Life and Death of John of Barne

nment-Ledenberg's E

oississe-Aerssens ad

Advocate-Barneveld'

t-Du Maurier's Speech

e-Barneveld prepare

cut

rrest from the chamber in Maurice's apartments, where he ha

innenhof. On the first floor was a courtroom of considerable extent, the seat of one of the chief tribunals of justice The story above was divided into three chambers with a narrow corridor on each side. The first chamber, on the north-eastern side, was appropriated for the judges when the state prisoners s

and leaning on his staff, entered the room appropriated

miral of Arrago

f war in that memorable victory over the Spaniards, and now Maurice's faithful and trusted counsellor at that epo

ite building were the windows of the beautiful "Hall of Truce," with its sumptuous carvings and gildings, its sculptures and portraits, where he had negotiated with the representatives of all the great powers of Christendom the famous Treaty which h

he Republic and of Europe had for years been conducted, and where he had been so indispensable that, in the words of a contem

ney-stacks, while within a stone's throw to the west, but unseen, was his own elegant mansion on the Voorhout, surrounded

ame, and a sentinel stood constantly before his door. His papers had

solitude, but his wife was allowed to send him fruit from their garden. One day a basket of fine saffron pears was brought to him. On slicing one with

Prince of Orange has changed the magistracies in

cket to take home to his wife. The letter, copies of which perhaps had been inserted for safety in

rst of the prisoners subjected to examination. He was much depressed at the beginning of it, and

Excellency had been postponed after the deputies of the States of Holland had proposed a delay in that disbandment; that those deputies had come to Utrecht of their own accord; . . . . that they had judged it possible to keep everything in proper order in Utrecht if the garrison in the city paid by Holland were kept quiet, and if the States of Utrecht gave similar orders to the Waartgelders; for they did not believe that his Excellenc

certain that the extent of the revelations seemed far from satisfactory to the accusers, and that some pressure would be necessary in order to extract anything more conclusive. Lieutenant Nythof told Grotius that Ledenbe

eturning to prison. He then entrusted a paper written in French to his son Joost, a boy of eighteen, who did not underst

which was stone cold. He spoke to him and received no answer. He gave the alarm, the watch came in with lights, and it was found that Ledenberg had given h

ven to his son was fou

hoods as they say, and then to found an ignominious sentence upon points and trifles, for this it will be necessary to do in order to justify the arrest and imprisonment. To

custody until he could be tried, and, if possible, convicted and punished. It was to be seen whether it were so easy to baffle the power of the States-General,

tracted Commonwealth before the arrest of the prisoners, now exerted themselves to throw the sh

ng among your citizens. Until now, the Union has been the chief source of your strength. And I now fear that the King my master, the adviser of your renowned Commonwealth, maybe offended that you have taken this resolution after consulting with others, and without communicating your intention to his ambassador . . . . It is but a few days that an open edict was issued testifying to the fidelity of Barneveld, and can it be possible that within so short a time you have discovered that you have been deceived? I summon you once more in the name of the King to lay aside all passion, to judge these affairs without partiality, and to inform

as but a cheerful fiction to call the present King the guide and counsellor of the Republic, and that, distraught as she was by the present commotions, her condition was

d committed acts of treason and rebellion, they deserved exemplary punishment, but the ambassadors warned the States-General with great earnestness against the dangerous doctri

ublic and all princes and commonwealths for his witnesses. It is most difficult to believe that he h

neither suspected nor impassioned, and who will decide according to the laws of the land, and on clear and undeniable evidence . . . . So doi

he Assembly that the King would be deeply offended, deeming it thus

sciousness of their innocence." They promised that the sentence upon them when pronounced would give entire satisfaction to all their allies and to the King of France in particular, of whom they spoke throughout the document in terms of profound

aborate and courteous commonplaces to the King, in which they expressed a

his companions. Such expressions as "ambitious and factious spirits,"-"authors and patrons of the faction,"-"attempts at novelty through changes

d Grotius by means of an ingenious device of the distinguished scholar,

ey were not touched but remained closed. The verses were to this effect. "The examination of the Advocate proceeds slowly, but there is good hope from the serious indignation of the French king, whose envoys are devoted to the cause of the prisoners, and have been informed that justice will be

the intelligence thus communicated in the proofsheets of Secun

Constant efforts made to attract his attention to those poems however excited suspicion among his kee

nary examination which took place, like the first interrogatories

towards himself. He knew that a short time before this epoch there had been a scheme for introducing his young brother, Frederic Henry, into the Chamber of Knights. The Count had become proprietor of the barony of Naaldwyk, a property which he had purchased of the Counts of Arenberg, and which carried with it the hereditary dignity of Great Equerry of the Counts of Holland. As the Counts of Holland had ceased to exist, although their sovereignty had nearly been revived and co

the States and of the college of nobles prescribed that Hollanders only of ancient and noble race and possessing estates in the province could sit in that body. Neither Aerssens nor Hartaing was born in Holland or possessed of the other needful qualifications. Nevertheless, the Prince, who had just remodelled all the municipalities throughout the Union which offered resistance to his authority, was not to be checked by so trifling an impediment as the statutes of the House of Nobles. He employed very muc

idering the strong desire of his Excellency the Prince of Orange, we, the nobles and knights of Holland, admit them with the firm promise to each other by noble and knight

from him during many years, and the author of the venomous pamphlets and diatribes which had done so much of late to blacken the character of the great s

e of a bird of prey, and a deluge of curly brown beard reaching to his waist, took his seat as president.

one country were forbidden by God's Word, and that thenceforth by Netherland

eternally blessed. But this history has little to do with that infallible council save in the political effect of its decrees on the fate of Barneveld. It was said that the c

the great duel between Priesthood and State had been decided when

ecision as to the fate of the state prisoners, until t

the opinions of the Arminians and the chastis

illing any clerical or academical post. No man thenceforth was to teach children, lecture to adolescents, or preach to the mature, unless a subscriber to the doctrines of the unchanged, uncha

re inexorably bound to

immense multitude, which were further enlivened by the decree that both Creed and Catechism had stood the test of several criticisms and come out unchanged by a single hair. Nor did the orator of the occasion fo

r 1618 and 29th May 1619, all the doings of which have been recorded in

mpanions of his fate

quill concealed in a pear and by other devices. The man who had governed one of the most important commonwealths of the world for nearly a generation long-during the same period almost controlling the politics of Europe-had now been kept in ignorance of the most insignificant everyday events.

room, and he was allowed the services of his faithful domestic servant John Franken. A sentinel paced day and night up the narrow corridor before his door. As spring advanced, the notes of the nightingale came through the prison-window from the neighbouring thicket. One day John Franken, opening the window that his master mi

, he was compelled to prepare his defence against a vague, heterogeneous collection of charges, to meet which required constant reference, not only to the statutes, privileges, an

by day to confront two dozen hostile judges comfortably seated at a great table piled with papers, surrounded by clerks with bags full of documents and with a library of authorities and precedents duly marked and dog's-eared and ready to their hands, while his only

ed to him. But as the terrible old man advanced into the room, leaning on his staff, and surveying them with the air of haughty command habitual to him, they shrank

listened to and answered 'ex tempore' the elaborate series

subsequent proceedings. He was a great officer of the States of Holland. He had been taken under their especial protection. He was on his way to the High Council. He was in no sense a subject of the States-General. He was in the discharge of his official duty. He was doubly and trebly sacred from arrest. The place where he stood was on the territory of Holland and in the very sanctuary of her court

ected or it was to be trampled upon. If it was to be trampled upon, it signified little whether more commissioners were to be taken from Holland than from each of the other provinces, or fewer, or none at all. Moreover it was pretended that a majority of the whole board was to be assigned to that province. But twe

lty of an offence. There was no supreme court of appeal. Machinery was provided for settling or attempting to settle disputes among the members of the confederacy, and if there was a culprit in this great process it was Holland itself. Neither the Advocate nor any one of his associates had done any act except by authorit

se were amenable to th

emies of Barneveld. Many of them were totally ignorant of law. Some of them knew not a word of any langu

ought day by day during a period of nearly three months; coming down stairs from the mean and desolate ro

hem, or advocates to sift testimony and contend for or against the prisoner's guilt. The process, for it could not be called a trial, consisted of a vast series of rambling and tangled interrogatories reaching over a space of forty years

It was the attempt of a multitude of p

harges against him, that he might ponder his answer. The demand was refused. He was forbidden

ough for the task. It was well for the judges that they had bound themselves, at the outset, by an oath never to make known what passed in the courtroom, but to bury all the proceedings in profound secrecy forever. Had it been otherwise, had that been known to the contemporary public which has only been revealed more than two centuries later, had a portion only of the calm and austere eloquence been heard in which the Advocate set forth his defence, had the frivolous and ignoble nature

of thriving cities which had wrested or purchased a mass of liberties, customs, and laws from their little tyrants, all subjected afterwards, without being blended together, to a single foreign family, had at last one by one, or two by two, shaken off

e had not been invented. It was not provinces only, but cities, that had contracted with each other, according to the very first words of the first Article of Union. S

ligious and secular rights of the inhabitants. It was stipulated that no province should interfere with another in such matters, and that every individual in them all should remain free in his religion, no man being molested or examined on account of his creed. A farther declaration in regard to this famous article was made to the effect that no provinces or cities which held to the Roman Catholic religion were to be excluded from the League of Union if they were ready to conform to its conditions and comport thems

rous, and if its defects had been flagrantly demonstrated by recent events, a more reasonable method of reforming t

d and distorted, though wide-spreading and vigorous. It seemed perilous to deal radically with such a polity,

tual preponderance of Holland. Two-thirds of the total wealth and strength of the seven republics being concentrated in one province, the desi

ttempted to give in the preceding pages. A great part of the accusation was deduced from his private and official correspondence, and it is for this reason that I have laid such copious extracts from it before the reader. No man except the ju

bound in time of peace to be obedient and faithful, not only to the Generality and the stadholders, but to the magistrates of the cities and provinces where they were employed, and to the states by whom they were paid. He had sent to Leyden, warning the authorities of the approach of the Prince. He had encouraged all the proceedings at Utrecht, writing a letter to the secretary of that province advising a watch to be kept at the city gates as well as in the river, and ordering his letter when read to be burned. He had received presents from foreign potentates. He had attempted to damage the character of his Excellency the Prince by declaring on various occasions that he aspired to the sovereignty of the country. He had hel

ibes from the enemy or held traitorous communication wi

made familiar, had thus been ransacked to find treasonable matter, but the result was meagre

was due to the Greffier Cornelis Aerssens, father of the Ambassador

invention went back a dozen years, even to the preliminar

n by name, for 80,000 ducats. These were handed by Father Neyen, the secret agent of the Spanish government, to the Greffier as a prospective reward for his services in furthering the Truce. He did not reject them, but he informed Prince Maurice a

of the elder Aerssens, and required him to publish as good a defence as he could against the consequent sc

rssens. Krauwels did not know who the person was, nor whether he took the money. He expressed his surprise however that leading persons in the government "even old and authentic beggars"-should allow themselves to be so seduced as to accept presents from the enemy. He mentioned two such persons, namel

ates-General and had given them over the presents. But the States-General could neither wear the diamond nor cash the bill of exchange, and it would have been better for the Greffier not to contaminate his fingers with them, but to leave the gifts in the monk's palm. His revenge against the Advocate for helping h

ple of the proceedings empl

olas van Berk was at

ourselves again to the King of Spain." Barneveld had also referred, so said van Berk, to the conduct of the Spanish king towards those who had helped him to the kingdom of Portugal. The Burgomaster was unable however to specify the date, year, or month in which the Advocate had hel

in the tenacious memory of the Burgomaster for eight years, as Barneveld h

Berk, than those indicated in this deposition against the Advocate as coming from that sta

he was obliged to make, in fragmentary and irregular form, against these discursive and confused assaults upon him. A

his memory, he seemed rather like a sage expounding law and history to a class of pupils than a criminal defending himself before a bench of commissioners. Moved occasionally from his austere simplicity, the majestic old man rose to a strain of indignant eloquence which might have shaken the hall of a vast

embly no power over him. They could take no legal cognizance of his person or his acts. He had been deprived of writing materials, or he would have already drawn up his solemn protest and arg

lder there, a vassal of the Commonwealth of Holland, enfeoffed of many notable estates in that country, serving many honourable offices by commission from its government. By birth, promotion, and conferred dignities he wa

es but the Prince of Orange as their governor and vassal, the nobles of Holland, the colleges of justice, the regents of cities, an

to remain in offices of which he was weary, he referred with dignity to the record of his past life. From the youthful days when he had served as a volunteer at his own expense in the perilous sieges of Haarlem and Leyden down to

matter not for himself alone but for their Mightinesses the States of Holland and for the other provinces. The precious right 'de non evocando' had ever been dear to all the p

n the solemn complaint of the States all princes, nobles, and citizens not only in the Netherlands but in foreign countries, and all foreign kings and sovereigns

eir whole authority and right of sovereignty to be transferred to a board of commissioners like this before which he stood. If, for example, a general union of France, England, and the States of the United Netherlands should be formed (and the very words of the Act of Union contempl

owing the sovereignty of the Provinces on France and on England, special and full p

States-General, they might have transferred it

province to the General Assembly always required a special power fr

n it passed to the states succeeding to their ancient sovereignty. He then gave from the stores of his memory innumerable instances in which soldiers had been enlisted by provinces and cities all over the Netherlands from the time of the abjuration of Spain down to that moment. Through the whole period of independence in the time of Anjou, Matthias, Leicester, as well as under the actual government, it

proceedings from that day almost to our own and an ignorant acquiescence of a considerable portion of the public in accomplished facts offer the only explanation of a mystery which must ever excite our wonder. If there were any impeachment at all, it was an impeachment of the form of government itself. If language could mean anything whatever, a mere perusal of the Articles of Uni

ed on Prince Maurice the States of that province had solemnly reserved for themselves the disposition ov

le or possible. In 1602 the States General in letters addressed to the States of the obedient provinces under dominion of the Archdukes had invited them to take up arms to help drive the Spaniards

a thorough familiarity with a subject of theology which then made up so much of the daily business of life, political and private, and lay at the bottom of the terrible convulsion then existing in the Netherlands. We turn from it with a shudder, reminding the reader

freedom of opinion on those points. For himself he believed that the salvation of mankind would be through God's unmerited grace and the redemption of sins though the Saviour, and that the man who so held and persevered to the end was predestined to eternal happiness, and that his children dying before the age of reason were destined not to Hell but to Heaven. He had thought fifty years long that the passion and sacrifice of Christ the Saviour were more potent to salvation than God's wrath

to Turks and devil-worshippers, he replied that he had always detested and rebuked those mutual revilings by every means in his power, and would have wished t

had done in all his letters, from saying a disrespectful word as to the glaring inconsistency between the two communications, or to the hostility manifested towards himself personally by the British ambassador. He had always expressed the hope, he said, that the King wou

ather, he thought, it would strengthen the Church and attract many Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, and other good patriots into its pale. He had always opposed the compulsory acceptance by the people of the special opinions of scribes and doctors. H

ich might prove its ruin. Many questions of property, too, were involved in the question-the church buildings, lands and pastures belonging to the Counts of Holland and their successors-th

ever been the intention of the States-General

t freedom the first and foremost point was the true Christian religion and liberty of conscience and opinion. There must be religion in the Republic, he had said, but that the war was carried on to sustain the opinion of one doctor of divinity or another on-differential points was something he had neve

egotiations so to direct matters that the Catholics wi

years after the Truce. He furthermore stated that it was chiefly by his direction that the discourse of President Jeannin-urging on part of the French king

re than one occasion to join the Union, promising that there should be no interference on the part of any states or individuals with the internal affairs religious or otherwise of the provinces accepting the invitation. But it would have been a gross contradiction of his own principle if he had promised so to direct matters that the Catholics should have public right of worship in Holland where he knew that the civil authority was sure to refuse it, or in any of the other six provinces in whose internal affairs he had no voice whatever. He was opposed to all tyranny over conscience, he would have done his utmost to prevent inquis

history which had just closed and the awful tragedy, then reopening-that every spark of religious liberty would have soon been trodden out in the Netherlands. The general onslaught of the League with Ferdinand, Maximilian of Bavaria, and Philip of Spain at its head against the distracted, irresolute, and wavering line of Protestantism across the whole of Europe was just preparing. Rather a wilderness to reign over than a single heretic, was the war-cry of the Emperor. The King of Spain, as we have just been reading in his most secret, ciphered despatches to the Archduke at Brussels, was nursing sanguine h

tion of a pledge to maintain the Evangelical, Reformed, religion solely, but it was never carried out. He disdained to argue so self-evident a truth, that a confederacy which had admitted and constantly invited Catholic states to membership, under solemn pledge of noninterference with their religious affairs, had no right to lay down formulas for the Refor

ederacy, of its whole spirit, and of liberty of conscience. He admitted that he had himself drawn up a protest on the part of three provinces (Holland, Utrecht, and Overyssel) against the decree for the National Synod as a breach of the Union, declaring it to be therefore null and void and binding upon no man. He had dictated the protest as oldest member present, while Grotius

ng times of political and religious excitement, it was the most ordinary of occurrences. In his experience of more than

citizens of a town against another portion, when party and religious spirit was running high. His experience had taught him that the mutual hatred of the inha

fty years," said Barneveld, "that it is better to be governed by magistrates than mobs. I have always maintained and still maintain that the most disastrous, shameful, and ruinous co

ampled upon and mob rule had prevailed. Certainly the recent example in the great commercial capital of the country-where the house of a foremost citizen had been besieged, stormed, and sacked, and a virtuous matron of the higher class hunted like a wild beast through the streets by a rabble grossly ignorant of the very

ubmitted to him. He was himself a born citizen of that province, and therefore especially interested in its welfare, and there was an old and intimate friendship between Utrecht and Holland. It would have been painful to him to

nlisted soldiery and substituting for them other troops, native-born, who should be sworn in the usual form to obey the laws of the Union. The deputation from Holland to Utrecht, according to his personal knowledge, had received no instructions personal or oral to au

er heard a pretence that it justified anything not expressly sanctioned by the Articles of Union, and neither the States of Holland nor those of Utrecht had made any change in the oath. The States of Utrecht were sovereign within their own territory, and in the

denberg, and why he was so anxious that the letter

against tumults, disorders, and sudden assaults such as had often happened to her in times past. As for the postscript requesting that the letter might be put in the fire, he said that not being

es. He had never sought to cast suspicion on the Prince himself on account of those schemes. On the contrary, he had not even formally opposed them. What he wished had always been that such projects should be discussed formally, legally, and above board. After the lamentable murder of the late Prince he had himself recommended to the authorities

wer than accept the sovereignty. Barneveld replied that the Prince according to the same authority had added "under the conditions which had been imposed upon his f

emonstrants to raise the Prince to the sovereignty. He had therefore in 1616 brought the matter before the nobles and cities in a communication setting forth to the best of his recollection that under these religious disputes something else was intended. He had desired ripe conclusions on the matter, such as should most conduce to the service of the country. This had been in good faith both to the Prince and the Provinces, in order that, should a change in the government be th

hange they would desire. He had assured their Mightinesses that they might rely upon him to assist in carrying out their intentions whatever they might be. He had inferred however from the Prince's i

told them that, if his Excellency chose to speak to him in regard to it, would listen to his reasoning about it, both as regarded the interests of the country and the Prince himself, and then should desire him to propose and advocate it before the Assembly, he would do so with earnestness, zeal, and af

e Provinces, should they come into power, to raise Prince Maurice to the sovereignty. He had communicated on the subject with Grotius and other deputies in order that, if this should prove

how unwillingly the Prince heard him allude to the subject, and that moreover there was another cl

o Langerac of a scheme for bestowing the sovereignty of the Provinces on the King of France. The reader will also

d made on the subject were neither for discrediting the Prince nor for counteracting the schemes for his advancement. On the contrary, he had conferred with deputies from great cities like Dordtrecht, Enkhuyzen, and Amster

nd to the Stadholder. His duty was to maintain the constitution and laws so long as they remained unchanged. Should it appear that the States,

vereignty, which had a generation before been conferred upon his fath

the light to lay down all h

he party most opposed to himself, he had sufficient proof. To the leaders of that party therefore he suggested that the

meanly, secretly, and falsely circulated statement

en, in the course of

Advocate had conceal

Prince. He was aske

sador Langerac, he or

autious about making

estions were put in

have read in the Archi

ey are in the form of

ddressed to Barneveld

mission to France in

by the Advocate. The

ence to t

y I ordinarily writ

great and imp

find much that was t

ed why he had given no attention to those who had so, fre

of the Netherlanders, and the necessity of equipping vessels both for traffic and defence, and had come to the conclusion that these matters could best be directed by a general company. He explained in detail the manner in which he had procured the blending of all the isolated chambers into one great East India Corporation, the enormous pains which it had cost him to bring it about, and the great commercial and national success which had been the result. The Admiral of Aragon, when a prisoner after the battle of Nieuwpoort, had told him, he said, that the union of these petty corporations into one great whole had been as disastrous a blow to the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal as the Union of the Provinc

n as shallow and despicable as they seem to us enlightened, it is passing

it was scarcely high-treason to oppose it. There is no doubt however that the disapprobation with which Barneveld regarded the West India Co

n and the damnation of infants, but to frustrate a magnificent system of

ity of memory which enabled him thus day after day, alone, unaided by books, manuscripts, or friendly counsel, to reconstruct the record of forty years, and to expound the laws of the land by

ality, and treacherous correspondence with the enemy-for they never once dared

ed over a period of twenty or thirty years, and amounted to many hundred thousands of florins, growing out of purchases and sales of lands, agricultural enterprises on his estates, money

ies, not satisfied with having wounded his heart with their falsehoods, vile forgeries, and honour-robbing libels, w

fe received one penny nor the value of one penny from the King of Spain, the Archdukes, Spinola, or any other person connected with the enemy, saving only the presents publicly and mutually conferred according to invariable custom by the high contracting parties, upon the respective negotiators at conclusion of the Treaty of Truce. Even these gifts Barneveld had moved his colleagues not to accept, but proposed that they should all be paid into the public treasury. He had been overruled, he said, but that any dispassionate man of tolerable intelligence could ima

had contributed to, funds for the national defence in the early days of the revolt. These were things which led directly to the Council of Blood and the gibbet. He had borne arms himself on various bloody fields and had been perpetually a deputy to the rebel camps. He had been the original mover of the Treaty of Union which was concluded between the Provinces at Utrecht. He had been the first to propose and to draw up the declaration of Netherland independence and the abjuration of the King of Spain. He had b

, official, and perfectly legitimate, had agreed, when his finances should be in better condition, to discharge his obligations; over and above the customary diplomatic present which he received publicly in common with his colleague Admiral Nassau. This promise, fulfilled a dozen years later, had been one of the senseless charges of corruption brought against him. He had been one of the negotiators of the Truce in which Spain had been compelled to treat with her revolted provinces as with free states and her equals. He had promoted the union of the Protestant pri

radicted with disdain and disgust. He had ever abhorred and dreaded, he said, the House of Spain, Austria, and Burgundy. His life had passed in open hostility to that house, as was known to all mankind. His mere personal interests, apart from higher considerations, would make an approach to the former sovereign impossible, for besides the

as his personal enemies, he said, all those who had declared that he, before or since the Truce down to the day of his arrest, had held correspondence with the Spaniards, the Archdukes, the Marquis Spinola, or any one on that side, had received money, money value, or promises of money from them, and in consequence had done or omitted to do anything whatever. He denounced such tales as notorious, shameful, and villainous falsehoods, the utterers and circulators of them as wilful liars, and this he was ready to maintain in every appropriate way for t

y man in the land could clearly see, and were bound to see, that he was the same man now tha

ner would be acquitted of the graver charges, or that at most he would be permanently displaced from all office and declared incapable thenceforth to serve the State. The triumph of the Contra-Remonstrants since the Stadholder had

severely dealt with than had been anticipated was the proclamation by

igns-had been saved by the convocation of a National Synod; that a lawful sentence was soon to be expected upon those who had been disturbing the Commonwealth; that through this sentence general tranquil

although the motive for the fasting and prayer was not mentioned to them. Each of them in his separate prison ro

rneveld looked upon the result of

t greedily, and preached lengthy thanksgiving sermons, giving praise to God that, He had confounded the

age of this proclamation, in which for the first time allusio

had returned to France, having found that the government of a country torn, weakened, and rendered almost impotent by

al appeals, intercessions, and sermons in behalf of mercy. They made him feel

they could be convicted of treason, and that the States ought to show as much deference to his sovereign as they had always done to Elizabeth of England. He made a personal appeal to Prince Maurice

ardened against such eloque

e great statesman, whose aims, in their firm belief, had ever been for the welfare and glory of his fatherland, and in whose heart there had never

ted the walls within which were such braised and bleeding hearts. These demonstrations of a noble hypocrisy, if such it were, excited the wrath, not the compassion, of the Stadholder, who thought that the a

on the Contra-Remonstrant side, had a veneration for the Advocate and des

en willing to implore pardon for him, the sentence would have been remitted or commuted. Their

by his reasoning that it would be better that the Fiscal should do it. Duyck had a long interview accordingly with Maurice, which was followed by a very secret one between them both and Count William. The three were locked up together, three hours long, in the Prince's private cabinet. It was then decided that Count William should go, as if

hat lady was besought to apply, with the rest of the Advocate's children, for pardon to the Lords St

he came again to the Princess, and informed her that she had spoken with the other children, and that they co

iew to Count William, at which both were so dis

that the Advocate would have expressly dictated this proceeding if he had been consulted. It was precisely the course adopted by himself. Death rather than life with a

presented to the judges three separate documents, rather in the way of arguments than petitions, undertaking to prove by elaborate reasoning and

been taken of

ecification of crime. There had been no testimony or evidence. There had been no argument for the prosecution or the defence. There had been no trial whatever. The prisoner was convicted on a set of questions to which he had put in satisfactory replies. He was s

lly registered as such in the process and the sentence; while the fact that he had not been stretched upon the rack during his tri

ly afflicted the Church of God, and carried into practice exorbitant and pernicious maxims of State . . . inculcating by himself and accomplices that each province had the right t

btained from the King of Great Britain certain letters furthering his own opinions, the drafts of which he had himself suggested, and corrected and sent over to the St

ies in political affairs as were most likely to be the instruments of his own purposes. He had not prevented vigorous decrees from being enforced in several places against those of the true religion. He had made them odious by calling them Puritans, foreigners, and "Flanderizers,"

the soldiers, authorizing them to refuse obedience to the States-General and his Excellency. He had especially stimulated the proceedings at Utrecht. When it was understood that the Prince was to pass through Utrecht, the States of that province not without the prisoner's knowledge had addressed a letter to his Excellency, requesting him not to pass through their city. He had written a l

for the disbandment could be carried out. At a secret meeting in the house of Tresel, clerk of the States-General, between Grotius, Hoogerbeets, and other accomplices,

that he aspired to the sovereignty of the Provinces. He had recei

ertain proposed, notable alliance of

without doubt, to th

aron at the end

potentates various large sums

to a blood-bath, and likewise to bring the whole country, a

amplified by repetitions and exasperati

e commissioners that all the graver charges which he was now said to hav

red to assert that the States-General were sovereign, or that the central government had a right to prescribe a religious formulary for al

e was much, of assertion very littl

e, during a career of more than forty years, but which were said to be no longer in accordance with public opinion, to be dealt with? Would the commissioners request him to retire honourably from the high functions which he had over and over again offered t

re severe than either of these measures. Their long

prisoner to be taken to the Binnenhof, there to be executed with the swo

ace so soon as the sentence

t appeared before his judges. He had

nt," said his master. "The time seems much longer because we get no news now f

the 11th May that the sentence was

ng up and concealing his papers, including a long account of his examination, with the questions and answers, in his Spanish ar

elighted, not dreaming

y equitable, reasonable, or even decent procedure should have been entrusted to the first lawyers of the country-preparing the case upon the law and the facts with the documents before them, with the power of cross-questioning witnesses and sifting evidence, and enlightened by constant conferences with the illustrious prisoner himself-came entirely upon his own shoulders, enfeebled as he was by age, physical illness, and by the exhaus

d three gentlemen entered. Two were the prosecuting officers of the government, Fiscal Sylla and Fiscal

anding, with his hands placed on the back of his chair and with one knee resting carelessly against the arm of it. Van Leeuwen asked him if he would not rather be seated, as they brought

g the words over thrice, with an air of astonishment rather than of horror. "I never expected that! I thought they were going to hear my

pressed himself as well acquainted with them. "He was sorry

ee how they will answer it before God. Are they thus to deal with a true patriot? Let

" said van Leenwen, "and I cannot think

the Advocate exclaimed, look

ther could only have seen to

was

sion. Pen, ink, and paper were brought, and the prisoner calmly sat down to write, with

ware, my lord, what you write, lest you put down somethin

, took the glasses from his eye

ou in these my last moments lay down the la

half-smile, "Well, wh

down the law," said van Leeuwen. "You

deputy to the Synod of Dordtrecht, a learned and amiable man, sent by the States-General

knowing him, ask

" said the clergyman. "I come to c

present age, and I know how to console myself.

uld withdraw and return when

the Advocate, calmly go

inspection, by whom it was at once forwarded to the family mansi

it

old man, for all my services done well and faithfully to the Fatherland for so many years (after having performed all respectful and friendly offices to his Excellency the Prince with

d and their nobles and cities. To the States of Utrecht as sovereigns of my own Fatherland I have imparted at their request upright and faithful counsel, in order to save them from tumults of

for me to Almighty God, who will grac

r of sorrow, th

nd, father, father-in

OF BAR

emnation was to rest before the public on his confessions of guilt, and here in the instant of learning the nature of the sentence in a few hours to

or his somewhat abrupt greeting on his first appearance. He was much occupied and did not know him, he said, although

ohn Franken had just heard with grief unspeakable the melancholy news of his master's condemnation from two soldiers of the guard, who had been sent by the judges to keep additional watch over the prisoner. He was however as great a stoic as his master, and with no outward and superfluous manifestations of woe had

amber and looking over his shoulder saw the

der Meulen's orders, and that the soldiers had also been instructed to look to it

tion is held over me in these last hours? Can I not speak a w

ke their conduct amiss as they we

in his chair, and begged Walaeus to

s, and principles permitted. If I, in the discharge of my oath and official functions, have ever done anything c

airs and crossed the courtyard to the Stadholder'

ad often warned him against his mistaken courses. Two things, however, had always excited his indignation. One was that Barneveld had accused him of aspiring to sovereignty. T

leave the apartment, the

of a pardon?" he aske

I cannot with truth say that I under

he interview. He was unwilling however to state the particulars of the offe

upon knowing, the clergyman r

t it is true that I had fear and apprehension that he aspired to the sovereignty or to more authority in the country.

soner's apartment. La Motte could not look upon the Advocate's face without weeping, but the others were more collected. Conve

constitutional and controversial point of view. He was perfectly calm and undaunted at the awful fate so suddenly and unexpectedly opened be

prehend why I am to die. I have done nothing except in obedience to the laws

er maxims prevail in the State than those of my day. T

no children and were conscientious men; that it was no small thing to condem

the Lord my God, who knows all hearts

d them. To them alone I was responsible. In their place they have put many of my enemies who were never before in the government, and almost all of whom are young men who have n

n much too hard. I have frequently requested to see the notes of my examination as it proceeded, and to confer upon it with aid and counsel of friends, as would be the case in all lands governed by law. The request was refused. During this long and wearisome affliction and misery I have not

itterness of those long past but never forgotten days when he, with other patriotic youths, had faced the terrible legions of Alva in defence of the Fatherland, at a time when the men who were now doomin

eedings against himself as a violation of the laws of the land and of the first principles of

y said, and had no instructions to speak of them. They had been sent to call him t

to say notwithstanding." The conversation then turned upon

sin through our Redeemer Jesus Christ is predestined to be saved, and that this belief in his salvation, founded alone on God's grace and the merits of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, comes to him through the same grace of God. And if he falls

rs of theology in whom he confided, and they had assured him that he might tranquilly cont

of heaven to a man before he could be saved. Hereupon they began to dispute, and the Advocate spoke so

ormed that its decrees had not yet been promulga

f Holland had been heeded there would have been first a provincial synod and then a national one."-"But," he added, looking the preachers in the face, "had you b

nd then they asked him if there was nothing that troubled him in, his conscience in the matters for which

letters to Caron-confidential ones written several years ago to an old friend when I was troubled and seeking

f the Waartgelders and the State rights, and the villainous pasq

could muster. The disunion and mutual enmity in the country have wounded me to the heart. I have made use of all means in my power to accommodate matters, to effect with all gentleness a mutual reconciliation. I have always felt a fear lest the enemy should make use of our internal dissensions to strike a blow against us. I can say with perfect truth that ever since the year '77 I ha

me moment, when, if ever, a man might be expected to tell the truth. And his whole life which belonged to history, and had be

hat, twelve years before, the Advocate wished to subject the country to Spain, and that S

La Motte, and they were then requested to return by three or four o'clock next morning. They had been dire

ss, and he went to bed as usual. Taking off

ldest son

er might speak to him before he slept. But the soldiers ordered

the other, Tilman Schenk by name, to permit him some private words with his master. He had probably last messages, he thought, to send to his wife and chi

s, who had been sent to the prison, and who now read to him the Consolations of the Sick. As he read, he made exhortations and expositions, which led to animated discussi

mple-hearted sentry to the valet, "your mas

e place had been prepare

d," said Bayerus, "but I don't know the loc

Grotius is to die, and Ho

g to that effect," r

ul, and ready to stand up for her privileges, laws, and rights. As for me, I am an old and worn-out man. I can do no more. I have already done more than I was really able to do. I have worked so zealously in public matters that I have neglected my private business. I had expressly or

l. After an hour he called for his French Psalm Book and read in it for some time. Sometime after two o'clock the clergymen came in again

die, but cannot comprehend why I must die. I wish from my heart that, thro

low prisoners. "Say farewell for me to my good G

m, intending to return bet

valet to cut open the front of his shirt. When this was

ed, "if the jud

clergymen to the judges with

the occasion, with the thrift and stoicism of a true Hollander, to suggest that

d hope that they will be equally tranquil. Tell my children that I trust they will be loving and friendly to their mother during the short time she has yet to live.

the family the messages sent that ni

in presence of the clergyman, or to request one of them t

rateful servant, "I shall remem

s all over with prayers. Pray for me while I still live. Now is the

ated to his wife and children. The preacher made no response. "Will you take the message?" ask

nt of the judges directly below the prison chamber, and told his m

e; "they mean to begin early, I suppose. Give

to wear two or thr

d keep the loose money there for himself. Then he found an opportunity to whisper to him, "Take good care of the papers which are in the apartment

and brushes, he said with a smile,

ually wore under his hat. Finding it too tight he told the valet to put the nightcap in his pocket and give it him when he

he had been reading in the French Psalm Book. The clergymen said that they had been thinking much of the beautiful confession of faith which he had m

out uttering a sound. La Motte asked when he had concluded, "Did my Lord say Amen?"-"Yes, Lamotius," he

oon afterwards Walaeus was sent for to speak with the judges. He came back and said to the prisoner, "Has my Lord a

w emotion." Walaeus went back to the judges with th

s should come to him, declared that he did not approve of it, saying that it would cause too gre

ceived or imagined that they had received from the Stadholder that no harm should come to the prisoner in consequence of the arrest made of his person in the Prince's apartments on t

t the grief and consternation into which the household in the Voorhout was plunged, from the venerable dame at its head, surrounded by her sons and daughters and

el in name of the relatives, had been addressed to the judges. They had not been answered because they wer

and signed by each member of the family, to his Excellenc

ving heard the sorrowful tidings of his coming execution, they humbly be

ne of the judges. It was duly laid before the commission, but the prisoner was never informed, wh

uch revered, the man on whom her illustrious husband had leaned his life long as on a staff of iron. She besought an interview of the Stadholder, but it was refused. The wife of Wil

before the Assembly of the States-General as ambassador of a friendly sovereign who took the deepest interest in the welfare of the Republic and the fate of its illustrious statesman. The appeal was refused. As a last resource he drew up an earnest and eloquent letter to the States-General, urging clemency in

t messages which he had mentioned to his wife and children, sent a request to the judges to be allowed to write one more let

as been ofte

line in favour of John," said the prisoner,

peace help each other to overcome all things, which I pray to the Omnipotent as my last request. John Franken has served me faithfully for many years and throughout all these my afflic

incely Excellency to hol

he has answered that

all be the case. I reco

all into God's holy kee

or the last time in my

sorrow, 13th May 1619.

th

F BARN

John Franken a prese

hallows. Whatever Gomarus or Bogerman, or the whole Council of Dordtrecht, may have thought of his theology, it had at least taught him forgiveness of his enemies, kindness to his friends, and submission to the will of the Omnipo

t town since four o'clock that morning, and the tramp of soldiers ma

s. "The high commissioners," he said, "think it is

," said the prisoner.

that there had been a misunderstanding, and he was requested to wait a little. He accordingly went upstairs again with perfect calmness, sat down in his chamber again, and read in his French Psalm Book. Half an hour later he was once more summoned, the provost-marshal

e the Advocate had been imprisoned and tried, with what remained of the ancient palace of the Counts of Holland. In the centre of the vast hall-once the banqueting chamber of those petty sovereigns; with its high vaulted roof of cedar which had so often in ancient days rung with the so

nce. A summary of this long, rambling, and tiresome paper has been already laid before the reader. If ever a man could have found it

to interrupt the clerk at several passages which seemed to him especially preposterous. But

arneve

hich they have no right to draw from my

nough in my life and blood, and that my wife and children might keep what belongs

t de Voo

saying he pointed to the door into which one of the great win

l, accompanied by his faithful valet and the provost and escorted by a file of soldiers. The mob of s

ITOR'S B

verned by magis

evenge for all the fa

ife with a false ac

mpulsion of the

ism were declared

w to cons

was much, of ass

Rob

at moment seemed

rue re

s to reign over th

am Br