The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1572 | Page 6

entrance into Rammekens, whence the
soldiery, about one- half of whom had thus been saved, were
transferred at a very critical moment to Middelburg.
The great Lisbon fleet followed in the wake of the Biscayans, with
much inferior success. Totally ignorant of the revolution which had
occurred in the Ise of Walclieren, it obeyed the summons of the rebel
fort to come to anchor, and, with the exception of three or four, the

vessels were all taken. It was the richest booty which the insurgents had
yet acquired by sea or land. The fleet was laden with spices, money,
jewellery, and the richest merchandize. Five hundred thousand crowns
of gold were taken, and it was calculated that the plunder altogether
would suffice to maintain the war for two years at least. One thousand
Spanish soldiers, and a good amount of ammunition, were also
captured. The unexpected condition of affairs made a pause natural and
almost necessary, before the government could be decorously
transferred. Medina Coeli with Spanish grandiloquence, avowed his
willingness to serve as a soldier, under a general whom he so much
venerated, while Alva ordered that, in all respects, the same outward
marks of respect should be paid to his appointed successor as to himself.
Beneath all this external ceremony, however, much mutual malice was
concealed.
Meantime, the Duke, who was literally "without a single real," was
forced at last to smother his pride in the matter of the tenth penny. On
the 24th June, he summoned the estates of Holland to assemble on the
15th of the ensuing month. In the missive issued for this purpose, he
formally agreed to abolish the whole tax, on condition that the
estates-general of the Netherlands would furnish him with a yearly
supply of two millions of florins. Almost at the same moment the King
had dismissed the deputies of the estates from Madrid, with the public
assurance that the tax was to be suspended, and a private intimation
that it was not abolished in terms, only in order to save the dignity of
the Duke.
These healing measures came entirely too late. The estates of Holland
met, indeed, on the appointed day of July; but they assembled not in
obedience to Alva, but in consequence of a summons from William of
Orange. They met, too, not at the Hague, but at Dort, to take formal
measures for renouncing the authority of the Duke. The first congress
of the Netherland commonwealth still professed loyalty to the Crown,
but was determined to accept the policy of Orange without a question.
The Prince had again assembled an army in Germany, consisting of
fifteen thousand foot and seven thousand horse, besides a number of
Netherlanders, mostly Walloons, amounting to nearly three thousand
more. Before taking the field, however, it was necessary that he should
guarantee at least three months' pay to his troops. This he could no

longer do, except by giving bonds endorsed by certain cities of Holland
as his securities. He had accordingly addressed letters in his own name
to all the principal cities, fervently adjuring them to remember, at last,
what was due to him, to the fatherland, and to their own character. "Let
not a sum of gold," said he in one of these letters, "be so dear to you,
that for its sake you will sacrifice your lives, your wives, your children,
and all your descendants, to the latest generations; that you will bring
sin and shame upon yourselves, and destruction upon us who have so
heartily striven to assist you. Think what scorn you will incur from
foreign nations, what a crime you will commit against the. Lord God,
what a bloody yoke ye will impose forever upon yourselves and your
children, if you now seek for subterfuges; if you now prevent us from
taking the field with the troops which we have enlisted. On the other
hand, what inexpressible benefits you will confer on your country, if
you now help us to rescue that fatherland from the power of Spanish
vultures and wolves."
This and similar missives, circulated throughout the province of
Holland, produced a deep impression. In accordance with his
suggestions, the deputies from the nobility and from twelve cities of
that province assembled on the 15th July, at Dort. Strictly speaking, the
estates or government of Holland, the body which represented the
whole people, consisted of the nobler and six great cities. On this
occasion, however, Amsterdam being still in the power of the King,
could send no deputies, while, on the other hand, all the small towns
were invited to send up their representatives to the Congress. Eight
accepted the proposal; the rest declined to appoint delegates, partly
from motives of economy, partly from timidity.'
These estates were the legitimate representatives of the people, but they