History of the United Netherlands, 1594 | Page 6

long siege. Winter was coming on; and the States, aware that he
would soon be obliged to retire from before the well-garrisoned and
fortified place, thought it unnecessary to interfere with him. After a
very brief demonstration the Portuguese veteran was obliged to raise
the siege.
There were also certain vague attempts made by the enemy to
re-possess himself of those most important seaports which had been
pledged to the English queen. On a previous page the anxiety has been
indicated with which Sir Robert Sydney regarded the withdrawal of the
English troops in the Netherlands for the sake of assisting the French
king. This palpable breach of the treaty had necessarily weakened
England's hold on the affections of the Netherlanders, and awakened
dark suspicions that treason might be impending at Flushing or Ostend.
The suspicions were unjust--so far as the governors of those places
were concerned--for Sydney and Norris were as loyal as they were
intelligent and brave; but the trust in their characters was not more
implicit than it had been in that of Sir William Stanley before the
commission of his crime. It was now believed that the enemy was
preparing for a sudden assault upon Ostend, with the connivance, it was
feared, of a certain portion of the English garrison. The intelligence was
at once conveyed to her Majesty's Government by Sir Edward Norris,
and they determined to take a lesson from past experience. Norris was
at once informed that in view of the attack which he apprehended, his
garrison should be strengthened by five hundred men under Sir
Conyers Clifford from certain companies in Flushing, and that other
reinforcements should be sent from the English troops in Normandy.
The governor was ordered to look well after his captains and soldiers,
to remind them, in the queen's name, of their duty to herself and to the
States, to bid all beware of sullying the English name, to make close
investigations into any possible intrigues of the garrison with the

enemy, and, should any culprits be found, to bring them at once to
condign punishment.
The queen, too, determined that there should be no blighting of English
honour, if she could prevent it by her warnings, indited with her own
hand a characteristic letter to Sir Edward Norris, to accompany the
more formal despatch of Lord Burghley. Thus it ran "Ned!--
"Though you have some tainted sheep among your flock, let not that
serve for excuse for the rest. We trust you are so carefully regarded as
nought shall be left for your excuses, but either ye lack heart or want
will; for of fear we will not make mention, as that our soul abhors, and
we assure ourselves you will never discern suspicion of it. Now or
never let for the honour of us and our nation, each man be so much of
bolder heart as their cause is good, and their honour must be according,
remembering the old goodness of our God, who never yet made us fail
His needful help, who ever bless you as I with my prince's hand
beseech Him."
The warnings and preparations proved sufficiently effective, and the
great schemes with which the new royal governor of the Netherlands
was supposed to be full--a mere episode in which was the conquest of
Ostend-- seemed not so formidable as their shadows had indicated.
There was, in the not very distant future, to be a siege of Ostend, which
the world would not soon forget, but perhaps the place would not yield
to a sudden assault. Its resistance, on the contrary, might prove more
protracted than was then thought possible. But the chronicle of events
must not be anticipated. For the present, Ostend was safe.
Early in the following spring, Verdugo again appeared before
Coeworden in force. It was obvious that the great city of Groningen,
the mistress of all the north-eastern provinces, would soon be attacked,
and Coeworden was the necessary base of any operations against the
place. Fortunately for the States, William Lewis had in the preceding
autumn occupied and fortified the only avenue through the Bourtange
morass, so that when Verdugo sat down before Coeworden, it was
possible for Maurice, by moving rapidly, to take the royal governor at a
disadvantage.
Verdugo had eight thousand picked troops, including two thousand
Walloon cavalry, troopers who must have been very formidable, if they
were to be judged by the prowess of one of their captains, Gaucier by

name. This obedient Netherlander was in the habit of boasting that he
had slain four hundred and ten men with his own hand, including
several prisoners and three preachers; but the rest of those warriors
were not so famed for their martial achievements.
The peril, however, was great, and Prince Maurice, trifling not a
moment, threw himself