The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1579-80 | Page 3

Moreover, the "very marrow of
that treaty" was the-departure of the foreign soldiers, who were even
then overrunning the land. The Walloons answered that Alexander had
expressly conceded the withdrawal of the troops. "Believe not the
fluting and the piping of the crafty foe," urged the patriots. "Promises
are made profusely enough--but only to lure you to perdition. Your
enemies allow you to slake your hunger and thirst with this idle hope of
the troops' departure, but you are still in fetters, although the chain be
of Spanish pinchbeck, which you mistake for gold." "'Tis not we," cried
the Walloons, "who wish to separate from the generality; 'tis the
generality which separates from us. We had rather die the death than
not maintain the union. In the very same breath, however, they boasted
of the excellent terms which the monarch was offering, and of their
strong inclination to accept them." "Kings, struggling to recover a lost
authority, always promise golden mountains and every sort of
miracles," replied the patriots; but the warning was uttered in vain.
Meantime the deputation from the city of Brussels arrived on the 28th
of March at Mons, in Hainault, where they were received with great
courtesy by Count de Lalain, governor of the province. The enthusiasm
with which he had espoused the cause of Queen Margaret and her
brother Anjou had cooled, but the Count received the Brussels envoys
with a kindness in marked contrast with the brutality of Melun. He
made many fine speeches --protesting his attachment to, the union, for
which he was ready to shed the last drop of his blood--entertained the
deputies at dinner, proposed toasts to the prosperity of the united
provinces, and dismissed his guests at last with many flowery
professions. After dancing attendance for a few days, however, upon
the estates of the Walloon provinces, both sets of deputies were warned
to take their instant departure as mischief- makers and rebels. They
returned, accordingly, to Brussels, bringing the written answers which
the estates had vouchsafed to send.
The states-general, too, inspired by William of Orange, addressed a
solemn appeal to their sister provinces, thus about to abjure the bonds
of relationship for ever. It seemed right, once for all, to grapple with the
Ghent Pacification for the last time, and to strike a final blow in
defence of that large statesmanlike interpretation, which alone could
make the treaty live. This was done eloquently and logically. The

Walloons were reminded that at the epoch of the Ghent peace the
number of Reformers outside of Holland and Zealand was supposed
small. Now the new religion had spread its roots through the whole
land, and innumerable multitudes desired its exercise. If Holland and
Zealand chose to reestablish the Catholic worship within their borders,
they could manifestly do so without violating the treaty of Ghent. Why
then was it not competent to other provinces, with equal allegiance to
the treaty, to sanction the Reformed religion within their limits?
Parma, on his part, publicly invited the states-general, by letter, to
sustain the Ghent treaty by accepting the terms offered to the Walloons,
and by restoring the system of the Emperor Charles, of very lofty
memory. To this superfluous invitation the states-general replied, on
the 19th of March, that it had been the system of the Emperor Charles;
of lofty memory, to maintain the supremacy of Catholicism and of
Majesty in the Netherlands by burning Netherlanders--a custom which
the states, with common accord, had thought it desirable to do away
with.
In various fervently-written appeals by Orange, by the states-general,
and by other bodies, the wavering provinces were warned against
seduction. They were reminded that the Prince of Parma was using this
minor negotiation "as a second string to his bow;" that nothing could be
more puerile than to suppose the Spaniards capable, after securing
Maestricht, of sending away their troops thus "deserting the bride in the
midst of the honeymoon." They expressed astonishment at being
invited to abandon the great and general treaty which had been made
upon the theatre of the whole world by the intervention of the principal
princes of Christendom, in order to partake in underhand negotiation
with the commissioners of Parma-men, "who, it would not be denied,
were felons and traitors." They warned their brethren not to embark on
the enemy's ships in the dark, for that, while chaffering as to the price
of the voyage, they would find that the false pilots had hoisted sail and
borne them away in the night. In vain would they then seek to reach the
shore again. The example of La Motte and others, "bird-limed with
Spanish gold," should be salutary for all-men who were now driven
forward with a whip, laughed to scorn by their new masters, and forced
to drink the