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the flag to an English yacht, mentioned certain abusive pictures as a cause of quarrel.(1) The Dutch were at a loss for the meaning of this last article, until it was discovered, that a portrait of Cornelius De Wit, brother to the pensionary, painted by order of certain magistrates of Dort, and hung up in a chamber of the town-house, had given occasion to the complaint. In the back ground of that picture, were drawn some ships on fire in a harbour, which was construed to be Chatham, where De Wit had really distinguished himself. But little did he or his countrymen think, that an obscure allusion to that act of open hostility would rouse the resentment of England. (2) In a word, reasons more false and frivolous were never employed to justify a flagrant breach of treaty.

The French monarch, in his declaration of war, affected more dignity, He did not condescend to specify particulars; he only pretended that the insolence of the Hollanders had been such, that it did not consist with his glory any longer to bear it. They had incurred his displeasure, and he denounced vengeance. This indignant language was ill suited to deliberate violence and injustice; but the haughty Lewis had now completed his preparations, and his ambition was flattered with the most promising views of success.

Never had Europe beheld such a naval and military force, or so extensive a confederacy, since the league of Cambray, as was formed for the destruc tion of the republic of Holland. Sweden, as well as England, was detached from the triple league, by the intrigues of Lewis, in order to be a check upon the emperor. The bishop of Munster, a warlike and rapacious prelate, was engaged by the payment of subsidies and the hopes of plunder to take part with France. The elector of Cologne had also agreed to act offensively against the states; and having consigned Bonne and other towns into the hands of Lewis, magazines were there erected, and it was proposed to invade the United Provinces from that quarter. The combined fleet of France and England, amounting to upwards of a hundred sail, was ready to ravage their coasts; and a French army of a hundred and twenty thousand choice troops, commanded by the ablest generals of the age, was preparing to enter their frontiers.

The Dutch were in no condition to resist such a force, especially by land. The security procured by the peace of Westphalia; the general tranquillity, in consequence of that treaty; the subsequent connexions of the states with France; the growing spirit of commerce; and even their wars with England, had made them neglect their military force, and throw all their strength into the navy. Their very fortifications, on which they had formerly rested their existence, were suffered to go out of repair, and their small army was ill disciplined, and worse commanded. The old experienced officers, who were chiefly devoted to the house of Orange, had been dismissed during the triumph of the rigid republican party, and their places supplied by raw youths, the sons or kinsmen of burgomasters, by whose interest that party was supported. These new officers, relying on the credit of their friends and family, paid no attention to their military duty. Some of them, it is said, were even allowed to serve by deputies, to whom they assigned a small part of their pay.(3)

De Wit, now sensible of his error, in relying too implicitly on the faith of treaties, attempted to remedy these abuses, and to raise a respectable military force for the defence of his country, in this dangerous crisis. But every proposal which he made for that purpose was opposed by the Orange faction, who ascribed to his misconduct alone the defenceless state of the republic; and their power, which had increased with the difficulties of the states, was become extremely formidable, by the popularity of the young prince William III., now in the twenty-second year of his age, and who had already given strong indications of the great qualities which afterward distinguished his active life. For these qualities William was not a little indebted to his gene

(1) Vide Declaration.

(8) Le Clerc. Temple. Voltaire.

(2) Hume, vol. vii. Voltaire, Siécle, chap. in

rous and patriotic rival, De Wit; who, conscious of the precarious situation of his own party, had given the prince an excellent education, and instructed him in all the principles of government and sound policy, in order to render him capable of serving his country, if any future emergency should ever throw the government into his hands.(1)

The conduct of William had hitherto been highly deserving of approbation, and such as could not fail to recommend him to his countrymen. Though encouraged by England and Brandenburg, to which he was allied by blood, to aspire after the stadtholdership, he had expressed his resolution of depending entirely on the states for his advancement. The whole tenor of his behaviour was extremely suitable to the genius of the Hollanders. Grave and silent, even in youth; ready to hear, and given to inquire; destitute of brilliant talents, but of a sound and steady understanding; greatly intent on business, little inclined to pleasure, he strongly engaged the hearts of all men. And the people, remembering what they owed to his family, which had so gloriously protected them against the exorbitant power of Spain, were desirous of raising him to all the authority of his ancestors; as the leader whose valour and conduct could alone deliver them from those imminent dangers with which they were threatened. (2) In consequence of this general predilection, William was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces of the republic, and the whole military power was put into his hands. New levies were made, and the army was completed to the number of seventy thousand men. But raw troops could not of a sudden acquire discipline or experience and the friends of the prince were still dissatisfied, because the perpetual edict, by which he was excluded from the stadtholdership, was not yet revoked. The struggle between the parties continued; and by their mutual animosities, the vigour of every public measure was broken, and the execution of every project retarded.

In the mean time, De Wit, whose maxim, and that of his party, it had ever been to give the navy a preference above the army, hastened the equipment of the fleet; in hopes that, by striking at first a successful blow, he might be able to inspire courage into the dismayed states, as well as to support his own declining authority. Animated by the same hopes, De Ruyter, his firm adherent, and the greatest naval officer of his age, put to sea with ninetyone men of war, and forty-four frigates and fireships, and sailed in quest of the enemy.

The English fleet, under the duke of York and the earl of Sandwich, had already joined the French fleet, commanded by count d'Estrées. With this junction the Dutch were unacquainted, and hoped to take signal vengeance on the English for their perfidious attempt on the Smyrna fleet. When De Ruyter came in sight, the combined fleet, to the number of a hundred and thirty sail, lay at anchor in Solebay. The earl of Sandwich, who had before warned the duke of the danger of being surprised in such a posture, but whose advice had been slighted as savouring of timidity, now hastened out of the bay; where the Dutch, by their fireships, might have destroyed the whole naval force of the two kingdoms. Though determined to conquer or perish, he so tempered his courage with prudence, that the combined fleet was evidently indebted to him for its safety. He commanded the van; and by his vigour and despatch, gave the duke of York and d'Estrées time to disengage themselves. Meanwhile, he himself, rushing into battle with the Hollanders, and presenting a front to every danger, had drawn the chief attention of the enemy. He killed Van Ghent, a Dutch admiral, and beat off his ship, after a furious engagement: he sunk another ship, which attempted to lay him aboard, and two fireships that endeavoured to grapple with him. Though his own ship was much shattered, and of one thousand men she carried, near six hundred lay dead on the deck, he still continued to thunder with all his artillery, and to set the enemy at defiance, until seized on by a third fireship more fortunate than the two former. The ruin

(1) Le Clerc. Temple. Voltaire

(2) Id. ibid.

of his gallant ship was now inevitable; but although sensible of the consequences of remaining on board, he refused to make his escape.(1) So deep had the duke's sarcasm sunk into his mind, that a brave death, in those awful moments, appeared to him the only refuge from ignominy, since his utmost efforts had not been attended with victory.

During this terrible conflict between Van Ghent's division and the earl of Sandwich, the duke of York and De Ruyter were not idle. The duke bore down upon the Dutch admiral, and fought him with such fury for two hours, that of thirty-two actions in which that hoary veteran had been engaged, he declared that this was the most vigorously disputed. Night put a stop to the doubtful contest. Next morning the duke of York thought it prudent to retire.(2) The Dutch, though much disabled, attempted to harass him in his retreat he turned upon them, and renewed the fight. Meantime, sir Joseph Jordan, who had succeeded Sandwich in the command of the van, or blue division, which had hitherto been only partially engaged, having gained the weather-gage of the enemy, De Ruyter fled, from a sense of his danger, and was pursued by the duke to the coast of Holland. As the English hung close on his rear, fifteen of his disabled ships could only have been saved by a sudden fog, which prevented all farther consequences. (3) The French had scarce any share in this action; and as backwardness is not their national characteristic, it was universally believed, that they had received orders to keep at a distance, while the English and Dutch were weakening each other: an opinion which was confirmed by all the subsequent engagements during the war.

It was certainly honourable for the Dutch to have fought, with so little loss, the combined fleet of France and England; but nothing less than a complete victory, and not perhaps even that, could have preserved the credit of De Wit, or prevented the execution of those schemes which were formed for the ruin of his country.

The king of France, having divided his army, consisting of a hundred and twenty thousand men, into three bodies, had put them all in motion about the beginning of May. The first he headed in person, assisted by the famous Turenne; the prince of Condé led the second; and Chamilli and Luxembourg, who were to act either separately or conjunctly, commanded the third. The armies of the elector of Cologne and the bishop of Munster appeared on the other side of the Rhine, and divided the force and attention of the states. Too weak to defend their extensive frontier, the Dutch troops were scattered into so many towns, that no considerable body appeared in the field; and yet a strong garrison was scarcely to be found in any fortress. Orsoy, Wesel, Rhimberg, and Burack were taken almost as soon as invested, by the French generals. Groll surrendered to the bishop of Munster: and Lewis, to the universal consternation of the Hollanders, advanced to the banks of the Rhine.(4)

The passage of that river, so much celebrated by the flatterers of Lewis XIV., had in it nothing extraordinary. The extreme dryness of the season, in addition to the other misfortunes of the Dutch, had much diminished the greatest rivers, and rendered many of them, in some places, fordable. The French cavalry, animated by the presence of their prince, and protected by a furious discharge of artillery, flung themselves into the Rhine, and had only a few fathoms to swim: the infantry, with the king at their head, passed quietly over a bridge of boats; and as only a few Dutch regiments, without any cannon, appeared on the other side, the danger was very small.(5)

(1) Burnet. Temple. King James, in his Memoirs, makes no mention of any disagreement with the earl of Sandwich; but this silence is surely insufficient to weigh against the general testimony of other contemporary writers. It was a circumstance not to his honour, and therefore likely to be concealed. His account of the battle seems in other respects very accurate. (2) King James's Mem. (3) Ibid. (4) Voltaire, Siècle, chap. ix. Henault, 1672. (5) Voltaire, Siècle, chap. ix. Henault, 1672., The notion which generally prevailed of this passage at Paris was, that all the French forces had passed the Rhine by swimming, in the face of an army intrenched on the other side, and amid the fire of artillery from an impregnable fortress called the Tholus. Voltaire, ubi sup.

The attempt, however, was bold, and its success added greatly to the glory of Lewis, and the terror of his arms. Arnheim immediately surrendered to Turenne; and Schenck, which had formerly sustained a siege of nine months, was reduced by the same great commander, in less than half the number of days. Nimeguen, and a number of other towns, were delivered up on the first summons; and the prince of Orange, unable to make head against the victorious enemy, retired into the province of Holland with his small and discouraged army. The progress of Lewis, like the course of an inundation, levelled every thing before it. The town and province of Utrecht sent deputies to implore his clemency. Naerden, within nine miles of Amsterdam, was reduced by the marquis of Rochfort; and had he taken possession of Muyden, the keys of which were delivered to some of his advanced parties, but recovered by the magistrates, when the moment of terror was over, Amsterdam itself must have fallen, and with it perhaps the republic of Holland.

But this opportunity being neglected, the states had leisure to recollect themselves; and the same ambitious vanity, which had induced the French monarch to undertake the conquest of the United Provinces, proved the means of their preservation. Lewis entered Utrecht in triumph, surrounded by a splendid court, and followed by a gallant army, all glittering with gold and silver. Poets and historians attended to celebrate his exploits, and transmit the fame of his victories to posterity. In the course of a few weeks, the three provinces of Guelders, Utrecht, and Overyssel had submitted to his arms: Friesland and Groningen were invaded by his ally, the bishop of Munster; so that the reduction of Holland and Zealand seemed now only necessary to crown his enterprise. But he wasted in vain parade at Utrecht the season proper for that purpose..

In the mean time, the people of the remaining provinces, instead of collecting courage and unanimity from the approach of danger, became still more a prey to faction, and ungovernable and outrageous from their fears. They ascribed all their misfortunes to the unhappy De Wit, whose prudence and patriotism had formerly been the object of such general applause. Not only the bad state of the army, and the ill choice of governors, were imputed to him, but, as instances of cowardice multiplied, treachery was suspected; and his former connexions with France being remembered, the populace believed that he and his party had conspired to betray them to their ambitious enemy. Under this apprehension, and perhaps from a hope of disarming the resentment of the king of England, the torrent of popular favour ran strongly towards the prince of Orange, who, notwithstanding his youth and inexperience, was represented as the only person able to save the republic. The pensionary and his partisans, however, unwilling to relinquish their authority, still opposed the repeal of the perpetual edict; and hence the distracted councils and feeble efforts of the states.

Amsterdam alone, amid the general despondency, seemed to retain any degree of courage or conduct. The magistrates obliged the burgesses to keep strict watch; the populace, whom want of employment might engage to mutiny, were maintained by regular pay, and armed and disciplined for the public defence. Ships were stationed to guard the city by sea; and, as a last resource, the sluices were opened, and the neighbouring country was laid under water, without regard to the fertile fields, the numerous villas, and flourishing villages which were overwhelmed by the inundation!(1) All the province followed the example of the capital.

But the security derived from this expedient was not sufficient to infuse courage into the dejected states. The body of the nobles, and eleven towns, voted to send ambassadors to the hostile kings, in order to supplicate peace. They offered to surrender Maestricht, and all the frontier towns which lay beyond the limits of the seven provinces, and to pay a large sum towards the expenses of the war. Fortunately for the republic and for Europe, these

(1) Voltaire, Siècle, chap. ix. Temple's Mem. part. ii.

conditions were rejected. Lewis, in the absence of Turenne, listened to the violent counsels of his minister Louvois, whose unreasonable demands threw the states into a despair that overcame their fears. The demands of Charles were not more moderate. The terms, in a word, required by the two monarchs, would have deprived the commonwealth of all security by sea as well as by land, and have reduced it to a state of perpetual dependence. Yet were the provinces still agitated by the animosities of faction. Enraged to find their country enfeebled by party jealousy, when its very political existence was threatened, the people rose at Dort, and forced their magistrates to sign the repeal of the perpetual edict. Other cities followed the example, and the

prince of Orange was declared stadtholder.

This revolution, so favourable to the defence of the republic, was followed by a lamentable tragedy. The talents and virtues of the pensionary De Wit marked him out as a sacrifice to the vengeance of the Orange party, now triumphant. But popular fury prevented the interposition of power. Cor nelius De Wit, the pensionary's brother, who had so often served his country with his sword, was accused, by a man of an infamous character, of endeavouring to bribe him to poison the prince of Orange. The accusation, though attended with the most improbable, and even absurd circumstances, was greedily received by the credulous multitude, and even by the magistrates. Cornelius was cited before a court of judicature, and put to the torture, in order to extort a confession of his crime. He bore with the most intrepid firmness all that cruelty could inflict: but he was stripped notwithstanding of his employments, and sentenced to banishment for life. The pensionary, who had supported his brother through the whole prosecution, resolved not to desert him in his disgrace. He accordingly went to his prison, on purpose to accompany him to the place of his exile. The signal was given to the populace. They broke open the prison doors: they pulled out the two brothers; and wounded, mangled, and tore them to pieces ;(1) exercising on their dead bodies acts of barbarity too horrid to relate.

The massacre of the De Wits, by extinguishing for a time the animosities of party, gave vigour and unanimity to the councils of the state. All men, from fear, inclination, or prudence, concurred in paying the most implicit obedience to the prince of Orange; and William, worthy of that heroic family from which he was descended, adopted sentiments becoming the head of a brave and free people. He exhorted them to reject with scorn those humiliating conditions demanded by their imperious enemies; and by his advice, the states put an end to negotiations which had served only to depress the courage of the citizens, and delay the assistance of their allies. He showed them, that, aided by the advantages of their situation, they would still be able, if they abandoned themselves not to despondency, to preserve the remaining provinces, until the other nations of Europe, made sensible of their common danger, could come to their relief. And he professed himself willing to undertake their defence, provided they would second his efforts with the same manly fortitude, which they had so often discovered under his illustrious predecessors.

The spirit of the young prince seemed to diffuse itself into every breast. The people, who had lately entertained only thoughts of yielding their necks to subjection, now bravely determined to resist the haughty victor, and to defend that remnant of their native soil, of which neither the arms of Lewis nor the inundation of waters had as yet bereaved them. Should even the ground on which they might combat fail them, to use the forcible language of Hume, they were still resolved not to yield the generous strife; but flying to their settlements in the East Indies, erect a new empire in the south of Asia, and preserve alive even in the climates of slavery, that liberty of which Europe was unworthy.(2) They had already concerted measures, we are told, for executing this extraordinary resolution; and found, that the ships in

(1) Temple's Mem. part ii. See also Burnet, Basnage, Le Clerc, the Gazette, No. 704, preserved in several Histories. (2) Hist. Eng. vol. vii

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