The Life and Death of John of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland, 1613-15 | Page 6

reluctant to "break the ice," and wished for
official notice in the matter from the Queen. Maurice protected the
troublesome diplomatist. "'Tis incredible," said the French ambassador
"how covertly Prince Maurice is carrying himself, contrary to his wont,
in this whole affair. I don't know whether it is from simple jealousy to
Barneveld, or if there is some mystery concealed below the surface."
Du Maurier had accordingly been obliged to ask his government for
distinct and official instructions. "He holds to his place," said he, "by so
slight and fragile a root as not to require two hands to pluck him up, the
little finger being enough. There is no doubt that he has been in concert
with those who are making use of him to re-establish their credit with
the States, and to embark Prince Maurice contrary to his preceding

custom in a cabal with them."
Thus a question of removing an obnoxious diplomatist could hardly be
graver, for it was believed that he was doing his best to involve the
military chief of his own state in a game of treason and rebellion
against the government to which he was accredited. It was not the first
nor likely to be the last of Bouillon's deadly intrigues. But the man who
had been privy to Biron's conspiracy against the crown and life of his
sovereign was hardly a safe ally for his brother-in-law, the
straightforward stadholder.
The instructions desired by du Maurier and by Barneveld had, as we
have seen, at last arrived. The French ambassador thus fortified
appeared before the Assembly of the States-General and officially
demanded the recall of Aerssens. In a letter addressed privately and
confidentially to their Mightinesses, he said, "If in spite of us you throw
him at our feet, we shall fling him back at your head."
At last Maurice yielded to, the representations of the French envoy, and
Aerssens felt obliged to resign his claims to the post. The States-
General passed a resolution that it would be proper to employ him in
some other capacity in order to show that his services had been
agreeable to them, he having now declared that he could no longer be
useful in France. Maurice, seeing that it was impossible to save him,
admitted to du Maurier his unsteadiness and duplicity, and said that, if
possessed of the confidence of a great king, he would be capable of
destroying the state in less than a year.
But this had not always been the Prince's opinion, nor was it likely to
remain unchanged. As for Villeroy, he denied flatly that the cause of
his displeasure had been that Aerssens had penetrated into his most
secret affairs. He protested, on the contrary, that his annoyance with
him had partly proceeded from the slight acquaintance he had acquired
of his policy, and that, while boasting to be better informed than any
one, he was in the habit of inventing and imagining things in order to
get credit for himself.
It was highly essential that the secret of this affair should be made clear;
for its influence on subsequent events was to be deep and wide. For the
moment Aerssens remained without employment, and there was no
open rupture with Barneveld. The only difference of opinion between
the Advocate and himself, he said, was whether he had or had not

definitely resigned his post on leaving Paris.
Meantime it was necessary to fix upon a successor for this most
important post. The war soon after the new year had broken out in
France. Conde, Bouillon, and the other malcontent princes with their
followers had taken possession of the fortress of Mezieres, and issued a
letter in the name of Conde to the Queen-Regent demanding an
assembly of the States-General of the kingdom and rupture of the
Spanish marriages. Both parties, that of the government and that of the
rebellion, sought the sympathy and active succour of the States.
Maurice, acting now in perfect accord with the Advocate, sustained the
Queen and execrated the rebellion of his relatives with perfect
frankness. Conde, he said, had got his head stuffed full of almanacs
whose predictions he wished to see realized. He vowed he would have
shortened by a head the commander of the garrison who betrayed
Mezieres, if he had been under his control. He forbade on pain of death
the departure of any officer or private of the French regiments from
serving the rebels, and placed the whole French force at the disposal of
the Queen, with as many Netherland regiments as could be spared. One
soldier was hanged and three others branded with the mark of a gibbet
on the face for attempting desertion. The legal government was loyally
sustained by the authority of the States, notwithstanding all the
intrigues of