Netherlands was to revert to the king of Spain.

in wh1ch he had met vs1th nothing but failure, and returned to England.

Nothing could have been worse than the position of the States at the beginning of 1588. Had Parma had a free hand, 1n all probab1l1ty he would have crushed out the revolt and reconquered the northern Netherlands. But the attention of the Sparnsh king was at th1s time concentrated upon the success of the 111vinc1ble Armada. The army of Parma vsas held ll] readiness lor the invasion of England, and the United Provinces had a respite. They were fortunately able to ava1l themselves of it. The commanding ab1l1t1es of Oldenbarneveldt, now advocate of Holland, gradually gathered into h1s hands the entire administration of the Republic He became indispensable and, as his influence grew, more and the policy of the provinces acquire unity and consistency of purpose. At the same time Maurice of

Johan van

Oldenbar-

ueveldt.

more d1d

""“"""' Nassau, now grown to man's estate, began to display of h .1. 1

Nassau t ose m1 itary ta ents which were fo ga1n for h1m the fame of'be1ng the first general of his time. But Maurice was no pol1t1cian. He had implicit trust in the advocate, his father's faithful friend and counsellor, and for many years to come the statesman and the soldier worked in harmony together for the best interests of their country (see OLDENBARNEVELDT, and BIAURICE, prince of Orange). At the s1de of NIHLITICC, as a wise adviser, stood h1s cousin William LOUIS, s tad holder of Friesland, a trained soldier and good commander in the f1eld.

After the destruction of the Armada, Parma had been occupied w1th campaigns on the southern frontier against the Fre11ch, Campaign and the Netherlanders had been content to stand on 59, guard against attack. The surprise of Breda by a stratagem (Sth of March 1590) was the only military event of importance up to 1591. But the two s tad holders had not wasted the t1me. The States' forces had been reorganized and brought to a h1gh state of military discipline and training In 1591 the States-General, after considerable hesitation, were persuaded by Maur1ce to sanction an offensive campaign. It was attended by marvellous success. Zutphen was captured on the 20th of May, Deventer on the 20th of June. Parma, w ho was bes1eg1ng the fort of Knodsenburg, was forced to ret1re th loss. Hulst fell after a three days' investment, and finally I§ megen vsas taken on the QISI of October. The fame of Maur1ce, a consummate general at the early age of twenty-four, was on all men's lips. The following Cilfllpalgn was signalized Death of ' by the capture of Steenwyk and Idoevorden. On the Parma* Sth of December 1592 Parma d1ed, and the States were delivered from their most redoubtable adversary. In 1 593 the leaguer of Geertruidenburg put the seal on Maur1ce's reputation as an invincible besieger. The town fell after an New investment of three months. Groningen was the P, -, ,, , m¢e ch1effruitofthecampaignof1594. Withitsdependent ofS¢adf district it was formed into a new province under the ”' L'”'d"'° name of Stadt en Landen. William Louis became the s tad holder (see GRONINGEN). The so1l of the northern I.ether lands was at last practically free from the presence of Spanish garrisons.

The growing importance of the new state Was signalized by the conclusion, in 1596, of a triple alliance between England, France and the United Provinces. It was of short Zggzw duration and purchased by hard conditions, but lt fF, ., ,, c¢, implied the recognition by Henry Iv. and El1zabeth England of the States-General, as a sovereign power, with

, ';':t;';" whom treaties could be concluded. Such a recognition

m, ,, m, es was justified by the brilliant successes of the campaign of 1597 It began w1th the complete rout of a Spanish force of 4500 men at Turnhout 1n January, with scarcely any loss to the victors. Then in a succession of sieges Rheinberg, Meurs, Groenlo, Bredevoort, Enschede, Ootmarsum, Oldenzaal and Lingen fell into the hands of Maurice. The relations of the Netherlands to Spain were in 1598 completely changed Ph1lip II feeling death approaching, resolved to marry his elder daughter, the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia, to her cousin, the Cardinal Archduke Albert of Aus 597

tria, who

had been governor-general of the Netherlands since 1596, and to erect the Provinces 1nto an independent sove-Albert and

reignty under their ]O111I rule. The instrument was 1sa1, ¢1, executed 1n May; Plllllp d1ed in September, the SOVENIZHS marriage took place in November. In case the rnar- xiii" riage should have no issue, the sovereignty of the, ,, , ds archdukes (such was their ofnc1al t1tle) did not make their joveuse e/ztrée into Brussels unt1l the close of 1599 The step was taken too late to effect a 1eco11c1l1ation w1th the rebel provinces. Peace overtures were made, but the cond1t1ons were unacceptable. The States-General never seriously considered the question of g1v1ng in the1r submission to the new sovereigns. The traders of Holland and Zeeland had thriven mightily by the War. Their sh1ps had penetrated to the East and West Ind1es, and were to be found 1n every sea. The year I6OO saw the foundation of the Chartered East India Company (see DUTCH EAs1 INDIA COMPAAIY). 'lhe question of freedom of trade with the Ind1es had become no less vital to the Dutch people than freedom of religious worship. To both these concessions Sp21]11Sl'1 policy was 1rreconc1lably opposed. Dunkirk, as a nest of freebooters who preyed upon Dutch commerce, was made the objective af a daring offensive campaign in 1600 by the orders of the States General under the influence of Oldenbarneveldt in the teeth of the OPPOSI- r;';f"“'” t1on of the s tad holders Maurice a11d William LOUIS g, ,, ., e" By a bold maich across Flanders, Maurice reached Nieuport on the 1st of July, and proceeded to invest it. The archduke Albert, however, followed hard on his steps with an army of seaso11ed troops, and Maur1ce, with his communications cut, was forced to fight for his existence. A desperate combat took place on the dunes between forces of equal strength and valour. Only by calling up h1s last reserves d1d victory declare for Maurice. The archduke had to fly for h1s l1fe. Five thousand Spaniards were killed, seven hundred taken, and one hundred and nve standards. To have thus worsted the dreaded Spanish infantry in open fight was a great triumph for the States troops and their general, but it was barren of results. Maurice refused to run further risks and led back h1s army to Holland. For the following three years all the eneigies al1ke of the archdukes and the States-General were concentrated on the siege of Ostend (15th of July I6OI-20th of Sept. 1604), the xii: solitary possessio11 of the Dutch in Flanders. The heroic obstinacy of the defence was equalled by the perseverance of the attack, and there was a vast expenditure, especially on the side of the Spaniards, of blood and treasure. At last when reduced to a heap of ruins, Ostend fell before the resolution of Ambrosio de Spinola, a (Jenoese banker, to Whom the command of the besiegers had been entrusted (see SPINOLA). A montl1 before the surrender, however, another and n1ore commodious seaport, Sluis, had fallen into the possession of the States army under Maurice, and thus the loss of Oste11d was discounted. Spinola proved himself to be a general of a high order, and the campaigns of 1606 and 1607 resolved themselves into a duel of skill between him and AIHLITICC without much advantage accruing to e1ther side. But the archdukes treasury was now empty, and their credit exhausted both sides were weary of fighting, and ser1ous negotiat1o11s for peace were set on foot. The disposition of the Spaniards to make concessions was further quickened by the destruction of their fleet at Gibraltar by the Dutch admiral Heemskerk, (Apr1l 1607). But there were many difficulties in the way. The peace party in the United Provinces headed by Oldenbarneveldt was opposed by the s tad holders Maurice and W1lliam Louis, the great majority of the m1l1tary and naval officers, the Calv1nist preachers and many leading merchants. The Spaniards on their side were obdurate on the subjects of freedom of trade 1n the Indies and of freedon1 of religious worship. At last, after the negotiations had been repeatedly on the point of breaking off, a compromise was effected by the mediation of the envoys of France and England. On the 9th of April 1609 Negotia-

tlons for

1 Peace.