The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1567 part 1 | Page 9

arrangement had been concluded.
Nevertheless, a temporary truce was made, by means of a concession as
to the guard. It was agreed that the burghers, Calvinists and Lutherans,
as well as Catholics, should be employed to protect the city. By
subtlety, however, the Calvinists detailed for that service, were posted
not in the town-house square, but on the ramparts and at the gates.
A night of dreadful expectation was passed. The army of fifteen
thousand mutineers remained encamped and barricaded on the Mere,
with guns loaded and artillery pointed. Fierce cries of "Long live the
beggars,"--"Down with the papists," and other significant watchwords,
were heard all night long, but no more serious outbreak occurred.
During the whole of the following day, the Calvinists remained in their
encampment, the Catholics and the city guardsmen at their posts near

the city hall. The Prince was occupied in the council-chamber from
morning till night with the municipal authorities, the deputies of "the
religion," and the guild officers, in framing a new treaty of peace.
Towards evening fifteen articles were agreed upon, which were to be
proposed forthwith to the insurgents, and in case of nonacceptance to
be enforced. The arrangement provided that there should be no garrison;
that the September contracts permitting the reformed worship at certain
places within the city should be maintained; that men of different
parties should refrain from mutual insults; that the two governors, the
Prince and Hoogstraaten, should keep the keys; that the city should be
guarded by both soldiers and citizens, without distinction of religious
creed; that a band of four hundred cavalry and a small flotilla of vessels
of war should be maintained for the defence of the place, and that the
expenses to be incurred should be levied upon all classes, clerical and
lay, Catholic and Reformed, without any exception.
It had been intended that the governors, accompanied by the
magistrates, should forthwith proceed to the Mere, for the purpose of
laying these terms before the insurgents. Night had, however, already
arrived, and it was understood that the ill-temper of the Calvinists had
rather increased than diminished, so that it was doubtful whether the
arrangement would be accepted. It was, therefore, necessary to await
the issue of another day, rather than to provoke a night battle in the
streets.
During the night the Prince labored incessantly to provide against the
dangers of the morrow. The Calvinists had fiercely expressed their
disinclination to any reasonable arrangement. They had threatened,
without farther pause, to plunder the religious houses and the mansions
of all the wealthy Catholics, and to drive every papist out of town.
They had summoned the Lutherans to join with them in their revolt,
and menaced them, in case of refusal, with the same fate which awaited
the Catholics. The Prince, who was himself a Lutheran, not entirely
free from the universal prejudice against the Calvinists, whose sect he
afterwards embraced, was fully aware of the deplorable fact, that the
enmity at that day between Calvinists and Lutherans was as fierce as
that between Reformers and Catholics. He now made use of this feeling,
and of his influence with those of the Augsburg Confession, to save the
city. During the night he had interviews with the ministers and notable

members of the Lutheran churches, and induced them to form an
alliance upon this occasion with the Catholics and with all friends of
order, against an army of outlaws who were threatening to burn and
sack the city. The Lutherans, in the silence of night, took arms and
encamped, to the number of three or four thousand, upon the river side,
in the neighborhood of Saint Michael's cloister. The Prince also sent for
the deans of all the foreign mercantile associations--Italian, Spanish,
Portuguese, English, Hanseatic, engaged their assistance also for the
protection of the city, and commanded them to remain in their armor at
their respective factories, ready to act at a moment's warning. It was
agreed that they should be informed at frequent intervals as to the
progress of events.
On the morning of the 15th, the city of Antwerp presented a fearful
sight. Three distinct armies were arrayed at different points within its
walls. The Calvinists, fifteen thousand strong, lay in their encampment
on the Mere; the Lutherans, armed, and eager for action, were at St.
Michael's; the Catholics and the regulars of the city guard were posted
on the square. Between thirty-five and forty thousand men were up,
according to the most moderate computation. All parties were excited,
and eager for the fray. The fires of religious hatred burned fiercely in
every breast. Many malefactors and outlaws, who had found refuge in
the course of recent events at Antwerp, were in the ranks of the
Calvinists, profaning a sacred cause, and inspiring a fanatical party