Europe in the Sixteenth Century 1494-1598 Part 28

| Archduke Mathias elected Governor. Jan. 18, 1578.

The brilliant dreams of Don John had indeed been rudely dissipated; and when, on September 23, William of Orange, after an absence of eighteen years, entered Brussels, the capital of Brabant, it seemed as if the whole of the Netherlands would soon be lost to Spain. But the near prospect of success served only to revive those feelings of disunion and personal jealousy, which had been temporarily laid aside under the pressure of Spanish tyranny. The northern provinces, it must be remembered, had only lately been united to those of the south. Of the southern provinces, those which lay closest to Holland and Zealand were inhabited by a people of kindred race indeed, but who spoke a different dialect, the Flamand; while in the more southern and eastern provinces, the infusion of Romance blood was strong, and the common language French. These differences of race and past history were ill.u.s.trated in the religious leanings of the people. In the north, the Protestant, in the south, the Catholic religion predominated, and now that the fear of Spain was declining, a narrow spirit of intolerance began to be displayed on either side. To these causes of disunion we must add the oligarchical jealousy of the southern n.o.bles, mostly of the Catholic persuasion, at the growing importance and the democratic leanings of the Prince of Orange--a jealousy which led to the strange idea of offering the office of Governor-General to the Archduke Mathias, the brother of the Emperor Rudolf, subject to the fuller approval of King Philip. The adroitness of William, however, enabled him to turn this move of his opponents to his own advantage. He openly supported the candidature of the Archduke, who was elected Governor-General on the 18th of January. Meanwhile, the revolt of Ghent against the newly appointed governor, the Duke of Aerschot, one of those who had called in the Archduke Mathias--a revolt secretly approved of by William--showed that the latter had the support of the lower cla.s.ses. And Mathias, afraid of opposing so popular a man, not only confirmed his election as 'Ruwart' of Brabant, an office generally held by the heir of the ruling prince, and as Stadtholder of Flanders, but acknowledged him as his lieutenant-general, and promised to rule with the consent of the States-General and of a Council of State. At the same time, by the New or Nearer Union of Brabant, the Catholics and Protestants engaged to respect and to protect each other against all enemies whatsoever.

| The defeat of Gemblours. Jan. 31, 1578.

Yet while William had been thus dealing with those factions which threatened to ruin his cause, the Spaniards had been again preparing for war. Philip, at last aroused from his strange apathy, had ordered the Spanish veterans to return from Italy. Reinforced by these troops, which were led by Alexander of Parma, and by others from France under Mansfeld, Don John marched against the ill-disciplined army of the States, and, aided by the skilful generals.h.i.+p of Alexander, inflicted a disastrous defeat on them at Gemblours, near Namur. The victory secured the valley of the Sambre, forced William and the Archduke to abandon Brussels, and went far to ruin the cause of liberty in the southern provinces. In the north, however, the reverse of Gemblours served rather to advance the interests of William. In March, his brother, Count John, was elected governor of the important province of Guelderland; and in May, the adherents of the Prince succeeded in overthrowing the Catholic magistrates of Amsterdam, and thus securing the capital of Holland, as well as Haarlem, for the Protestant cause.

| Duke of Anjou appointed defender of the liberties of | the Netherlands. July 1578.

| Death of Don John. Oct. 1, 1578. Succeeded by | Alexander of Parma.

Meanwhile the Catholic n.o.bles, disappointed in their expectations of Mathias, turned to Francis, Duke of Anjou, the brother of Henry III.

of France. Never since the days of Coligny's brief supremacy, had Catherine altogether abandoned the idea of taking advantage of the disturbed condition of the Netherlands to extend French influence in the Walloon provinces of Hainault, Artois, and French Flanders. At this moment, she would probably have preferred to gain her end by friendly negotiations with Philip, and possibly by a marriage of one of her sons with a Spanish princess. But Anjou was little pleased with his position in France; he was attracted by the hope of carving out a new princ.i.p.ality for himself; and, accepting the offer, arrived at Mons, in Hainault, in July 1578. William, although unwilling to see French influence predominant in these parts, did not deem it politic to oppose Anjou, and hoped that the enterprise might excite the jealousy of Elizabeth, who, while she coqueted with the Duke as a suitor for her hand, was determined not to see the Low Countries under French control, and had already promised some help to William. The Duke of Anjou was accordingly recognised as 'the defender of the liberty of the Netherlands against the tyranny of the Spaniards.' He was a.s.sured of the offer of the sovereignty should the Netherlands find it necessary to throw off the supremacy of Spain. Meanwhile, he promised to make no alteration in the government of the country, and to hold all conquests he might make for the States (August 20). Before these confused negotiations had led to any definite result, Don John, worn out by disease, and sick at heart at the failure of his magnificent schemes, at the neglect shown to him by King Philip, and at the murder of Escovedo, had pa.s.sed away. He died in his camp at Bouges, near Namur, on the 1st of October, 1578, at the age of thirty-one, having appointed his nephew, Alexander of Parma, as his successor. Although there is no probability in the rumour that he was poisoned by the orders of Philip, the suspicion and neglect with which he had been treated at least contributed to his death.

Alexander of Parma, who succeeded Don John as governor, was the son of Ottavio Farnese and Margaret of Parma, the first Regent during the reign of Philip II. He had been brought up in Spain with his cousin Don Carlos, and his uncle Don John of Austria. His love of adventure and of military exercises had in earlier days shown itself in an inordinate pa.s.sion for duelling; but the war against the Turks gave him a more honourable field, and at the battle of Lepanto he had distinguished himself by the most remarkable personal bravery. Now at the age of thirty-three, he was more than the equal of his uncle, Don John, as a soldier, and infinitely his superior as a diplomatist and a statesman. Great, however, as were the abilities of the new governor, it must be remembered that the position of affairs at this moment gave him opportunities which had been denied to his predecessors. The racial and religious differences between the northern and southern provinces were becoming daily more accentuated. In the southern and western provinces disunion was rapidly spreading. The decisions of the States-General, especially with regard to taxation, were little observed. The soldiery were ill-paid, ill-disciplined, and mutinous; the intolerance of the Catholics and Calvinists was becoming more p.r.o.nounced; the social and political rivalries were daily forcing themselves more prominently to the front and threatening civil war or anarchy. William had of late been forced to lean on the lower cla.s.ses, and he was not able to keep them in control. In Ghent, especially, the turbulence reached its climax under the demagogue Imbize, supported by John Casimir of the Palatinate, an ambitious and weak prince, who had just arrived with a motley force of German mercenaries and English soldiers, sent by Queen Elizabeth. The rise of this fanatical party not only excited the indignation of the Catholics, or 'Paternoster Jacks,' who still represented the majority in the southern provinces, but also alienated many of the 'Malcontent' n.o.bles, who had hitherto supported the national cause. Of these divisions, Alexander was quick to take advantage. Partly by conciliation, more successfully by bribery in money, or in promises of advancement, he succeeded in reconciling many of the n.o.bles. Among these, we may especially note Egmont, the degenerate son of his father, and Champagny, the brother of Granvella, while Parma even approached William himself with brilliant offers if he would but desert the cause.

| Union of Arras, Jan. 6, answered by the Union of | Utrecht, Jan. 29, 1579.

The most signal result of Alexander's diplomacy was seen in the Union of Arras (January 6, 1579), between the Walloon provinces of Artois and Hainault, and the towns of Lille, Douay, and Orchies in French Flanders--a League which, in the following May, came to terms with Alexander, on condition that the foreign troops should be dismissed, and the provincial privileges respected. In answer to this, the northern provinces of Guelderland, Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, and Friesland formed the Union of Utrecht (January 29). The object of the union was declared to be the strengthening of the Pacification of Ghent. The allegiance to Spain was not thrown off, but the provinces bound themselves to protect each other against all force brought against them, either in the name of the King or of foreign Potentates. Each province was, while renouncing its right of making separate treaties, to retain its especial liberties and privileges, and to decide on the religion it should adopt, although individual freedom of conscience was to be allowed; the Roman Catholic provinces were asked to join on the same terms. The Confederacy was to be ruled by a General a.s.sembly formed of deputies from each provincial a.s.sembly. It was to have a common currency, a common system of taxation, and an executive Council, responsible to the General a.s.sembly. This famous doc.u.ment was originally only signed by five of the northern provinces, but the other two--Groningen and Overyssel--subsequently joined, as well as the towns of Ghent, Bruges, Ypres, and Antwerp. Although the Union was originally intended to be temporary, it became the basis for the future federal const.i.tution of the Seven United Provinces, as the Union of Arras formed the germ of the future reconst.i.tuted Spanish Netherlands.

| Success of Parma in south-western provinces and in | the north.

While the inevitable cleavage between the north-eastern and south-western districts was thus appearing, Parma made notable advances in the central provinces. In the summer of 1579, Maestricht, on the Meuse, fell after a four months' siege, and Mechlin was treacherously surrendered by De Bours. In May of the following year, the famous Huguenot, De la Noue, was taken prisoner near Ingelmunster. Even in the north, Count Renneburg had betrayed the town of Groningen, and John of Na.s.sau, the brother of William, disgusted at the people's lack of patriotism, and at their want of discipline, abandoned his Stadtholderate of Guelderland and retired into Germany.

| Philip publishes the Ban against William of Orange.

| June 1580.

| William publishes his _Apologia_, and enters into | negotiations with the Duke of Anjou.

Encouraged by his success, in June, 1580, Philip took the decisive step of publis.h.i.+ng a ban against the Prince of Orange. He was declared a traitor and a miscreant. All loyal subjects were forbidden to communicate with him, or to give him food or shelter, and a purse of twenty-five thousand crowns of gold and a patent of n.o.bility were offered to any one who would deliver him into Philip's hands, dead or alive. Philip in this had acted by the advice of Granvella, who declared that William was a coward, and that the fear of a.s.sa.s.sination would either cause him to submit, or 'die of his own accord.' Nevertheless, though the ban may well be called the death-warrant of the Prince, he was not in the least dismayed. In the _Apologia_ which shortly appeared, William boldly defied his enemy. He a.s.serted that Philip had murdered his son Don Carlos, his wife Elizabeth, and the Emperor Maximilian. He declared that as Philip's claim to rule the Netherlands was forfeited by his tyranny, he was no longer their legitimate king, nor he himself a rebel. Finally, professing that he would gladly endure perpetual banishment or death if he could thereby deliver his people from their calamities, he placed himself in the hands of G.o.d, 'who would dispose of him and of his goods as seemed best for His own glory, and his salvation.' Nor did William content himself with words. He had long been convinced that, unless foreign help could be obtained, the southern provinces, at least, were lost. Duke Casimir had, by his incapacity, done the cause more harm than good, and had left the country without even paying 'his 30,000 devils' of German mercenaries. The Archduke Mathias was evidently not the man to strengthen any cause, and further help Germany would not give. France alone remained. Accordingly negotiations were again reopened with the Duke of Anjou, who, in 1579, had left the Netherlands for England, enticed by the hope that Elizabeth, if she could only see him, might accept his hand. Certainly the personal appearance of the Duke was not likely to further his suit, for although he had the gracious manners of all the Valois princes, and was 'a good fellow and a l.u.s.ty prince,' he was of puny stature, his face was pitted by smallpox, and he had an enormous nose. The virgin Queen was, moreover, playing with him. To marry Anjou and a.s.sist him in the Netherlands without a definite promise of French a.s.sistance, would be to incur too rashly the enmity of Philip II., and Henry III. would not promise; to allow him to conquer the Netherlands for France was not to be endured. She had raised her lover's hopes, only to draw him out of Flanders, and there was no alternative but to keep him dangling on as her suitor, and nothing more. Anjou was accordingly dismissed with fair promises, and, in the hope of securing his bride, eagerly accepted the offers of the States.

| Sovereignty over the Netherlands conferred on the | Duke of Anjou by Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours. Sept. 1580.

| Triple division of the Netherlands.

| 'The French Fury.' Jan. 16, 1583.

| Anjou leaves the Netherlands. June 28, 1583.

By the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours (September, 1580), which was ratified in the following January, the Duke was granted the hereditary sovereignty over the Netherlands. He was always to reside in the country, to appoint no foreigner to office, not to attempt any alteration in the government, nor interfere with the privileges of the provinces; he was to procure the a.s.sistance of the King of France, but to permit no incorporation of territory with that country. Any violation of these conditions was to cause an immediate forfeiture of his sovereignty. On the 26th of the July following (1581), the Estates finally renounced their allegiance to Philip, and the Archduke Mathias left the Netherlands in October, though Anjou was not finally accepted till February, 1582. The northern provinces were most unwilling to receive this foreign ruler. In July, 1581, William had already, after many refusals, accepted the t.i.tle of Count of Holland and Zealand, with the sovereignty during the war. These provinces, therefore, only consented to acknowledge the Duke of Anjou on the express terms that no alteration should be made in the practical supremacy of the Prince of Orange. Thus to all intents the Netherlands were now divided into three divisions: the western provinces, which had again submitted to Spanish rule; the north-eastern under William; and the central, which acknowledged the sovereignty of the French Prince. The policy of William in the matter has been severely criticised, and certainly the previous conduct of Anjou in France (cf. pp. 418 and 423) was not of very hopeful augury. Yet, although a desperate remedy, the French alliance was not altogether a bad idea. There was some hope that a Catholic sovereign who would consent to tolerate the Protestants, might unite once more all the elements of opposition to Spain. Catherine and King Henry III. were at this time half inclined definitely to adopt an anti-Spanish policy (cf. p. 426); while, if the English marriage had also come about, Coligny's idea of a great coalition against Spain might have been realised at last. Unfortunately, all turned out for the worst. Elizabeth, after sending for Anjou once more, and even exchanging betrothal rings with her lover, declined to take the decisive step, and Anjou finally left England for the Netherlands. There the Flemings and the French quarrelled; religious intolerance added to the discord; the successes of Parma continued; and Anjou, irritated by the restraints imposed upon him, rashly and foolishly attempted a _coup d'etat_. He succeeded in some of the smaller towns, but failed at Bruges; while at Antwerp, the citizens rose and cut down nearly 2000 of his soldiers (January 16, 1583). Anjou, with shameless effrontery, attempted to throw the blame upon his subjects, while he intrigued with Parma, and offered to join him in return for the cession of certain towns on the French frontier. Even then, William did not think it wise to irritate the French. Negotiations were continued after the departure of the Duke for France (June 28), and were only ended by his death in the June of the ensuing year. Before that event, Parma, taking advantage of the confusion and distrust caused by 'the French Fury,' partly by arms, partly by bribery, recovered nearly all the central provinces except Flanders, and even there Bruges was surrendered through the treachery of Chimay, the son of the Duke of Aerschot.

| a.s.sa.s.sination of William of Orange. July 10, 1584.

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

The great man, who thus pa.s.sed away, is a good example of the chastening influence of a life of responsibility and danger. The troubles of his country, and the anxieties they brought upon him, had weaned him from the extravagance and dissipation of his youth and had deepened his character. A Catholic by birth rather than conviction, his adoption of Lutheranism, and subsequently of Calvinism, were probably in part due to political interest; and although there is no reason to doubt the sincerity of his ultimate beliefs, his past experience led him to realise, as few of his contemporaries did, the value of toleration--a belief which cost him the support of some of his more fanatical followers. Few would deny that he was ambitious, but his repeated refusal to accept the sovereignty offered to him--a refusal which some think mistaken--proves at least that he knew how to keep his personal interest in control. That he was no great general, and that he was deficient in military courage, may be true; yet, if it be remembered that he commanded mercenaries who were not to be trusted, or civil levies which could indeed defend a town, but were scarcely fitted to meet the veterans of Spain in the open field, we shall probably applaud his wisdom in avoiding pitched battles. It is, however, as a statesman and a diplomatist that he excelled. Absolute straightforwardness is difficult in diplomacy, but William was infinitely more straightforward than the s.h.i.+fty Elizabeth, the Machiavellian Catherine, or the treacherous Philip; while his constancy under reverse, in spite of a const.i.tutional tendency to depression, justly ent.i.tles him to his motto, 'Je maintiendrai.' The extravagant denunciations of the Prince by his enemies may be taken as a measure of his ability; the number of his devoted followers, of his personal fascination; the future glories of the 'United Netherlands,'

as an incontestable proof of the greatness of the man who is justly called their 'Father.' Nevertheless it is improbable that William, had he lived, would have won back the south-western provinces. The cleavage, as we have seen, had already begun--a cleavage which future history has proved to be deep and permanent--and the success of Parma in the south-west seemed already pretty well a.s.sured. No doubt William hoped for an alliance with the Huguenots and with Henry of Navarre, who, by the death of Anjou, had become the heir to the French crown, an idea which explains his marriage with Coligny's daughter.[72]

He seems even to have looked for a coalition of all Protestant powers. But Henry had enough to do at home, and Elizabeth was a broken reed; while the quarrels between the Lutherans and Calvinists, and the advance of the Catholic Reaction, would probably have prevented effective help from Germany. William had laid the foundation of the independence of the Seven United Provinces, and had he lived he would not in all probability have done more than antedate by a few years the recognition of that independence.

| Maurice elected Captain-General of Holland and | Zealand.

| Success of Parma.

| The siege of Antwerp. Aug. 17, 1585.

'Had William been murdered two years earlier,' said Philip, 'much trouble might have been spared me; but it is better late than never.' His second son, Maurice, who was elected Captain-General of Holland and Zealand, and head of the Council of State, which was appointed provisionally, was only seventeen; Hohenlo, the son-in-law of William, who was appointed commander-in-chief, was a drunkard; while Treslong, the admiral, quarrelled with the Estates, and was superseded by Justin, an illegitimate son of William, a man of no experience. Of the confusion which naturally ensued, Parma made good use. The most important towns in the South, which remained unsubdued, were Dendermonde, Ghent, Brussels, Mechlin, and Antwerp, all of them lying on the Scheldt or its tributary the Senne. Alexander offered good terms; he promised to respect their privileges, to make no inquiry into conscience, and to free them from foreign garrisons. Many of the old adherents of Orange deserted the cause in despair, and by the end of July, 1585, all these towns had surrendered or had been taken, with the exception of Antwerp. Against that important place, Parma now concentrated all his efforts. The enterprise was a difficult one; Parma had no fleet; Philip, at this moment occupied with the affairs of the League in France (cf. p. 428), gave him scant a.s.sistance; and, had the citizens of Antwerp followed the example of those of Leyden in the year 1574, and completely flooded the country, he could scarce have approached the city. For this sacrifice, however, they were not prepared, and the half-measures which they adopted did more harm than good. Parma accordingly was able to reach the Scheldt to the seaward of the town, and began a bridge which should cut off all communication with the sea. The besieged, when too late, made energetic attempts to defeat his purpose, and once, by means of the dread fire-s.h.i.+ps, nearly succeeded in breaking through the barrier. But Parma was not to be baulked. In spite of all their efforts, the bridge was completed, and, after a six months' siege, St. Aldegonde the Burgomaster, surrendered (August 17). The victory was not tarnished by any outrages. An amnesty was proclaimed, though the city had to pay a fine; all religions except the Catholic were proscribed, but those who would not conform were allowed two years'

grace. But if the capitulation of Antwerp raised the military fame of Parma to the highest pitch, and practically secured Brabant to the Spaniards, the actual gain was not very great. Ostend and Sluys still held out, and although they were subsequently won (Sluys in August 1587), the Dutch succeeded in permanently holding Flus.h.i.+ng and the entrance to the Scheldt. By so doing, they not only destroyed the commercial importance of Antwerp, which depended on her communication with the sea, but contributed to the decline of the industries of the other great Flemish cities. Amsterdam now took the place of Antwerp; the Scheldt was closed to Flemish commerce, and never till our day, when that river was finally declared open, did Antwerp become again that entrepot for trade, for which her geographical position so well fits her.

| Sovereignty refused by Henry III., Oct. 1584, is | offered to Elizabeth.

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

| Elizabeth declines the sovereignty, but despatches | the Earl of Leicester. Dec. 9, 1585.

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

| Leicester accepts the office of Governor-General.

| Indignation of Elizabeth.

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

| Leicester loses the support of the 'States' Party.

| Leicester leans on the democratic party.

| Leicester quarrels with his subordinates.

| Disasters of the year 1586.

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

| Leicester temporarily leaves the Netherlands. Nov.

| 24, 1586. The discontent increases.

| Leicester returns. July, 1587. The discontent | increases.

| Leicester finally recalled. Dec. 1587.

The only remedy for the ill that had been done was that Elizabeth should accept the sovereignty, and send a good army into the field. This Leicester earnestly pressed on the Queen, and the proposal met with the support of Burleigh. Elizabeth, however, objected to the one, 'because it bred a doubt of perpetual war'; to the other, 'because it required an increase of charges'; and the departure of Leicester on a visit to England at the end of November only added to the confusion and disagreements in the Netherlands. The government during his absence was nominally left to the Council of State. To Sir John Norris was given command of the English forces, to Hohenlo that over the Dutch and German troops. Leicester, however, knowing that the majority in the Council were against him, and that these two officers were his deadly enemies, had left a secret paper by which he forbade the Council to set aside any appointments to the command of forts and towns without his consent. Unfortunately, two of his last nominees turned traitors. Sir William Stanley surrendered the town of Deventer, near Zutphen, and Rowland York betrayed Fort Zutphen to Ta.s.sis, the Spanish commander of the town (January 29). These acts of treachery on the part of Leicester's own nominees, added to the negotiations of Elizabeth with Parma, which were now well known, roused the indignation of the States Party in Holland to boiling pitch. Barneveld declared 'that the country had never been so cheated by the French as it was now by the English, and that the government had become insupportable.' Envoys bearing a bitter remonstrance were despatched to Elizabeth, and Maurice was again provisionally appointed Governor-general, with Hohenlo for his lieutenant-general. The visit of the envoys was most inopportune. At the moment of their arrival the question of the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been convicted of complicity in the Babington Plot, was agitating the English Queen. Four days after their arrival, Elizabeth at last consented to sign the death-warrant (February 11), and on the 17th, Mary's head fell on the scaffold. It was now thought imperatively necessary to conciliate Philip, or to husband all the resources of England for defence against the invasion which was otherwise inevitable. Under these circ.u.mstances, Elizabeth was in no mood to listen either to the remonstrances of the Dutch against the conduct of her favourite, or to their demands for increased help and money. 'No reason that breedeth charges,' said Walsingham, 'can in any sort be digested.' In March, indeed, Lord Buckhurst was despatched to Holland, and by his wise and conciliatory policy did much to heal the breach. But with the return of Leicester in July, the quarrels again broke out. His attempt to relieve the town of Sluys, which he found invested by the Duke of Parma[74] on his return, failed, and on August 4, that important basis for an attack on England was in Parma's hands. The fall of Sluys led to recriminations between Leicester, Maurice, and Hohenlo. Meanwhile, the altercations with the States Party continued, while the continued negotiations between Elizabeth and Parma deepened the suspicions against the English. The Dutch even declared that Elizabeth's aim was to secure possession of more towns, that she might thereby make a better bargain for herself, while she sacrificed her allies. That the Queen herself entertained so base an idea is not proved; yet we have Leicester's own words to show that he at least did not shrink from such a course 'if the worst came to the worst.' When, therefore, in the autumn of 1587, Leicester made a vain attempt to revolutionise the governments of Amsterdam and Leyden (October, 1587), as he had previously done in the case of Utrecht, a cry was raised that he was playing again the game of the false Anjou (cf. p. 361), and there was no alternative for him but to retire. He was accordingly recalled by his mistress in December to bask in her royal smile, although he did not actually resign his authority till the following March 31. Elizabeth would not hear a word against her favourite. In her letter of recall she threw the blame entirely on her allies; she upbraided them for their ingrat.i.tude, their breach of faith, their false and malicious slanders against the Earl, and concluded this marvellous epistle with a gracious promise that 'out of compa.s.sion for their pitiful condition, she would continue her subsidies for the present, and that if she concluded a peace with Spain, she would take the same care for their country as for her own.'

| Review of his administration.

| Philip determines to invade England.

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

| The Armada sails. May 30, 1588.