The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1577-78 | Page 6

till a late hour, the citizens
conceived so much alarm, that a large number of them spontaneously
armed themselves, and repaired to the palace. The Prince, informed of
the circumstance, threw open a window and addressed them, thanking

them for their friendship and assuring them of his safety. They were not
satisfied, however, to leave him alone, but remained under arms below
till the session was terminated, when they escorted him with
affectionate respect to his own hotel.
The secret envoy arrived in Vienna, and excited the ambition of the
youthful Matthias. It must be confessed that the offer could hardly be a
very tempting one, and it excites our surprise that the Archduke should
have thought the adventure worth the seeking. A most anomalous
position in the Netherlands was offered to him by a slender and
irresponsible faction of Netherlanders. There was a triple prospect
before him: that of a hopeless intrigue against the first politician in
Europe, a mortal combat with the most renowned conqueror of the age,
a deadly feud with the most powerful and revengeful monarch in the
world. Into this threefold enterprise he was about to plunge without any
adequate resources, for the Archduke possessed no experience, power,
or wealth. He brought, therefore, no strength to a cause which was itself
feeble. He could hope for no protection, nor inspire any confidence.
Nevertheless, he had courage, pliability, and a turn for political
adventure. Visions of the discomfited Philip conferring the hand of his
daughter, with the Netherlands as her dowry, upon the enterprising
youth who, at this juncture, should succeed in overturning the Spanish
authority in that country, were conjured up by those who originated the
plot, and he was weak enough to consider such absurdities plausible,
and to set forth at once to take possession of this castle in the air.
On the evening of October 3rd, 1577, he retired to rest at eight o'clock
feigning extreme drowsiness. After waiting till his brother, Maximilian,
who slept in another bed in the same chamber, was asleep, he slipped
from his couch and from the room in his night apparel, without even
putting on his slippers. He was soon after provided by the companions
of his flight with the disguise of a servant, arrayed in which, with his
face blackened, he made his escape by midnight from Vienna, but it is
doubtful whether Rudolph were as ignorant as he affected to be of the
scheme.
[It was the opinion of Languet that the Emperor affected ignorance of
the plot at its commencement, that he afterwards affected an original
connivance, and that he was equally disingenuous in both pretences.]
The Archduke arrived at Cologne, attended only by two gentlemen and

a few servants. The Governor was beside himself with fury; the Queen
of England was indignant; the Prince only, against whom the measure
was mainly directed, preserved his usual tranquillity.
Secretary Walsingham, as soon as the news reached England, sent for
Meetkercke, colleague of Marquis Havre in the mission from the
estates. He informed that functionary of the great perplexity and
excitement which, according to information received from the English
resident, Davison, were then prevailing in Brussels, on account of the
approach of the Archduke. Some, he said, were for receiving him at one
place, some at another; others were in favor of forbidding his entrance
altogether. Things had been sufficiently complicated before, without
this additional cause of confusion. Don John was strengthening himself
daily, through the secret agency of the Duke of Guise and his party. His
warlike genius was well known, as well as the experience of the
soldiers who were fast rallying under his banner. On the other hand, the
Duke of Alencon had come to La Fere, and was also raising troops,
while to oppose this crowd of rival enemies, to deal with this host of
impending disasters, there was but one man in the Netherlands. On the
Prince of Orange alone could the distracted states rely. To his prudence
and valor only could the Queen look with hopeful eyes. The Secretary
proceeded to inform the envoy, therefore, that her Majesty would feel
herself compelled to withdraw all succor from the states if the Prince of
Orange were deprived of his leadership; for it was upon that leadership
only that she had relied for obtaining a successful result. She was quite
indisposed to encounter indefinite risk with an impossibility of profit.
Meetkercke replied to the Secretary by observing, that the great nobles
of the land had been unanimous in desiring a new Governor-General at
this juncture. They had thought Matthias, with a strong Council of State,
composed of native Netherlanders, to control him, likely to prove a
serviceable candidate for the post. They had reason to believe that, after
he should be received, the Emperor