Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 3.djvu/469

] William of Nassau w;is the nephew of Charles of England, the son of his sister. He was a young man of a sickly constitution, only then twenty-one years of age, and at that time of no experience in state or military affairs. The house of Nassau had acquired almost sovereign power in Holland, from having rescued the country from the cruel yoke of Spain, and had rendered the office of stadtholder almost synonymous with king. The municipal body, the aristocracy of the country, jealous of the powers and aims of the house of Orange, at the death of William's father had abolished for ever the office of stadtholder, and placed the government of the country in the hands of the town council, the provincial states, and the states-general. De Witt, the grand pensionary of the province of Holland, was made chief minister, and conducted the government with consummate ability. William of Orange, who was a posthumous child, was a ward of De Witt's. He was at the same time at the head of the Louvestein faction, which was violently opposed to the house of Nassau. But William of Orange stood high in the affections of the people. They regarded with as much jealousy the municipal oligarchy which ruled the country, as that did the house of Nassau. They felt that the Orange family had achieved the independence of Holland, and, being themselves shut out of all influence in the state affairs, they sympathised with the young prince. Besides, he had a princely fortune, the possession of territories entrenched behind the river Maas, and the dykes of South Holland, not easily invaded, and was not only a prince of the German empire, but of the royal blood of England.

The people, now seeing the critical condition to which the Louvestein faction had reduced their country, demanded that the command of the army should be put into the hands of William. De Witt, who could not prevent it, endeavoured to persuade the people to bind the prince by an oath never to aspire to the stadtholdership; but the Orange party now seized their opportunity to rouse the people against the oligarchy of burgers, and they did it to such effect, that De Witt and his brother were torn to pieces by the populace before the gates of the palace of the states-general at the Hague. William, who had no share in the murder, however, committed the same grave moral error as he did afterwards in England, in the case of the massacre of Glencoe—he rewarded the murderers, and accepted the office of commander-in-chief. Low as the country was reduced, its very danger was its strongest means of rescue. Germany and Spain, alarmed for the consequences to Europe, sent promises of speedy assistance, and even Charles H. seemed to perceive the folly of his proceedings. The war at sea had brought nothing but expense and bloodshed. If Spain came to a rupture with France, England would lose the benefit of its lucrative Spanish trade. Charles had sent six thousand troops, according to treaty, to assist Louis in Holland, under the command of his son Monmouth, who displayed no talents as a general, but plenty of courage—a quality of the family. With him he sent Buckingham, Arlington, and Saville as plenipotentiaries. These ministers now hastened to the Hague, and expressed the friendly feeling of England towards Holland. The dowager princess of Holland, who knew what friendliness Charles had shown towards his nephew William, who, Buckingham said, did not wish to use Holland like a mistress, but love like a wife, replied, "Truly, I believe you would love us as you do your wife!" a hard hit. From the Hague they proceeded to the camp of Louis, who, however, before he would treat with the Dutch, made the English sign a new treaty that they would not agree to any separate peace.

The terms then proposed by these allies show how little they were aware of the power yet lurking in the invalid but stubborn and subtle young prince of Orange. Charles required, on his part, the dignity of stadtholder for the prince, his nephew, the acknowledgment of England's sovereignty of the narrow seas, ten thousand pounds per annum for liberty of fishing on the English coasts, and the fortresses of Goree, Flushing, and some others as a guarantee for the payment. Louis demanded all their territory lying on the left bank of the Rhine, all such places as they had formerly wrested from Spain, seventeen millions of livres as indemnification of the costs of the war, which he had himself commenced, and an annual gold medal in acknowledgment of his surrendering the three provinces he had now taken, but in reality in retaliation for the medal which the States had cast on the formation of the triple alliance. They were also to grant freedom of worship to the catholics.

William of Orange bade them reject the whole of these conditions. He told them that even were they beaten to the last, they could transport themselves with their wealth to the Indian Archipelago, and then erect in Java and the isles a new and more resplendent Holland, with a new and vast world around them for their empire. The courage of the people rose at the dauntless spirit of their young prince, and they resolved to resist to the last man. William ordered the dikes to be cut; the invaders were obliged by a precipitate retreat to seek their own safety. Amsterdam was saved, and the different towns of Holland stood isolated amid a vast sea, which no enemy could approach without a vast fleet of flat-bottomed boats, and supplies which must be conveyed by the same mode. Meantime William, where he could reach the French, beat them in several smart actions, and thus further raised the courage of his countrymen, whilst forces from Germany were fast pouring down the Rhine to their aid.

At this first appearance of the hero who was to demolish the continental scheme of Louis's ambition, he displayed the same close and impenetrable character as accompanied him through life, and which he inherited from his ancestor, William I., whom the Spanish named "Silence." After a severe battle at Woerden, one of his officers asked him what he would attempt next. "Can you keep a secret?" asked William. "Yes," said the officer. " And so can I," replied, the prince, drily.

Louis XIV., who by no means relished a campaign of this kind, returned to Paris, and left Turenne to contend with the enemy, who, though he displayed the highest military talents, and still held many strong places, saw that the conquest of. Holland was little better than hopeless. At sea the duke of York arrived off the Dogger Bank, to intercept the Dutch East India fleet in vain, and De Ruyter lay snug in port.

At home Charles had promoted his cabal ministry, as if