The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1577-78 | Page 4

maintenance by the Spanish Governor of the Ghent Pacification,
whatever promises might be extorted from his fears. A deputation, in
the name of the states, had already been sent with fresh propositions to
Don John, at Namur. The envoys were Caspar Schetz and the Bishop of
Bruges. They had nearly come to an amicable convention with the
Governor, the terms of which had been sent to the states-general for
approval, at the very moment of the Prince's arrival in Brussels. Orange,
with great promptness, prevented the ratification of these terms, which
the estates had in reality already voted to accept. New articles were
added to those which had originally been laid before Don John. It was
now stipulated that the Ghent treaty and the Perpetual Edict should be
maintained. The Governor was required forthwith to abandon Namur
Castle, and to dismiss the German troops. He was to give up the other
citadels and strong places, and to disband all the soldiers in his service.
He was to command the governors of every province to prohibit the
entrance of all foreign levies. He was forthwith to release captives,
restore confiscated property, and reinstate officers who had been
removed; leaving the details of such restorations to the council of
Mechlin and the other provincial tribunals. He was to engage that the
Count Van Buren should be set free within two months. He was
himself, while waiting for the appointment of his successor, to take up
his residence in Luxemburg, and while there, he was to be governed
entirely by the decision of the State Council, expressed by a majority of
its members. Furthermore, and as not the least stinging of these sharp
requisitions, the Queen of England--she who had been the secret ally of
Orange, and whose crown the Governor had secretly meant to
appropriate--was to be included in the treaty.
It could hardly excite surprise that Don John, receiving these insolent
propositions at the very moment in which he heard of the triumphant
entrance into Brussels of the Prince, should be filled with rage and
mortification. Never was champion of the Cross thus braved by infidels
before. The Ghent treaty, according to the Orange interpretation, that is
to say, heresy made legitimate, was to be the law of the land. His
Majesty was to surrender--colors and cannon--to his revolted subjects.
The royal authority was to be superseded by that of a State Council,
appointed by the states-general, at the dictation of the Prince. The

Governor-General himself, brother of his Catholic Majesty, was to sit
quietly with folded arms in Luxemburg, while the arch-heretic and
rebel reigned supreme in Brussels. It was too much to expect that the
choleric soldier would be content with what he could not help
regarding as a dishonorable capitulation. The arrangement seemed to
him about as reasonable as it would have been to invite Sultan Selim to
the Escorial, and to send Philip to reside at Bayonne. He could not but
regard the whole proposition as an insolent declaration of war. He was
right. It was a declaration of war; as much so as if proclaimed by trump
of herald. How could Don John refuse the wager of battle thus
haughtily proffered?
Smooth Schetz, Lord of Grobbendonck, and his episcopal colleague, in
vain attempted to calm the Governor's wrath, which now flamed forth,
in defiance of all considerations.
They endeavored, without success, to palliate the presence of Orange,
and the circumstances of his reception, for it was not probable that their
eloquence would bring the Governor to look at the subject with their
eyes. Three days were agreed upon for the suspension of hostilities, and
Don John was highly indignant that the estates would grant no longer a
truce. The refusal was, however, reasonable enough on their part, for
they were aware that veteran Spaniards and Italians were constantly
returning to him, and that he was daily strengthening his position. The
envoys returned to Brussels, to give an account of the Governor's rage,
which they could not declare to be unnatural, and to assist in
preparations for the war, which was now deemed inevitable. Don John,
leaving a strong garrison in the citadel of Namur, from which place he,
despatched a final communication to the estates-general, dated the 2nd
of October, retired to Luxemburg. In this letter, without exactly uttering
defiance, he unequivocally accepted the hostilities which had been
pressed upon him, and answered their hollow professions of attachment
to the Catholic religion and his Majesty's authority, by denouncing their
obvious intentions to trample upon both. He gave them, in short, to
understand that he perceived their intentions, and meant them to
comprehend his own.
Thus the quarrel was brought to an issue, and Don John saw with grim
complacency, that the pen was at last to be