The Life and Death of John of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland, 1609-15 | Page 3

the moment when these

volumes begin. I have carefully studied however nearly the whole of
that correspondence, besides a mass of other papers. The labour is not
light, for the handwriting of the great Advocate is perhaps the worst
that ever existed, and the papers, although kept in the admirable order
which distinguishes the Archives of the Hague, have passed through
many hands at former epochs before reaching their natural destination
in the treasure-house of the nation. Especially the documents connected
with the famous trial were for a long time hidden from mortal view, for
Barneveld's judges had bound themselves by oath to bury the
proceedings out of sight. And the concealment lasted for centuries.
Very recently a small portion of those papers has been published by the
Historical Society of Utrecht. The "Verhooren," or Interrogatories of
the Judges, and the replies of Barneveld, have thus been laid before the
reading public of Holland, while within the last two years the
distinguished and learned historian, Professor Fruin, has edited the
"Verhooren" of Hugo Grotius.
But papers like these, important as they are, make but a slender portion
of the material out of which a judgment concerning these grave events
can be constructed. I do not therefore offer an apology for the
somewhat copious extracts which I have translated and given in these
volumes from the correspondence of Barneveld and from other
manuscripts of great value--most of them in the Royal Archives of
Holland and Belgium--which are unknown to the public.
I have avoided as much as possible any dealings with the theological
controversies so closely connected with the events which I have
attempted to describe. This work aims at being a political study. The
subject is full of lessons, examples, and warnings for the inhabitants of
all free states. Especially now that the republican system of government
is undergoing a series of experiments with more or less success in one
hemisphere--while in our own land it is consolidated, powerful, and
unchallenged--will the conflicts between the spirits of national
centralization and of provincial sovereignty, and the struggle between
the church, the sword, and the magistracy for supremacy in a free
commonwealth, as revealed in the first considerable republic of modern
history, be found suggestive of deep reflection.
Those who look in this work for a history of the Synod of Dordtrecht
will look in vain. The Author has neither wish nor power to grapple

with the mysteries and passions which at that epoch possessed so many
souls. The Assembly marks a political period. Its political aspects have
been anxiously examined, but beyond the ecclesiastical threshold there
has been no attempt to penetrate.
It was necessary for my purpose to describe in some detail the relations
of Henry IV. with the Dutch Republic during the last and most
pregnant year of his life, which makes the first of the present history.
These relations are of European importance, and the materials for
appreciating them are of unexpected richness, in the Dutch and Belgian
Archives.
Especially the secret correspondence, now at the Hague, of that very
able diplomatist Francis Aerssens with Barneveld during the years
1609, 1610, and 1611, together with many papers at Brussels, are full
of vital importance.
They throw much light both on the vast designs which filled the brain
of Henry at this fatal epoch and on his extraordinary infatuation for the
young Princess of Conde by which they were traversed, and which was
productive of such widespread political anal tragical results. This
episode forms a necessary portion of my theme, and has therefore been
set forth from original sources.
I am under renewed obligations to my friend M. Gachard, the eminent
publicist and archivist of Belgium, for his constant and friendly offices
to me (which I have so often experienced before), while studying the
documents under his charge relating to this epoch; especially the secret
correspondence of Archduke Albert with Philip III, and his ministers,
and with Pecquius, the Archduke's agent at Paris.
It is also a great pleasure to acknowledge the unceasing courtesy and
zealous aid rendered me during my renewed studies in the Archives at
the Hague--lasting through nearly two years--by the Chief Archivist, M.
van den Berg, and the gentlemen connected with that institution,
especially M. de Jonghe and M. Hingman, without whose aid it would
have been difficult for me to decipher and to procure copies of the
almost illegible holographs of Barneveld.
I must also thank M. van Deventer for communicating copies of some
curious manuscripts relating to my subject, some from private archives
in Holland, and others from those of Simancas.
A single word only remains to be said in regard to the name of the

statesman whose career I have undertaken to describe.
His proper appellation and that by which he has always been known