History of the United Netherlands, 1602-03 | Page 3

the inexorable hour
for burghers and garrison to surrender, the great Francis Mendoza,

Admiral of Arragon, had been completing the arrangements for his
exchange. A prisoner after the Nieuport battle, he had been assigned by
Maurice, as will be recollected, to his cousin, young Lewis Gunther,
whose brilliant services as commander of the cavalry had so much
contributed to the victory. The amount of ransom for so eminent a
captive could not fail to be large, and accordingly the thrifty Lewis
William had congratulated his brother on being able, although so young,
thus to repair the fortunes of the family by his military industry to a
greater extent than had yet been accomplished by any of the race.
Subsequently, the admiral had been released on parole, the sum of his
ransom having been fixed at nearly one hundred thousand Flemish
crowns. By an agreement now made by the States, with consent of the
Nassau family, the prisoner was definitely released, on condition of
effecting the exchange of all prisoners of the republic, now held in
durance by Spain in any part of the world. This was in lieu of the
hundred thousand crowns which were to be put into the impoverished
coffers of Lewis Gunther. It may be imagined, as the hapless prisoners
afterwards poured in--not only from the peninsula, but from more
distant regions, whither they had been sent by their cruel taskmasters,
some to relate their sufferings in the horrible dungeons of Spain, where
they had long been expiating the crime of defending their fatherland,
others to relate their experiences as chained galley-slaves in the naval
service of their bitterest enemies, many with shorn heads and long
beards like Turks, many with crippled limbs, worn out with chains and
blows, and the squalor of disease and filth--that the hatred for Spain
and Rome did not glow any less fiercely within the republic, nor the
hereditary love for the Nassaus, to whose generosity these poor victims
were indebted for their deliverance, become fainter, in consequence of
these revelations. It was at first vehemently disputed by many that the
admiral could be exchanged as a prisoner of war, in respect to the
manifold murders and other crimes which would seem to authorize his
trial and chastisement by the tribunals of the republic. But it was
decided by the States that the sacred aegis of military law must be held
to protect even so bloodstained a criminal as he, and his release was
accordingly effected. Not long afterwards he took his departure for
Spain, where his reception was not enthusiastic.
From this epoch is to be dated a considerable reform in the laws

regulating the exchange of prisoners of war.--[Grotius]
While Maurice was occupied with the siege of Grave, and thus not only
menacing an important position, but spreading, danger and dismay over
all Brabant and Flanders, it was necessary for the archduke to detach so
large a portion of his armies to observe his indefatigable and scientific
enemy, as to much weaken the vigour of the operations before Ostend.
Moreover, the execrable administration of his finances, and the dismal
delays and sufferings of that siege; had brought about another
mutiny--on the whole, the most extensive, formidable, and methodical
of all that had hitherto occurred in the Spanish armies.
By midsummer, at least three thousand five hundred veterans,
including a thousand of excellent cavalry, the very best soldiers in the
service, had seized the city of Hoogstraaten. Here they established
themselves securely, and strengthened the fortifications; levying
contributions in corn, cattle, and every other necessary, besides wine,
beer, and pocket- money, from the whole country round with
exemplary regularity. As usual, disorder assumed the forms of absolute
order. Anarchy became the best organized of governments; and it
would have been difficult to find in the world--outside the Dutch
commonwealth--a single community where justice appeared to be so
promptly administered as in this temporary republic, founded upon
rebellion and theft.
For; although a brotherhood of thieves, it rigorously punished such of
its citizens as robbed for their own, not for the public good. The
immense booty swept daily from the granges, castles; and villages of
Flanders was divided with the simplicity of early Christians, while the
success and steadiness of the operations paralyzed their sovereign, and
was of considerable advantage to the States.
Albert endeavoured in vain to negotiate with the rebels. Nuncius
Frangipani went to them in person, but was received with calm derision.
Pious exhortations might turn the keys of Paradise, but gold alone, he
was informed, would unlock the gates of Hoogstraaten. In an evil hour
the cardinal-archduke was tempted to try the effect of sacerdotal
thunder. The ex-archbishop of Toledo could not doubt that the terrors
of the Church would make those brown veterans tremble who could
confront so tranquilly