History of the United Netherlands, 1585 part 1 | Page 9

reduce Antwerp by famine, his scheme certainly would not be
obstructed by the premature annihilation of these wholesome supplies.
That the Scheldt could be, closed in any manner was, however, they
said, a preposterous conception. That it could be bridged was the dream
of a lunatic. Even if it were possible to construct a bridge, and probable
that the Zeelanders and Antwerpers would look on with folded arms
while the work proceeded, the fabric, when completed, would be at the
mercy of the ice-floods of the winter and the enormous power of the
ocean-tides. The Prince of Orange himself, on a former occasion, when
Antwerp was Spanish, had attempted to close the river with rafts,
sunken piles, and other obstructions, but the whole had been swept
away, like a dam of bulrushes, by the first descent of the ice-blocks of
winter. It was witless to believe that Parma contemplated any such
measure, and utterly monstrous to believe in its success.
Thus far the butchers. Soon afterwards came sixteen colonels of militia,
as representatives of their branch of the multiform government. These
personages, attended by many officers of inferior degree, sustained the
position of the butchers with many voluble and vehement arguments.
Not the least convincing of their conclusions was the assurance that it
would be idle for the authorities to attempt the destruction of the dyke,
seeing that the municipal soldiery itself would prevent the measure by
main force, at all hazards, and without regard to their own or others'
lives.
The violence of this opposition, and the fear of a serious internecine
conflict at so critical a juncture, proved fatal to the project. Much
precious time was lost, and when at last the inhabitants of the city
awoke from their delusion, it was to find that repentance, as usual, had
come many hours too late.
For Parma had been acting while his antagonists had been wrangling.
He was hampered in his means, but he was assisted by what now seems
the incredible supineness of the Netherlanders. Even Sainte Aldegonde
did not believe in the possibility of erecting the bridge; not a man in
Antwerp seemed to believe it. "The preparations," said one who lived
in the city, "went on before our very noses, and every one was
ridiculing the Spanish commander's folly."

A very great error was, moreover, committed in abandoning Herenthals
to the enemy. The city of Antwerp governed Brabant, and it would
have been far better for the authorities of the commercial capital to
succour this small but important city, and, by so doing, to protract for a
long time their own defence. Mondragon saw and rejoiced over the
mistake. "Now 'tis easy to see that the Prince of Orange is dead," said
the veteran, as he took possession, in the Icing's name, of the forsaken
Herenthals.
Early in the summer, Parma's operations had been, of necessity,
desultory. He had sprinkled forts up and down the Scheldt, and had
gradually been gaining control of the navigation upon that river. Thus
Ghent and Dendermonde, Vilvoorde, Brussels, and Antwerp, had each
been isolated, and all prevented from rendering mutual assistance.
Below Antwerp, however, was to be the scene of the great struggle.
Here, within nine miles of the city, were two forts belonging to the
States, on opposite sides of the stream, Lille, and Liefkenshoek. It was
important for the Spanish commander to gain possession of both;
before commencing his contemplated bridge.
Unfortunately for the States, the fortifications of Liefkenshoek, on the
Flemish side of the river, had not been entirely completed. Eight
hundred men lay within it, under Colonel John Pettin of Arras, an old
patriotic officer of much experience. Parma, after reconnoitring the
place in person, despatched the famous Viscount of Ghent--now called
Marquis of Roubaix and Richebourg--to carry it by assault. The
Marquis sent one hundred men from his Walloon legion, under two
officers, in whom he had confidence, to attempt a surprise, with orders,
if not successful, to return without delay. They were successful. The
one hundred gained entrance into the fort at a point where the defences
had not been put into sufficient repair.
They were immediately followed by Richebourg, at the head of his
regiment. The day was a fatal one. It was the 10th July, 1584 and
William of Orange was falling at Delft by the hand of Balthazar Gerard.
Liefkenshoek was carried at a blow. Of the eight hundred patriots in the
place, scarcely a man escaped. Four hundred were put to the sword, the
others were hunted into the river, when nearly all were drowned. Of the
royalists a single man was killed, and two or three more were wounded.
"Our Lord was pleased," wrote Parma piously to Philip, that we

"should cut the throats of four hundred of them in a