The Life and Death of John of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland, 1618 | Page 9

if his Majesty or
Archduke Albert should propose peace, it could be accomplished at that
moment more easily than ever before. They had arrived at the
conviction that no assistance was to be obtained from the King of
France, who was too much weakened by tumults and sedition at home,
while nothing good could be expected from the King of England. The
greater part of the Province of Gelderland, they said, with all Friesland,
Utrecht, Groningen, and Overyssel were inclined to a permanent peace.
Being all of them frontier provinces, they were constantly exposed to
the brunt of hostilities. Besides this, the war expenses alone would now
be more than 3,000,000 florins a year. Thus the people were kept
perpetually harassed, and although evil-intentioned persons approved
these burthens under the pretence that such heavy taxation served to
free them from the tyranny of Spain, those of sense and quality
reproved them and knew the contrary to be true. "Many here know,"
continued these traitors in the heart of the state council, "how good it
would be for the people of the Netherlands to have a prince, and those
having this desire being on the frontier are determined to accept the son
of your Majesty for their ruler." The conditions of the proposed
arrangement were to be that the Prince with his successors who were
thus to possess all the Netherlands were to be independent sovereigns
not subject in any way to the crown of Spain, and that the great
governments and dignities of the country were to remain in the hands
then holding them.
This last condition was obviously inserted in the plan for the special

benefit of Prince Maurice and Count Lewis, although there is not an
atom of evidence that they had ever heard of the intrigue or doubt that,
if they had, they would have signally chastised its guilty authors.
It was further stated that the Catholics having in each town a church
and free exercise of their religion would soon be in a great majority.
Thus the political and religious counter-revolution would be
triumphantly accomplished.
It was proposed that the management of the business should be
entrusted to some gentleman of the country possessing property there
who "under pretext of the public good should make people comprehend
what a great thing it would be if they could obtain this favour from the
Spanish King, thus extricating themselves from so many calamities and
miseries, and obtaining free traffic and a prince of their own." It would
be necessary for the King and Archduke to write many letters and
promise great rewards to persons who might otherwise embarrass the
good work.
The plot was an ingenious one. There seemed in the opinion of these
conspirators in the state council but one great obstacle to its success. It
should be kept absolutely concealed from the States of Holland. The
great stipendiary of Spain, John of Barneveld, whose coffers were filled
with Spanish pistoles, whose name and surname might be read by all
men in the account-books at Brussels heading the register of mighty
bribe- takers, the man who was howled at in a thousand lampoons as a
traitor ever ready to sell his country, whom even Prince Maurice "partly
believed" to be the pensionary of Philip, must not hear a whisper of this
scheme to restore the Republic to Spanish control and place it under the
sceptre of a Spanish prince.
The States of Holland at that moment and so long as he was a member
of the body were Barneveld and Barneveld only; thinking his thoughts,
speaking with his tongue, writing with his pen. Of this neither friend
nor foe ever expressed a doubt. Indeed it was one of the staple
accusations against him.
Yet this paper in which the Spanish king in confidential cipher and
profound secrecy communicated to Archduke Albert his hopes and his
schemes for recovering the revolted provinces as a kingdom for his son
contained these words of caution.
"The States of Holland and Zealand will be opposed to the plan," it said.

"If the treaty come to the knowledge of the States and Council of
Holland before it has been acted upon by the five frontier provinces the
whole plan will be demolished."
Such was the opinion entertained by Philip himself of the man who was
supposed to be his stipendiary. I am not aware that this paper has ever
been alluded to in any document or treatise private or public from the
day of its date to this hour. It certainly has never been published, but it
lies deciphered in the Archives of the Kingdom at Brussels, and is
alone sufficient to put to shame the slanderers of the Advocate's
loyalty.
Yet let it be remembered that in this very summer exactly at the