By Pike and Dyke: a Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic Read online

  Produced by Martin Robb

  By Pike and Dyke:

  A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic

  by G. A. Henty

  PREFACE.

  MY DEAR LADS,

  In all the pages of history there is no record of a struggle sounequal, so obstinately maintained, and so long contested as thatby which the men of Holland and Zeeland won their right to worshipGod in their own way, and also--although this was but a secondaryconsideration with them--shook off the yoke of Spain and achievedtheir independence. The incidents of the contest were of a singularlydramatic character. Upon one side was the greatest power of thetime, set in motion by a ruthless bigot, who was determined eitherto force his religion upon the people of the Netherlands, orto utterly exterminate them. Upon the other were a scanty people,fishermen, sailors, and agriculturalists, broken up into communitieswith but little bond of sympathy, and no communication, standingonly on the defensive, and relying solely upon the justice of theircause, their own stout hearts, their noble prince, and their oneally, the ocean. Cruelty, persecution, and massacre had convertedthis race of peace loving workers into heroes capable of the mostsublime self sacrifices. Women and children were imbued with aspirit equal to that of the men, fought as stoutly on the walls,and died as uncomplainingly from famine in the beleaguered towns.The struggle was such a long one that I have found it impossibleto recount all the leading events in the space of a single volume;and, moreover, before the close, my hero, who began as a lad, wouldhave grown into middle age, and it is an established canon in booksfor boys that the hero must himself be young. I have thereforeterminated the story at the murder of William of Orange, and hopein another volume to continue the history, and to recount theprogress of the war, when England, after years of hesitation, threwherself into the fray, and joined Holland in its struggle againstthe power that overshadowed all Europe, alike by its ambition andits bigotry. There has been no need to consult many authorities.Motley in his great work has exhausted the subject, and for allthe historical facts I have relied solely upon him.

  Yours very sincerely, G. A. HENTY

  CHAPTER I

  THE "GOOD VENTURE"

  Rotherhithe in the year of 1572 differed very widely from theRotherhithe of today. It was then a scattered village, inhabitedchiefly by a seafaring population. It was here that the captainsof many of the ships that sailed from the port of London had theirabode. Snug cottages with trim gardens lay thickly along the banksof the river, where their owners could sit and watch the vesselspassing up and down or moored in the stream, and discourse witheach other over the hedges as to the way in which they were handled,the smartness of their equipage, whence they had come, or wherethey were going. For the trade of London was comparatively smallin those days, and the skippers as they chatted together could forma shrewd guess from the size and appearance of each ship as to thecountry with which she traded, or whether she was a coaster workingthe eastern or southern ports.

  Most of the vessels, indeed, would be recognized and the captainsknown, and hats would be waved and welcomes or adieus shouted asthe vessels passed. There was something that savoured of Hollandin the appearance of Rotherhithe; for it was with the Low Countriesthat the chief trade of England was carried on; and the marinerswho spent their lives in journeying to and fro between London andthe ports of Zeeland, Friesland, and Flanders, who for the most partpicked up the language of the country, and sometimes even broughthome wives from across the sea, naturally learned something fromtheir neighbours. Nowhere, perhaps, in and about London were thehouses so clean and bright, and the gardens so trimly and neatlykept, as in the village of Rotherhithe, and in all Rotherhithe notone was brighter and more comfortable than the abode of CaptainWilliam Martin.

  It was low and solid in appearance; the wooden framework wasunusually massive, and there was much quaint carving on the beams.The furniture was heavy and solid, and polished with beeswax untilit shone. The fireplaces were lined with Dutch tiles; the flooringwas of oak, polished as brightly as the furniture. The appointmentsfrom roof to floor were Dutch; and no wonder that this was so, forevery inch of wood in its framework and beams, floor and furniture,and had been brought across from Friesland by William Martin inhis ship, the Good Venture. It had been the dowry he received withhis pretty young wife, Sophie Plomaert.

  Sophie was the daughter of a well-to-do worker in wood nearAmsterdam. She was his only daughter, and although he had nothingto say against the English sailor who had won her heart, and whowas chief owner of the ship he commanded, he grieved much thatshe should leave her native land; and he and her three brothersdetermined that she should always bear her former home in herrecollection. They therefore prepared as her wedding gift a facsimileof the home in which she had been born and bred. The furnitureand framework were similar in every particular, and it needed onlythe insertion of the brickwork and plaster when it arrived. Two ofher brothers made the voyage in the Good Venture, and themselvesput the framework, beams, and flooring together, and saw to thecompletion of the house on the strip of ground that William Martinhad purchased on the bank of the river.

  Even a large summer house that stood at the end of the garden was areproduction of that upon the bank of the canal at home; and whenall was completed and William Martin brought over his bride shecould almost fancy that she was still at home near Amsterdam. Eversince, she had once a year sailed over in her husband's ship, andspent a few weeks with her kinsfolk. When at home from sea the greatsummer house was a general rendezvous of William Martin's friendsin Rotherhithe, all skippers like himself, some still on activeservice, others, who had retired on their savings; not all, however,were fortunate enough to have houses on the river bank; and thesummer house was therefore useful not only as a place of meetingbut as a lookout at passing ships.

  It was a solidly built structure, inclosed on the land side but opentowards the river, where, however, there were folding shutters, sothat in cold weather it could be partially closed up, though stillaffording a sight of the stream. A great Dutch stove stood in onecorner, and in this in winter a roaring fire was kept up. Therewere few men in Rotherhithe so well endowed with this world's goodsas Captain Martin. His father had been a trader in the city, butWilliam's tastes lay towards the sea rather than the shop, and ashe was the youngest of three brothers he had his way in the matter.When he reached the age of twenty-three his father died, and withhis portion of the savings William purchased the principal shareof the Good Venture, which ship he had a few months before come tocommand.

  When he married he had received not only his house but a round sumof money as Sophie's portion. With this he could had he liked havepurchased the other shares of the Good Venture; but being, thougha sailor, a prudent man, he did not like to put all his eggs intoone basket, and accordingly bought with it a share in another ship.Three children had been born to William and Sophie Martin--a boyand two girls. Edward, who was the eldest, was at the time thisstory begins nearly sixteen. He was an active well built youngfellow, and had for five years sailed with his father in the GoodVenture. That vessel was now lying in the stream a quarter ofa mile higher up, having returned from a trip to Holland upon theprevious day. The first evening there had been no callers, for itwas an understood thing at Rotherhithe that a captain on his returnwanted the first evening at home alone with his wife and family; buton the evening of the second day, when William Martin had finishedhis work of seeing to the unloading of his ship, the visitorsbegan to drop in fast, and the summer house was well nigh as fullas it could hold. Mistress Martin, who was now a comely matronof six-and-thirty, busied herself in seeing that the maid and
herdaughters, Constance and Janet, supplied the visitors with hornsof home brewed beer, or with strong waters brought from Hollandfor those who preferred them.

  "You have been longer away than usual, Captain Martin," one of thevisitors remarked.

  "Yes," the skipper replied. "Trade is but dull, and though the GoodVenture bears a good repute for speed and safety, and is seldomkept lying at the wharves for a cargo, we were a week before shewas chartered. I know not what will be the end of it all. I verilybelieve that no people have ever been so cruelly treated for theirconscience' sake since the world began; for you know it is not againstthe King of Spain but against the Inquisition that the oppositionhas been made. The people of the Low Countries know well enoughit would be madness to contend against the power of the greatestcountry in Europe, and to this day they have borne, and are bearing,the cruelty to which they are exposed in quiet despair, and withouta thought of resistance to save their lives. There may have beentumults in some of the towns, as in Antwerp, where the lowest partof the mob went into the cathedrals and churches and destroyed theshrines and images; but as to armed resistance to the Spaniards,there has been none.

  "The first expeditions that the Prince of Orange made into thecountry were composed of German mercenaries, with a small body ofexiles. They were scarce joined by any of the country folk. Though,as you know, they gained one little victory, they were nigh allkilled and cut to pieces. So horrible was the slaughter perpetratedby the soldiers of the tyrannical Spanish governor Alva, that whenthe Prince of Orange again marched into the country not a man joinedhim, and he had to fall back without accomplishing anything. Thepeople seemed stunned by despair. Has not the Inquisition condemnedthe whole of the inhabitants of the Netherlands--save only a fewpersons specially named--to death as heretics? and has not Philipconfirmed the decree, and ordered it to be carried into instantexecution without regard to age or sex? Were three millions of men,women, and children ever before sentenced to death by one strokeof the pen, only because they refused to change their religion?Every day there are hundreds put to death by the orders of Alva'sBlood Council, as it is called, without even the mockery of atrial."

  There was a general murmur of rage and horror from the assembledparty.

  "Were I her queen's majesty," an old captain said, striking his fiston the table, "I would declare war with Philip of Spain tomorrow,and would send every man who could bear arms to the Netherlands toaid the people to free themselves from their tyrants.

  "Ay, and there is not a Protestant in this land but would gowillingly. To think of such cruelty makes the blood run throughmy veins as if I were a lad again. Why, in Mary's time there weretwo or three score burnt for their religion here in England, and wethought that a terrible thing. But three millions of people! Why,it is as many as we have got in all these islands! What think youof this mates?"

  "It is past understanding," another old sailor said. "It is tooawful for us to take in."

  "It is said," another put in, "that the King of France has leaguedhimself with Philip of Spain, and that the two have bound themselvesto exterminate the Protestants in all their dominions, and as thatincludes Spain, France, Italy, the Low Countries, and most ofGermany, it stands to reason as we who are Protestants ought tohelp our friends; for you may be sure, neighbours, that if Philipsucceeds in the Low Countries he will never rest until he has triedto bring England under his rule also, and to plant the Inquisitionwith its bonfires and its racks and tortures here."

  An angry murmur of assent ran round the circle.

  "We would fight them, you may be sure," Captain Martin said, "tothe last; but Spain is a mighty power, and all know that there areno soldiers in Europe can stand against their pikemen. If the LowCountries, which number as many souls as we, cannot make a standagainst them with all their advantages of rivers, and swamps, anddykes, and fortified towns, what chance should we have who havenone of these things? What I say, comrades, is this: we have gotto fight Spain--you know the grudge Philip bears us--and it isfar better that we should go over and fight the Spaniards in theLow Countries, side by side with the people there, and with all theadvantages that their rivers and dykes give, and with the comfortthat our wives and children are safe here at home, than wait tillSpain has crushed down the Netherlands and exterminated the people,and is then able, with France as her ally, to turn her whole strengthagainst us. That's what I say."

  "And you say right, Captain Martin. If I were the queen's majestyI would send word to Philip tomorrow to call off his black crewof monks and inquisitors. The people of the Netherlands have nothought of resisting the rule of Spain, and would be, as they havebeen before, Philip's obedient subjects, if he would but leavetheir religion alone. It's the doings of the Inquisition that havedriven them to despair. And when one hears what you are telling us,that the king has ordered the whole population to be exterminated--man,woman, and child--no wonder they are preparing to fightto the last; for it's better to die fighting a thousand times, thanit is to be roasted alive with your wife and children!"

  "I suppose the queen and her councillors see that if she were tomeddle in this business it might cost her her kingdom, and us ourliberty," another captain said. "The Spaniards could put, they say,seventy or eighty thousand trained soldiers in the field, while,except the queen's own bodyguard, there is not a soldier in England;while their navy is big enough to take the fifteen or twenty shipsthe queen has, and to break them up to burn their galley fires."

  "That is all true enough," Captain Martin agreed; "but our Englishmen have fought well on the plains of France before now, and I don'tbelieve we should fight worse today. We beat the French when theywere ten to one against us over and over, and what our fathers didwe can do. What you say about the navy is true also. They have abig fleet, and we have no vessels worth speaking about, but we areas good sailors as the Spaniards any day, and as good fighters;and though I am not saying we could stop their fleet if it camesailing up the Thames, I believe when they landed we should showthem that we were as good men as they. They might bring seventythousand soldiers, but there would be seven hundred thousandEnglishmen to meet; and if we had but sticks and stones to fightwith, they would not find that they would have an easy victory."

  "Yes, that's what you think and I think, neighbour; but, you see,we have not got the responsibility of it. The queen has to thinkfor us all. Though I for one would be right glad if she gave theword for war, she may well hesitate before she takes a step thatmight bring ruin, and worse than ruin, upon all her subjects.We must own, too, that much as we feel for the people of the LowCountries in their distress, they have not always acted wisely.That they should take up arms against these cruel tyrants, evenif they had no chance of beating them, is what we all agree wouldbe right and natural; but when the mob of Antwerp broke into thecathedral, and destroyed the altars and carvings, and tore up thevestments, and threw down the Manes and the saints, and then did thesame in the other churches in the town and in the country round,they behaved worse than children, and showed themselves as intolerantand bigoted as the Spaniards themselves. They angered Philip beyondhope of forgiveness, and gave him something like an excuse for hiscruelties towards them."

  "Ay, ay, that was a bad business," Captain Martin agreed; "a verybad business, comrade. And although these things were done by a merehandful of the scum of the town the respectable citizens raised nohand to stop it, although they can turn out the town guard readilyenough to put a stop to a quarrel between the members of two ofthe guilds. There were plenty of men who have banded themselvestogether under the name of 'the beggars,' and swore to fight fortheir religion, to have put these fellows down if they had chosen.They did not choose, and now Philip's vengeance will fall on themall alike."

  "Well, what think you of this business, Ned?" one of the captainssaid, turning to the lad who was standing in a corner, remaining, asin duty bound, silent in the presence of his elders until addressed.

  "Were I a Dutchman, and living under such a tyranny," Ned saidpassionately, "I wou
ld rise and fight to the death rather than seemy family martyred. If none other would rise with me, I would takea sword and go out and slay the first Spaniard I met, and againanother, until I was killed."

  "Bravo, Ned! Well spoken, lad!" three or four of the captains said;but his father shook his head.

  "Those are the words of hot youth, Ned; and were you living thereyou would do as the others--keep quiet till the executionerscame to drag you away, seeing that did you, as you say you would,use a knife against a Spaniard, it would give the butchers a pretextfor the slaughtering of hundreds of innocent people."

  The lad looked down abashed at the reproof, then he said: "Well,father, if I could not rise in arms or slay a Spaniard and thenbe killed, I would leave my home and join the sea beggars under LaMarck."

  "There is more reason in that," his father replied; "though LaMarck is a ferocious noble, and his followers make not very closeinquiry whether the ships they attack are Spanish or those of otherpeople. Still it is hard for a man to starve; and when time passesand they can light upon no Spanish merchantmen, one cannot blamethem too sorely if they take what they require out of some otherpassing ship. But there is reason at the bottom of what you say.Did the men of the sea coast, seeing that their lives and those oftheir families are now at the mercy of the Spaniards, take to theirships with those dear to them and continually harass the Spaniards,they could work them great harm, and it would need a large fleet tooverpower them, and that with great difficulty, seeing that theyknow the coast and all the rivers and channels, and could takerefuge in shallows where the Spaniards could not follow them. Atpresent it seems to me the people are in such depths of despair,that they have not heart for any such enterprise. But I believe thatsome day or other the impulse will be given--some more wholesalebutchery than usual will goad them to madness, or the words of somepatriot wake them into action, and then they will rise as one manand fight until utterly destroyed, for that they can in the endtriumph over Spain is more than any human being can hope."

  "Then they must be speedy about it, friend Martin," another said."They say that eighty thousand have been put to death one wayor another since Alva came into his government. Another ten yearsand there will be scarce an able bodied man remaining in the LowCountry. By the way, you were talking of the beggars of the sea.Their fleet is lying at present at Dover, and it is said that theSpanish ambassador is making grave complaints to the queen on thepart of his master against giving shelter to these men, whom hebrands as not only enemies of Spain, but as pirates and robbers ofthe sea."

  "I was talking with Master Sheepshanks," another mariner put in,"whose ships I sailed for thirty years, and who is an alderman andknows what is going on, and he told me that from what he hears itis like enough that the queen will yield to the Spanish request. Solong as she chooses to remain friends with Spain openly, whateverher thoughts and opinions may be, she can scarcely allow her portsto be used by the enemies of Philip. It must go sorely againsther high spirit; but till she and her council resolve that Englandshall brave the whole strength of Spain, she cannot disregard theremonstrances of Philip. It is a bad business, neighbours, a badbusiness; and the sooner it comes to an end the better. No onedoubts that we shall have to fight Spain one of these days, andI say that it were better to fight while our brethren of the LowCountries can fight by our side, than to wait till Spain, havingexterminated them, can turn her whole power against us."

  There was a general chorus of assent, and then the subject changedto the rates of freight to the northern ports. The grievous need forthe better marking of shallows and dangers, the rights of seamen,wages, and other matters, were discussed until the assembly brokeup. Ned's sisters joined him in the garden.

  "I hear, Constance," the boy said to the elder, "there has been nonews from our grandfather and uncles since we have been away."

  "No word whatever, Ned. Our mother does not say much, but I knowshe is greatly troubled and anxious about it."

  "That she may well be, Constance, seeing that neither quiet conductnor feebleness nor aught else avail to protect any from the rageof the Spaniards. You who stay at home here only hear general talesof the cruelties done across the sea, but if you heard the talesthat we do at their ports they would drive you almost to madness.Not that we hear much, for we have to keep on board our ships, andmay not land or mingle with the people; but we learn enough fromthe merchants who come on board to see about the landing of theirgoods to make our blood boil. They do right to prevent our landing;for so fired is the sailors' blood by these tales of massacre, thatwere they to go ashore they would, I am sure, be speedily embroiledwith the Spaniards.

  "You see how angered these friends of our father are who areEnglishmen, and have no Dutch blood in their veins, and who feelonly because they are touched by these cruelties, and becausethe people of the Low Country are Protestants; but with us it isdifferent, our mother is one of these persecuted people, and webelong to them as much as to England. We have friends and relationsthere who are in sore peril, and who may for aught we know havealready fallen victims to the cruelty of the Spaniards. Had Imy will I would join the beggars of the sea, or I would ship withDrake or Cavendish and fight the Spaniards in the Indian seas. Theysay that there Englishmen are proving themselves better men thanthese haughty dons."

  "It is very sad," Constance said; "but what can be done?"

  "Something must be done soon," Ned replied gloomily. "Things cannotgo on as they are. So terrible is the state of things, so heavy thetaxation, that in many towns all trade is suspended. In Brussels,I hear, Alva's own capital, the brewers have refused to brew, thebakers to bake, the tapsters to draw liquors. The city swarms withmultitudes of men thrown out of employment. The Spanish soldiersthemselves have long been without pay, for Alva thinks of nothingbut bloodshed. Consequently they are insolent to their officers, carelittle for order, and insult and rob the citizens in the streets.Assuredly something must come of this ere long; and the people'sdespair will become a mad fury. If they rise, Constance, and myfather does not say nay, I will assuredly join them and do my best.

  "I do not believe that the queen will forbid her subjects to givetheir aid to the people of the Netherlands; for she allowed many tofight in France for Conde and the Protestants against the Guises,and she will surely do the same now, since the sufferings of ourbrothers in the Netherlands have touched the nation far more keenlythan did those of the Huguenots in France. I am sixteen now, andmy father says that in another year he will rate me as his secondmate, and methinks that there are not many men on board who can pullmore strongly a rope, or work more stoutly at the capstan when weheave our anchor. Besides, as we all talk Dutch as well as English,I should be of more use than men who know nought of the languageof the country."

  Constance shook her head. "I do not think, Ned, that our fatherwould give you leave, at any rate not until you have grown up intoa man. He looks to having you with him, and to your succeedinghim some day in the command of the Good Venture, while he remainsquietly at home with our mother."

  Ned agreed with a sigh. "I fear that you are right, Constance, andthat I shall have to stick to my trade of sailoring; but if thepeople of the Netherlands rise against their tyrants, it would behard to be sailing backwards and forwards doing a peaceful tradebetween London and Holland whilst our friends and relatives arebattling for their lives."

  A fortnight later, the Good Venture filled up her hold with a cargofor Brill, a port where the united Rhine, Waal, and Maas flow intothe sea. On the day before she sailed a proclamation was issuedby the queen forbidding any of her subjects to supply De la Marckand his sailors with meat, bread, or beer. The passage down theriver was slow, for the winds were contrary, and it was ten daysafterwards, the 31st of March, when they entered the broad mouthof the river and dropped anchor off the town of Brill. It was latein the evening when they arrived. In the morning an officer cameoff to demand the usual papers and documents, and it was not untilnearly two o'clock that a boat came out with the necessary permissionfor
the ship to warp up to the wharves and discharge her cargo.

  Just as Captain Martin was giving the order for the capstan barsto be manned, a fleet of some twenty-four ships suddenly appearedround the seaward point of the land.

  "Wait a moment, lads," the captain said, "half an hour will make nogreat difference in our landing. We may as well wait and see whatis the meaning of this fleet. They do not look to me to be Spaniards,nor seem to be a mere trading fleet. I should not wonder if theyare the beggars of the sea, who have been forced to leave Dover,starved out from the effect of the queen's proclamation, and havenow come here to pick up any Spaniard they may meet sailing out."

  The fleet dropped anchor at about half a mile from the town. Justas they did so, a ferryman named Koppelstok, who was carryingpassengers across from the town of Maaslandluis, a town on theopposite bank a mile and a half away, was passing close by the GoodVenture.

  "What think you of yon ships?" the ferryman shouted to CaptainMartin.

  "I believe they must be the beggars of the sea," the captain replied."An order had been issued before I left London that they were notto be supplied with provisions, and they would therefore have hadto put out from Dover. This may well enough be them."

  An exclamation of alarm broke from the passengers, for the seabeggars were almost as much feared by their own countrymen as by theSpaniards, the latter having spared no pains in spreading tales totheir disadvantage. As soon as the ferryman had landed his passengershe rowed boldly out towards the fleet, having nothing of which hecould be plundered, and being secretly well disposed towards thebeggars. The first ship he hailed was that commanded by Williamde Blois, Lord of Treslong, who was well known at Brill, where hisfather had at one time been governor.

  His brother had been executed by the Duke of Alva four years before,and he had himself fought by the side of Count Louis of Nassau,brother to the Prince of Orange, in the campaign that had terminatedso disastrously, and though covered with wounds had been one ofthe few who had escaped from the terrible carnage that followed thedefeat at Jemmingen. After that disaster he had taken to the sea,and was one of the most famous of the captains of De la Marck, whohad received a commission of admiral from the Prince of Orange.

  "We are starving, Koppelstok; can you inform us how we can get somefood? We have picked up two Spanish traders on our way here fromDover, but our larders were emptied before we sailed, and we foundbut scant supply on board our prizes."

  "There is plenty in the town of Brill," the ferryman said; "but nonethat I know of elsewhere. That English brig lying there at anchormay have a few loaves on board."

  "That will not be much," William de Blois replied, "among fivehundred men, still it will be better than nothing. Will you rowand ask them if they will sell to us?"

  "You had best send a strongly armed crew," Koppelstok replied."You know the English are well disposed towards us, and the captainwould doubtless give you all the provisions he had to spare; but todo so would be to ruin him with the Spaniards, who might confiscatehis ship. It were best that you should make a show of force, sothat he could plead that he did but yield to necessity."

  Accordingly a boat with ten men rowed to the brig, Koppelstokaccompanying it. The latter climbed on to the deck.

  "We mean you no harm, captain," he said; "but the men on board theseships are well nigh starving. The Sieur de Treslong has given mea purse to pay for all that you can sell us, but thinking that youmight be blamed for having dealings with him by the authorities ofthe town, he sent these armed men with me in order that if questionedyou could reply that they came forcibly on board."

  "I will willingly let you have all the provisions I have on board,"Captain Martin said; "though these will go but a little way amongso many, seeing that I only carry stores sufficient for consumptionon board during my voyages."

  A cask of salt beef was hoisted up on deck, with a sack of biscuits,four cheeses, and a side of bacon. Captain Martin refused anypayment.

  "No," he said, "my wife comes from these parts, and my heart is withthe patriots. Will you tell Sieur de Treslong that Captain Martinof the Good Venture is happy to do the best in his power for himand his brave followers. That, Ned," he observed, turning to hisson as the boat rowed away, "is a stroke of good policy. The valueof the goods is small, but just at this moment they are worth muchto those to whom I have given them. In the first place, you see,we have given aid to the good cause, in the second we have earnedthe gratitude of the beggars of the sea, and I shall be much morecomfortable if I run among them in the future than I should havedone in the past. The freedom to come and go without molestationby the sea beggars is cheaply purchased at the price of provisionswhich do not cost many crowns."

  On regaining the Sieur de Treslong's ship some of the provisionswere at once served out among the men, and the rest sent off amongother ships, and William de Blois took Koppelstok with him on boardthe admiral's vessel.

  "Well, De Blois, what do you counsel in this extremity?" De laMarck asked.

  "I advise," the Lord of Treslong replied, "that we at once send amessage to the town demanding its surrender."

  "Are you joking or mad, Treslong?" the admiral asked in surprise."Why, we can scarce muster four hundred men, and the town is wellwalled and fortified."

  "There are no Spanish troops here, admiral, and if we put a boldfront on the matter we may frighten the burghers into submission.This man says he would be willing to carry the summons. He says thenews as to who we are has already reached them by some passengershe landed before he came out, and he doubts not they are in a rarepanic."

  "Well, we can try," the admiral said, laughing; "it is clear wemust eat, even if we have to fight for it; and hungry as we allare, we do not want to wait."

  Treslong gave his ring to Koppelstok to show as his authority, andthe fisherman at once rowed ashore. Stating that the beggars ofthe sea were determined to take the town, he made his way throughthe crowd of inhabitants who had assembled at the landing place,and then pushed on to the town hall, where the magistrates wereassembled. He informed them that he had been sent by the Admiral ofthe Fleet and the Lord of Treslong, who was well known to them, todemand that two commissioners should be sent out to them on behalfof the city to confer with him. The only object of those who senthim was to free the land from the crushing taxes, and to overthrowthe tyranny of Alva and the Spaniards. He was asked by the magistrateswhat force De la Marck had at his disposal, and replied carelesslythat he could not say exactly, but that there might be five thousandin all.

  This statement completed the dismay that had been caused at thearrival of the fleet. The magistrates agreed that it would be madnessto resist, and determined to fly at once. With much difficulty twoof them were persuaded to go out to the ship as deputies, and assoon as they set off most of the leading burghers prepared instantlyfor flight. The deputies on arriving on board were assured that noinjury was intended to the citizens or private property, but onlythe overthrow of Alva's government, and two hours were given themto decide upon the surrender of the town.

  During this two hours almost all the inhabitants left the town,taking with them their most valuable property. At the expiration ofthe time the beggars landed. A few of those remaining in the citymade a faint attempt at resistance; but Treslong forced an entranceby the southern gate, and De la Marck made a bonfire against thenorthern gate and then battered it down with the end of an oldmast. Thus the patriots achieved the capture of the first town, andcommenced the long war that was to end only with the establishmentof the Free Republic of the Netherlands. No harm was done to suchof the inhabitants of the town as remained. The conquerors establishedthemselves in the best of the deserted houses; they then set to workto plunder the churches. The altars and images were all destroyed;the rich furniture, the sacred vessels, and the gorgeous vestmentswere appropriated to private use. Thirteen unfortunates, amongthem some priests who had been unable to effect their escape, wereseized and put to death by De la Marck.

  He had received the
strictest orders from the Prince of Orange torespect the ships of all neutral nations, and to behave courteouslyand kindly to all captives he might take. Neither of these injunctionswere obeyed. De la Marck was a wild and sanguinary noble; he hadtaken a vow upon hearing of the death of his relative, the Princeof Egmont, who had been executed by Alva, that he would neithercut his hair nor his beard until that murder should be revenged,and had sworn to wreak upon Alva and upon Popery the deep vengeancethat the nobles and peoples of the Netherlands owed them. This vowhe kept to the letter, and his ferocious conduct to all priestsand Spaniards who fell into his hands deeply sullied the cause forwhich he fought.

  Upon the day after the capture of the city, the Good Venture wentinto the port. The inhabitants, as soon as they learned that thebeggars of the sea respected the life and property of the citizens,returned in large numbers, and trade was soon re-established.Having taken the place, and secured the plunder of the churchesand monasteries, De la Marck would have sailed away upon otherexcursions had not the Sieur de Treslong pointed out to him theimportance of Brill to the cause, and persuaded him to hold theplace until he heard from the Prince of Orange.