the impression which this affair excited
in the republic: but the states-general felt themselves justified by the intri-
guing policy of Mazarin in entering into a secret negotiation with the king of
Spain, who offered very favourable conditions. The negotiations were con-
siderably advanced by the marked disposition evinced by the prince of Orange
to hasten the estabhshment of peace. Yet, at this very period, and while
anxiously wishing this great object, he could not resist the desire for another
[1647-1648 A.D.]
CONCLUSION OP THE EIGHTY YEARS' WAR
683
^,-?5i^^^
campaign; one more exploit, to signalise the epoch at which he finally placed
if f^°^^.^ ^'^^ scabbard. Frederick Henry was essentially a soldier, with
all the spirit of his race; and this evidence of the ruling passion, while he
uouched the verge of the grave, is one of the most strikmg pomts of his char-
acter._ He accordmgly took the field; but, with a constitution broken by a
Imgering disease, he was little fitted to accompHsh any feat worthy of his
splendid reputation. He failed in an attempt on Venlo, and another on
Antwerp, and retu-ed to the Hague, where for some months he rapidly
declmed.
u \P^ ^u^ ^'^^^ °^ March, 1647, he expired, in his sixty-third year; leaving
behind hun a character of unblemished integrity, prudence, toleration, and
valour. He was not of that impetuous stamp which leads men to heroic
deeds, and brings danger to the states
whose hberty is compromised by their
ambition. He was a striking contrast
to his brother Maurice, and more re-
sembled his father m many of those
cahner qualities of the mind, which
make men more beloved without lessen-
ing their claims to admiration. Fred-
erick Henry had the honour of com-
pleting the glorious task which William
began and Maurice followed up. He
saw the oppression they had combated
now humbled and overthrown; and he
forms the third in a sequence of family
renown, the most surprising and the
least chequered afforded by the annals
of Europe.*
WUliam II succeeded his father in
his dignities ; and his ardent spirit
longed to rival him in war. He turned
his endeavours to thwart all the efforts
for peace. But the interests of the
nation and the dying wishes of Fred-
erick Henry were of too powerful influence with the states to be overcome
by the martial yearnings of an inexperienced youth.
Frederick Hbnby, Prince or Orange
TREATIES OF MUNSTER AND WESTPHALIA
The negotiations were pressed forward; and, despite the complaints,
the murmurs, and the intrigues of France, the treaty of Miinster was finally
signed by the respective ambassadors of the United Provinces and Spain, on
the 30th of January, 1648. This celebrated treaty contains seventy-nine
[' His veneration for his father, whom he resembled in many points of his character,
amounted almost to idolatry, a sentiment which he evinced by his adoption of the motto
Patrimque, patrique, signifying that his life was devoted to his country, and to vengeance for
the murder of his father. Without brilliancy of genius, or extraordinary power of mind, his
clear good sense and sound judgment combined with his moderation and integrity to render
him one of the best and most esteemed stadholders the provinces ever possessed. By virtue
of the Act of Eeversion, passed in 1631, his oflBces devolved immediately on his son William ;
but the states of Holland and Zealand, desiring to convince the young prince that the stad-
holdership was their free gift, and not a right he was entitled to claim, allowed the delay of a
year to intervene befon they confirmed him in the office, — Davibs,'']
584 THE HISTOET OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1618 A..V.]
articles. Three points were of main and vital importance to the republic:
the first acknowledges an ample and entire recognition of the sovereignty of
the states-general, and a renunciation forever of all claims on the part of
Spain; the second confirms the rights of trade and navigation in the East
and West Indies, with the possession of the various countries and stations
then actually occupied by the contracting powers; the third guarantees a
like possession of all the provinces and towns of the Netherlands, as they
then stood in their respective occupation — a clause highly favourable to
The Charlatan: Seybnteenth Centitbt Street Scene
(From a painting by Franz von Mlerie)
the republic, which had conquered several considerable places in Brabant
and Flanders.
The ratifications of the treaty were exchanged at Miinster with great
solemnity on the 15th of May following the signature; the peace was pub-
lished in that town and in Osnabriick on the 19th, and in all the different
states of the king of Spain and the United Provinces as soon as the joyous
intelligence could reach such various and widely separated destinations.
Thus, after eighty years of unparalleled warfare, only interrupted by the
truce of 1609, during which hostilities had not ceased in the Indies, the new
republic rose from the horrors of civil war and foreign tyranny to its uncon-
CONCLUSION OF THE EIGHTY YEARS' WAE 585
[1648 A.D.]
tested rank as a free and independent state among the most powerful nations
of Europe. No country had ever done more for glory; and the result of its
efforts was the irrevocable guarantee of civil and religious liberty, the great
aim and end of civilisation.
The internal tranquillity of the republic was secured from all future alarm
by the conclusion of the general Peace of Westphalia, definitely signed the
24th of October, 1648. This treaty was long considered not only as the
fundamental law of the empire, but as the basis of the political system of
Europe. As numbers of conflicting interests were reconciled, Germanic
liberty secured, and a just equihbrium established between the Catholics
and Protestants, France and Sweden obtained great advantages; and the
various princes of the empire saw their possessions regulated and secured,
at the same time that the powers of the emperor were strictly defined.^
DAVIES' EEVIEW OP THE WAK AND THE DUTCH CHARACTER
Thus ended this long and remarkable war, having continued for a period
of sixty-eight years, exclusive of the twelve years' truce — a war which,
unexampled in the history of nations, had brought commerce, wealth, civili-
sation, learning, and the arts Ln its train; and which well deserved its high
exemption from the common lot of himianity, because of the nobleness, the
purity, and the elevation of the motives from whence it originated; a war
which had its foundation in justice, and its termination in glory.' Often,
in the annals of other nations, examples of bold and successful struggles for
liberty against the oppressor and invader have roused the sympathy and
inspired the pen of the historian: Athens has had her Marathon, Sparta her
Thermopylae, Switzerland her Morgarten, and Spain her Saragossa; but it
was left for Holland alone to present the spectacle of the continuance of such
a struggle, against power, wealth, discipline, numbers — in defiance, it
seemed, of fate itself for a long series of years: with resolution unwavering,
with courage undaunted, with patience imwearied; rejecting, proudly and
repeatedly, the solicitations for peace proffered by their mighty foe, and
yielding to them at last only when she had, as it were, the destiny of that
foe in her hands.
The results of this war, as wonderful as were its commencement and
progress, are to be attributed chiefly to the moral qualities of the Dutch;
to their maritime power; to the constitution of their government anterior to
the revolt; their geographical position; and the rapid increase of their popu-
lation by the influx of foreigners of all nations. Among the moral qualities
which distinguished the Dutch of this period, the most remarkable was
honesty — a homely virtue, but none the less real, none the less efficacious
in the circumstances in which they were placed. Of the advantage it proved
to them in their pecuniary relations with other states, their history affords
P Grotius,« indeed, adduces as the sole motive of the war the reluctance of the Dutch to
pay the tenth demanded by Alva, hut in this instance he does his countrymen a cruel injustice.
It was not the mere payment of the tax, but the mode of its levy (without consent of the
states), and the fear of its perpetuity, which drove the Hollanders to revolt, as after events
most fully proved ; and he himself makes the observation, a few pages lower down, " Omnia
ddbcmt, ne decimam darent " ["they gave all, rather than give a tenth"] ; it was because they
knew that their forefathers had been accustomed to arrest the arbitrary measures of their
sovereigns chiefly by withholding the supplies ; because they knew that, if deprived of this
power, their only means of redress, except by arms, was gone, and those privileges which they
might expect to recover when the government became needy or impoverished would then be lost
forever ; because they must then afford their tyrant a constant supply of strength to oppress
them ; in the words of theix historian, Box,' "everyone feared an eternal slavery."]
586 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
sufficient evidence. At the time when their affairs were most desperate,
none ever doubted their national credit; the parsimonious queen of England,
the cautious William of Orange, the mistrustful German princes, never
hesitated for a moment to advance them loans, or to trust to their honour
for the payment of the troops which served under their standards. Carried
into their commercial transactions, this probity won them the confidence of
the merchants of foreign countries, and caused them to become in course of
time the providers and cashiers of nearly the whole civilised world. Per-
vading their political counsels, it produced a spirit of mutual confidence
which boimd together all ranks of men in an indissoluble tie. The govern-
ment, acting in perfect good faith itself, never suspected the fidelity of the
people, nor descended to the mean arts of rousing their passions by fictions
or misrepresentations; they never deceived them as to their relations with
foreign powers, as to the exact condition of their strength and resources, or
as to the true nature of the contest in which they were engaged; and the
people on their part awarded to the government entire reliance and obedience.
Thus a state, formed of the most heterogeneous parts, was united by the
strong bond of mutual fidelity into a firm and compact whole, which defied
alike the assaults of force from without and the imdermining of intrigue
from within.
From the effects of this virtue of integrity sprang another, which charac-
terised the Dutch no less strongly — that of firmness. Never led astray by
false rumours or false opinions, they contemplated, calmly and clearly the
object they had in view — security of person and property, and freedom of
religion — and employed with imdeviating steadiness of purpose the means
they conceived calculated to attain it; they desired no more, they would be
satisfied with no less; the most flattering promises, the most advantageous
offers of peace, which did not realise that object to the full extent, never
caused them to waver for a moment; they were exempt from that reckless
spirit of innovation, that prurient desire of change, usually remarkable in
the actors in great revolutions. The goal which they had determined to
reach, therefore, did not change its position from day to day, as whim, ambi-
tion, or circumstances dictated; in their deepest reverses, at their highest
elevation of prosperity, it was still the same; they pursued their path towards
it with slow and measured steps; and when at last they attained it, they
suffered no disappointment, they experienced no reaction; they did not, as
it too often happens, in the bitterness of a deceived hope, rush back to a
condition worse than that they had left; but were content to find what they
had sought — freedom and security; and riches, glory, and honour were
added to them.
Not the least among the moral causes which led to the national aggrandise-
ment of the Dutch may be found in the singular absence of selfishness and
personal vanity observable in all ranks of men. In the great events which
occurred during the revolt and subsequent war, and which might easily be
supposed to call forth stirring and ambitious spirits, each man performed his
part quietly and unostentatiously, without aiming to draw on himself public
attention, or to place himself in a prominent light. In other cases it often
appears as if the revolution were made for the man; in this, the man was
made for the revolution: his individuality was lost, if we may so express it,
in his nationality; the Dutchman was less a man than a Dutchman, less a
Dutchman than a Hollander or Zealander; himself and his country were
identified — her glory was his glory, her wealth his wealth, her greatness his
greatness. This sentiment it was which rendered the Dutch so universally
CONCLUSION OF THE EIGHTY YEARS' WAE
587
incorruptible that neither during the war nor the truce, though offers and
promises were never spared by Spain, do we find a single instance of a traitor
of that nation bought with gold.
The reputation of their miUtary officers was little displayed, since the
stadholders, as captains-general, being constantly in the field, the credit of
all the successes obtained redounded to them; but very rarely do we find
their movepentsembarrassed, or their plans disordered, by want of capacity
or promptitude in their inferiors: and the results of their operations bear
/
*.^
j> r 1
Dutch Landscape
(From the painting by Euysdael, 1630)
testimony that they must have been as ably carried out as skilfully combined.
Their naval commanders, as their sphere of action was more extensive and
independent, so their genius and ability shone out with a more marked and
brilliant lustre; Heemskerk, Warmont, Heijn, Matelief, Coen, and SpU-
bergen are names of which any people may justly be proud. Nor was it
only in profound and practical knowledge of matters relating to their pro-
fession that these great captains excelled; the admirable treaties made with
the native sovereigns of India, and the advantageous terms they obtained
for their merchants and factors in foreign countries, proved them no less
skilled in the mysteries of political science, and the delicate and intricate
subject of the commercial interests of their nation. The merchants also of
Holland were as remarkable for enterprise and judgment as for integrity
in the management of their commerce; nor less so for the dexterity with
which they secured a footing in foreign countries, and the confidence and
prudence with which, often in spite of very adverse circimistances, they
contrived to retain it.
But though probity, firmness, courage, patriotism, and wisdom might
have given the Dutch strength to prolong the contest, and to obtain at the
end favourable terms of peace, these qualities might yet scarcely have sufiiced
to render them independent and powerful, had they not been favoured by
588 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHERLANDS
some considerable incidental advantages. Among such may be reckoned,
as one of the principal, the excellence of their navy. We have shown that,
at the reign of PhiUp III (II of Spain) the fleets of the Netherlands were able
to cope with, if they did not siu-pass, those of any of the great powers of
Europe. These fleets consisted for the most part of armed merchant ships,
and of vessels of war belonging, not to the central government but to the
municipal governments of the towns by which they were equipped. The
breaking out of hostilities, therefore, found the Dutch prepared with a mari-
time force sufficient to keep the seas against the enemy. The ships merely,
which were banished from the ports of England in 1572, were twenty-four
in number, at that time a considerable armament; and, in the next year,
the fleet of the towns of North Holland was sufficiently powerful to obtain
a signal victory over that of Alva, which gave them the possession of the
Zuyder Zee.
From the very early period of the war, indeed, when they were to all
appearance a mere feeble band of insurgents, they were rarely worsted by
the enemy in any naval encounter; and the mastery of the seas which they
thus retained enabled them at all times to supply themselves with anununi-
tion, corn, and other provisions, and to transport in safety the subsidies
in money and troops afforded them by England; to prevent the conveyance
of the armies from Spain by water, forcing them to undergo the tedious and
difficult journey overland at an immense waste of men and money; and
to hinder the passage of supplies and oblige the enemy to have recourse to
themselves, drawing by this means the greater portion of the sums applied
to the maintenance of the troops into their own hands. "While thus benefitmg
by the streams that flowed from the treasury of their enemy, they were often
able to drain it at its very source, by the capture of the vessels laden with
the specie on which her sole dependence was placed; while the provinces
themselves, trading in comparative security, collected from all parts of the
world the wealth which enabled them to sustain burdens apparently so dis-
proportioned to their strength.
The municipal system of government, which for so many centuries pre-
vailed in the United Provinces, has been remarked upon as tending to dis-
union, since, attaching its subjects principally to their own town or province,
it caused them sometimes to overlook, in their anxiety for its interest, the
interest of the whole. But in circumstances where all were bound together
by one strong tie, where the same powerful impulse directed the movements
of all in imison, it went far towards rendering them invincible. The oppressor
found that he had the Hydra to subdue, and that each head was imbued
with the strength of the whole body. Every city was, as it were, a fresh
nation to conquer.
As another cause of the rapid increase of Holland has justly been adduced,
the influx of multitudes of refugees of different nations who sought shelter
within her boundaries. Fugitives from the Spanish Netherlands, from Spain
itself, Protestants driven from Germany by the miseries of the Thirty Years'
War, Jews from Portugal, and Huguenots from France, found here welcome,
safety, and employment. Nor was it more in the numbers than in the sort
of population she thus_ gained, that Holland found her advantage. The
fugitives were not criminals escaped from justice, specvdators lured by the
hope of plimder, nor idlers coming thither to enjoy the luxuries which their
own country did not afford; they were generally men persecuted on account of
their love of civil liberty, or their devotion to their religious tenets; had they
been content to sacrifice the one or the other to their present ease and interest
CONCLUSION OF THE EIGHTY YEAES' WAE
589
they had remained unmolested where they were; it was by their activity,
integrity, and resolution that they rendered themselves obnoxious to the
tyrannical and bigoted governments which drove them from their native
land;_ and these virtues they carried with them to their adopted country,
peopling it not with vagabonds or indolent voluptuaries, but with brave,
intelligent, and useful citizens. Thus, not only was the waste in the popula-
tion of the provinces consequent on the war rapidly supplied, but by means
of the industry and skill of the new-comers their manufactures were carried
to so high a pitch of perfection that, in a short time, they were able to surpass
and undersell the traders of every other nation.**
Thorold Rogers thus enthusiastically characterises the victory of the
Dutch over the Spanish:
"I hold it^that the revolt of the Netherlands and the success of Holland
is the beginning ""of modern political science and of modem civilisation. It
utterly repudiated the divine right of kings, and the divine authority of an
Italian priest, the two most inveterate enemies which human progress has
had to do battle with. At present, the king in civilised communities is the
servant of the state, whose presence and influence is believed to be useful.
The priest can only enjoy an authority which is voluntarily conceded to
him, but has no authority over those who decline to recognise him. These
two principles of civil government the Dutch were the first to afiirm. The
debt which rational and just government owes to the seven provinces is incal-
culable. To the true lover of liberty, Holland is the Holy Land of modern
Europe, and should be held sacred."?
® W
CHAPTER XIII
SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART IN THE NETHERLANDS
Never, if we except the ancient Greeks, has a people restricted to so
small a territory accomplished such great things in a century and a half, or
given the world such illustrious examples as the Dutch. From the oldest
times the struggle with the sea had strengthened the character of the peoples
from the delta of the Rhine to beyond Friesland. But now, calling on the
eternal rights of man, they had declared themselves free. As wise as they
were brave and endurmg, they took advantage of every circumstance in
European pohtics which could be turned to their profit. The new common-
wealth which they foimded suggested new ideas to the statesmen and philos-
ophers of Europe. They became the creators of a colonial system which
we cannot, however, place on a par with that of the Hellenes, for it was
founded solely on egoism.
The Dutch did not, like the Greeks from Cyrene, Massilia, and mmierous
other seaport towns, spread a beautiful and lofty civilisation from the sea
inland. And yet the extended sea authority called all forces into the field,
even the scientific; geography, cartography, astronomy reached a height
undreamed of. The cities grew so rapidly that the Russian ambassadors
who appeared in Holland in 1615 described the country even then as one
continuous city. The little land could not shine by natural production:
the natives, to be sure, boast that certain branches, as horticulture and the
production of art works, brought large sums into the coimtry; but it was
chiefly through its industries and through its colonial organisation that
Holland, even after England had begun to be a formidable rival, remained
a model state until well into the eighteenth century. Even the high taxes
were held to be only a sign of prosperity. The popular spirit f oimd expression
not only in festivals but also more worthily in state buildings and public
institutions. In Holland, the democratic idea, which had already been
proclaimed in single imperial cities and in the Hanse towns, was kept alive
at just the time that the latter declined; Holland became in the north the
home of the modern system of institution for the common good. The council
house at Amsterdam (used as a palace by Louis Bonaparte in 1808) was
600
SCIENCE, LITEEATUEE, AND AET IN THE NETHEELANDS 591
caUed the eighth wonder of the world; institutions for the insane and prisons
arose, m which care was taken for the improvement of the mmates
.^specially creditable, and also advantageous for the states-general, was
tneir attitude towards intellectual culture and the sciences. Like every art,
so also learning and ideas of liberty in their origins were closely associated
• u^i ^^!f^' ^discussions concerning subtle doctrines of faith took place
m HoUand at the family table and in the taverns. A translation of the
Bible was undertaken by Philip van Marnix, lord of Sainte-Aldegonde; but
not until 1637, at the instigation of the synod of Dort (Dordrecht), did the
so-caUed state Bible gain official rec-
ognition.
In the year in which the Peace
of Westphalia was concluded (1648)
Holland received its fifth university,
Harderwijk; the other four were Ley-
den, Franeker, Utrecht, and Gron-
ingen. In addition the Athenomm illus-
tre, founded at Amsterdam in 1632, had
ahnost the rank of a university. Ley-
den always held the first place, as
well in mathematics, jurisprudence,
and iftedicine as especially in philology.
Holland became the chief seat of poly-
history — a new kind of learning which
may be regarded as the successor of
Italian humanism.
The scholars of Leyden and of other
places^ did indeed start out in their
investigation of classic authors from
textual correction and from a linguistic
standpoint, but they sought, above
all, the reahties; they tried to explain
the real nature of the so-called antiquities and heaped up an enormous amount
of erudition for that purpose.
SPINOZA
Holland in its great century attained the highest reputation among
posterity for the freedom and protection it afforded to thought. It was
here that Descartes ^ and Locke developed their systems. In no other
country of Europe could the great thinker Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza have
shown to an after world the spectacle of an independent scholar who, bound
by no religious obligations, lived for truth alone.
Spinoza, born at Amsterdam in 1632, was descended from an immigrant
Portuguese Jew. He received a rabbinical education and studied ancient
languages with a Dutch physician. Van den Ende. But his abandonment
of their idea of God could not long remain hidden to the Jews; the formula
of the Jewish ban (cherem) was pronounced against him, and he even received
a knife woimd in front of the synagogue. After that time he kept wholly
aloof from the Jewish commvmity, without formally assuming any Chris-
tian tie. He was, however, in close connection with the Arminians and
[i The celebrated French philosopher spent the last twenty years of his life, from 1639-
1649, in Holland, and did all his important work there. John Locke spent the years 1683-1689
in voluntar/ eslleiu Holland and there wiote bis " Essay concerning Human Understanding,"]
Gerardus Johannes Vossius (1577-1649)
(The tn>ical Dutch polyhistor, known also as " the per-
fect grammarian ")
59S
THE HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS
occasionally urged others to attend their preaching services. He earned his
living by grinding lenses, and refused a call to Heidelberg to avoid giving
offence to any man. One of his most important works, the Ethics was not
published imtil after his death.
The wonderful cahn of his style of writing, where everything is proved
mathematically, has from the first not failed to make a deep impression
upon simple readers. Since Spinoza recognises only one Being, a single,
unlimited, self-existing substance, in which all individual existence with its
opposites is included; since this substance takes the place of God with him,
there is lacking in his conception of divinity the personality which seems
indispensable to most people and the Ukeness to man which is indispensable
to mythology. Since, moreover, this universal existence moves in time and
space according to immutable laws, there is no place for the freedom of will.
Spinoza's conception of good and evil like-
wise did not fit into any current moral
system. If we further take into consider-
ation that in his states, doctrine the con-
nection of right and might could easily be
misinterpreted into an abolition of all
moral obligation, we see that there were
elements enough to make his whole philoso-
phy appear objectionable for long years to
come. Thus the stigma of atheism remained
attached to him, whereas in reality the
last axioms of his philosophy teach that the
highest cognition is the knowledge of God;
from this springs the highest intellectual
bliss, the inward repose which comes from
reflecting upon the necessity of all things;
the release from the fruitless struggle with
the finality of our being. The highest spir-
itual virtue according to him is love to God;
who really loves God does not expect God
to love him in return; his reward consists
in the blessedness of that higher cognition.
Among the foreigners who from Holland attacked antiquated doctrines
and aroused a spirit of doubt and criticism, Pierre Bayle was unquestionably
the one who exercised the most direct and active influence, especially through
the tireless energy by means of which he was able to create new forms of
expression. In Bayle the spirit of investigation and contradiction was ever
active. In the seventeenth century he was known pre-eminently as the
doubter, somewhat like Hume in the eighteenth.
In the Spanish Netherlands, which remained monarchistic and Catholic,
intellectual activity retreated wholly into the background during the seven-
teenth century. The rhetorical chambers had already been suppressed under
Philip II; the sciences also could not flourish under the absolute dominion
and the clerical servitude. Philip's daughter Isabella and her husband
Duke Albert had patronised literature to a certain extent and had attended
lectures by the celebrated philologian Lipsius. During the newly beginning
seventeenth century there is no literary activity of a national character to
be recorded, in the country now called Belgium; only a few Jesuits like
Haschins distinguished themselves as Latin poets.* In Holland, however,
there had been a splendid efflorescence.
Babuch Spinoza (1632-1677)
SCIENCE, LITEEATUEE, AND AET IK THE NETHEELANDS 593
GOLDEN AGE OP DUTCH LITEEATURE
The first writer who used the Dutch tongue with grace and precision of
style was a woman and a professed opponent of Lutheranism and reformed
thought. Modern Dutch literature practically begins with Anna Bijns.
Against the crowd of rhetoricians and psalm-makers of the early part of the
sixteenth century, she stands out in relief as the one poet of real genius. The
language, oscillating before her time between French and German, formless,
corrupt, and invertebrate, took shape and comeliness, which none of the male
pedants could give it, from the impassioned hands of a woman. Anna Bijns,
who is believed to have been born at Antwerp in 1494, was a schoolmistress at
that city in her middle life and in old age she still " Instructed youth in the
Cathohc religion." She was named " the Sappho of Brabant" and the " prin-
cess of all rhetoricians." She bent the powerful weapon of her verse against
the faith and character of Luther. In Dirk Volckersten Coornhert (1522-
1590) Holland for the first time produced a writer at once eager to compose in
his native tongue and to employ the weapons of humanism.
Towards the end of the period of transition, Amsterdam became the centre
of all literary enterprise in Holland. In 1585 two of the most important
chambers of rhetoric in Flanders, the "White Lavender" and the "Fig-Tree,"
took flight from the south, and settled themselves in Amsterdam by the side of
the "Eglantine." The last-named institution had already observed the new
tendency of the age, and was prepared to encourage intellectual reform of
every kind, and its influence spread through Holland and Zealand. In Flan-
ders, meanwhile, crushed under the yoke of Parma, literature and native
thought absolutely expired.
In the chamber of the Eglantine at Amsterdam two men took a very
prominent place, more by their intelligence and modern spirit than by their
original genius. Hendrick Laurenssen Spieghel (1549-1612) was a humanist
of a type more advanced and less polemical than Coornhert.
Roemer Pieterssen Visscher (1545-1620) proceeded a step further than
Spieghel in the cultivation of polite letters. He was deeply tinged with a
spirit of classical learning that was much more genuine and nearer 1x) the true
antique than any that had previously been known in Holland. His own dis-
ciples called him the Dutch Martial, but he was at best little more than an
amateur in poetry, although an amateur whose function it was to perceive
and encourage the genius of professional writers.
The Visscher Family
Roemer Visscher stands at the threshold of the new Renaissance literature,
himself practising the faded arts of the rhetoricians, but pointing by his counsel
and his conversation to the naturalism of the great period. It was in the
salon at Amsterdam which the beautiful daughters of Roemer Visscher formed
aroimd their father and themselves that the new school began to take form.
The republic of the United Provmces, with Amsterdam at its head, had sud-
denly risen to the first rank among the nations of Europe, and it was under
the influence of so much new emotion and brilliant ambition that the country
no less suddenly asserted itself in a great school of painting and poetry. The
intellect of the whole of the Low Countries was concentrated in Holland and
Zealand, while the six great universities, Leyden, Groningen, Utrecht, Amster-
dam, Harderwijk, and Franeker, were enriched by a flock of learned exiles from
Flanders and Brabant. It had occurred, however, to Roemer Visscher only
, H. W. — VOL. XIII. 2Q
694 THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
that the path of literary honour lay, not along the utiUtarian road cut out by
Maerlant and Boendale, but in the'study of beauty and antiquity. In this he
was curiously aided by the school of ripe and enthusiastic scholars who began
to flourish at Leyden, such as Drusius, Vossius, and Hugo Grotius, who them-
selves wrote little in Dutch, but who chastened the style of the rising genera-
tion by insisting on a pure and liberal latinity. Out of that generation arose
the greatest names in the literature of Holland — Vondel, Hooft, Cats, Huy-
gens — in whose hands the language, so long left barbarous and neglected,
took at once its highest finish and melody. By the side of this serious and
aesthetic growth there is to be noticed a quickening of the broad and farcical
humour which had been characteristic of the Dutch nation from its com-
mencement.
Of the famous daughters of Roemer, two cultivated literature with marked
success: Anna (1584-1651) was the author of a descriptive and didactic poem,
De Roemster van den Aemstel (the Glory of the Aemstel), and of various mis-
cellaneous writings; Tesselschade (1594-1649) wrote some lyrics which stiU
place her at the head of the female poets of Holland, and she translated the
great poem of Tasso. They were women of universal accomplishment, grace-
ful manners, and singular beauty; and their company attracted to the house
of Roemer Visscher all the most gifted youths of the time, several of whom
were suitors, but in vain, for the hand of Anna or of Tesselschade.
Hooft and Vondel
Of this Amsterdam school, the first to emerge into public notice was Pieter
Cornelissen Hooft (1581-1647). In his poetry, especially in the lyrical and
pastoral verse of his youth, he is full of Italian reminiscences both of style and
matter; in his noble prose work he has set himself to be a disciple of Tacitus.
Mr. Motley " has spoken of Hooft as one of the greatest historians, not merely
of Holland but of Europe. His influence in purifying the language of his
country and in enlarging its sphere of experience can hardly be overrated.
Very different from the long and prosperous career of Hooft was the brief,
painful life of the greatest comic dramatist that Holland has produced, Ger-
brand Adriaanssen Brederoo (1585-1618), the son of an Amsterdam shoe-
maker.
The greatest of all Dutch writers, Joost van der Vondel, was bom at
Cologne on the 17th of November, 1587. In 1612 he brought out his first
work, Het Pascha, a tragedy or tragicomedy on the exodus of the children of
Israel, written, like all his succeeding dramas, on the recognised Dutch plan,
in a;lexandrines, in five acts, and with choral interludes between the acts.
There is comparatively little promise in Het Pascha. In 1625 he published
what seemed an innocent study from the antique, his tragedy of Palamedes, or
Murdered Innocence. All Amsterdam discovered, with smothered delight,
that under the name of the hero was thinly concealed the figure of Bameveld,
whose execution in 1618 had been a triumph of the hated Calvinists. Thus,
at the age of forty-one, the obscure Vondel became in a week the most famous
writer in Holland.
A purely fortuitous circumstance led to the next great triumph in Vondel's
slowly developing career. The Dutch Academy, founded in 1617, almost
wholly as a dramatic guild, had become so inadequately provided with stage
accommodation that in 1638, having coalesced with the two chambers of the
" Eglantine " and the " White Lavender," it ventured on the erection of a large
SCIENCE, LITEEATUEE, AND AET IN THE NBTHEELANDS 595
public theatre, the first in Amsterdam. Vondel, as the greatest poet of the
day, was invited to write a piece for the first night; on the 3rd of January,
1638, the theatre was opened with the performance of a new tragedy out of
early Dutch history, the famous Gysbreght van Aemstel. The next ten years
were rich in dramatic work from Vondel's hand. In 1654, having already
attained an age at which poetical production is usually discontinued by the
most energetic of poets, he brought out the most exalted and sublime of aU his
works, the tragedy of Lucifer.* Very late in life, through no fault of his own,
financial ruin fell on the aged poet, and from 1658 to 1668 — that is, from his
seventieth to his eightieth year — this venerable and illustrious person, the
mam literary glory of Holland through her whole history, was forced to earn
his bread as a common clerk in a bank, miserably paid, and accused of wasting
his masters' time by the writing of verses.
Vondel is the typical example of Dutch intelligence and imagination at
their highest development. Not merely is he to Holland all that Camoens is
to Portugal and Mickiewicz to Poland, but he stands on a level with these men
in the positive value of his writings.
Cats and Huygens
While the genius of Holland clustered around the circle of Amsterdam, a
school of scarcely less brilliance arose in Middelburg, the capital of Zealand.
The rulingspirit of this school was the famous Jakob Cats (1577-1660). In
this voluminous writer, to whom modern criticism almost denies the name of
poet, the genuine Dutch habit of thought, the utilitarian and didactic spirit
which we have already observed in Houwaert and in Boendale, reached its
zenith of fluency and popularity.
A poet of dignified imagination and versatile form was Sir Constantijn
Huygens (1596-1687) the diplomatist. Though born and educated at the
Hague, he threw in his lot with the great school of Amsterdam, and became
the intimate friend and companion of Vondel, Hooft, and the daughters of
Roemer Visscher. His famous poem in praise of the Hague, Batava Tempe,
appeared in 1621, and was, from a technical point of view the most accom-
plished and elegant poem tUl that time produced in Holland. Huygens
represents the direction in which it would have been desirable that Dutch
literatvire, now completely founded by Hooft and Vondel, should forthwith
proceed, while Cats represents the tame and mundane spirit which was actually
adopted by the nation. Huygens had little of the sweetness of Hooft or of the
sublimity of Vondel, but his genius was eminently bright and vivacious, and
he was a consummate artist in metrical form. The Dutch language has never
proved so light and supple in any hands as in his, and he attempted no class
of writing, whether in prose or verse, that he did not adorn by his delicate
taste and sound judgment.
Three Dutchmen of the seventeenth centiu-y distinguished themselves very
prominently in the movement of learning and philosophic thought, but the
illustrious names of Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) and of Baruch Spinoza (1632-
1677) can scarcely be said to belong to Dutch literature, since they wrote in
Latin. Balthazar Bekker (1634-1698), on the contrary, was a disciple of
Descartes, who deserves to be remembered as the greatest philosophical writer
who has used the Dutch language.**
[• This great work bears so much simUarity to a greater work, Milton's Pmradise Lost, that
it is frequently stated that Milton must have been acquainted with it. Milton's poem was
begun in 16S5, and finished in. 1667,]
S96
THE HISTOEY OF THE NBTHEELANDS
Hugo Grotius
In the annals of precocious genius there is no greater prodigy on record
than Hugo Grotius [in Dutch, Huig de Groot], who was able to make good
Latin verses at nine, was ripe for the university at twelve, and at fifteen
edited the encyclopaedic work of Martianus Capella. At Leyden he was
much noticed by J. J. Scaliger, whose habit it was to engage his young friends
in the editing of some classical text, less for the sake of the book so produced
than as a valuable educa-
tion for themselves. At
fifteen Grotius accom-
panied Count Justin of
Nassau and the grand
pensionary Olden - Barne-
veld on their special em-
bassy to the court of
France. After a year
profitably spent in that
country in acquiring the
language and making ac-
quaintance with the lead-
ing men, Grotius returned
home. He took the degree
of doctor of law at Leyden,
and entered on practice as
an advocate.
Grotius vied with the
latinists of ihis day in the
composition of Latin
verses. Some lines on the
siege of Ostend were
grea'tUy admired, and
spread his fame beyond
the circle of the learned.
He wrote three dramas in
Latin: Christus Patiens;
Sophomphaneas, on the
story of Joseph and his
brethren ; and Adamus
Exul, a production which
is stiU remembered as havmg given hints to Milton. In 1603 the United
Provinces, desiring to transmit to posterity some account of their struggle
with Spain, determined to appoint a historiographer. Several candidates
appeared, Dominicus Bandius among them. But the choice of the states
fell upon Grotius, though only twenty years of age, and not having offered
himself for the post.
His next preferment was that of advocate-general of the fisc for the prov-
inces of Holland and Zealand. He had already passed from occupation with
the classics to studies more immediately connected with his profession. In
the winter of 1604 he composed a treatise entitled De jure prcedoe. This
treatise he did not publish, and the MS. of it remained unknown to all the
biographers of Grotius till 1868, when it was brought to light, and printed
at the Hague under the auspices of Professor Fruin. It discovers to us that
H0GO Grotius (1583-1645)
SCI-ETTCE, LITERATURE, AND ART IN THE NETHERLANDS 597
the principles and the plan of the celebrated De jure belli, which was not com-
posed till 1625, more than twenty years after, had already been conceived
by a youth of twerity-one.
A_ short treatise which was printed in 1609, Grotius says without his
permission, under the title of Mare Liberum, is nothing more than a chapter
(the twelfth) of the De jure jyrcedce. It was necessary to Grotius's defence
of Heemskerk that he should show that the Portuguese pretence that Eastern
waters were their private property was untenable. Grotius maintains that
the ocean is free to all, and cannot be appropriated by any one nation. Many
years afterwards the jealousies between England and Holland gave impor-
tance to the novel doctrine broached in the tract by Grotius, a doctrine which
Selden set himself to refute in his Mare clausum (1632).
In June, 1619, Grotius, as we have seen, was immured in the fortress of
Loevestein, near Gorkum. He had now before him, at thirty-six, no prospect
but that of a lifelong captivity. He did not abandon himself to despair,
but sought refuge in returning to the classical pursuits of his youth.
The address and ingenuity of Madame Grotius at length devised a mode
of escape. His first place of refuge was Antwerp, from which he proceeded
to Paris, where he arrived in April, 1621. In October he was joined by his
wife. There he was presented to the king, Louis XIII, and a pension of
3,000 livres conferred upon him. French pensions were easily granted, all
the more so as they were never paid.
In March, 1625, the printing of the De jure belli, which had taken four
months, was completed. But though his book brought him no profit it
brought him reputation, so widely spread and of such long endurance as no
other legal treatise has ever enjoyed.
As in many other points Grotius inevitably recalls to us Erasmus, so he
does in his attitude towards the great schism. Grotius was indeed a man of
profound religious sentiment, which Erasmus was not; but he had an indiffer-
ence to dogma equal to that of Erasmus, although his disregard sprang from
another source. Erasmus felt the contempt of a man of letters for the bar-
barous dissonance of the monkish wrangle. Grotius was animated by an
ardent desire for peace and concord. He thought that a basis for reconcilia-
tion of Protestant and Catholic might be found in a common piety, combined
with reticence upon discrepancies of doctrinal statement. His De veritate
religionis Christiance (1627), a presentment of the evidences, is so written
as to form a code of common Christianity, irrespective of sect. The little
treatise diffused itself rapidly over Christendom, gaining rather than losing
popularity in the eighteenth centiu-y. It became the classical manual of
apologetics in Protestant colleges, and was translated for missionary purposes
into Arabic (by Pocock, 1660), Persian, Chinese, etc.
Grotius was a great jurist, and his De jure belli et pacis (Paris, 1625),
though not by any means the first attempt in modern times to ascertain the
principles of jurisprudence, went far more fundamentally into the discussion
than anyone had done before him. It is in the larger questions to which
he opened the way that the merit of Grotius consists. His was the first
attempt to obtain a principle of right, and a basis for society and govern-
ment, outside the chiuch or the Bible. The distinction between religion
on the one hand and law and morality on the other is not indeed clearly con-
ceived by Grotius, but he wrestles with it in such a way as to make it easy
for those who followed him to seize it: The law of nature is unalterable;
God himself cannot alter it any more than he can alter a mathematical axiom.
This law has its source in the nature of man as a social being; it would be
598
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
valid even were there no God, or if God did not interfere in the government
of the world.
These positions, though Grotius' religious temper did not allow him to
rely unreservedly upon them, yet, even in the partial apphcation they find
in his book, entitle him to the honour of being held the founder of the modern
science of the law of
nature and nations.
The De jure exerted
little influence on the
practice of belligerents,
yet its publication was
an epoch in the science.
Mackintosh e afiirmed
that his work is " per-
haps the most complete
that the world has yet
owed, at so early a
stage in the progress of
any science, to the ge-
nius and learning of
one man."^
From 1600 to 1650
was the blossoming
time in Dutch litera-
ture. During this pe-
riod the names of
greatest genius were
first made known to
the public, and the
vigour and grace of lit-
erary expression
reached their highest
development. It hap-
pened, however, that
three men of particu-
larly conmaanding tal-
ent survived to an ex-
treme old age, and under the shadow of Vondel, Cats, and Huygens there
sprang up a new generation which sustained the great tradition xmtil about
1680, when the final decline set in.''
Peter Paul Rubens
(1577-1640)
TAINE ON FLEMISH AET
There are moments in the history of a nation when it resembles Christ
transported by Satan to the moimtain top; it becomes necessary for it to
choose between the higher ideal and the lower. In the case of the Nether-
lands the tempter was Phihp II with his army; put to the same test, the people
of the North and the people of the South differed decidedly, following the slight
differences of make-up and character. The choice once made, these differences
increased, exaggerated by the result of the situation they had produced.
The two peoples were two almost similar varieties of the same species; they
became two distinct species. There always exist moral as well as physical
SCIENCE, LITERATUEE, AND ART IN THE NETHERLANDS 599
types; their origin is the same, but as they develop they vary and this varia-
tion IS the birth of their separate existence.
-^ter the separation, when the southern provinces became Belgium,
the predominating idea was a need of peace and well-being, a disposition
to accept existence comfortably and mirthfully — in a word, the spirit of
Teniers, the state of mind that can laugh and sing, smoke a good pipe, quaff
a good beer in a bare tavern, a dilapidated cottage, or on a wooden bench.
In fact, it was now possible to sleep in beds, to amass provision, to enjoy
work, travel, converse, live without fear; one had a house, a country: the
future opened up. All the ordinary affairs of life took on interest; the people
felt the resurrection and seemed to live for the first time. It is under such
conditions that the arts and hterature are born. The great shock undergone
had broken the uniform glazing that tradition and custom had spread over
everything. Man now occupied the centre of things; the essential traits of
his nature, transformed and renewed, were grasped; the mind was as Adam's
at his awakening. Later was to come the refining and weakening; at this
moment the conception of things was large and simple. Man was competent
because he was born in a period of disintegration and raised in the midst of
naked tragedy; like Victor Hugo and George Sand, Rubens as a child was
m exile, near his imprisoned father, and heard on all sides the din of tempests
and ruin.
After the generation of activity which had suffered and created came
the poetic generation which expressed itself in hterature and the arts. It
explained and amplified the desires and energies of the world founded by
its fathers. This was the cause of Flemish art glorifying in heroic types
the sensual instincts, the coarse enjoyments, the rude energy of the surround-
ing souls, and the finding in the tavern of Teniers the heaven of Rubens.
Peter Paul Rubens
Among the painters was one who stood out from all the others. This
was Peter Paul Rubens.*
Rubens was not an isolated genius, and the resemblance of the works of
the painters of his period to his, shows that the tree of which he was the most
splendid shoot was the product of his nation and his epoch. Before him
came his master Adam van Noort and the master of Jordaens; around him
his contemporaries educated in other studios, and whose creative faculties
were as great as his — Jordaens, Grayer, Gerard Zeghers, Rombouts, Abra-
ham Janssens, Van Roose; after him his pupils — Van Thulden, Diepenbeck,
Van den Hoecke, Cornelius Schut, Boyermans, Vandyke greatest of them
all; and Jakob van Oost of Bruges; the great animal and still-life painters
Snyders, Jan Fyt, the Jesuit Seghers: the same sap gave sustenance to all
these branches, the large and small alike.
In Belgium as in Italy the religion consisted in rites: Rubens went to
mass in the mornings and gave a picture to obtain indulgences; after which
[' His father, a legal scholar and lay assessor of Antwerp, had fled to Cologne, and it is
generally supposed that Rubens was born there, or, as has been latterly stated, at Siegen. In his
tenth year Us mother brought him to Antwerp. In 1600 he went to Italy, received from the
duke of Mantua the title of court equerry, and was sent by him to Madrid. After 1608 Ant-
werp became his home ; Duke Albert appointed him to be court painter. Yet at one time he
accepted commissions in Paris for a considerable period, and then sold his art collection to the
duke of Buckingham for 100,000 guldens. In 1629 he took part in the peace negotiations
between Spain and England, for which Charles I gave him a golden chain with his picture.
Rubens lived the life of a great lord, and had many paintings executed after his sketches by
numsrous pupils. He died at Antwerp in 1640. ""J
600
THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
he would return to the poetic feeling of his daily existence, and paint in the
same style a Magdalene overflowing with repentance or a corpulent siren.
Aside from this his art is truly Flemish; it is harmonious, spontaneous,
original, in this being distinct from the preceding period, which was but a
discordant imitation. From Greece to Florence, from Florence to Venice,
from Venice to Antwerp, one can follow all the steps of passage. The con-
ception of man and life lost in nobleness and gained in breadth.
Rubens is to Titian what Titian is to Raphael and what Raphael is to
Phidias. Never has the artistic sjmipathy grasped nature with so frank
and general an embrace. The ancient landmarks, already so often pushed
back, seemed to be entirely destroyed in order to open an infinite course.
The historic laws were disregarded; he put together allegorical and realistic
figures, cardinals and a nude Mercury.
So with the moral laws : he intro-
duced into the ideal, mythological, and
evangelistic heaven brutal or malignant
figures — a Magdalene who is a nurse, a
Ceres who whispers a joke into her neigh-
bour's ear. He did not fear shocking
the physical sensibilities; he went to the
limit of the horrible, through all the tor-
tures of suffering flesh and all the thrill
of agonised screams. He did not shrink
from shocking the moral sense; he rep-
resents Minerva as a shrew who lashes
herself into a fury, Judith as a butcher
accustomed to blood, Paris as a scoffer
and an amateur epicure. To describe
the impression given by his Susannas,
Magdalenes, his Saint Sebastians, his
graces, his sirens, his great kirmesses of
divinity and humanity, ideal or realistic,
Christian or pagan, would require the
words of a Rabelais.
With him all the animal instincts enter upon the scene. He fails in
nothing except the very pure and idealistic; he has imder the control of
his brush all hiunan nature save the highest plane. This is the reason that
his creations are the most numerous ever seen and that they include all
types: Italian cardinals, Roman emperors, contemporary nobles, bourgeois,
peasants, cowherds, with the innimierable variations that the play of nature
creates in these types; and more than fifteen hundred pictures have failed
to exhaust his creative faculties.
For the same reason, in representing the human body, he more than
anyone has imderstood it; in this he surpasses the Venetians as they sur-
passed the Florentines; he feels even more than they that the flesh is a
substance that is constantly renewing itself. This is why no one has sur-
passed him in rendering contrasts, or in showing so visibly the destruction
and the blooming of life: sometimes it is death — heavy, flabby, without
blood or substance, pale, bluish, drawn with suffering, a clot of blood at the
mouth, the eyes glazed, feet and hands corpse-Uke, swollen, and deformed;
at other times the freshness of the living flesh tints, the yoimg athlete, bloom-
ing and radiant, the easy flexibility of his torso acting in a youthful body
well nourished, the cheeks smooth and rosy; the placid frankness of a maiden
Adam Van Noort (1557-1641)
(Bubens' fiist master)
SCIENCE, LITEEATIJEE, AND AET IN THE NETHEELANDS 601
-4
in whom no harmful thought has ever quickened the pulse or dulled the eye;
the groups of chubby cherubims and trifling cupids, the delicacy, the pucker,
the delicious under rose-glow of the chijd-skin like the wet petal of a rose
impregnated by the light of dawn. No one has given to figures such an
impulse, gestures so impetuous, motion so furious and with so much abandon,
so great and general a movement of muscles
swollen and twisted in one great effort.
His characters are speaking, even their re-
pose is on the edge of action; one feels what
they wish to do and that which they will do;
the present with them is impregnated with
the past and full of the future. In his work
most subtle and fine distinctions of feeling
are found.
In this respect Rubens is a treasure for
the novelist and psychologist; no one has
gone further in the knowledge of the living
organisation of the human animal. There
is but one Rubens in Flanders. Great as
were the others they lack some of his genius.
Grayer has neither his audacity nor his ex-
cess; he painted, with the delicate results of
fresh soft colouring, a quiet happy beauty.
Jordaens has not his royal grandeur or his
fund of heroic poetry; he painted with the
wine colouring of the thick-set giant, the
packed crowds, the plebeian roisterers. Van-
dyke even had not his love of strength and
life for itself.?
Fromentin's Estimate of Vandyke
With his many works, his immor-
tal portraits, his soul capable of the
finest sensations, his individual style,
his distinguished personaUty, his
taste, his standard and charm in all
he touched, one asks what Vandyke ^
would have been without Rubens.
How would he have seen nature,
how conceived painting? What pal-
ette would he have created — what
model would he have chosen? What -rtr u
laws of colour would he have laid down — what poetry have accepted ? Would
he have leaned to the Italian schools? If the revolution made by Rubens
had been later, or had never been, what would have happened to the followers
for whom he prepared the way — all his gifted scholars, and particularly
Vandyke the most gifted of all? Take away from them the mfluence, direct
n Born at Antwerp in 1599, educated at the school founded by Rubens in Belgium, Van-
dyke went himself to drink from the fertile and living source open by the Italian masters m
the sixteenth century. He took this voyage in 1630, and returned in 1626. Dunng this period
he visited all the great art centres of Italy and studied seriously. V^hile studying aU the great
masters, it was Titian whom he chose as a model. In 1633 he was kmghted by Charles I, and
lived in England as court painter till his death in 1641 at London."]
EUBKNS' HO08E IN ANTWERP
602
THE HISTOEY OF THE NBTHEELANDS
or indirect, of Rubens, and imagine what is left to these luminous satellites.
There is always more sentiment, and profound sentiment, in the refined
Vandyke than in Rubens. Yet is this certain, or is it an affair of differences
of temperament? Between these two souls, so unequal in other things also,
there was a feminine influence, first of all a difference of sex. Vandyke made
slender the statues that Rubens made heavy; he put less muscle, bone, and
blood. He was more quiet, never brutal; his conceptions were not so vulgar;
he laughed less, felt compassion often, but did not know the great sob of
the more passionate temperament. He often corrected the unevenness of
his master ; he was easy
in his work because with
him his talent was wonder-
fully natural; he is free,
active, but never loses him-
self.
He was twenty-four
years younger than Ru-
bens; he belongs not at
all to the sixteenth century
but entirely to the genera-
tion of the seventeenth.
This one feels physically
and morally, in the man
and in the painter, in his
own well-cut features and
in his choice of beautiful
faces; and most of all is
this felt in his portraits.
In this regard he is won-
derfully in touch with the
world, his world and the
world of the period. Never
having created one set type
which would blind him to
the truth, he was exact,
correct, and saw the right
likeness. Perhaps he put
into all his portraits some-
thing of his own graceful
personality — an air more
noble, a finer bearing, more
beautiful hands; in any
case he knew better than
his master the proper adjustment, the things of his world, and had taste in
the painting of silks, satins, ribbons, plumes, and swords.
His were not chevaliers but cavaliers. The men of war had forsaken their
armours and hehnets; these were courtiers in imbuttoned doublets, floating
laces, silk shoes, knee-breeches, all the fashions and customs which were
familiar to him and which he better than anyone else knew how to reproduce in
the perfection of their worldliness. With his manner, in his line, by the
unique conformity of his nature with his times he occupied a high place in
the world of art. His Charles I, in its perfect understanding of the model
and subject, the easiness of style and its nobility, the beauty of the whole
Rubens and His Wipe. After His Own Painting, show-
ing Eably Seventeenth Century Aristocratic Cos-
tume
SCIENCE, LITEEATUEE, AND AET IN THE NETHEELANDS 603
work, the drawing of the face, the colouring, the wonderful technique, bears
comparison with the highest achievements.
He created in his country an original style, and consequently he is a factor
in the new school of art. He also had a foreign following: Reynolds, Law-
rence, Gainsborough, in fact almost all the genre painters who were faithful
to Enghsh traditions and the strongest landscape painters, are the result of
Vandyke, and indirectly of Rubens through Vandyke. Posterity, always
just in its decisions, has. given to Vandyke a place of his own, between the
greatest and the next rank. After his death, as during his life, he seems to
have stood near the throne and to have held well his position there.''
David Teniers
David Teniers the Yoimger, the son of an able painter of the same name,
was born at Antwerp in 1610. He is especially noteworthy because in his
choice of subjects he took the road which led the Dutch to their peculiar
greatness. It is significant that Louis XIV would not hear of him; but
Duke Leopold William made him inspector of his picture gallery, which was
afterwards taken to Vienna.
Teniers even became rich so that at his castle of the Three Towers (Dry
Toren) at Lerck, not far from Brussels, he gathered the scholars and artists
of Belgium about him like a princely Maecenas. He died at Brussels in 1685.
He liked to paint contented people in modest circumstances, peasant dances,
card players, bowlers, and fairs; his figures, even those of youths and maidens,
he reproduces without any idealisation as the national style demanded. He
has fantastic representations of an alchemist in a room crowded full of
peculiar apparatus; also St. Anthony tempted with visions by the devil.
DUTCH ART
In Holland, however, there was developed a new school of art, which
cut itself loose from all sjmibolic restrictions and apparently even from all
idealism; but which in compensation obtained new and unsuspected charm
and deep sentiment out of human life and external nature. It should be
remembered, on the one hand, that a certain sense of droll humour always
existed in the Netherlands and that it was there that the fable of Reynard
was developed in which the human traits of animals are shown in their life.
On the other hand it should not be forgotten that in the seventeenth century
philosophers and naturalists attempted to investigate objects as they actually
exist without any preconceived opinions and that at the same time the English
drama represented the impulses of humanity with living, objective, reahty
and without regard for time, manner, or position. Human existence develops
its innermost pulsebeats and the external world its most intimate traits, in
an environment which in antiquity and in the early Middle Ages was seldom
handled poetically and even less often artistically .&
Taine's estimate of Rembrandt
One of the greatest merits of the Dutch school is its colouring. This
was the result of the natural training of the eye. This country, a great
alluvial tract of land, like that of the Po, with its rivers, canals, and humid
atmosphere, resembled Venice. Here, as in Venice, nature made colourists
of men. In Italy a tone remains the same; in the Netherlands it varies
604
THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHERLANDS
incessantly with the variations of the light and ambient mists. At times
full light strikes an object: it is not usual, and the green stretch of country,
the red roofs, the varnished fagades, the satiny flesh or flush stand out with
extraordinary distinctness. At other times the light is duU; this is the usual
condition in Holland, and objects scarcely show, almost losing themselves
in the shadows. The eye becoming accustomed to this obscure light, the
painter instead of using his whole scale of colours employs but the beginning
of that scale; all his picture is in shade save one point. He gives us a con-
tinuous low-keyed concert broken sometimes by a brilliant burst of sound.
In this way he discovers imknown harmonies, all those of obscure ligh^, all
those of the soul, harmo-
nies infinite and penetrat-
ing; with a daub of dirty
yellow, of wine dregs, of
mixed grey, of vague
blacks, in the midst of
which is placed a dash of
life, he stirs the. farthest
depths of our souls. This
is the last great creation in
the art of painting; it is
in this style that to-day
the painter speaks most
effectively to the modem
soul, and such was the
coloiu" that the light of
Holland furnished to the
genius of Rembrandt.
Among aU the Dutch
painters Rembrandt Van
Rijn (1607-1669) through
his wonderfully trained eye
and an extraordinary al-
most savage genius, went
ahead of his nation and
century, and grasped the
common instincts which
unite the Germanic races and lead to modem ideas. This man, collector,
recluse, drawn along by the development of a mighty power, lived as Balzac
did, a magician and a visionary, in a world of his own to the door of which
he alone held the key. Superior to all other painters in the fineness and
natural acuteness of his impressions, he understood and followed in all its
consequences the great tmth that for the eye aU the essence of a visible object
is in a spot, that the simplest colour is infinitely complex, that all visual
sensation is the outcome of its own elements and the outside surroimdings,
that every seen object is but a spot modified by other spots, and that there-
fore the principal element of a picture is the coloured vibrating atmosphere
in which the figures are plunged as fish in a sea. -He rendered this atmosphere
palpable, filled with mysterious life; he has put into it the light of his country,
that light dull and yellowish like that of a lamp in the depths of a cave; he
felt its pitiful struggle with the shadow, the weakness of the rays that died
away into the depths, the trembling of the reflections that clung to the shining
walls and all the vague population of the half-shadows, which, invisible to
EembbAndt van Eijn (1607-1669)
(Portrait drawn by himself)
SCIENCE, LITERATUEB, AND AET IN THE NETHERLANDS 605
the ordinary observer, seem in his pictures and etchings hke a submarine
world viewed across an abyss of waters. From out of this obscurity, the
full light for his eyes was a dazzling shower; he felt it as a flash of lightning,
a magic illumination, or a bundle of arrows. Thus he found in the inanimate
world the most complete and expressive drama, all the contrasts, all the con-
flicts, all that is most oppressive and most lugubrious in the night, that which
is most elusive and most melancholy in ambiguous shadows, that which is
most violent and irresistible in the breaking forth of day. This done, he
had but to pose in the midst of the natural drama, his himian drama; a
theatre so constructed gave birth to its own characters.
The Greeks and Italians knew man and life in their most correct and
highest paths, the healthy flower that blossoms in the light; Rembrandt saw
far back to the source, all that goes down and moulds in the shadows; the
obscure paupers, the Jews of Amsterdam, the deformed and stunted, the
begrimed suffering populace of a large city and a bad climate, the crooked,
the bald head of the old decrepit artisan, faces with the paleness of ill-health,
all the mass of humanity alive with evil passions and hideous miseries which
multiply in our civilisation like worms in a rotten tree.
Once started on this road he was able to understand the religion of sorrow,
the true Christianity, to interpret the Bible as a Lollard would have done,
to find again the eternal Christ. He himself as a result was capable of feeling
pity; in contrast with his conservative and aristocratic contemporaries, he
was of the people; at least he is the most human of them all: his sympathies,
more broad, embrace nature in its entu-ety; no ugliness was repugnant to
him and no appearance of joy or nobility hid from him the reality that lay
beneath. Thus, untrammeled and guided by his fine sensibility, his inter-
pretation of humanity not only includes the general framework and the
abstract type which suffices for classical art, but also the peculiarities and
depth of the individual, the infinite complexity and indefinable traits of the
moral character, all this moving picture which concentrates in a human face
in a single moment the life history of a soul, and which has been seen clearly
by only one other man — Shakespeare. In this he is the most original of
the modern artists and has forged one end of a chain the other end of which
was made by the Greeks; all the other great masters lie between, and when
to-day our over-excited sentiment, our insatiable curiosity in the pursuit
of fine distinctions, our pitiless search after the truth, oiir divination of
the remote characteristics and under-currents of hiraian nature seek for
precursors and masters, it is in Rembrandt and Shakespeare that Balzac and
Delacroix would find them./
Fromentin's Estimate of Frans Hals
It is at Haarlem that one best sees Frans Hals (1584-1666). Here as else-
where in the French galleries and other Dutch galleries, the idea one receives
of this brilliant master is that he is unequal although seductive, amiable,
spiritual, neither true nor equitable. The man loses what the artist gains.
He astonishes, amuses. With his quickness, his wonderful good nature, his
tricks of technique, he separates himself by his joking of mind and hand from
the severe atmosphere of the painters of his time. Sometimes he astounds;
he gives the impression that he is wise as well as highly gifted, and that his
irresistible humoin- is but the happy grace of great genius; then abnost imme-
diately he compromises himself, discredits himself and discourages one.
To-day the name of Hals reappears in our modem school at the moment when
606 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
the love of realism enters with great noise and not less excess. His method
has served as precedent to certain theories in virtue of which the most vulgar
realism is wrongly taken for the truth. To invoke in support of this the works
which he flatly contradicted in his best moods is a mistake and but injures him.
In the large hall of Haarlem which contains many of his works, Frans Hals
has eight large canvases. These pictures cover the whole period of, his work.
The first (1616) was painted at the age of thirty-two, the last, in 1664, two
years before his death, at the advanced age of eighty. In these works one sees
his debut, his growth, and his searching for the way. He arrived at his zenith
late, toward middle age, even a little later; his strongest work and develop-
ment was in his old age.*
Public Paintings
The most interesting pictures are those which, in expressive groups, repre-
sent the public life of the Netherlands as it flourished under the influence
of civil and religious freedom. Holland has had no poet to immortalise its
growth, like iEschylus in the Persians or Shakespeare in his historical dramas;
on the other hand the native civic life, elevated by culture, appears before us
strong and cheerful. Pictures were banished from the Reformed church, and
it cannot be denied that from now on public taste was largely influenced by
the needs of private ownership. Nevertheless the halls of the coimcil houses,
of the guilds, also of the universities provided exhibition room, although for
commemorative pictures of momunental importance. After the independence
of the United Provinces had been recognised by the Peace of Westphalia, the
festivities which greeted this event at home were preserved in animated paint-
ings, some of which are groups of portraits. Among these is the Banquet at
Amsterdam (in the museum of that place) by Bartholomeus van der Heist, a
work of the first rank; the strong, cheerful faces around the richly spread table,
in the midst the captain with the city banner, show at once that the scene is
taken from a flourishing state life. By the same painter is the Distribution of
Prizes by the Amsterdam Rifle Corps (now in the Louvre) . Rembrandt himself
represents the departure of the sharpshooters from Amsterdam imder the
leadership of Captain Korn, in that splendid colour picture which is often
incorrectly called the Night Watch.
In the Hospital for Lepers, Amsterdam had a group picture by Ferdinand
Bol of Dordrecht, one of Rembrandt's best pupils, which portrays the five
directors of the hospital as they are receiving a poor peasant boy. We should
also mention Rembrandt's Anatomy, celebrated for its wonderful colourmg,
which shows Professor Tulp as he explains a dead body to his pupils.
Terburg and Other Painters of the Dutch School
Since in such pictures portraits are grouped in one scene or action, they
take the form of representations of actual life, of so called genre pictures. We
use the word without here investigating its origin. Even many a picture
from the Old and New Testaments is turned into a family or street scene in the
Dutch treatment. When Teniers paints the liberation of Peter, our gaze
lingers in the foreground where the guards who should be watching the apostle
are playing at dice while he escapes. In the same way in the old German or
Dutch passion-plays we find scenes introduced where a peddler is offering his
salves for sale and Mary Magdalene is bargaining with him.
It is of great importance, however, that the Dutch painting applies itself to
the reproduction of actual life with as much skill as affection, that it makes a
SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART IN THE NETHERLANDS 607
scene of most intimate family associations into a work of art and increases its
value by the perfection of the style. One paints persons of the lower classes
in quiet situations, represents a drinker, a soldier smoking, a cook at her work,
with all the contentment of unaffected existence; another prefers animated
scenes, disputes, even brawls in a tavern. But the life of the higher classes in
its more dignified attitude hkewise finds perfect expression, whereby the high-
est art is manifested in silken garments, draperies, ornaments, Just as in the
earthen pitchers or the dully lighted-up wooden benches of the former class.
Terburg, Van Ostade, and Steen
Here we must mention Terburg, who shows us scenes from the higher
classes of society painted with great delicacy and spirit; his pictures and others
like them have not tmjustly been
called noveUstic. Adrian van Os-
tade, who likes to paint comfort-
able scenes in peasant homes with
admirable use of hearth and chim-
ney-fire effects, was born at Liibeck;
like various other Germans who
were either educated in Holland or
else assimilated the Dutch style by
long residence in the country, he
is reckoned among the painters of
the Netherlands, as is also Balt-
hasar Denner of Hamburg, who was
so opposed to a smooth and elegant
style of representation that he of a
preference painted old men and
women and most carefully sup-
plied their faces with all the natural
wrinkles, hairs, and warts. Caspar j,^^^^ ^^^ miebis (less-idsi)
Netscher from Heidelberg is distin-
guished for his society pictures and is unexcelled in the reproduction of costly
stuffs (died 1684).
A real Hollander, however, was Jan Steen of DeKt, who was himself an
innkeeper for a time and reproduces jovial scenes from tavern life as well as
cozy family pictures, with a masterful gift of observation and splendid execu-
tion; no painter excels him in the complete imaflectedness with which his
characters seem to act in the situation he portrays. Steen died in 1679 in
bitter poverty. Less realistic in his choice of quiet scenes is Gerard Dow
[Douw], who is extremely exact and painstaking in his treatment. Close to
him in the minute execution of detail stand his pupils Frans van Mieris and
Gabriel Metzu of Leyden.
Landscape, Still lAfe, and Animal Painters
Landscape painting first began with the putting of objects like woods,
hills, towers, and bridges into the background of religious pictures instead of
painting them on a gold ground. These beginnings hardly give an inkling of
the deep importance which this branch of art, as it was developed in the
Netherlands, was to have in the future. Landscape painting clothes the
objects of external nature with character and tone; in forest and meadow, on
608 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
the strand of the sea, by the clear light of day, by twUight and moonlight, it
coaxes from nature those motives which appeal to human sentiment.
The greatest Dutch master in this field is Jakob Euysdael of Holland,
whose composition is especially happy in the treatment of woods and water
and in such subjects as impress by a feeling of solitude. During the last
decades it has become customary to put Meyndert Hobbema, who was formerly
little known, on a level with him. In this field, as also in that of the geme
pamting, each painter chooses his own narrow sphere. Only through the
most extreme care and technical finish could they attain that perfection of art
which makes so-called cabinet pieces of their works, which in our day are the
joy of art lovers. New schools arise in marine and in animal pictures. The
monumental demand, consideration of church and council-house, retreat into
the back ground; the artists work solely for private ownership; their works
are reviewed and compared.
Only thus could the branch of still-life painting come into ejdstence, which
shows lifeless objects, table appointments and goblets, dead game, flowers, and
fruit; it is effective through its pleasing combination of colour and acquires a
special life of its own by affording a glimpse into a wealthy or luxurious exist-
ence. Whereas in the older periods of art, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo,
and Albrecht Diirer had achieved great things in several fields at once and had
besides comprehended in spirit the knowledge and researches of their times,
we now see single masters restrict themselves to an extremely narrow sphere
in order there to claim complete mastery. The nimiber of good painters
brought forth by Holland in the seventeenth century is almost incalculable.
But one (Schalcken) paints only small groups lighted by candle- Ught; another
only the interior of churches; Pieter Wouverman, the unsurpassed horse
{)ainter, does indeed also paint hunting scenes, fairs, and the meeting of cava-
iers and is likewise great in landscape. In the pictures of Paxil Potter, who
lived to be only twenty-nine years old, the faithfulness to life of his stalled ani-
mals, cows, and sheep astonishes us.
Johann Heinrich Roos, who was born in the Palatinate and died at Frank-
fort, likewise devoted his attention to animals; Frans Snyders of Antwerp
acquired a reputation for his himting scenes. Art drew nature and human
life in its most varied scenes within its realm. It was long before it began to
be felt that a one-sided cultivation of perfection leads to tediimi.*>
DECLINE OF DUTCH AET
Such a period of bloom is necessarily but temporary, for the sap which pro-
duced it is expended in the production. Towards 1667, after the naval defeats
of the English, slight indications showed the alteration in the customs and
feeling which had given rise to the national art. The well-being was too great.
The India companies paid a dividend of 45 per cent. The heroes became
bourgeois. They desired enjoyment, and the houses of the great, which the
Venetian ambassadors in the commencement of the centiu-y f oimd so simple
and bare, became luxurious; in the homes of the prominent bourgeois, tapes-
tries, priceless pictures, and vessels of gold and silver were to be foimd. The
rich interiors of Terburg and Metzu show us new elegance, robes of pale silks,
velvet jackets, jewels, pearls, hangings embossed with gold, high mantels of
marble. The old activity relaxed.
When Louis XIV in 1672 invaded the country he found no resistance.
With this declining of national energy declined the arts; taste altered. In
1669, Rembrandt died in poverty, forgotten by ahnost all; the new element of
SCIENCE, LITEEATUEE, AND AET IN THE NETHEELANDS 609
luxury took its models from foreigners in France and Italy. Already, during
the flourishing period, many painters had gone to Rome to paint figures and
landscapes; Jan Both, Berghem, Karel Dujardin, twenty others, Wouverman
hmiself, formed side by side with the national school a semi-Italian school;
but this school was natural and spontaneous; among the mountains, the ruins,
the fabrics, and the rags, from beyond the mountains, the niistiness of the air,
the well-being of the figures, the softness of the reds, the gaiety and humour of
the painter had marked the tenacity of instinct of the Hollander. Now on the
contrary these national characteristics begin to disappear before the invasion
of fashion. On the Kaisergracht and on the Heeregracht spnmg up great
hotels in the Louis XIV style. Gerard de Lairesse, a Flemish painter, founder
of the Academy, commenced to decorate them with his learned allegories and
his mythological hybrids.
True, the national art did not disappear immediately; it survived by a
series of chefs d'ceuvre imtil the early years of the eighteenth century; at the
same time the national sentiment, awakened by its humiliation and danger,
provoked a popular revolution, heroic sacrifices, the inundation of the country,
and all the successes which followed. During the war of the Succession in
Spain, Holland, when the stadholder had become king of England, was sacri-
ficed to the allies; after the treaty of 1713 she lost her supremacy on the sea,
fell to the second class, and then still lower; soon Frederick the Great was to
say of her that she was towed by the English as a fishing boat is towed by a
liner. France trampled upon her during the war of the Austrian Succession;
later England imposed on her the right of visitation and took away from her
the Coromandel coast. Finally Prussia overwhelmed her republican party
and established the stadholderate. Following the fate of the weak, she was
roughly treated by the strong, and after 1789 conquered and reconquered.
The result was fatal; she resigned herself to her fate and was content to
become a good commercial and banking country. Herein is the cause of the
disappearance of creative art with the disappearance of practical energy.
Ten years after the commencement of the eighteenth century, all the great
painters are dead. For a century the decadence in art had shown itself by a
poorer style, a restrained imagination, and the minute finish found in the works
of Frans van Mieris, Schalcken, and others. One of the last, Adrian van der
Werf, by his painting cold and poHshed, by his creamy reds, by his weak
return to the Italian style, showed that the Dutch had forgotten their native
taste and their proper genius. His successors resemble the man who would
speak but has nothing to say; the pupils of the masters or of illustrious fath-
ers, Pieter van der Werf, Hendri van Limboech, Philip van Dyck, Mieris the
son, Mieris the grand-son, Nicholas Verkolie, Constantin Netscher, but repeat
automatically the phrases they have heard. Talent survived only in the genre
painting of Jacob de Witt, Rachel Ruysch, and Van Huysum, which required
but slight creation, and endured but a few years, like a tenacious briar clinging
to the dry earth where all the great trees have died. It in turn died and the
soil rested barren — last proof of the bond which links individual originality
to social life and proportions, the creative faculties of the artist to the active
energy of the nation. /
H. w.— VOL. xnr. 8b
CHAPTER XIV
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAR WITH ENGLAND
[1648-1672 A.D.)
The completion of the Peace of Miinster opens a new scene in the history
of the republic. Its political system experienced considerable changes. Its
ancient enemies became its most ardent friends, and its old allies loosened
the bonds of long continued amity. The other states of Europe, displeased
at its imperious conduct or jealous of its success, began to wish its humiliation;
but it was little thought that the consummation was to be effected at the
hands of England. While Holland prepared to profit by the peace so bril-
liantly gained, England, torn by civil war, was hurried on in crime and misery
to the final act which has left an indelible stain on her annals. Cromwell and
the parliament had completely subjugated the kingdom. The imfortimate
king, delivered up by the Scotch, was condertmed to an ignominious death.
The United Provinces had preserved a strict neutrality while the contest
was imdecided. The prince of Orange warmly strove to obtain a declaration
in favour of his father-in-law Charles I. The prince of Wales and the duke
of York, his sons, who had taken refuge at the Hague, earnestly joined in the
entreaty; but all that could be obtained from the states-general was their
consent to an embassy. Pauw and Joachimi, the one sixty-four years of
age, the other eighty-eight, the most able men of the republic, undertook the-
task of mediation. They were scarcely listened to by the parliament, and
the bloody sacrifice took place.
The details of this event and its immediate consequences belong to English
history; and we must hurry over the brief, turbid, and inglorious stadholderate
of William II, to arrive at the more interesting contest between the repubhc
and the rival commonwealth.
610
THE DB WITTS AND THE WAE WITH ENGLAND 611
[1648-1650 A.D.]
THE AMBITIONS OF WILLIAM II
William II was now in his twenty-fourth year. He had early evinced
that heroic disposition which was common to his race. He panted for mili-
tary glory. All his pleasures were those usual to ardent and high-spirited
men,_ although his delicate constitution seemed to forbid the indulgence of
hunting, tennis, and the other violent exercises in which he delighted. He
was highly accomplished; spoke five different languages with elegance and
fluency; and had made considerable progress in mathematics and other
abstract sciences. His ambition knew no boimds. Had he reigned over a
monarchy as absolute king, he would most probably have gone down to
posterity a conqueror and a hero. But, unfitted to direct a republic as its
first citizen, he has left but the name of a rash and imconstitutional magis-
trate. From the moment of his accession to power he was made sensible
of the jealousy and suspicion with which his office and his character were
observed by the provincial states of Holland.
The province of Holland, arrogating to itself the greatest share in the
reforms of the army, and the financial arrangements called for by the transi-
tion from war to peace, was soon in fierce opposition to the states-general,
which supported the prince in his early views. Cornells Bikker, one of the
burgomasters of Amsterdam, was the leading person in the states of Holland;
and a circumstance soon occurred which put him and the stadholder in
collision, and quickly decided the great question at issue.
The admiral Cornells de Witt arrived from Brazil * with the remains of
his fleet, and without the consent of the council of regency established there
by the states-general. He was arrested in 1650 by order of the prince of
Orange, in his capacity of high admiral. The admiralty of Amsterdam was
at the same time ordered by the states-general to imprison six of the captains
of this fleet. The states of Holland maintained that this was a violation
of their provincial rights, and an illegal assumption of power on the part of
the states-general; and the magistrates of Amsterdam forced the prison
doors and set the captains at liberty.
William, backed by the authority of the states-general, now put himself
at the head of a deputation from that body, and made a rapid tour of visita-
tion to the different chief towns of the republic, to sound the depths of public
opinion on the matters in dispute. The deputation met with varied success;
but the result proved to the irritated prince that no measures of compromise
were to be expected, and that force alone was to arbitrate the question.
The army was to a man devoted to him. The states-general gave him their
entire and somewhat servile support. He therefore on his own authority
arrested the six deputies of Holland, in the same way that his imcle Maurice
had seized on Barneveld, Grotius, and the others; and they were immediately
conveyed to the castle of Louvestein.
In adopting this bold and unauthorised measure, he decided on an imme-
[' In 1645 the West India Company had begun rapidly to lose the conquests they had been
acquiring in South America during the last fifteen years. The company had, in the last year,
recalled Count Maurice of Nassau, in order to spare the expenses attendant on a governor of
his rank and dignity, and the same ill-judged parsimony which thus left the colony destitute
of any chief of ordinary military skill had kept the establishment of troops in a condition
wholly ineflScient for its protection. Immediately on the departure of Maurice, the Portuguese
broke out into open revolt, captured several forts, amongst which were Surinam and St. Vin-
cent, and had it not been for a timely succour sent by the Company in the next year, the Dutch
must have been forced to abandon all their possessions in South America. Cornells de Witt
was a captain in the service of the company."]
612 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1650 A.D.]
diate attempt to gain possession of the city of Amsterdam, the central point
of opposition to his violent designs. William Frederick count of Nassau,
stadholder of Friesland, at the head of a numerous detachment of troops,
marched secretly and by night to surprise the town; but the darkness and
a violent thunder storm having caused the greater number to lose their way,
the count foimd himself at dawn at the city gates with a very insufficient
force; and had the farther mortification to see the walls well manned, the
cannon pointed, the drawbridges raised, and everything in a state of defence.
The courier from Hamburg, who had passed through the scattered bands of
soldiers during the night, had given the alarm. The first notion was, that a
roving band of Swedish or Lorraine troops, attracted by the opulence of
Amsterdam, had, resolved on an attempt to seize and pillage it. The magis-
trates could scarcely credit the evidence of day, which showed them the count
of Nassau and his force on their hostile mission. A short conference with
the deputies from the citizens convinced him that a speedy retreat was the
only measure of safety for himself and his force, as the sluices of the dykea
were in part opened, and a threat of submerging the intended assailants only
required a moment more to be enforced.
Nothing could exceed the disappointment and irritation of the prince of
Orange consequent on this transaction. He at first threatened, then nego-
tiated, and finally patched up the matter in a manner the least mortifying
to his wounded pride. Bikker nobly offered himself for a peace-offering, and
voluntarily resigned his employments in the city he had saved; and De Witt
and his officers were released. William was in some measure consoled for
his disgrace by the condolence of the army, the thanks of the province of
Zealand, and a new treaty with France, strengthened by promises of future
support from Cardinal Mazarin; but, before he could profit by these encour-
aging sjTnptoms, domestic and foreign, a premature death cut short all his
projects of ambition. Over-violent exercises in a shooting party in Gelderland
brought on a fever, which soon terminated in an attack of small-pox. On
the ffist appearance of his ilhiess he was removed to the Hague; and he died
there on the 6th of November, 1650, aged twenty-fom- years and six months.
The death of this prince left the state without a stadholder, and the army
without a chief. The whole of Europe shared more or less in the joy or the
regret it caused. The republican party, both in Holland and in England,
rejoiced in a circumstance which threw back the sovereign power into the
hands of the nation;' the partisans of the house of Orange deeply lamented
the event. But the birth of a son, of which the widowed princess of Orange
was delivered within a week of her husband's death, revived the hopes of
those who mourned his loss, and offered her the only consolation whidi
could assuage her grief.
This child was, however, the innocent cause of a breach between his
mother and grandmother, the dowager princess, who had never been cordially
attached to each other. Each claimed the guardianship of the young prince;
and the dispute was at length decided by the states, who adjudged
the important office to the elector of Brandenburg and the two princesses
jointly. The states of Holland soon exercised their influence on the other
[' On the meeting of the deputies from the provinces, or, as it was termed, the Great
Assembly, the proceedings were opened January 18th, 1651, hy the pensionary of Holland,
Jacob Catz, who, in a long oration, recommended to the assembly the consideration of the
maintenance of the Union, as framed in 1579 ; of religion, as established by the decrees of the
synod of Dort (Dordrecht) ; and of the militia, in conformity with the resolutions passed at the
time of the peace." The Union, notwithstanding the complaints lately made of the violation
of it by the statee of Holland, was adjudged to exist in its integrity and pristine vigour.*]
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAE WITH ENGLAND 61S
[1649-1650 A.D.]
provinces. Many of the prerogatives of the stadholder were now assumed
by the people; and, with the exception of Zealand, which made an ineffectual
attempt to name the infant prince to the dignity of his ancestors imder the
title of Wilham III, a perfect unanimity seemed to have reconciled all opposing
interests. The various towns secured the privileges of appointing their own
magistrates, and the direction of the army and navy devolved to the states-
general.6
FOREIGN RELATIONS
At the termination of the negotiations at Miinster, the United Provinces
foimd themselves on a footing of cordial amity with scarcely any nation of
Europe, except Spain, their ancient enemy, and Denmark, whom they had
forced to conclude a disadvantageous treaty with Sweden a few years before.
Sweden, closely allied with France, shared in some degree the resentment
of that nation against the states-general, on account of their separate treaty
with Spain; and was further alienated by the support they had given to the
claims of the elector of Brandenburg to the restoration of Pomerania.
The truce with Portugal, so hastily concluded in 1641, had never since
been observed, either in the East or West Indies; and the revolt of Pernam-
buco was strongly suspected to have been fomented, if not occasioned, by
the secret machinations of that court. Hostilities continued in Brazil, untii
terminated in the manner we shall hereafter have occasion to notice.
LOSSES OF THE WAR WITH ENGLAND
The feeling with which the intelligence of the execution of Charles I waa
received by all ranks of men in the United Provinces was one of unmingled
detestation. The states-general and states of Holland immediately waited
upon the prince of Wales, attired in deep mourning, to condole, with him
for his loss; they saluted him with the title of majesty as king of Scotland;
but Holland and Zealand, whom the interests of theu- commerce obliged to
keep some appearance of terms with the new republic, obtained that the title
of king of Great Britain should be omitted, and no mention made of con-
gratulations upon his accession to the throne of his ancestors. But, however
modified this proceeding, it failed not to give the deepest offence to the
parhament, more particularly as not one of the great powers of Europe, with
the exception of Christina, queen of Sweden, ventured to pay the fugitive
monarch a similar compliment. The ministers of the churches at the Hague,
also, a class of men hitherto the most unfriendly to the royalists of England,
presented an address of condolence to Charles, in which they compared the
execution of the deceased king to the martyrdom of St. Stephen. But for
this they were sharply reprehended by the states of Holland, as assuming
an mterf erence in political affairs unbecoming their character and calling.
On the other hand, the ambassador of the parliament, Strickland, had
been constantly refused a public audience by the states-general; and the
melancholy fate of Isaac Dorislaus, who was now sent over to propose a
league of amity between the two republics, afforded new matter of bitterness
and hatred. This man, the son of a minister of Enkhuizen, had been made
professor of history in the university of Cambridge; but afterwards espousing
warmly the side of the parliament, was nommated one of the counsel tor
conducting the prosecution of the king. _
These circumstances rendered him pecuharly obnoxious to the royalist
party, of whom great numbers had taken refuge at the Hague, and iie was
614 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1650 A.D.]
accordingly marked out as the first victim upon whom vengeance was to be
exercised. The evening after his arrival, as he was sitting with some other
persons in the room of an inn at the Hague, four men entered in masks, leav-
ing several others stationed outside to keep watch. They first mortally
wounded a gentleman of Gelderland, whom they mistook for Dorislaus.
The latter endeavoured to make use of the opportunity to escape; but,
imable in his agitation to open the door, he was seized upon and murdered
with several wounds. The assassins, who proved to be followers of the earl
of Montrose, then dispersed tmmolested; and were subsequently enabled,
by the aid of their munerous friends, to quit the Hague in safety.
The court of Holland immediately took Strickland under their special
protection, and offered a reward of 1,000 guilders for the discovery of the
crhninals; but the parliament of England persisted in believing, or affecting
to believe, that they were allowed to escape by connivance; and made violent
complaints of the outrage committed against them in the person of their
ambassador, to Joachimi, resident of the states in London. Not long after,
Strickland quitted the provinces without having succeeded in procuring an
audience of the states-general; and Joachimi, to whom they refused to send
letters of credence to the new government of England, was commanded to
leave that country. Thus matters appeared ripe for an immediate rupture;
the only friendly relations between the commonwealths being maintained
by the states of Holland, who sent a commissioner to London with instruc-
tions to award to the republican government such style and title as might
be found most pleasing, and to watch over the commercial interests of the
province.
The death of William II had inspired the parliament with the hope that,
through the influence of Holland with the other provinces which had now no
counterpoise, they might be brought to consent to an alliance of close and
exclusive amity with England. Oliver St. John and Walter Strickland were
accordingly sent with this view as ambassadors to the Hague, where — so
much were affairs changed — they immediately obtained a public audience
of the great assembly which was then sitting, and commissioners were
appointed to treat with them concerning the terms of the proposed alliance.
Never, perhaps, were negotiations opened between two powers to both of
whom the maintenance of peace with the other was an object of more vital
importance.
A war with England was to the United Provinces ever an event to be
deprecated and dreaded. It must necessarily be maritime; and, even if
attended with the most signal success, as ruinous to themselves as to her.
In debasing the power of England, they cast down the bulwark of their own
religion and hberties against their natural enemies, the CathoUc and absolute
sovereigns of Europe; in destroying her commerce, they annihilated the
most ready and advantageous market for their own wares; while the expense
of protecting their vessels must in any case swallow up the profits of their
merchants, and occasion a certain and immense decay of trade. In the event
of adverse fortune, which, considering the relative strength of their antagonist,
would appear almost inevitable, the very existence of the provinces was
endangered.
Neither was it from motives of national interest alone that the Dutch
might be supposed to view a war with England with the deepest aversion.
They could not but reflect in how large a measure she ha contributed to
their own happiness and glory; that all their proudest recollections were
associated with her; that nearly a century had now elapsed since the Dutch-
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAR WITH ENGLAND 615
fieso A.D.]
man had appeared on the field of battle without the Englishman by his side
or a drop of his blood been shed but the bravest and noblest of England had
been mmgled with it; that the bones of their fathers had lain whitening
together on the ramparts of Haarlem and on the strand of Nieuport. Long
and mtmiate intercourse had, indeed, so mixed together the population of
M -^vf '^'^'^*™^' *^^* ^ ^^^ between them was scarcely less than fratricidal.
Neither was it less incumbent upon the present government of England
to keep peace with the provinces, the only foreign power from whence any
vigorous attempt
to restore the ex-
iled royal family
was to be appre-
hended. The na-
tion, exhausted by
the civil war she
had now waged for
so many years,
filled with discon-
tents, and weary
of the extortions
of the parhament,
was ill-prepared to
sustain the vast
charges which a
war with so pow-
erful a maritime
nation as the
Dutch must neces-
sarily bring in its
train. In this state
of affairs, and with
no objects of dis-
pute existing be-
tween the two na-
tions but such as
might have been
readily arranged,
it might be sup-
posed that an alli-
ance would prove a matter of speedy and easy accomplishment. Yet was
this desirable object frustrated by unforeseen, and, as it would appear, wholly
inadequate causes.
Among other visionary schemes in which the parliament of England
indulged was that of forming a coalition between the two repubhcs under
one sovereign, and a council, sitting in England, wherein the states were to
be represented by a certain number of members. To this end the negotiations
of the ambassadors were to be directed; but fearful that if too abruptly
broached, the proposal would be at once rejected by the states as absurd
and infeasible, they were instructed to keep it carefully in the background,
and to pave the way for its introduction by the offer of a close and intimate
alliance between the two republics. But even this was proposed upon terms
with which it was utterly impossible for the states to comply, had they been
ever so well inclined. The parhament demanded that the states should expel
Officer of the Seventeenth CEtfTnRT, after Painting by TERBURa
616 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1650-1651 A.D.]
those who were declared rebels in England from the United Provinces, or
any territory belonging to the prince or princess of Orange, and that they
should not permit the prince or princess to aid or succour such rebels in any
manner, on pain of forfeiture for life of the estates on which they had been
harboured. As the English fugitives were protected and warmly favoured
by the Orange party, any attempt to dislodge them from the boundaries of
the provinces would be resisted by the whole power of that party. The states
therefore, unaniniously resolved that they would not interfere in any manner
in the quarrel between the English parliament and Charles II of Scotland,
■fhe negotiations thus made no progress, and were soon terminated by the
Kiasty recall of the ambassadors, in consequence of the treatment they had
Experienced at the Hague.
The Orange party in the United Provinces, strongly attached to the royal
^SMSe in England, were even desirous of involving their country in a war to
accomplish the restoration of Charles II. The English ambassadors, immedi-
ately on their arrival at the Hague, were surrounded, and greeted with the
cry of "regicides" and "executioners," by a rabble of the lowest class, to
whom, it. is said, a page of the princess royal had distributed money; and
during the whole period of their stay, neither themselves nor any of their
household could appear in the streets without being loaded with reproaches
and contumely, and even incurring danger of personal violence from the
populace, encouraged and assisted by the English royalists and the chiefs
*)f the Orange party. Prince Edward, son of the titular Queen of Bohemia,
who had taken a prominent share in these outrages, was summoned to appear
^fore the court of Holland, and one of his servants was scourged and another
banished. But all the efforts of the authorities to arrest the petulance of
ihe mob proved futile; and a military guard was at length placed over the
house where the ambassadors resided.
THE ACT OF NAVIGATION (1651)
The insults they had received sank deep into the minds of the ambassadors,
more especially St. John. On his return to England, he delayed not to
exhibit his feelings of vengeance by carrying through the parliament the
celebrated Act of Navigation, the object of which was the ruin of the Dutch
commerce. By this act it was decreed that no productions of Asia, Africa,
or America should be brought to England, except in vessels belonging to
that nation, and of which the greater portion of the crews were English;
and that no productions of Europe were to be imported into England except
in ships belonging to the coimtry of which such productions were the growth
or manufacture. As the United Provinces had littL of their own produce to
export, but maintained an immense carrying trade to England, as well from
the other nations of Europe as the more distant quarters of the globe, the
drift of this measure could scarcely be mistaken, even had it not been rendered
evident by an article declaring that the prohibition did not extend to bullion
or silk wares brought from Italy; while salted fish, whales, and whale oil,
commodities of special traffic with the Dutch, were expressly forbidden to
be exported or imported except in English bottoms. This step was followed
by letters of reprisal issued to such persons as conceived themselves aggrieved
by the inhabitants of the United Provinces; and by the equipment of two
men-of-war, which inflicted immense injury on the Holland and Zealand
merchant ships.
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAR WITH ENGLAND 617
[1652 A.B.]
FIRST NAVAL ENGAGEMENT (1652)
^pg^'i'ding these proceedings as equivalent to a declaration of hostility,
the states-general, while they dispatched an embassy to London to complain
to the parliament on the subject, and to propose the renewal of a treaty,
framed, as far as present circumstances permitted, upon the model of that
of 1496, resolved on the immediate equipment of one himdred and fifty ships
of war to protect their navigation and fishery. The command of the fleet
•was intrusted to Marten Harpertzoon Tromp, with instructions to cruise in
the Channel, but to avoid as much as possible the coasts of England; the
question of striking the flag to the vessels of that nation being left to his
discretion.
Tromp, receiving intelligence that seven rich merchantmen from Turkey
were closely pressed by some Enghsh privateers, sailed towards the coast
of Dover, with forty-two vessels, where he encountered the English admiral,
Blake, at the head of a squadron fifteen in number. He was preparing for
lowering his sails to the English flag, when Blake fired two shots into his
ship. A third, Tromp answered with a shot that went through the English
admiral's flag. Blake instantly sent a broadside into the Dutch ship, which
Tromp was not slow in returning. The English being reinforced with eight
vessels from the Downs, both fleets then engaged in a fierce contest, which,
after four hours' duration, was terminated by the approach of night, with
the loss of two ships on the side of the Dutch.
Such is the account given by Tromp, in a letter to the states-general; but
Blake asserted that Tromp, being warned by three shots to strike to the Eng-
lish flag, fired a broadside instead of obeying. Which of the two was to blame,
is impossible to decide.
Immediately on information of this engagement, the, states, desirous of
proving that they were not wilfully the aggressors, commissioned Adrian
Pauw, lately chosen pensionary of Holland on the resignation of Jacob Catz,
to represent to the parliament that if Tromp had committed the first act of
hostility, it was entirely in consequence of a misunderstanding, since no
instructions of that nature had been given him; and to endeavour to terminate
the affair by an amicable arrangement. To this the parliament showed itself
by no means inclined; they demanded a reimbursement of their expenses, or
satisfaction, as they termed it, and security for the preservation of peace in
future, by which was meant an immediate compliance with their proposal of
coalition between the two republics; conditions which were of course inad-
missible for a moment. The states-general, therefore, ordered Tromp to
engage with the English ships on every opportunity, and the war now com-
menced in good earnest.
WAR OPENLY DECLARED
Blake having attacked the Dutch herring boats, destroyed several, and
scattered the remainder, Tromp directed his course in search of the English
fleet; but, being overtaken by a violent storm, he was forced to seek refuge,
with his ships much disabled, in the ports of Holland. This misfortune, though
wholly beyond his control, brought Tromp into temporary disfavour with the
common people; and many members of the government suspecting that, to
serve the purposes of the house of Orange, of which he was a zealous partisan,
he had wilfully given rise to the dispute concerning the flag, in order to involve
618 THE HISTOKY OP THE NETHEKLANDS
[1653-1653 A.Di]
his country in a war, he was superseded by Michel de Ruyter. The new
admiral, at the head of thirty light vessels and eight fire-ships, fell in with Sir
George Ayscue, near Pljonouth. After a sharp and well-fought engagement,
Ayscue was forced to retire into the harbour, whither the Dutch ships were
prevented by a contrary wind from following him. De Ruyter having soon
after joined another squadron, under the vice-admiral, Cornells de Witt, they
were attacked while cruising on the Flemish coast by Blake and Ayscue. In
this encounter, twenty of the Dutch ships kept out of gunshot; and De Ruyter,
finding himself considerably weaker than his opponent, retired to the haven
of Gor^e.
The unrivalled skill and experience of Tromp, in maritime affairs, prompted
the states once more to reinstate him in his post as head of the fleet, De Ruyter
taking the command of a squadron imder him. The coasts of Dover and
Folkestone were the next scene of combat, when two English ships were cap-
tured; Blake, being himself wounded, and many of his ships disabled, was
obliged to retire to the Thames, leaving the sea clear for the passage of a large
number of merchant ships into the ports of the United Provinces.
Both the belligerents took advantage of the cessation of hostilities during
the winter months to improve the condition of their naval armaments. The
states proposed to add another hundred and fifty vessels to the fleet of that
ntunber they already possessed; but the public finances not admitting of so
heavy an expense, they were obliged to content themselves with repairing and
refitting the old ones.' Seventy only remained under the immediate command
of Tromp, the rest being employed in various quarters as convoys. With
these he received orders to blockade the Thames; but while previously escort-
ing two hundred merchant ships on their return home, he was intercepted by
Blake off Portland Point, Feb. 28, 1653. The two fleets were equal in numbCT,
but vastly disproportioned in strength, from the inferior size and equipment
of the Dutch vessels, of which a great number were merely armed merchant
ships, hired by the states in the beginning of the war.
Blake commenced the attack by a distant fire into the ship of the Dutch
admiral, which Tromp left unanswered till he had come within musket-shot of
the enemy, when he gave him a broadside, and rapidly veering roimd sent in
another from the opposite side of his vessel. The lightness of his ship enabling
him to sail round his antagonist, he discharged a third fire into her opposite
side, which was followed by a loud cry, as though several in the English ship
were wounded. Blake, then retreating, kept up only a skirmishing fight. De
Ruyter at first engaged with the Prosperity, of fifty-four guns, his own vessel
being no more than twenty-eight. Suffering considerably from the enemy's
cannon, he ran close up for the purpose of boarding, and on the second assault
captured the English vessel. But, being afterwards surrounded by twenty
others, he was obliged to abandon it; and with difficulty extricated himself
from his perilous situation by the aid of the vice-admiral, Evertsen. He
afterwards, with two of his captains, engaged seven large vessels of the English.
Many others performed prodigies of valour; but, as evening approached,
Tromp descried about six-and-twenty of his ships taking advantage of the
wind to escape.
Darkness at length separated the combatants. Two vessels were sunk on
the side of the Enghsh, and as many on that of the Dutch; one of the latter
was captured and burned, another blew up, and that of De Ruyter was greatly
damaged. During the night the Dutch retired towards the Isle of Wight,
whither they were pursued by the English, who renewed the attack the next
morning. The latter now fired, chiefly from a distance, at the masts and
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAE WITH ENGLAND 619
[1653 A.D.J
rigging of their opponents, with the view, after having disabled the vessels of
war, to take possession of the merchantmen, which Tromp was endeavouring to
protect by ranging the fleet in a semicircle around them. The contest was
again prolonged, with unflinching courage on both sides, until evening, when
the fleets separated without any decisive advantage; but the Dutch had
expended nearly all their ammunition, and De Euyter's ship was so disabled
that she was obliged to be taken in tow. Nevertheless, Tromp commanded
his captains to show a good face to the enemy, and prepared to renew the
engagement, which commenced at ten in the forenoon of the following day.
At the first attack Tromp approached close to the ship of the vice-acSniral,
which he cannonaded so briskly as to force him to retire. De Ruyter, though
still in tow, was found in the midst of the enemy until his ship was so damaged
as to become utterly helpless. But again a portion of the Dutch captains
failed in their duty by retreating from
the fight; some did so in consequence
of having no more ammunition, others
had no excuse but their cowardice.
Mere exhaustion at length com-
pelled both parties to a cessation of
hostilities; yet, after sunset, Blake
made as if he was about to renew the
attack. Tromp took in his sails to
await his approach, when the English
admiral, changing his purpose, sailed
towards the shores of England, and the
Dutch continued their course home-
wards without pursuit. The Dutch
had nine vessels missing, the English
only five or six; but the loss in killed
among the latter far surpassed that of
their antagonists, amounting to two
thousand, while no more than six hun-
dred perished on the side of the Dutch.
The former claimed the victory; but
the latter reckoned it as an advantage, more than equivalent to a triumph,
that thej^ had been able to preserve all their merchant vessels — except twenty-
four, which fell into the hands of the enemy. The states-general testified
the highest satisfaction at the conduct of Tromp and De Ruyter, and the other
commanders who had offered such determined resistance to a fleet so vastly
more powerful than their own.
About the same time the Dutch commander, Jan van Galen, obtained a
signal victory over some English vessels under Appleton, near the port of Leg-
horn. The English had three ships captured, and as many destroyed; but
their loss was counterbalanced on the side of their enemies by the death of Van
Galen.
After the event of the last battle the states were active in repairing their
fleet and putting it in a condition again to take the sea. The command was
given to Tromp, which he accepted, but with extreme reluctance.
The English fleet, now commanded by George Monk (the restorer of
[' After the victory Tromp is said to have placed a broom at his masthead to intimate that
he would sweep the channel free of English ships. Although this incident has been pro-
nounced mythical by some recent historians, it is accepted by such authorities as Green,''
Bright,' Gardiner/ etc.]
Martin Harpertzoon Tromp (1597-1653)
620 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1653 A.n.]
royalty to his country) and Richard Deane, consisted of ninety-five sail.
In cruising about the shores of Zealand and Flanders, they at length fell in
■with the Dutch vessels under Tromp, at the harbour of Nieuport. The latter
were ninety-eight in number, with six fire ships, but incomparably inferior in
size to the enemy. In spite of this overwhelming disadvantage the contest
was terrific; and, though several ships were disabled on both sides, and the
admiral, Deane, was slain, it continued until nine at night, and was renewed
the next day before Dunkirk. The English had now the advantage of the
wind, and the Dutch were thus precluded from adopting the only mode of
attack, that of closing and boarding, which could place them on anything hke
an equal footing with their antagonists. Some disorder also occurred in the
Dutch fleet, by the ships running foul of each other, and seven fell into the
enemy's hands. At the close of the day, Tromp found so great a number of
his ships damaged, and all so deficient in ammunition, that he was forced to
retire behind the sandbank of the Wielingen, on the coast of Zealand.
This, the first decided defeat which the Dutch navy had sustained, called
forth grievous complaints from Tromp and the principal commanders to the
states-general. They urged that it would be impossible for them to carry on
the war without a powerful reinforcement of good and well equipped vessels;
since there were in the English fleet more than fifty, of which the smallest was
larger than the Dutch admiral, and thirty of their own were totally unfit for
battle. The vice-admiral De Witt, in his address to the states, bluntly
exclaimed: " I am here before my masf&s: but why dissemble? The English
are in fact our masters, and we are debarred from the navigation of the seas till
we have better ships"; and De Ruyter declared that he would go to sea no
more unless some remedy were provided for the present state of things.
Though time did not admit of the completion of new vessels, the states, con-
vinced of the justice of the remonstrances made by their officers, laboured so
earnestly to satisfy them, that within six weeks Tromp was despatched, with
nearly ninety sail.c
DEATH OF THOMP (1653)
The English had crossed to Texel with a large fleet, and it was difficult
for the two Dutch squadrons to meet. Tromp set sail the 6th of August
with ninety vessels intending to attack the English fleet, cross it, and join
De Witt, return with him to the enemy, and force them to quit the coast of
Holland. On the morning of the 8th he discovered the English; and with-
drew in order to draw the English after him and away from Texel, where
De Witt would be able to join him. Several of De Witt's vessels with less
sail than his own were engaged by the English; Tromp went to their assist-
ance, and the combat commenced at four in the evening. The fight continued
until an hour after sunset without any advantage being gained by the English,
although their fleet far out-numbered the Dutch, there being about 125 sail.
Tromp's venture succeeded and De Witt escaped from Texel during the fight,
joining him the next day, so increasing his fleet by twenty-seven sail. Tromp,
now reinforced, advanced on the English.
The 10th of August at seven in the morning the opposing fleets met and
the combat commenced. Tromp commanded the right wing, De Ruyter the
left, Vice-Admiral Evertsen the centre, and De Witt the rear. The Dutch
passed at first across the enemy. Tromp was already in the middle of the
English fleet; wishing to ^ve an order to the gunners he started to leave
the deck, but was struck in the breast with a musket-ball. Crying out:
"It is over with me; but for you, take courage," he expired. The captain
THE DB WITTS AND THE WAE WITH ENGLAND 621
[1653 A.D.]
of the vessel signaled the other captains to come and hold council. They
were overcome with grief on seeing their commander stretched on the deck.
It IS said that De Ruyter, pausing to contemplate his body, said: "Ah!
would that God had taken me in his place; he was more useful to the country
than I."
Orders were immediately given to leave the admiral's pennant on his
vessel in order that the enemy and the rest of the Dutch fleet might be
kept in ignorance of the misfortune. Vice-admiral Evertsen took command
and the men returned to their posts. The desire to avenge the death of
their general incited the Dutch to prodigies of valour. De Ruyter, who
commanded the Agneau, threw himself into the most perilous places, and by
the terrific fire which he kept up forced his way: this course, however, brought
upon him all the enemy's attacks; and, losing the greater part of his men
and failing of ammunition, he was forced to go toward the Maas. At four
o'clock the two fleets were so weary and in such bad condition that they
separated.^
Each side claimed the honour of a victory; both shared the disasters of
a defeat. The Enghsh lost eight vessels and eleven hundred men in killed
and wounded; the Dutch nine or ten vessels, about an equal number of
slain, with seven himdred prisoners. Neither fleet kept the sea — the Dutch
retiring into the Texel, and the English towards the Thames. The former
considered it as a decisive advantage to have freed their coasts from the
presence of the enemy's ships, but this was more than counterbalanced by
the inestimable loss they sustained in the death of their commander Tromp.
The states evinced their gratitude to his memory by the care they took of
his widow and posterity, and the erection of a magnificent monument to
him in the church at Delft.
Determined to show that they had regained possession of the sea, the
states despatched the fleet under De Witt to convoy the merchant vessels
from the north, which arrived, to the number of four hundred, safely in
port. No further engagement occurred during this season.
Both the belligerents had now become heartily weary of a war engaged
in for no valid reason, between parties who had no cause of quarrel except
such as their mutual pride and obstinacy afforded. Among the Dutch the
causes of anxiety for the termination of hostilities were increased in tenfold
proportion. The whole of the eighty years' maritime war with Spain had
neither exhausted their treasury nor inflicted so much injury on their com-
merce as the events of the last two years. The province of Holland alone
paid from six to seven millions annually as interest for her debt, and while
the taxes began to press severely on all ranks of the people, their usual sources
of gain were nearly closed: the Greenland fishery was stopped; the herring
fishery, the "gold mine of Holland," unsafe, and abnost worthless, the English
having captured an immense number of the boats; and the decay of trade
was so great that in Amsterdam alone three thousand houses were lying
vacant.
To these causes were added others pecuhar to the province of Holland.
The states of this province, whom the proceedings of the late stadholder had
rendered strongly averse to the Orange family, had applied all their efforts
to prevent the young prince William from being appointed to that office,
and that of captain and admiral-general. These had hitherto been successful;
but the increased influence which his party gained by the contmuance of the
war might soon enable them to carry that measure in spite of all opposition.
The name of the prince of Orange had heretofore been used in raising recruits
622 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1652-1653 A.D.1
for the army and navy; and the people readily flew to the conclusion that
the unwonted disasters of the late maritime encoimters were to be attributed
to the want of the customary head of affairs. The states of Zealand had
already found themselves obliged, in compliance with the clamours of the
populace, to propose a resolution that the young prince should be invested
with the offices enjoyed by his father, and Count William of Nassau appointed
his lieutenant; and it might be feared that the discontents arising from the
present state of things would inclme Gelderland, Utrecht, and Overyssel,
and even some towns of Holland itself, to the same measure for which Fries-
land and Groningen were strenuous advocates.
JAN DE WITT
At the head of the party favourable to peace, and opposed to the prince
of Orange, or the "Louvestein faction," as it was termed, was Jan De Witt,
chosen in the early part of this year pensioniary of Holland, on the death of
Adrian Pauw. He was the son of Jacob De Witt, pensionary of Dordrecht,
one of the six deputies who had been thrown into prison by the late stad-
holder; an injury which had implanted in the mind of the yoimg man feelings
of resentment deep, bitter, and implacable.' De Witt obtained the usual
act of indemnity, whereby reparation was promised him for all the inju-
ries he might sustain in the execution of his office, and that he should be
boimd to give an account of his actions to none but the states of Holland.
He was at this time not quite eight and twenty; yet had merited and
obtained so high an esteem for his talents and prudence, that he was often
called the Wisdom of Holland. The enmity existing between him and
the family of Orange rendered him, however, always unpopular with the
multitude.
The states of Holland, informed by a spy whom they kept in England of
the favourable dispositions of that government, had, in the early part of the
year, secretly dispatched a letter expressive of their desire that the parliament
would unite with them in terminating a war ruinous to both nations and to
the Reformed religion which they mutually professed. The parliament
returned an answer both to the states of Holland and the states-general,
signifying their willingness to put an end to the present state of affairs. But
notwithstanding that secrecy was in the highest degree requisite, at the
beginning at least of the negotiations, they caused the letter of the states of
Holland to be printed and pubhshed, with the title of The Humble Petition
of the States of Holland to the Parliament of England for Peace.
This display of insolence had well-nigh frustrated all attempts at accom-
modation. The states-general testified extreme chagrin at the opening of a
separate negotiation on the part of Holland; Groningen and Gelderland
strongly urged that it should be pursued no further; and, together with
Zealand, proposed to take advantage of the opportunity to enter into a strict
alliance with France against England. At the persuasion of the states of
Holland, however, the states-general ultimately consented to send ambas-
sadors to London; the lords Beverning and Nieuport from Holland, Van de
Perre from Zealand, and Peter Jongestal from Friesland; the two former
adherents of the Louvestein party, the latter partisans of the house of
Orange.*
' These sentiments were sedulously inculcated and nourished by his father, whose morning
salutation to him is said to have often been " Remember the prison of Louvestein,"
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAR WITH ENGLAND 623
[1654-1658 A.D.]
PEACE WITH ENGLAND (1654)
The want of peace was felt throughout the whole country. Cromwell
was not averse to grant it; but he insisted on conditions every way disad-
vantageous and humiliating. He had revived his chimerical scheme of a
total conjunction of government, privileges, and interests between the two
republics. This was firmly rejected by Jan De Witt and by the states under
his influence. But the Dutch consented to a defensive league; to punish the
survivors of those concerned in the massacre of Amboyna; to pay £9,000 of
mdemnity for vessels seized in the Sound, £5,000 for the affair of Amboyna,
and £85,000 to the English East India Company; to cede to them the island
of Polerone in the East; to yield the honour of the national flag to the Eng-
lish; and, finally, that neither the young prince of Orange nor any of his
family should ever be invested with the dignity of stadholder. These two
latter conditions were certainly degrading to Holland; and the conditions
of the treaty proved that an absurd point of honour was the only real cause
for the short but bloody and ruinous war which plunged the provinces into
overwhelming difBculties.
WAR WITH SWEDEN
The supporters of the house of Orange, and every impartial friend of the
national honour, were indignant at the Act of Exclusion. Murmurs and revolts
broke out in several towns; and all was once more tumult, agitation, and
doubt. No event of considerable importance marks particularly this epoch
of domestic trouble. A new war was at last pronounced inevitable, and was
the means of appeasing the distractions of the people, and reconciling by
degrees contending parties. Denmark, the ancient ally of the republic,
was threatened with destruction by Charles Gustavus, king of Sweden, who
held Copenhagen in blockade. The interests of Holland were in imminent
peril should the Swedes gain the passage of the Sound. This double motive
influenced De Witt; and he persuaded the states-general to send Admiral
Opdam with a considerable fleet to the Baltic (1658). This intrepid successor
of the immortal Tromp soon came to blows with a rival worthy to meet him.
Wrangel the Swedish admiral, with a superior force, defended the passage
of the Sound; and the two castles of Cronenberg and Elsenberg supported
his fleet with their tremendous fire. But Opdam resolutely advanced:
tliough suffering extreme anguish from an attack of gout, he had himself
carried on deck, where he gave his orders with the most admirable coolness
and precision, in the midst of danger and carnage. The rival monarchs
witnessed the battle; the king of Sweden from the castle of Cronenberg, and
the king of Denmark from the summit of the highest tower in his besieged
capital. A brilliant victory crowned the efforts of the Dutch admiral, dearly
bought by the death of his second in command the brave Cornells De Witt,
and Peter Florizon another admiral of note. Relief was poured into Copen-
hagen. Opdam was replaced in the command, too arduous for his infirm-
[' The absorbing events of the English war, and the previous commotions in the provinces,
liad prevented the states from affording to the West India Company that aid of which they had
long stood in the most pressing need. After the revolt of the Portuguese, in 1645, it had so
rapidly lost its possessions in Brazil, that at the time of the pea«e of Mtinster they were
reduced to three forts. In 1654, the fort of the Eecif was taken, that of Rio Grande burned,
and, by the surrender of the third to the Portuguese, they became sole and undisputed masters
of BrazU."]
624 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS
[1659-1666 A.D.]
ities, bjr the still celebrated De Ruyter, who was greatly distinguished by his
valour in several successive affairs: and after some months more of useless
obstinacy, the king of Sweden, seeing his army perish in the island of Funen,
by a combined attack of those of Holland and Denmark, consented to a
peace highly favourable to the latter power.
These transactions placed the United Provinces on a still higher pinnacle
of glory than they had ever reached. Intestine disputes were suddenly
calmed. The Algerines and other pirates were swept from the seas by a
succession of small but vigorous expeditions. The mediation of the states
re-established peace in several of the petty states of Germany., England
and France were both held in check, if not preserved in friendship, by
the dread of their recovered power. Trade and finance were reorganised.
Everything seemed to promise a long-continued peace and growing great-
ness, much of which was owing to the talents and persevering energy of De
Witt; and, to complete the good work of European tranquillity, the French
and Spanish monarchs concluded in 1659 the treaty known by the name of
the Peace of the Pyrenees.
Cromwell had now closed his career, and Charles II was restored to the
throne from which he had so long been excluded. The complimentary enter-
tainments rendered to the restored king in Holland were on the proudest
scale of expense. He left the country which had given him refuge ia mis-
fortune, and done him honour in his prosperity, with profuse expressions of
regard and gratitude. Scarcely was he established in his recovered kingdom,
when a still greater testimony of deference to his wishes was paid, by the states-
general formally annulling the Act of Exclusion against the house of Orange.
A variety of motives, however, acting on the easy and plastic mind of the
monarch, soon effaced whatever of gratitude he had at first conceived. He
readily entered into the views of the English nation, which was irritated by
the great commercial superiority of Holland, and a jealousy excited by i4
close connection with France at this period.
ENGLAND DECLARES WAR
It was not till the 22nd of February, 1665, that war was formally declared
against the Dutch; but many previous acts of hostility had taken place in
expeditions against their settlements on the coast of Africa and in America,
which were retaUated by De Ruyter with vigour and success in 1664. The
Dutch used every possible means of avoiding the last extremities. De Witt
employed all the powers of his great capacity to avert the evil of war; but
nothing could finally prevent it' and the sea was once more to witness the
conflict between those who claimed its sovereignty.
A great battle was fought on the 31st of June. The duke of York, after-
wards James II, commanded the British fleet, and had under him the earl
of Sandwich and Prince Rupert. The Dutch were led on by Opdam; and
the victory was decided in favour of the Enghsh by the accidental blowing
up of that admiral's ship, with himself and his whole crew. The loss of the
Dutch was altogether nineteen ships. De Witt, the pensionary, then took
in person the command of the fleet, which was soon equipped; and he gave
a high proof of the adaptation of genius to a pursuit previously unknown, by
the rapid knowledge and the practical improvements he introduced into some
of the most intricate branches of naval tactics.
[« Without declaration of war the English seized 130 Dutch merchantmen in their ports.
The foimal declaration did not follow for some months, March 4, 1665.]
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAR WITH ENGLAND 625
[1665-1666 A.D.]
Immense efforts were now made by England, but with a very questionable
policy, to induce Louis XIV to join in the war. Charles offered to allow of
his acquiring the whole of the Spanish Netherlands, provided he would leave
him without interruption to destroy the Dutch navy (and, consequently
their commerce), in the by no means certain expectation that its advantages
would all fall to the share of England. But the king of France resolved to
support the republic. The king of Denmark, too, formed an alliance with
them, after a series of the most strange tergiversations. Spain, reduced to
feebleness, and menaced with invasion by France, showed no alacrity to
meet with Charles' overtures for an offensive treaty. Galen, bishop of Miinster,.
a restless prelate, was the only ally he could acquire. This bishop, at the head
of a tumultuous force of
twenty thousand men,
penetrated into FrieslaAd ;
but six thousand French
were despatched by Louis
to the assistance of the
republic, and this impo-
tent invasion was easily
repelled.
The republic, encour-
aged by all these favour-
able circumstances, re-
solved to put forward its
utmost energies. Inter-
nal discords were once
more appeased; the har-
bours were crowded with
merchant ships ; the
young prince of Orange
had put himself under
the tuition of the states
of Holland and of De
Witt, who faithfully exe- a ship of de ruyter's dat
cuted his trust; and De
Ruyter was ready to lead on the fleet. The English, in spite of the dreadful
calamity of the great fire of London, the plague which desolated the city, and
a declaration of war on the part of France, prepared boldly for the shock.^
etcher's account op the great four days' battle
(june 11th-14th, 1666)
While Holland was preparing for war with England, England on her side
was arming against Holland; eighty-one vessels stood ready in the Thames
under the command of Prince Rupert and General Monk, duke of Albemarle.
De Ruyter left Texel the 8th of June, 1666, directing his course toward
the coast of England, hoping to find the English fleet there and give them
battle. Arriving at the entrance of the straits of Dover, he gave a signal
for all the captains to come aboard and addressed them in the following
language: "The moment of combat is at hand. We have to deal with an
enemy full of pride, and presumptuous, who seeks our destruction; the salva-
«'ation of Holland, the safety and honour of our women, our children, our
lamilies, depend this day on our prudence and valour. Let us efface the
H. W. — VOL. XIII. 2S
626 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1666 A.D.]
dishonour which we suffered in the defeat of the past year. We shall meet
with a vigorous defence; the English are good sailors and good soldiers,
but it is for us to conquer or to die. On our side we have justice and may-
hope for divine protection. Should there be any too cowardly to follow
my example they will find a shameful death in avoiding a glorious one."
With one voice the captains declared themselves ready to sacrifice themselves
for the honour of their country, and then returned to their ships.
The Dutch fleet continued on its way, and cast anchor the 11th of June
in the mouth of the Thames. Towards two in the morning the advance
guard made known by a signal that the enemy had been sighted; towards
eleven the Enghsh fleet was seen advancing in order of battle. De Ruyter
had sought battle; now was the moment to which he had aspired. With-
that coolness which always marks the great man, he gave his orders. The'
officers and soldiers, filled with admiration for their conmiander, resolved
to conquer or perish; but already their confidence in him gave them the pre-
monition of victory. The English fleet continued to advance. Vice-Admiral
Tromp, who was in the advance guard, began fighting an hour after mid-day.
De Ruyter from his side attacked the enemy with that fierceness which was'
his custom; his example was followed by all the captains. The English,
having the wind on one side, were unable to use some of their guns. Thei
Dutch, on the contrary, made good use of their batteries and crushed the
enemy. The fight was sustained with equal valour and obstinacy on all
sides. Four hours after noon an English vessel of fifty cannon was sunk
by a broadside from De Ruyter. The two enemies fought in this position
until five o'clock, when, the English changing their position to avoid the
reefs of Flanders, the squadrons of Lieutenant-Admirals Evertsen and De
Vries taking advantage of the movement attacked them with such impetu-
osity that they succeeded in separating them and capturing three vessels.
Meanwhile Monk fought with a courage bordering on despair. At six
o'clock the two armies were still fighting and it was only the coming on of
night that finally separated the combatants. All parties busied themselves in
repairing the damage sustained and preparing to resume the fight. At dawn
the next day De Ruyter signalled his lieutenant-admirals and captains to
come aboard in order to impress on them the necessity of keeping up with the
same valour the fight that was about to recommence. Sunrise revealed the
English fleet a league to windward. The two fleets attacked each other with
equal intrepidity. De Ruyter on approaching the English drew toward the
south in order to stand upon the same tack with them. The two fleets passed
one before the other under heavy fire; numbers of vessels were disabled. A
calm now rendered them inactive; but at ten o'clock, a fresh wind coming up,
the fight continued.
At noon the Dutch were so close that De Ruyter gave the signal to board.
This brought on them a terrible fusillade of the English. De Ruyter, fearing
that some of his vessels were in the midst of the enemy, decided at once to suc-
cour them and penetrate the enemy's fleet with his squadron; his courage
brought him through, and there he found Tromp who, with five vessels, had
imprudently penetrated to the middle of the English fleet and who would have
been inevitably overwhelmed had not De Ruyter come to his assistance. The
five vessels were completely disabled, most of the sailors and soldiers, together
with several officers, killed, and nearly all the others wounded. De Ruyter
drove off the English, brought back the five vessels except one, which had been
burned; the other four being useless, he had them towed back to Texel.
The Dutch fleet now gathered round their general and, stimulated by his
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAR WITH ENGLAND 627
[1666 A.D.J
courage, attacked the enemy with so much impetuosity that six of their ves-
sels were sunk and one burned. In this terrible encounter all the attacks of
the enemy were directed against De Ruyter; his maintopmast was broken
and tell on the vessel with its flag and pennant. The latter he sent to Van
JNes with orders to raise it with his flag and take command until De Ruvter's
vessel was repaired. De Ruyter dropped back and Van Nes executed his
manceuyres with such prudence and valour that the Enghsh gave up the fight
Ihe Dutch pursued the English fleet with all possible speed; the latter used all
tHeir experience in their endeavour to reach the Thames, even burnmg their
The Archers' Prize, showing Sevehteenth Century Costumes
(After a painting by BartliolomensVan der Helet, 1611-1670)
poor sailing vessels in order that they might not be seized by the Dutch. The
Prince Royal, carrying ninety-two cannon, commanded by the English vice-
admiral George Ayscue, ran aground on a reef called Galloper near the Thames;
the admiral used all the accustomed signals calling for aid, but in vain : the
English were too terrified to stop. In an instant he was surrounded by the.
Dutch; recognising the impossibility of defence, he took down his colours.
De Ruyter, who in the meantime had repaired his vessel as far as possible,
now rejoined his fleet. Fearing that the Prince Royal would but prove a
burden, he set fire to it and sent Ayscue to the Hague.
Hardly was this expedition achieved when the Dutch saw twenty-five
> English vessels advancing from the southwest. They were commanded by
Prince Rupert, who had detached his squadron in order to collect several
vessels at Portsmouth and Plymouth, and then go to the west to await and
fight the French who, it had been rumored, were coming to join the Dutch.
Not having met them he came to the rescue of the English fleet. As soon as
the Dutch saw him they made an attack; he evaded them and joined the
628 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEKLANDS
[1666 A.D.]
remnant of the English forces on the evening of the 13th of June. Monk gave
him an account of what had passed during the two preceding days. They
decided that it would be necessary to fight the next day, and the prince, having
the freshest vessels, should lead. The English fleet found itself in possession
of sixty-one vessels of war; the Dutch had sixty-four, but they had passed
through a conflict of two days and all the crews were fatigued. Their other
vessels had returned to Holland with the captured ships to be repaired. De
Ruyter, seeing that the English were ready to recommence hostihties, pre-
pared to meet the attack. His courage would not allow him to avoid danger.
He relied on his example exciting the officers and soldiers to their best efforts.
The fight commenced on the 14th at eight in the morning. The Dutch
ships penetrated the English fleet in three different directions and dispersed
some of their vessels. De Ru5i;er, drawing back, ran to the south;, the Eng-
' lish stood in for the Dutch. This manoeuvre lasted till three; the confusion
was terrible and the victory remained balanced during the whole day. A
Dutch vice-admiral named Liefde, in command of a vessel of sixty pieces,
found himself at the mercy of the vice-admiral of the squadron of Prince
Rupert, who commanded a vessel of eighty pieces. De Ruyter, whom noth-
ing escaped, seeing his danger, dispersed the enemy's vessels and drew the
attack upon himself. Still the combat raged on all sides. De Ruyter, look-
ing like a lion who had been made furious by the carnage, now made the signal
to board. Simultaneously the heroes, Tromp, Meppel, Bankert, De Vries,
Van Nes, Liefde, Evertsen, etc., attacked the English, pressing them so closely
that disorder was created and they were forced to retreat. This was at seven
in the evening, after a fight of eleven hours. The Dutch pursued them, but a
heavy fog forced De Ruyter to give the signal to rally and retreat. His pru-
dence would not allow him to risk exposing his vessels to collision or the
danger of the reefs. He conducted his fleet to Wielingen.
These three encounters have been related in all languages, and all coun-
tries accord praise to De Ruyter. AU eulogize his prudence, his ability, and
his valour. He so disposed his force and so chose his position that the English
tried in vain to penetrate his fleet or put it in disorder. His eye was every-
where; no movement of either side escaped him, and his signals to change
position or board were always given at the right moment. He never missed
an opportunity to pierce his enemy's fleet, double on it, or separate their
vessels and sink them. If, through an excess of courage, some of his captains
went too far and became the victims of the enemy's fire, he would rescue them
with heroic intrepidity; he was the soul of his army and worked the way to
victory. The English directed several fire-brands against him in the hope
that if they destroyed their admiral, the Dutch might easily be conquered.
This victory was dearly bought by the Dutch.* Many of their bravest
officers and captains were lost and about eight hundred soldiers and sailors.
The number of wounded amounted to 1,150. The English suffered even
greater loss; according to the accounts they had 6,000 men killed, among
which number were Vice-Admiral Berkeley and a large number of captains.
The Dutch had 3,000 prisoners in their ports. The English lost 23 vessels
of war, of which 17 were burned or sunk. The other six were taken as prizes
by the Dutch.?
^' This engagement, whether we consider the skill displayed on both sides, the valour and
obstinacy of the combatants, or the astonishing physical powers which enabled them to endure
such prolonged and excessive fatigue, has never yet found a parallel in history. The English
historians, following the old Style, date the events of this war ten days earlier than the Dutch,
who adopted the new.o]
[1666 A.D.]
THE DB WITTS AND THE WAE WITH ENGLAND 629
THE ENGLISH WIN A VICTORY
In less than three weeks De Ruyter, with the view of taking the enemy
WHO were not yet ready for sea, by surprise, again set sail towards the English
coast. IJe Witt had been inspired by one Samuel Raven, an English refugee
with the Idea, that if a landing were made in England, the number of malcon-
tents was so great that the entire overthrow of the present government would
be easily accomphshed; and, in consequence, the purport of his orders to De
Kuyter was m conformity with these views. But the admiral very soon
tound that the project appeared far more easy of execution at the Hague than
at the mouth of the Thames. A fleet of fifty vessels stationed at Queen-
borough rendered it impossible for the
Dutch to advance, except at imminent
risk of destruction, as well from the
enemy's fire-ships as the dangers of a
navigation with which, as the English
had removed the buoys and beacons,
their pilots were unacquainted.
After cruising for more than a
month about the coast, De Ruyter was
met August 4th, between the North
Foreland and Ostend, by the English
fleet of ninety sail under the com-
mand of Albemarle, his own being
eighty-eight in number. The van of
the Dutch, under Evertsen, first en-
gaged with the white squadron of the
English, commanded by Sir Thomas
Allen, when, in a short but brisk can-
nonade, Evertsen, whose father, son,
and four brothers had perished in the
service of their country, was killed,
with Hiddes de Vries and Admiral
Bankert. The death of these officers
spread such confusion and dismay
through the whole squadron that it fell into disorder, and began to retreat
under press of sail. De Ruyter meanwhile had followed the van; but a
calm (as it was alleged) preventing some of his ships from coming up, him-
self, with a part only of his squadron, had to sustain the vigorous attack of
Albemarle. Tromp, remaining about two miles in the rear, was engaged with
Sir Jeremy Smith, when, after a sharp fire, the latter retreated; but, as it was
supposed, only with the view of separating Tromp still farther from the middle
squadron. Though strict orders had been issued to the whole of the fleet to
keep as close as possible to the Admiral's flag, Tromp continued the pursuit,
leaving De Ruyter with a few vessels to contend against the whole power of
the enemy, whom, however, he kept at bay with incredible prowess imtil
night.
At the dawn of day, August 5th, he found himself with no more than
seven ships remaining, which the English, in the firm expectation of captur-
ing, surrounded, twenty-two in number, in the form of a crescent, and opened
upon them a terrific fire. Albemarle, determined, if possible, to grace his
triumph with the capture or death of his gallant foe, pursued him with imre-
MiCBAEL Adbiaanszoon de Rutteb
(1607-1676)
630 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1666-1667 A.D.]
mitting ardour. He first sent a fire-ship against his vessel, which De Ruyter
avoided with admirable skill; when several English ships fired upon him
together a tremendous broadside which threatened to shiver his vessel to
atoms. Then, for a moment, this great man lost the equanimity which was
never, before or after, seen to desert him; and in the bitterness of his anguish
exclaimed, " Oh, my God! how wretched am I, that among so many thousand
balls not one will bring me death."
But a proposal from his son-in-law, De Witt, that they should rush in
among the enemy and sell their lives as dearly as possible, recalled him to
himself. He felt how much his country yet required of him; and resuming
his habitual composure, he sustained the fight with unmoved steadiness
during the whole of his retreat to Walcheren, a retreat more glorious to him,
as it was considered by his contemporaries, than the most brilliant victory.
The loss was but trifling either on the side of the conquerors or the vanquished;
many of the Dutch captains having retreated in the early part of the action.
Of all those who thus misconducted themselves, one only was punished; the
rest, protected by the magistrates of the towns, their friends and relatives,
were not even deprived of their command. The most pernicious results felt
from this defeat were in the open hostility into which it exasperated the
animosity between the two great admirals, Tromp and De Ruyter, each of
whom bitterly reproached the other as the cause of the calamity; in the
divisions it occasioned in the fleet, nearly every indiAddual siding with the
one or the other; and the consequent loss of the services of the former to his
country. The circumstance of Tromp's having, on the morning of the battle,
leld a long interview with the lord of Sommelsdyk, a zealous adherent of
the Orange and English party, excited a suspicion in the states of Holland
that the motives of his conduct lay deeper than a personal enmity towards
the admiral, and they therefore prevailed with the states-general to deprive
him of his commission; a proceeding, however, unjust in the highest degree
towards Tromp, if, as his partisans asserted, he was carried away in the
pursuit of the English by the ardour of combat; a supposition far more
conformable to his character than that he should have acted from any impulse
of treachery.
The states, probably, were the more liable to be impressed with suspicions
of this nature, in consequence of the discovery, about this time, of a plot
formed by one Du Buat, together with two magistrates of. Rotterdam, Kievit
and Van der Horst, the former a member of the council of state, for obtain-
ing a peace with England, as the readiest means of procuring the elevation
of the prince of Orange to the office of captain-general.c
THE PEACE OF BREDA
The king of France hastened forward in this crisis to the assistance of the
republic; and De Witt, by a deep stroke of policy, amused the English with
negotiation while a powerful fleet was fitted out. It suddenly appeared in
the Thames ^ under the command of De Ruyter, and all England was thrown
into consternation. The Dutch took Sheerness, and burned many ships of
-war; almost insulting the capital itself in their predatory incursion. Had
the French power joined that of the provinces at this time, and invaded
England, the most fatal results to that kingdom might have taken place.
But the alarm soon subsided with the disappearance of the hostile fleet;
[' De Ruyter sailed as far up tlie Thames as Gravesend, and threw London into great
terror.]
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAE WITH ENGLAND 631
[1667-1672 A.D.]
and the signing of the Peace of Breda, on the 10th of July, 1667, extricated
Charles from his present difficulties. The island of Polerone was restored
to the Dutch, and the point of maritime superiority was, on this occasion,
undoubtedly theirs.
While Holland was preparing to indulge in the luxury of national repose,
the death of Philip IV of Spain and the startling ambition of Louis XIV
brought war once more to their very doors, and soon even forced it across
the threshold of the republic. The king of France, setting at nought his
solenm renunciation at the Peace of the Pyrenees of all claims to any part
of the Spanish territories in right of his wife, who was daughter of the late
king, found excellent reasons (for his own satisfaction) to invade a material
portion of that declining monarchy. Well prepared by the financial and
military foresight of Colbert for his great design, he suddenly poured a power-
ful army, under Turenne, into Brabant and Flanders; quickly over-ran and
took possession of these provinces; and, in the space of three weeks, added
Franche-Comte to his conquests. Europe was in universal alarm at these
unexpected measures; and no state felt more terror than the republic of
the United Provinces. The interest of all countries seemed now to require
a coalition against the power which had abandoned the house of Austria only
to settle on France. The first measure to this effect was the signing of the
triple league between Holland, Sweden, and England, at the Hague, on the
13th of January, 1668. But this proved to be one of the most futile con-
federations on record. Charles fell in with the designs of his pernicious, and
on this occasion purchased, cabinet, called the Cabal; and he entered into
a secret treaty with France, in the very teeth of his other engagements.
Sweden was dissuaded from the league by the arguments of the French
ministers; and Holland in a short time found itself involved in a double war
with its late allies.
A base and piratical attack on the Dutch Smyrna fleet, by a large force
under Sir Robert Holmes, on the 13th of March, 1672, was the first overt
act of treachery on the part of the English government. The attempt com-
pletely failed, through the prudence and valour of the Dutch admirals; and
Charles reaped only the double shame of perfidy and defeat. He instantly
issued a declaration of war against the repubhc, on reasoning too palpably
false to require refutation, and too frivolous to merit record to the exclusion
of more important matter from our narrow limits.^
Notwithstanding the secrecy attending Louis XIV's negotiations, De
Witt had been uneasy; always favourable toward the alliance with France,
he had sought to calm the latter's irritation against Holland growing out of
her belief that Holland was the instigator of the Triple Alliance. Jan De Witt
had defended his country with haughty modesty: "I am not sure, he said,
"whether the encounters that latterly have brought the important affairs
of Europe to be transacted in Holland are to be regarded as a benefit or a
misfortune. But in regard to the partiality toward Spam of which we are
suspected, it should be said that never can we forget our aversion for that
nation; an aversion sucked in with our mother's milk — souvenu- ot a hatred
nourished by so much bloodshed, so many protracted struggles, ior my
part, no power could turn my inclinations toward Spam. „ , ^ „.. .
Hatred against Spain was not, however, so general in Holland as De Witt
pretended; and the internal dissensions, carefully fostered by i ranee, were
gradually undermining the aristocratic and repubhcan authority, to build
up the influence of the partisans of the house of Nassau. PatrioticaUy
far-seeing and sagacious, Jan De Witt had long cherished a presentiment ot
632 THE HISTOKY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1672 A.D.]
the defeat of his cause; and it was with great care that he had brought up the
heir of the stadholders, WiUiam of Nassau, the natural leader of his adver-
saries. It was this young prince whom the pohcy of Louis XIV opposed
to De Witt in the councils of the United Provinces, thus strengthening in
advance the indomitable enemy who was to triumph over his glory and
conquer him by defeats. ...
It was decided to send an envoy to Spam for the purpose of negotiatmg
a defensive alliance. Spain at first regarded the overtures of Holland with
a cold and doubtful eye. The dread of French invasion, however, decided
them. The defensive alliance
between Spain and Holland was
accomplished, and all effort on
the part of France had been
powerless to break it.
Jan De Witt kept up his nego-
tiations; the treaty of Charles II,
with France remained a close
secret, and the Dutch believed
they could coimt on the good
will of England. Charles II,
profiting by the necessity of the
states to serve the cause of his
nephew, the prince of Orange, had
demanded his appointment to the
captain-generalship, held hitherto
by his ancestors. The prince had
already been recognised as first
noble of Zealand, and he had
obtained entree to the council.
Jan De Witt turned against him
the votes of the state of Holland,
still preponderant in the republic.
"The grand pensionary,"
writes De Pomponne,^ "has
nearly smothered the murmurs
and the complaints raised against
him. He prefers any peril to the
re-establishment of the prince of
Orange — his re-establishment on the recommendation of the king of Eng-
land. He believed the repubhc would suffer a double yoke under the control
of a leader who, as captain-general, would aspire to the acquisition of all the
powers of his fathers, and this by aid of an aUy \mder suspicion."
The grand pensionary was not deceived; in the spring of 1672 all Louis
XIV's negotiations were concluded; his army was ready: at last he was
about to crush the little state that so long had stood between him and the
fulfilment of his projects.*
Jan De Witt
1625-1673)
WAR WITH LOXJIS XIV (1672)
Louis soon advanced with his army, and the contingents of Miinster and
Cologne, his allies amounting altogether to nearly 170,000 men, commanded
by (Jond6, Turenne, Luxemburg, and others of the greatest generals of France.
Never was any country less prepared than were the United Provinces to
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAR WITH ENGLAND 633
X1673 A.D.]
resist this formidable aggression. Their army was as naught; their long
cessation of military operations by land having totally demoralised that once
invincible branch of their forces. No general existed who knew any thing
of the_ practice of war. Their very stores of ammunition had been delivered
over, in the way of traffic, to the enemy who now prepared to overwhelm
them. De Witt was severely, and not quite unjustly blamed for having
suffered the country to be thus taken by surprise, utterly defenceless, and
apparently without resource. Envy of his uncommon merit aggravated
the just complaints against his error. But, above aU things, the popular
affection to the young prince threatened, in some great convulsion, the over-
throw of the pensionary, who was considered eminently hostile to the illus-
trious house of Orange.^
The prince of Orange possessed neither forces nor authority equal to
those of his opponent. De Ruyter was hard put to it for ammunition in the
struggle already entered upon against the French and English fleets. But
it was not by sea or through his lieutenants that Louis proposed to conquer;
he arrived in person on the banks of the Rhine, to march straight at the heart
of Holland. Jan De Witt proposed to evacuate the Hague and carry the
seat of government to Amsterdam ; the prince of Orange abandoned Utrecht,
which was immediately occupied by the French.
A deputation was sent, June 22nd, to the king's headquarters to sue for
peace. The same day, Jan De Witt was stabbed in the Hague by an assassin,
while the city of Amsterdam, almost resolved to surrender and ready to send
her delegates to the French king, turned suddenly about and took up the
role of resistance. All the sluice-gates were opened and the dikes broken:
Amsterdam floated on the bosom of the tide.
Louis' ambition would not allow of his accepting the propositions of the
deputies sent him by the states-general; he desired altogether to exterminate
the Dutch: he exacted in addition the cession of south Gelderland, the island
of Bommel, twenty-four million francs, the re-establishment of the Catholic
religion, and an annual envoy charged with thanks to the king for having
for the second time brought peace to the Low Countries. This was going
too far; while the deputies pondered, death at their hearts, the Dutch nation
arose.
Since the beginning of the war the party of the house of Orange had not
ceased to gain groimd. Jan De Witt had been accused of being the author of all
the country's misfortunes. The people noisily demanded the re-establish-
ment of the stadholdership, lately abolished by the presumptuously named
Perpetual Edict. Dordrecht, the home of the De Witts, had given the signal for
insurrection. Comelis De Witt, confined to his house by iUness, had been pre-
vailed upon by his family to sign the mvmicipal act which would destroy his
brother's work. The contagion spread from city to city, from province to
province; on July 4th, the states-general named William of Orange stad-
holder, captain-general, and admiral of the union: the national mstmct had
fixed upon the saviour of the country and eagerly tendered him the rems
of state. - , , , , .
William of Orange was barely twenty-two years old when revolutionary
fortune set him all at once at the head of an enemy-ridden, devastated, nearly
overwhelmed country; but his mind and soul were equal to the difficult task
set before him. He haughtily rejected all propositions brought m the name
of the king by Pieter De Groot. All Holland followed the example of Amster-
dam- the dikes were broken; the troops of the electors of Brandenburg and
of Saxony advanced to the aid of the United Provmces, and the emperor
634 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1673 A.D.]
signed with these two princes a defensive alliance for the maintenance of
the treaties of Westphalia, the Pjrrenees, and Aix-la-Chapelle. Louis, recalled
to France by his interests and his pleasures, left the command of his army
to Turenne and departed.
GUIZOT'S account of the fate of the brothers DE WITT
Like his country melancholy and defeated, Jan De Witt resigned his
office as pensionary counsellor to Holland. He was immediately replaced
by Gaspard Fagel, passionately devoted to the prince of Orange. Cornells
De Witt, so lately imited with his
brother in the public confidence,
was now dragged to the Hague
like a criminal, upon the accusa-
tion by a wretched barber of
having conspired for the assas-
sination of the prince of Orange.
In vain did the magistrates of
Dordrecht claim their right of
jiu-isdiction over their citizen:
Cornells De Witt was put to the
torture to extract a confession.
"They cannot make me confess
what I have never even dreamed
of," he answered, while the pul-
leys were dislocating his joints.
His judges, confoimded, heard
him repeat the ode of Horace:
Jusium et tenacem propositi virum.
At the end of three hours they
carried him, broken but xmcon-
quered, back to his dimgeon. The
court condemned him to banish-
ment.
His accuser Tichelaer was not
yet satisfied. Soon, at his insti-
gation, crowds gathered around the prison, cursing the judges for their clem-
ency. "They are the real traitors," cried Tichelaer: "but let us first be
avenged upon those already within our grasp." Jan had been lured to the
prison by a message purporting to come from his brother. In vain his daughter
implored him to ignore it.
"What do you here?" cried Cornells, upon seeing his brother. "Did
you not send for me?" "Certainly not!" "Then we are lost," said Jan
De Witt calmly.
The tumult outside increased. So far a body of cavalry had succeeded
in maintaining order. All at once a rumour was afloat that the peasants of
the surrounding country were on their way to the Hague to pillage it: the
estates ordered the count de Tilly to march against them. The brave soldier
demanded a written order: " I obey," he said; " but the brothers are doomed."
Scarcely had the troops departed when the doors of the prison were forced.
The ruward, torture-spent, was stretched upon his cotj his brother seated
:^':»
Hall of the Knights, near the Death-place of
De Witts
THE DE WITTS AND THE WAE WITH ENGLAND 635
[1672 A.D.J
beside him reading aloud from the Bible. The crowd precipitated itself into
the room crying, "Traitors, prepare to die!" Both were dragged out. They
embraced. Cornelis, struck from behind, fell to the bottom of the stairs.
His brother, running into the street to defend him, received a blow in the
face from a pick. The ruward was already dead. The assassins flung them-
selves upon Jan, who, losing nothing of his cahn and courage, raised his
hands to heaven and opened his mouth to pray, when a last blow felled him.
"The Perpetual Edict is down!" shrieked the assassins, heaping insults and
maledictions upon the two corpses. It was not till nightfall, and after infinite
trouble in recognising the disfigured countenances of his sons, that the unhappy
Jacob De Witt was able to carry away the bodies.
William of Orange arrived the next day at the Hague, too late for his
own glory and for the punishment of the obscure assassins, whom he allowed
to escape. The constructors of the plot obtained appointments and rewards.
During twenty years Jan De Witt had stood for the noblest expression
of the traditional policy of his country. Long faithful to the French alliance,
he attempted to arrest Louis XIV in his dangerous successess. Conscious
of the perils to come, he overlooked those at hand. He believed too much
and for too long in the influence of negotiations and the possibihty of regaining
the friendship of France. That which he had hoped for his country escaped
him within and without: Holland was crushed by France, and the aristocratic
republic was defeated by the democratic monarchy. Between the two he
was unable to divine that constitutional monarchy, freely chosen, which
should gain for his country the independence, the prosperity, and the order
for which he had laboured.
As fearless and far-seeing a politician as Coligny, like him twice struck
by the assassin, Jan De Witt retains his place in history as the unique model
of a great republican leader, honest and capable, proud and modest, up to
the time when other "united provinces," struggling like Holland for their
liberty, furnished him a rival to the purity of his glory in the person of their
governor. General George Washington.
In its brutal ingratitude the instinct of the Dutch people clearly divined
the situation: Jan De Witt would have been annihilated in the struggle agamst
France; William of Orange, prince, politician, and soldier, was able to save
the necks of Europe and of his own country from the yoke of Louis XIV.*
CHAPTER XV
WILLIAM III AND THE WAR WITH FRANCE
[1672-1733 A.D.]
The massacre of the De Witts completely destroyed the party of which
they were the head. AH men now united under the only leader left to the
country. William showed himself well worthy of the trust, and of his heroic
blood. He turned his whole force against the enemy. He sought nothing
for himself but the glory of saving his country; and taking his ancestors for
models, in the best points of their respective characters, he combined prudence
with energy, and firmness with moderation. His spirit inspired all ranks of
men. The conditions of peace demanded by the partner kings were rejected
with scorn. The whole nation was moved by one concentrated principle of
heroism; and it was even resolved to put the ancient notion of the first
William into practice, and abandon the country to the waves, sooner than
submit to the poUtical annihilation with which it was threatened. The
capability of the vessels in their harbours was calculated; and they were
found si&cient to transport two hundred thousand families to the Indian
settlements. We must hasten from this sublime picture of national desper-
ation. The glorious hero who stands in its foreground was inaccessible to
every overture of corruption. Buckingham, the English ambassador, offered
him, on the part of England and France, the independent sovereignty of
Holland, if he would abandon the other provinces to their grasp; and, urging
his consent, asked him if he did not see that the republic was ruined? " There
is one means," replied the prince of Orange, "which will save me from the
sight of my country's ruin. I will die in the last ditch."
Action soon proved the reality of the prince's profession. He took the
field, having first punished with death some of the cowardly commanders
of the frontier towns. He besieged and took Naarden, an important place;
and, by 3. masterly movement, formed a junction with Montecuculi, whom
WILLIAM III AND THE WAK WITH TKANCE 637
[1672-1675 A.D.]
the emperor Leopold had at length sent to his assistance with 20,000 men.
Gromngen repulsed the bishop of Miinster, the ally of France, with a loss of
12,000 men. The king of Spain (such are the strange fluctuations of political
friendship and enmity) sent the count of Monterey, governor of the Belgian
provinces, with 10,000 men to support the Dutch army. The elector of
Brandenburg also lent them aid.
The whole face of affairs was changed; and Louis was obliged to abandon
all his conquests with more rapidity than he had made them.
ENGLAND WITHDRAWS FROM THE WAR
Two desperate battles at sea, on the 28th of May and the 4th of June,*
in which De Ruyter and Prince Rupert again distinguished themselves, only
proved the valour of the combatants, leaving victory still doubtful.
England was with one common feeling ashamed of the odious war in
which the king and his unworthy ministers had engaged the nation. Charles
was forced to make peace on the conditions proposed by the Dutch. The
honour of the flag was yielded to the English; a regulation of trade was
agreed to; all possessions were restored to the same condition as before the
■war; and the states-general agreed to pay the king 800,000 patacoons, or
nearly £300,000.
With these encouraging results from the prince of Orange's influence and
example, Holland persevered in the contest with France. He, in the first
place, made head, during a winter campaign in Holland, against Marshal
Luxembm-g, who had succeeded Turenne in the Low Countries, the latter
being obliged to march against the imperialists in Westphalia. He next
advanced to oppose the great Cond^, who occupied Brabant with an army
of forty-five thousand men. After much manoeuvring, in which the prince
of Orange displayed consummate talent, he on one only occasion exposed a
part of his army to a disadvantageous contest. Conde seized on the error;
and of his own accord gave the battle to which his young opponent could not
succeed in forcing him. The battle of Seneffe is remarkable not merely for
the fury with which it was fought, or for its leaving victory undecided, but
as being the last combat of one commander and the first of the other. " The
prince of Orange," said the veteran Cond4 (who had that day exposed his
person more than on any previous occasion), "has acted in everything like
an old captain, except venturing his life too like a young soldier."
The campaign of 1675 offered no remarkable event, the prince of Orange
with great prudence avoiding the risk of a battle.*
THE LAST BATTLE OF DE RUYTER
On sea, the power of the Dutch nation had, from the time of the appoint-
ment of the prince of Orange as admiral-general, gradually declined. Whether
that the conduct of the French, during the late war, had inspired him with
a contempt for the naval prowess of that nation, or from some less excusable
[' As usual, there is a difference of ten days in tlie dates set for these battles, the Dutch
dating them June 7th and June 14th. De Ruyter had tried in vain to block the mouth of the
Thames by sinking vessels. The English finally came out with a superior force, and the first
encounter was off Schoeneveldt. In the second the English retired, but the Dutch, fearing a
ruse did not pursue. In a third encounter, in the Texel, August 11th [or 31st], the English
were repulsed in an effort to capture the East India fleet. The English captured the island of
Tobago and took four merchantmen, but the Dutch fleet, under Evertsen, captured New Yol:k
and took or sank aixty.five of the Newfoundland ships,]
638
THE HISTOEY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1676 A.D.1
motive, William sent De Ruyter to the Mediterranean with an insufficient
and miserably-equipped fleet of eighteen ships, to make head against an
enemy whose force consisted of above thirty sail; while the aid of
the Spaniards, who had already sustained a severe defeat, was utterly ineffi-
cient. In vain did De Ruyter remonstrate against the rashness of thus
wantonly exposing the flag of the states to insult ; the only answer he received
was an imputation that he began to grow timid in his old age; in vain, too,
did his friends endeavour to persuade this noble-minded patriot to refuse
peremptoriljr to put to
sea with so inadequate a
force. It was his duty,
he said, to obey the com-
mands of the states; and
having taken a last fare-
well of his family and
friends, to whom he ex-
pressed his conviction
that he should never re-
turn, he embarked at
Hellevoetsluis, and with
the first fair wind set sail
for his destination.
He encoimtered the
French fleet imder the
admiral Duquesne, be-
tween the islands of
Stromboli and Salina, but
without any decisive re-
sult. Having effected a
junction with ten Spanish
vessels, he came to a sec-
ond engagement on the
coast of Sicily, with Du-
quesne, who had likewise
received a reinforcement
of twelve men-of-war and
four frigates. Almost at
the commencement of the
battle, De Ruyter was
struck by a cannon baU,
which carried off the fore part of his left foot and broke two bones of the right
leg. He continued, however, to give his orders with undiminished activity,
and concealed the disaster so effectually that neither friend nor enemy had
the slightest suspicion of the truth. Both parties ascribed to themselves
the victory; the relations on each side differing so widely that it is scarcely
possible to conceive they allude to the same event. The most signal defeat,
however, would have been a far less grievous calamity to the Dutch than that
which they had to sustain in the loss of their great admiral, whose wounds
proved fatal a few days after (April 29th, 1676).
De Ruyter is one of those characters whose faultless excellence would,
were we obliged to rely solely on the evidence of the biographer and
panegyrist, almost create a doubt of its reality, as if beyond the scope of
human nature to attain. But in his case, the highest eulogiums are con-
A Patiewt and Doctor — Seventeenth Centuby Interior
(After the painting by Jan Steen,1626-1679)
WILLIAM III AND THE WAR WITH FRANCE 639
[1676 A.D.]
firmed to thefuU by the concurring testimony of political opponents, and by
the dry and mapartial records of history. As a commander, valour was his
least qualification: his genius, judgment, and foresight were equal to every
emergency. In situations where temerity was wisdom, none could be more
reckless and daring; when prudence dictated caution, none could incur more
bravely^ the imputation of timidity.
During the troubled times of the republic, when he often received orders
so equivocal or contradictory that whatever course he pursued could scarcely
escape censure, he never failed to adopt such as both partisans and opponents
agreed in pronouncing wisest and best. The strict discipline he maintained
m the navy was softened by his perfect equanimity of temper, his strict
regard to justice, his humanity and affability. The purest of republics, in
' the purest age of its existence, could never boast of a citizen of more incor-
ruptible integrity, disinterestedness, or genuine simplicity of manners. The
honours and titles of nobihty heaped upon him by nearly every prince of
Europe, the consciousness that he was the object of the respect and admiration
of the whole civilised world, never in the slightest degree overcame his innate
modesty. _ He gratefully refused the numerous invitations he received to
visit foreign courts, and retained unchanged through life the frugal estab-
lishment and quiet deportment of a burgher of the middhng class. He felt
not the slightest shame at the obscurity of his origin,^ but was, on the con-
trary, accustomed frequently to mention it in the presence of the most exalted
personages, and to hold up his own example to the sailors as an incentive to
honourable exertion.
The deficiency of his early education was compensated by the quickness
of his apprehension, the clearness of his ideas, and the capacity and retentive-
ness of his memory. The latter faculty he possessed in such an extraordinary
degree that he was able to recall exactly every circumstance, even the most
minute, that had occurred from the time of his first going to sea, and the chris-
tian and surname of every man who had sailed with him. From conversa-
tion, he rapidly acquired the Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French lan-
guages, so as to speak them with elegance and fluency. In private life, the
virtues of a husband, father, friend, and citizen shone out with a lustre softer,
but not less brilliant, than that which adorned his public career.
Death, which he had so often looked upon with calmness, came to him
stripped of its terrors, and terminated, without a pang or a struggle, his exalted
and blameless career of nearly seventy years. His body was embalmed, and,
on the return of the fleet, carried to Amsterdam to be interred, amidst the
tears of his countrjnnen.
The suspicion which had insinuated itself among the people, that this
excellent and esteemed servant of the republic, a staunch and faithful adhe-
rent of the De Witt party, had been sacrificed to the jealousy of the stadholder,
contributed to diminish still further the unbounded popularity he had at first
enjoyed, and which the discovery of his ambitious views upon the sovereignty
of the provinces, and the constant failure of his miUtary enterprises,' had
already considerably undermined.^
This year (1676) was doubly occupied in a negotiation for peace and an
active prosecution of the war. Louis, at the head of his army, took several
towns in Belgium; William was unsuccessful in an attempt on Mae-
stricht. About the beginning of winter, the plenipotentiaries of the several
belligerents assembled at Nimeguen, where a congress for peace was held. The
> In early youth lie worked in a rope-yard, at the wages of a penny a day, and was first
sent to sea as a cabin-boy.
640 THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEKLANDS
[1676-1678 A.D.]
Hollanders, loaded with debts and taxes, and seeing the weakn«ss and slow-
ness of their allies the Spaniards and Germans, prognosticated nothing but
misfortunes. Their commerce languished; while that of England, now neu-
tral amidst all these quarrels, flourished extremely. The prince of Orange,
however, ambitious of glory, urged another campaign; and it commenced
accordingly.
In the middle of February, 1677, Louis carried Valenciennes by storm, and
laid siege to St. Omer and Cambray. William, though full of activity, cour-
age, and skill, was nevertheless almost always unsuccessful in the field, and
never more so than in this campaign. Several towns fell almost in his
sight.*
WILLIAM MARRIES THE PRINCESS MARY OF ENGLAND (1677)
WiUiam now resolved upon making one strenuous effort, either to engage
the king of England as principal in the confederacy, or induce him to take a
more active part as mediator. He had before discovered to the English
ambassador. Sir WiUiam Temple, an inclmation to form a matrimonial alliance
with Mary, eldest daughter of the duke of York; and, taking the opportunity
of that minister's temporary return to the court of London, he now obtained,
through his mediation, permission from the kmg to pay him a visit for the
purpose of forwarding his suit to the princess. He was kindly received both
by the king and the duke of York ; but Charles, who was to the full as anxious to
gratify France by a peace as the prince to prolong the war, desired that this
matter should first be taken into consideration. But the proposal met with a
direct negative from WiUiam; as he feared lest the allies, who had already
taken some alarm on, the subject of his visit, should accuse him of having
sacrificed their interests to his own ambition for this aUiance; and though
captivated with the charms of the Lady Mary, he expressed, with strong
symptoms of disappointment and vexation, his determination of immediately
taking his departure, unless the business of the marriage were first concluded;
observing that it was for the king to choose whether they were henceforth to
live as the greatest friends or the greatest enemies. The solicitations of Tem-
ple and the lord-treasurer Danby at length induced Charles to yield this point,
and within a few days the marriage was celebrated, to the great and universal
joy of the nation.^
THE PEACE OF NIMEGUEN AND THE AUGSBURG LEAGUE
Charles was at this moment the arbiter of the peace of Europe; and though
several fluctuations took place in his pohcy in the course of a few months as the
urgent wishes of the parliament and the large presents of Louis differently
actuated him, still the wiser and more just course prevailed, and he finaUy
decided the balance by vigorously declaring his resolution for peace; and the
treaty was consequently signed at Nimeguen, on the 10th of August, 1678,
The prince of Orange, from private motives of spleen or a more unjustifiable
desire for fighting, took the extraordinary measure of attacking the French
troops under Luxemburg, near Mons, on the very day after the signing of this
treaty. He must have known it, even though it were not officially notified to
him, and he certainly had to answer for all the blood so wantonly spilt in the
sharp though undecisive action which ensued. Spain, abandoned to her fate,
was obliged to make the best terms she could; and on the 17th of September
she also concluded a treaty with France, on conditions entirely favourable to
the latter power.
(L
WILLIAM III AND THE WAR WITS FEANCE 641
[1678-1685 A.D.]
A few years passed over after this period, without the occurrence of any
transaction sufficiently important to require a mention here. Charles of Eng-
land was sufficiently occupied by disputes with parliament, and the discovery
fabrication, and punishment of plots, real or pretended. Louis XIV, by a
stretch of audacious pride hitherto unknown, arrogated to himself the supreme
power of regulating the rest of Europe, as if all the other princes were his vas-
sals. He established courts, or chambers of reunion as they were called in
Metz and Brisac, '
which cited
princes, issued de-
crees, and author-
ised spoliation, in
the most unjust
and arbitrary man-
ner. Louis chose
to award to him-
self Luxemburg,
Chiny, and a con-
siderable portion
of Brabant and
Flanders. He
marched a consid-
erable army into
Belgium, which the
Spanish governors
were unable to op-
pose.
The prince of
Orange, who la-
boured incessantly
to excite a confed-
eracy among the
other powers of
Europe against the
unwarrantable ag-
gressions of
France, was unable
to arouse his coun-
trymen to actual
war; and was
forced, instead of
gaining the glory he longed for, to consent to a truce for twenty years,
which the states-general, now wholly pacific and not a little cowardly, were
too happy to obtain from France. The emperor and the king of Spain
gladly entered into a like treaty. The fact was that the peace of Nimeguen
had disjointed the great confederacy which William had so successfully
brought about; and the various powers were laid utterly prostrate at the feet
of the imperious Louis, who for a while held the destinies of Europe in his
hands.
Charles II died most unexpectedly in the year 1685. His successor, James
II, seemed, during a reign of not four years' continuance, to rush wilfully head-
long to ruin. During this period, the prince of Orange had maintained a most
circumspect and unexceptionable line of conduct: steering clear of all inter-
H. W. — VOL. XTTT. 21
A Dutch School (1662)
(After the painting by Adrian van Ostade, 1610-1685)
642 • THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1685-1688 A.D.]
ference with English affairs; giving offence to none of the political factions;
and observing in every instance the duty and regard which he owed to his
father-in-law. During Monmouth's invasion he had despatched to James'
assistance six regiments of British troops which were in the Dutch service,
and he offered to take the command of the king's forces against the rebels.
It was from the application of James himself that William took any part in
English affairs ; for he was more widely and much more congenially employed
in the establishment of a fresh league against France. Louis had aroused a
new feeling throughout Protestant Europe, by the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes. The refugees, whom he had driven from their native country,
inspired in those in which they settled hatred of his persecution as well as
alarm at his power. Holland now entered into all the views of the prince of
Orange. By his immense influence he succeeded in forming the great confed-
eracy called the League of Augsburg, to which the emperor, Spain, and almost
every European power but England, became parties.
James gave the prince reason to believe that he too would join in this great
project, if WiUiam would in return concur in his views of domestic tjranny;
but William wisely refused. James, much disappointed, expressed his dis-
pleasure against the prince, and against the Dutch generally, by various
vexatious acts.
WILLIAM BECOMES KING OF ENGLAND (1G80)
William resolved to maintain a high attitude; and many applications were
made to him by the most considerable persons in England for relief against
James' violent measures, which there was but one method of making effectual.
That method was force. But so long as the princess of Orange was certain of
succeeding to the crown on her father's death, WiUiam hesitated to join in an
attempt that might possibly have failed and lost her her inheritance. But
the birth of a son, which, in giving James a male heir, destroyed all hope of
redress for the kingdom, decided the wavering, and rendered the determined
desperate. The prince chose the time for his enterprise with the sagacity,
arranged its plan with the prudence, and put it into execution with the vigour,
which were habitual qualities of his mind.
Louis XIV, menaced by the League of Augsburg, had resolved to strike the
first blow against the allies. He invaded Germany; so that the Dutch prepa-
rations seemed in the first instance intended as measures of defence against
the progress of the French. But Louis' envoy at the Hague could not be
long deceived. He gave notice to his master, who in his turn warned James.
But that infatuated monarch not only doubted the intelligence, but refused
the French king's offers of assistance and co-operation. On the 21st of Octo-
ber the prince of Orange, with an army of fourteen thousand men, and a fleet
of five hundred vessels of all kinds, set sail from Hellevoetsluis; and after
some delays from bad weather he safely landed his army in Torbay, on the 5th
of November, 1688. The desertion of James' best friends; his own consterna-
tion, flight, seizure, and second escape; and the solemn act by which he was
deposed — were the rapid occurrences of a few weeks; and thus the grandest
revolution that England had ever seen was happily consummated. Without
entering here on legislative reasonings or party sophisms, it is enough to record
the act itseff; and to say, in reference to our more immediate subject, that
without the assistance of Holland and her glorious chief EnglancJ might have
still remained enslaved, or have had to purchase liberty by oceans of blood.
By the bill of settlement the crown was conveyed jointly to the prince and
WILLIAM in AND THE WAR WITH FEANCE 643
[1689-1695 A.D.]
princess of Orange, the sole administration of government to remain in the
prince; and the new sovereigns were proclaimed on the 23rd of February, 1689.
The convention, which had arranged this important pomt, annexed to the
settlement a declaration of rights, by which the powers of royal prerogative
and the extent of popular privilege were defmed and guaranteed.^
The satisfaction which the Dutch experienced at having given a sovereign
to so great and renowned a nation, an event calculated to add strength to
the cause of the reformed religion, and permanently secure to themselves
the English alliance, gave place in a great degree to the not groundless appre-
hension that the king would be tempted to sacrifice the interests of the weaker
state, where his authority was undisputed, to those of the larger and more
powerful. Many, who considered the office of hereditary stadholder incom-
patible with that of King of England, expected that he would resign the former;
but this anticipation was disappointed in the receipt of his first message to
the States, informing them of his elevation to the throne, and professing that
this circumstance would in no wise lessen his care and affection for them, but
enable him on the contrary to exercise the office he held in the United Prov-
inces for their greater service and advantage. But, notwithstanding these
fair promises, it soon became evident how little they had to hope for either
from him or the English nation, in return for the liberal and generous assist-
ance afforded them in the late emergency .c
WAR WITH FRANCE
_ William now presented the singular instance of a monarchy and a republic
being at the same time governed by the same individual. But whether as
a king or a citizen, William was actuated by one powerful principle, to which
every act of private administration was made subservient. Inveterate
opposition to the power of Louis XIV was this all-absorbing motive.
A sentiment so mighty left William but little time for inferior points of
government, and everything but that seems to have irritated and disgusted
him. He was soon again on the Continent, the chief theatre of his efforts.
He put himself in front of the confederacy which resulted from the congress
of Utrecht in 1690. He took the command of the allied army; and till the
hour of his death he never ceased his indefatigable course of hostility, whether
in the camp or the cabinet, at the head of the allied armies, or as the guiding
spirit of the councils which gave them force and motion.
Several campaigns were expended and bloody combats fought, almost
all to the disadvantage of William, whose genius for war was never seconded
by that good fortune which so often decides the fate of battles in defiance of
all the calculations of talent. But no reverse had power to shake the con-
stancy aind courage of William. He always appeared as formidable after
defeat as he was before action. His conquerors gained little but the honour
of the day. Fleurus, Steenkerke, Neerwinden were successively the scenes
of his evil fortime, and the sources of his fame. His retreats were master
strokes of vigilant activity and profound combinations. Many eminent
sieges took place during this war. Among other towns, Mons and Namur
were taken by the French, and Huy by the allies; and the army of Marshal
Villeroi bombarded Brussels during three days, in August, 1695, with such
fury that the town-house, fourteen churches, and four thousand houses were
reduced to ashes. The year following this event saw another undecisive
campaign.* _
William engaged Tromp to return to the navy and resume his position
644 THE HISTOEY OF THE NBTHEELANDS
[1691-1700 A.D.]
as vice-admiral and appointed him in 1691 to the command of the English
and Dutch navy. Both countries hoped much on seeing once more installed
at the head of the naval force a man so courageous and able as Tromp.
Europe awaited, expectant of great achievements on the sea, the cam-
paign of 1691. The French forces were commanded by the count de Tour-
ville, who had given in numerous engagements striking proof of his ability.
The arming and equipment of the fleet was carried on assiduously, when
the death of Tromp occurred. A mortal malady had ended his life on the
29th of May, 1691.
The news of his death spread rapidly through Holland and carried con-
sternation everywhere. The great need that the nation had of him made
his loss felt to the full extent. Comelis Tromp is placed justly among the
naval heroes of Holland. He gave new glory to the name already made
illustrious by his father.. His courage was an incentive to his countrymen,
who endeavoured to imitate it. It was always he who attacked the enemy.
Many times did he throw himself in the middle of an English fleet, dispersing
all who crossed his course; attacking always the vessel which seemed most
able to resist him.**
During the continuance of this war, the naval transactions present no
grand results. Jean Bart, a celebrated adventurer of Dunkirk, occupies the
leading place in those affairs, in which he carried on a desultory but active
warfare against the Dutch and English fleets, and generally with great success.
PEACE OF RYSWICK
All the nations which had taken part in so many wars were now becoming
exhausted by the contest, but none so much so as France. England, though
Tvith much resolution voting new supplies, and in every way upholding William
in his plans for the continuance of war, was rejoiced when Louis accepted
the mediation of Charles XI,king of Sweden, and agreed to concessions which
made peace feasible. Everything was finally arranged to meet the general
views of the parties, and negotiations were opened at Ryswick. On the 20th
■of September, 1697, the articles of the treaty were subscribed by the Dutch,
English, Spanish, and French ambassadors. The treaty consisted of seven-
teen articles. The French king declared he would not disturb or disquiet
the king of Great Britain, whose title he now for the first time acknowledged.
Between France and Holland were declared a general armistice, perpetual
amity, a mutual restitution of towns, a reciprocal remmciation of all pre-
tensions upon each other, and a treaty of commerce which was immediately
put into execution. Thus, after this long, expensive, and sanguinary war,
things were established just on the footing they had been by the peace of
Nimeguen. The peace became general, but unfortunately for Europe it
was of very short duration.
France, as if looking forward to the speedy renewal of hostilities, still
kept her armies undisbanded. Let the foresight of her politicians have been
what it might, this negative proof of it was justified by events. The king
of Spain, a weak prince, without any direct heir for his possessions, considered
himself authorised to dispose of their succession by will. The leading powers
of Europe thought otherwise, and took this right upon themselves. Charles
died on the 1st of November, 1700, and thus put the important question to
the test. By a solenrn testament he declared Philip duke of Anjou, second
son of the dauphin, and grandson of Louis XIV, his successor to the whole
of the Spanish monarchy. Louis immediately renounced his adherence to
WILLIAM III AND THE WAE WITH FEANCB 645
[1701 A.D.]
the treaties of partition, executed at the Hague and in London in 1698 and
1700, and to which he had been a contracting party; and prepared to main-
tain the act by which the last of the descendants of Charles V bequeathed
the possessions of Spaia and the Indies to the family which had so long been
the inveterate enemy and rival of his own.
The emperor Leopold, on his part, prepared to defend his claims; and
thus commenced the new war between him and France, which took its name
from the succession which formed the object of dispute. Hostilities were
commenced in Italy, where Prince Eugene, the conqueror of the Turks, com-
manded for Leopold, and every day made for himself a still more brilliant
reputation. Louis sent his grandson to Spain to take possession of the inheri-
tance for which so hard a fight was yet to be maintained.
Louis prepared to act vigorously. Among other measures, he caused part
of the Dutch army that was quartered in Luxemburg and Brabant to be
suddenly made prisoners of war, because they would not own Phihp V as
king of Spain. The states-general were dreadfully alarmed, immediately
made the required acknowledgment, and in consequence had their soldiers
released. They quickly reinforced their garrisons, purchased supplies,
soHcited foreign aid, and prepared for the worst that might happen. They
wrote to King William, professing the most inviolable attachment to England;
and he met their application by warm assurances of support, and an immediate
reinforcement of three regiments.
DEATH OF WILLIAM III
William followed up these measures by the formation of the celebrated
treaty called the Grand Alliance, by which England, the states, and the
emperor covenanted for the support of the pretensions of the latter to the
Spanish monarchy. WiUiam was preparing, in spite of his declining health,
to take his usual lead in the military operations now decided on, and almost
all Europe was again looking forward to his guidance, when he died on the
8th of March, 1701, leaving his great plans to receive their execution fiom
stUl more able adepts in the art of war.6
DAVIES' ESTIMATE OF WILLIAM III
William had to sustain a life of anxiety and fatigue, imder the disadvantage
of a feeble constitution of body; betrayed by his slight and attenuated frame,
though in no degree in his countenance, which was clear, animated, and
sparkling.
In a military point of view, he presents the singular phenomenon of a
commander indebted for a high reputation solely to reverses and defeats,
his peculiar constitution of mind being indeed such as to insure for him both
the reverses and the reputation. Deficient in inventive faculty, slow of
comprehension, hesitating and unready, without a sufficient degree of con-
fidence in his own opinions, and too proud to endure contradiction or adopt
the suggestions of others, he was unable immediately to perceive the skilful
combinations of the great generals opposed to him or to cope with their rapid
and masterly movements; and often allowed the opportunity for action to
escape, or formed his plans in ignorance of some point which, if seized, would
have occasioned them to be wholly different.
In the field of battle, on the other hand, the discovery of errors previously
committed caused in him neither vacillation nor apprehension. Roused
646
THE HISTOEY OF THE NETHEKLANDS
to animation, full of imwonted fire and energy, he was present everjrwhere,
and exposed himself with indifference to the most imminent dangers. In
the hour of defeat, which too surely arrived, his real greatness displayed
itself; it was then that his dauntless spirit and imshaken firmness of soul
enabled him to take advantage of all the resources that were yet available;
to give his orders with the same composure and precision as if advancing
to certain victory; and to convert the most disastrous rout into a safe and
orderly retreat.
Considered as a politician, his capacity for government appeared in a
very different light in his native country, where he was surrounded by able
and zealous ministers, and in England, where he was left to depend more
upon his own resources. In Holland, he had merely to express his opinions,
however crude, and a Fagel, a
Beveming, a Dykeveldt, and a
Heinsius — unquestionably the
first statesmen and politicians in
Europe — were ready to modify,
to improve, and to render them
suitable to the taste of the nation;
in England, where he had few or
none on whom he could depend
for information and assistance,
and where the slightest influence
gained over him by one party ex-
cited the jealousy and animosity
of the other, he betrays an ex-
treme deficiency in penetration,
dexterity, and temper; and we can
scarcely recognise, in the peevish
monarch, threatening constantly
to abandon his kingdom, and with
it the noble cause he had espoused,
the steady patriot who delivered
his coimtry from the miseries of
foreign conquest and domestic se-
dition. Placed by circumstances
in the position of a restorer and defender of liberty, never was absolute mon-
arch more fond of arbitrary power, or more impatient of even the most
legitimate control.
In Holland, where, at the time of his accession to the stadholderate, the
precarious condition of affairs rendered it necessary that unusual authority
should be placed in his hands, we have seen him take advantage of it to
introduce his dependents into every oflace of government without regard to
their ability to fill them, and to trample under foot the ancient customs and
privileges, interwoven in the welfare, almost in the very existence of his
coimtry. It may, indeed, be truly affirmed that, had he left a son, or suc-
ceeded in settling the inheritance on his relative John William Friso, the
liberties of Holland were gone forever. In England, his anxiety to obtain a
larger share of authority than the nation was willing to grant led him to
appear imgrateful to those who had set him on the throne, and to inflict
incalculable injury on his affairs by entrusting them to ministers of the tory
party, whose maxims of government, as more favourable to royal preroga-
tive, were more acceptable to him than those of the whigs; but whom he
William III (1650-1701)
WILLIAM III AND THE WAR WITH PRANCE 647
never could succeed in reconciling to his person, or engage to serve him with
fidelity.
But though his self-will and arbitrary temper might have inclined him
to be a despot, not even these dispositions could ever have induced him to
become _a_ tyrant. Too magnanimous at once, and too indolent, to commit
acts of injustice or oppression, he would have obtained absolute power only
with a view to its upright and beneficial use. His lofty and noble ambition,
exempt from the slightest alloy of vanity, rapacity, or cupidity, was directed
to none but the most praiseworthy ends; to the glory and happiness of the
coimtries he governed, to the preservation of the liberties and balance of
Europe, and to the abasement of the overgrown power of France.
In steadiness of purpose he was imshaken; in scrupulous honour and
integrity he was imsurpassed by any prince of the world; and forms, in this
respect, a striking contrast, as well to the habitual insincerity of his prede-
cessor Charles II as to the duplicity and faithlessness of his contemporary
of France; of him it might be truly affirmed, as it was erroneously observed
of his father-in-law, that his word was never broken. So high was the esteem
in which he was universally held on this account, that the Spanish mmister,
De Lyra, was accustomed to say his master trusted more to the honoiu- and
constancyof the prince of Orange than to any treaties. A deep and fervent
spirit of piety was in him united, in a remarkable manner, with sentiments of
imbounded religious toleration.
Yet with many and great virtues, while he secured the esteem he failed
to gain the affections of mankind. Raised to the sovereign power over two
great nations, by the mere force of popular opinion, and hailed by both as
their preserver and defender, he died disliked and unlamented by the one
and rather respected than beloved by the other; a circumstance attributable
chiefly to his cold and reserved manners and melancholy temperament,
being but rarely excited to cheerfulness, and then only among a few of his
most intimate friends.
But if he took no pains to acquire the love of men, he was equally little
affected by their malice and enmity. The numerous attempts to assassinate
him, persisted in during the whole course of his reign, never excited in him
the slightest emotion of anger, revenge, or fear; firm in the belief of predesti-
nation instilled in his youth by his Calvinistic teachers, and which he carried
into every, even the smallest, circumstance of his life, and fully persuaded
that not all the power and arts of enemies could hasten his destiny qjie single
moment, he was literally "not afraid of what man could do unto him." But
though neither vindictive nor cruel, it may be doubted whether he hesitated
to sacrifice the principles of humanity and justice when they stood in the
way of the advancement of his interests or the gratification of his ambi-
tion. The murder of the De Witts and the massacre of Glencoe have cast
upon his memory a stain which his panegyrists have in vain laboured to
efface.
In both the instances in question, the impunity that WiUiam secured to
the perpetrators of the crime, and the friendship and countenance with
which he afterwards treated them, offered ahnost incontrovertible evidence
of his guilty participation; and in the minds of posterity, unhappily, the
remembrance of the defender of the civil and religious liberty of Europe is
inseparably interwoven with that of the abettor of the murder of the illustrious
De Witts and of the slaughter of the confiding Highlanders of Glencoe.
But. however exceptionable in some points the public character of William,
in his domestic relations it shines out with a clear and undimmed lustre. His
648 THE HISTORY OP THE NETHEELANDS
[1701-1704 A.D.]
purity of morals and general propriety of conduct contributed much to infuse
a new tone and spirit into the society of England.
The consternation which prevailed in the United Provinces on the death
of William was excessive, since, from the known prejudices of Queen Anne,
his successor, against the whigs, nothing less was expected than that an
immediate and entire change of measures in the EngUsh court and the disso-
lution of the Grand Alliance would leave them exposed to the whole vengeance
of France. These fears were speedily relieved by the declaration of the views
of the queen, who, within a week after her accession, dispatched the earl of
Marlborough to assure the states of her determination to preserve all the
alliances formed by the late king for the maintenance of the liberties of
Europe, and the reduction of the power of France within just limits; and to
regard the interests of her own kingdom and the states as inseparable. The
states of Holland, on their side, passed a resolution that, notwithstanding
the lamented death of the king of England, they were determined to remain
firm to their allies, and prosecute the war with their whole strength and
vigour; and, appearing in full number in the states-general, induced them
to adopt a similar resolution. The treaty between Great Britain and the
states was accordingly renewed, and the plan of the campaign projected by
WilUam III was concluded with the earl of Marlborough, who had been
appointed general-in-chief of the English forces before the death of that
monarch.
It was in the early part of the war that those dissensions sprang up between
the duke of Marlborough and the states' deputies in the camp, which have
called forth the bitterest invectives against the Dutch from the English
writers, more especially his biographer, archdeacon Coxe.« Marlborough was,
for many reasons, anxious to make the Netherlands the principal scene of
hostilities; while the states hoped, by acting chiefly on the defensive, and
confining themselves to hindering the advance of the French troops, and to
effecting the reduction of the towns which served best to protect the United
Provinces against invasion, to impel the king of France to turn the strength
of his arms to Germanjr, Italy, and Spain, and thus relieve provinces so near
their own boundaries, in some measure, from the miseries of war.c
THE STADHOLDERATE ABOLISHED (1704)
William was the last of that illustrious line which for a century and a half
had filled Europe with admiration. He never had a child; and being himself
I an only one, his title as prince of Orange passed into another branch of the
family. He left his cousin. Prince John WilHam Friso of Nassau, the stad-
holder of Friesland, his sole and universal heir, and appointed the states-
general his executors.6
While the preparations for the ensuing campaign were in progress,
animated debates arose in the states-general on the subject of the appoint-
ment of a commander of the troops. The states of Friesland and Groningen
insisted that their young stadholder, John William Friso, should be created
general of the infantry; a demand strenuously opposed by the remaining
provinces. The states of Zealand, accordingly, objected that, in the present
condition of affairs, it was necessary to have a general, not nominal only,
such as the tender age of the prince would render him, but of mature years
and experience; and that his advancement would be only the first step to
the renewal of that form of government which neither themselves nor the
.other states would willingly see restored. A compromise was at length
WILLIAM III AND THE WAE WITH FRANCE 649
[1701-1704 A.D.]
effected, according to which John William Friso was appointed general of
the infantry, but was not to exercise the duties nor enjoy the emoluments
of the office till he had completed his twentieth year.
The states were probably rendered the more reluctant to adopt any
measure which might tend to advance Prince John William Friso to the
stadholdership, from the circumstance of the will, by which William III had
appointed hun his sole heir, being disputed by the king of Prussia, grandson
by the mother's side of the stadholder Frederick Henry, who had bequeathed
the mheritance to the heirs of his daughter, in default of the issue of his son.
In order, therefore, to prevent the indulgence of any hopes which the Orange
party might conceive from this favour shown to the prince, the states of
Holland were the first to propose in the states-general that those of the indi-
vidual provinces should take an oath, each deputy separately, to preserve the
union of the provinces without a stadholder, and to maintain steadily all the
alliances in which they were at present engaged.
On this occasion the states of Holland, instead of sending their deputies
as usual, appeared in person, and in full number, in the states-general, a
mode to wfiich they constantly afterwards adhered, and which procured for
them a weight and influence in the federal government superior even to that
formerly enjoyed by the stadholders. The senates and councils of the towns
resumed the right of nominating their own members, a change which in
Holland was effected without disturbance; but m Utrecht, Gelderland, and
Overyssel, where "the regulations" — the terms, that is, on which these
provinces had been received back into the union after their conquest by the
king of France — were of such a nature as to give the late stadholder oppor-
tunities for the exercise of exorbitant power, the struggles between the party
whom he had sedulously excluded from pubfic offices, and those whom long
possession had rendered doubly anxious to retain them, were frequent and
severe.
Ultimately, however, the changes in the municipal bodies were almost
imiversally favourable to the existing government, and the constitution of
the five provinces settled itself on pretty nearly the same basis as after the
death of William II in 1650. The principal and most difficult duty of the
stadholder, that of persuading the provinces to agree to the subsidies demanded
by the council of state, was now fulfilled by the states of Holland through
the medium of their pensionary, whose office thus acquired new dignity and
importance, while his influence became more extensive in the states-general.^
The deliberations which, since the death of the stadholder, had been tardy
and vacillating, now gradually assumed a character of greater firmness and
vigour; and never, perhaps, were the measures of the government more
distinguished by wisdom, energy, and justice, than during the latter years
of the war.c
THE TRIUMVIRATE AGAINST FRANCE
The joy in France at William's death was proportionate to the grief it
created in Holland; and the arrogant confidence of Louis seemed to know
no bounds. "I will punish these audacious merchants," said he, with an
air of disdain, when he read the manifesto of Holland; not foreseeing that
those he affected to despise so much would, ere long, command in a great
• The influence of the states of Holland in the states-general -was obtained chiefly by a
custom they had of advancing money to the poorer provinces, when unable to pay their quotas
to the generality ; and, in the same way, Amsterdam was accustomed to exercise a preponder-
ance over the smaller towns in the states of Holland.
650 THE HISTOEY OP THE ISTBTHEELANDS
[1703-1709 i..D.]
measure the destinies of his crown. Many of the northern princes were with-
held, by various motives, from entering into the contest with France, and
its whole brunt devolved on the original members of the grand alliance.
The generals who carried it on were Marlborough and Prince Eugene. The
former, at its commencement an earl, and subsequently raised to the dignity
of duke, was declared generalissimo of the Dutch and English forces. He
was a man of most powerful genius, both as warrior and politician. A pupil
of the great Turenne, his exploits left those of his master in the shade. No
commander ever possessed in a greater degree the faculty of forming vast
designs, and of carrying them into effect with consummate skill; no one dis-
played more coolness and courage in action, saw with a keener eye the errors
of the enemy, or knew better how to profit by success. He never laid siege
to a town that he did not take, and never fought a battle that he did not gain.
Prince Eugene joined to the highest order of personal bravery a profound
judgment for the grand movements of war, and a capacity for the most minute
of the minor details on which their successful issue so often depends. United
in the same cause, these two great generals pursued their course without the
least misunderstanding. At the close of each of those successive campaigns,
in which they reaped such a full harvest of renown, they retired together to
the Hague, to arrange, in the profoundest secrecy, the plans for the next
year's operations, with one other person, who formed the great point of union
between them, and completed a triumvirate without a parallel in the history
of political affairs. This third was Heinsius, one of those great men produced
by the republic whose names are tantamount to the most detailed eulogium
for talent and patriotism. Every enterprise projected by the confederates
was deliberately examined, rejected, or approved by these three associates,
whose strict union of purpose, disowning all petty rivalry, formed the centre
of counsels and the som-ce of circumstances finally so fatal to France.
The war began in 1702 in Italy, and Marlborough opened his first cam-
paign in Brabant also in that year. For several succeeding years the con-
federates pursued a career of brilliant success, the details of which do not
properly belong to this portion of our history. Blenheim, Ramillies, Ouden-
arde, and Malplaquet, are names that speak for themselves, and tell their
own tale of glory. The utter humiliation of France was the result of events in
which England was joined in the strictest union with Holland, and the impet-
uous valour of the successor to the title of prince of Orange was, on many
occasions, particularly at Malplaquet, supported by the devotion and gallantry
of the Dutch contingent in the allied armies. The naval affairs of Holland
offered nothing very remarkable. The states had always a fleet ready to sup-
port the English in their enterprises; but no eminent admiral arose to rival
the renown of Rooke, Byng, Benbow, and others of their aUies. The first
of those admirals took Gibraltar, which has ever since remained in the posses-
sion of England.* The great earl of Peterborough carried on the war with
splendid success in Portugal and Spain, supported occasionally by the Enghsh
fleet under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, and that of Holland under admirals Alle-
monde and Wapenaer.
During the progress of the war, the haughty and long-time imperial Louis
was reduced to a state of humiliation that excited a compassion so profound
■ Tlie queen of England at first appeared inclined to acknowledge a joint-possession with
the states of this conquest, achieved by their united arms ; but she afterwards changed her
purpose, and the English finally assumed the sole occupation of Gibraltar, without any indem-
nification to the states, who, reluctant to alienate so valuable an ally by insisting on the share
so justly due to them, quietly acquiesced in the usurpation."
WILLIAM III AKD THE WAE WITH FEANCE 651
{1709-1712 A.D.]
as to prevent its own open expression. In the year 1709 he soUcited peace
on terms of most abject submission. The states-general, under the influence
of the duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene,rejected all his suppUcations,
retorting unsparingly the insolent harshness with which he had formerly
received similar proposals from them. In the following year Louis renewed
his attempts to obtain some tolerable conditions; offering to renounce his
grandson, and to comply with all the former demands of the confederates.
Even these overtures were rejected; Holland and England appearing satisfied
with nothing short of, what was after all impracticable, the total destruction
of the great power which Louis had so long proved to be incompatible with
their welfare.*
TROUBLE WITH ENGLAND
Yet events had long been preparing in England which were to change
entirely the face of affairs on the Continent, and deprive the states, and even
Great Britain herself, in some measure, of the fruits of their numerous and
dearly-bought victories. The dismissal of the whig ministers in 1710, fol-
lowed in 1711 by the dismissal of Marlborough, was a measure regarded with
as. much dismay by the allies (of whom the emperor and states ventured to
petition the queen in earnest terms against it), as with secret triumph and
exultation by France. Louis, indeed, had everything to hope from the new
administration, composed entirely of tories, whom all the glory of their
coimtry's arms failed to reconcile to the war, and who constantly viewed both
the Dutch nation itself and the alliance of the states with jealousy and aversion.
The queen of England having sent circulars to the allied so.vereigns,
inviting them to the congress at Utrecht, ambassadors from nearly all the
courts of Europe appeared in that city early in the year 1712. The instruc-
tions given to those of England, as regarded the United Provinces, seemed
rather as though directed against enemies than in favour of allies whose
interests she was bound to maintain equally with her own.
The Dutch felt still more painfully the effects of the altered sentiments
of England in the course of the campaign. Secret orders were sent to Marl-
borough's successor, the duke of Ormonde, to take no part in any siege or
battle. Thus enfeebled by the desertion of the English, a detachment of
the allied army sustained a severe defeat at Denain. The truce between
France and England was renewed and Bolingbroke was sent to France with
instructions to conclude a separate peace.
These events — more especially the seizure of Ghent by the English,
which enabled them to stop the supplies to the allied camp — were attended
with the effect which the muiisters anticipated, of reducing the allies to sub-
mission to such terms as England and France might impose. The negotiations
at Utrecht were resumed on the basis proposed by the queen in her speech
to her parliament at the opening of the session. Herein she had declared
that the barrier provided for the states should be the same as that of the
treaty of 1709, with the exception of two or three places at most — a point
which gave rise to many and animated contests.
At length the queen having obtained from France the addition of Toumay
to the barrier towns, the states were fain to receive peace upon such other
conditions as were offered them. They signed a new treaty with England,
annulling that of 1709, and providing that the emperor Charles should be
sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, which, neither in the whole nor in
part; should ever be possessed by France.
652 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1713-1716 A.D.J
THE TREATY OF UTRECHT (1713) AND THE BARRIER TREATY (1715)
Difficulties being thus smoothed, the declaration made by the English
plenipotentiaries of their determination to sign on a certain day, whether
with or without the allies, hastened the decision of the latter, with the excep-
tion of the emperor. Portugal, Russia, and, last of all, the states, followed
the example of England. By the treaty concluded between France and the
states, it was agreed that the king of France should surrender to them the
Spanish Netherlands, on behalf of the house of Austria, the elector of Bavaria
being reinstated in all the territories he possessed before the war. The towns
of Menin, Tournay, Namur, Ypres, with Warneton, Poperinghe, Comuies
and Wervicq, Furnes, Dixmude, and the fort of Knokke, were to be ceded
to the states, as a barrier, to be held in such a manner as they should after-
wards agree upon with the emperor. France and the states mutually bound
themselves to do no act which should tend to imite the crowns of Spain and
France on one head.
The publication of the peace was received by the people in the United
Provinces with coldness, and even aversion; they declared that the illumina-
tions and bonfires, with which the states ordered the event to be celebrated,
ought to be called, notfeux dejoie, hut feux d'artifice; and inveighed bitterly
against the English ministry, whom the corrupt influence of France alone,
according to the vulgar opinion, had prompted to conclude a war the most
glorious and successful ever waged in Europe by a degrading and injurious
peace.
The effects of the favourable dispositions of the court of England, and the
altered sentiments of France towards the states, were soon perceptible in the
negotiations with the emperor concerning the regulation of the barrier, which,
since the Peace of Utrecht, had given rise to long and angry contestations.
The emperor had hitherto refused their demand of the demolition of Fort
Philip and the cession of Dendermonde; but, now that he found they had the
support of England and France, he yielded so far as to consent that the states
should keep a joint garrison with himself in that town; he abandoned his claim
to Venlo and Stevenswaard, on which he had before insisted, and by the Treaty
of the Barrier, November 15th, 1715, permitted the boundary on the side
of Flanders to be fixed in a manner highly satisfactory to the states, who
sought security rather than extent of dominion. By the possession of Namur
they commanded the passage of the Sambre and Maas; Tournay ensured the
navigation of the Schelde; Menin and Warneton protected the Lys; while
Ypres and the fort of Knokke kept open the communication with Fumes,
Nieuport, and Dunkirk. Events proved the barrier, so earnestly insisted on,
to have been wholly insufficient as a means of defence to the United Pro-
vinces, and scarcely worth the labour and cost of its maintenance.
Henceforward, with the exception of a triple alliance concluded with
France and England in the next year, the states during a considerable period
interested themselves slightly, or not at all in the numerous treaties which the
different powers of Europe, as if seized with the mania of diplomacy, were con-
tinually negotiating — often, it would seem, without any special cause or
definite purpose. Neither did they take any share in the wars between Spaia
and France, or between Spain and Great Britain — effects of therestless ambi-
tion of the Spanish minister. Cardinal Alberoni — further than to furnish such
subsidies to the new English king, George I, as were expressly stipulated by
treaty.
WILLIAM III AND THE WAE WITH FEANCE 653
11716-1722 A.D.]
THE DECLINE OF HOLLAND
It was in some measure in disgust at the treatment they had experienced
at the hands of their more powerful allies during the negotiations at Utrecht
that they thus withdrew themselves from the pohtical affairs of Europe; and
yet more from their inability to sustain longer the high position among nations
which had, by common consent, been awarded them. The efforts they had
made to carry on the last long and expensive war had been far above their
strength. The province of Holland alone had incurred a debt of 19,000,000
guilders, and most of the others were wholly unable to furnish their quotas to
the generality.
The integrity of the union, appeared threatened by the failure of the pro-
vinces in the payment of their quotas. As well for this cause as to rectify
some abuses existing in the constitution, among which those of bribery and
corruption stood predominant, it was determined to summon an extraordinary
assembly of the states in the same manner as in the year 1651. But on this
occasion an increasing supineness in the performance of their political duties,
a deficiency both of ability and energy for self-government, and a decay of
mutual confidence, first strikingly displayed themselves in the Dutch people.
As even the business of providing funds to meet the present exigencies
remained imattended to, the states-general found themselves obliged, by the
exhausted state of their treasury, to make an infringement on public credit,
comparatively slight indeed, but of ominous portent in a state so scrupulously
exact on that point, in raising funds by means of a tax of a himdredth penny
on the bonds of the generality for three years. The states attempted no other
answer to the loud and general mtirmurs of the bondholders than the plea of
urgent and overwhelming necessity. They likewise reduced their mihtary
establishment to the number of thirty-four thousand men.
In 1720 died the celebrated pensionary of Holland, Antonius Heinsius,
having served that office for terms of five years consecutively since 1689; a
man to whom friend and opponent have agreed in awarding the praise of
consummate wisdom, indefatigable industry, ardent patriotism, and incor-
ruptible integrity. It was, perhaps, the loss of this able and influential min-
ister which caused, among a portion of the people of the United Provinces, a
renewed desire to behold the restoration of the stadholderate. There was,
however, at this time, no prince of the family of Nassau-Orange of an age to
aspire to that office, the prince John William Friso having been drowned in
1711 in crossing the ferry at Moerdijk. His son, William Charles Henry Friso,
born a few weeks after his death, was hereditary stadholder of Friesland, and
had, in 1718, at the age of seven, been created stadholder of Groningen, on the
same terms as his ancestors had enjoyed that dignity. He had scarcely attained
his eleventh year when the partisans of the house of Orange in Gelderland
made strenuous efforts to procure his elevation to the stadholdership of that
province, and with so great success that the states were summoned to consider
the question before the other provinces were aware of the existence of any
such design.
The states of Holland and Zealand quickly took the alarm, and, by earnest
remonstrances and vivid representations of the evil consequences that must
ensue from their surrendering any portion of their sovereignty, endeavoured
to deter the states of Gelderland from their purpose. Their efforts were,
however, fruitless. .
In all disputes between the several quarters of the province, or between the
654 THE HISTORY OF THE NETHEELANDS
[1723 A.D.}
estates of the nobility and towns, they were, in default of a stadholder, obliged
to have recourse to the interference of the states-general. Hence that body,
or rather the states of Holland, whose supremacy was tacitly admitted by the
rest, took occasion to assume and exercise greater influence in their affairs
than they were inclined either to admit or endxire. Should they appoint a
stadholder all such differences must be submitted to his decision, and thus the
states-general be excluded from intermeddling.
This consideration it was that induced many of the deputies- to the Gelder-
land states to accede to a measure they might otherwise have been disposed to
thwart; and they accordingly elected unanimously the young prince stad-
holder, captain, and admiral-general of Gelderland (1722). Yet they plainly
evinced their dread lest the stadholderal power should become as dangerous
as it had before been to the liberties of their country, by the narrow limits
within which they confined it. Shorn as it was of its lustre, the restoration of
the stadholderate in Gelderland was hailed with joy by the Orange party as
the first step towards a return to a similar form of government in the remain-
ing four provinces; yet some years elapsed, and a vast change of circum-
stances occurred, before they found themselves in sufficient strength to oarry
that measure.*:
ThB Hicfnrians* Historv of the World. Vol. XIII.
THENETHERLANDS IX 1609 AND 1904. SHOWING THE BATTLE-FIELDS
^■M.
liiili'
,miP.
liiiiiilip''-''
i )ii:;S«i!;!)i);i.''
Hi;
•iiiiii
iiiiiir'
iiii
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11