The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1582-84 | Page 4

or to
maintain his authority with the strong hand, as became a prince. The
first course would cover him with disgrace. It was therefore necessary
for him to adopt the other. He then unfolded his plan to his confidential
friends, La Fougere, De Fazy, Palette, the sons of Marechal Biron, and

others. Upon the same day, if possible, he was determined to take
possession, with his own troops, of the principal cities in Flanders.
Dunkirk, Dixmuyde, Denremonde, Bruges, Ghent, Vilvoorde, Alost,
and other important places, were to be simultaneously invaded, under
pretext of quieting tumults artfully created and encouraged between the
burghers and the garrisons, while Antwerp was reserved for his own
especial enterprise. That important capital he would carry by surprise at
the same moment in which the other cities were to be secured by his
lieutenants.
The plot was pronounced an excellent one by the friends around his
bed-- all of them eager for Catholic supremacy, for the establishment of
the right divine on the part of France to the Netherlands, and for their
share in the sacking of so many wealthy cities at once. These worthless
mignons applauded their weak master to the echo; whereupon the Duke
leaped from his bed, and kneeling on the floor in his night-gown, raised
his eyes and his clasped hands to heaven, and piously invoked the
blessing of the Almighty upon the project which he had thus announced.
He added the solemn assurance that; if favored with success in his
undertaking, he would abstain in future from all unchastity, and forego
the irregular habits by which his youth had been stained. Having thus
bribed the Deity, and received the encouragement of his flatterers, the
Duke got into bed again. His next care was to remove the Seigneur du
Plessis, whom he had observed to be often in colloquy with the Prince
of Orange, his suspicious and guilty imagination finding nothing but
mischief to himself in the conjunction of two such natures. He therefore
dismissed Du Plessis, under pretext of a special mission to his sister,
Margaret of Navarre; but in reality, that he might rid himself of the
presence of an intelligent and honorable countryman.
On the a 15th January, 1583, the day fixed for the execution of the plot,
the French commandant of Dunkirk, Captain Chamois, skillfully took
advantage of a slight quarrel between the citizens and the garrison, to
secure that important frontier town. The same means were employed
simultaneously, with similar results, at Ostend, Dixmuyde,
Denremonde, Alost, and Vilvoorde, but there was a fatal delay at one
important city. La Fougere, who had been with Chamois at Dunkirk,
was arrested on his way to Bruges by some patriotic citizens who had
got wind of what had just been occurring in the other cities, so that

when Palette, the provost of Anjou, and Colonel la Rebours, at the head
of fifteen hundred French troops, appeared before the gates, entrance
was flatly refused. De Grijse, burgomaster of Bruges, encouraged his
fellow townsmen by words and stout action, to resist the nefarious
project then on foot against religious liberty and free government, in
favor of a new foreign tyranny. He spoke to men who could sympathize
with, and second his courageous resolution, and the delay of
twenty-four hours, during which the burghers had time to take the
alarm, saved the city. The whole population was on the alert, and the
baffled Frenchmen were forced to retire from the gates, to avoid being
torn to pieces by the citizens whom they had intended to surprise.
At Antwerp, meanwhile, the Duke of Anjou had been rapidly maturing
his plan, under pretext of a contemplated enterprise against the city of
Endhoven, having concentrated what he esteemed a sufficient number
of French troops at Borgerhout, a village close to the walls of Antwerp.
On the 16th of January, suspicion was aroused in the city. A man in a
mask entered the main guard-house in the night, mysteriously gave
warning that a great crime was in contemplation, and vanished before
he could be arrested. His accent proved him to be a Frenchman. Strange
rumors flew about the streets. A vague uneasiness pervaded the whole
population as to the intention of their new master, but nothing was
definitely known, for of course there was entire ignorance of the events
which were just occurring in other cities. The colonels and captains of
the burgher guard came to consult the Prince of Orange. He avowed the
most entire confidence in the Duke of Anjou, but, at the same time;
recommended that the chains should be drawn, the lanterns hung out,
and the drawbridge raised an hour earlier than usual, and that other
precautions; customary in the expectation of an attack, should be duly
taken. He likewise sent the Burgomaster of the