The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume 1 |
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afterwards already Alva's ancient Antwerp Archives et Correspondance arms army Badovaro Batavian Bentivoglio Berlaymont Bishop blood Blood Council Brabant Brederode Brussels burghers Cardinal Catholic cause century Charles Church command Correspondance de Philippe Council crown death Don Frederic Duchess Duke of Alva edicts Egmont Emperor enemy envoy Estates execution favour Flanders France Frisian Gachard German Government Granvelle Groen Guillaume le Tacit hand heretics Holland honour Hoofd Hoogstraaten Horn hundred Ibid Inquisition King land letter liberty Louis of Nassau Majesty Margaret Margaret of Parma matter Mendoza Meteren monarch Montigny Nassau Netherlands never nobles Noircarmes Papiers d'Etat Parma personage persons Philip Philippe II Pontus Payen Prince of Orange Prinst prisoners provinces received Reformation Regent religion religious royal secret seigniors soldiers soon sovereign Spain Spaniards Spanish stadholder Strada sword Thou thousand tion troops ubi sup Valenciennes Viglius Wagenaer whole William of Orange wrote
Popular passages
Page 56 - Tis a most truculent executioner," said Philibert : "it invades the whole body, from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, leaving nothing untouched. It contracts the nerves with intolerable anguish, it enters the bones, it freezes the marrow, it converts the lubricating fluids of the joints into chalk, it pauses not until, having exhausted and debilitated the whole body, it has rendered all its necessary instruments useless, and conquered the mind by immense torture.
Page 339 - ... such an amount of stealth and ferocity, of patient vindictiveness and universal bloodthirstiness were never found in a savage beast of the forest, and but rarely in a human bosom.
Page 574 - Leyden was sublime in its despair. A few murmurs were, however, occasionally heard at the steadfastness of the magistrates, and a dead body was placed at the door of the burgomaster, as a silent witness against his inflexibility. A party of the more faint-hearted even assailed the heroic Adrian van der Werf with threats and reproaches as he passed through the streets. A crowd had gathered around him, as he reached a triangular place in the centre of the town, into which many of the principal streets...
Page 576 - The first fortress was thus -seized, dismantled, set on fire, and passed, and a few strokes of the oars brought the whole fleet close to Lammen. This last obstacle rose formidable and frowning directly across their path. Swarming as it was with soldiers, and bristling with artillery, it seemed to defy the armada either to carry it by storm or to pass under its guns into the city.
Page 575 - There stood the burgomaster, a tall, haggard, imposing figure, with dark visage and a 'tranquil but commanding eye. He waved his broad-leaved felt hat for silence, and then exclaimed, in language which has been almost literally preserved, " What would ye, my friends ? Why do ye murmur that we do not break our vows and surrender the city to the Spaniards t — a fate more horrible than the agony which she now endures.
Page 577 - ... fort, are bread and meat, and brethren in thousands. Shall all this be destroyed by the Spanish guns, or shall we rush to the rescue of our friends ? " " We will tear the fortress to fragments with our teeth and nails," was the reply, " before the relief, so long expected, shall be wrested from us.
Page 570 - will we see our whole land and all our possessions perish in the waves, than forsake thee, Leyden. We know full well, moreover, that with Leyden, all Holland must perish also.
Page 577 - He announced his intention of carrying the fort, if it were possible, on the following morning, but if obliged to retreat, he observed, with something like despair, that there would be nothing for it but to wait for another gale of wind. If the waters should rise sufficiently to enable them to make a wide detour, it might be possible, if, in the meantime, Leyden did not starve or surrender, to enter its gates from the opposite side.
Page 65 - He was an enormous eater. He breakfasted at five, on a fowl seethed in milk and dressed with sugar and spices. After this he went to sleep again. He dined at twelve, partaking always of twenty dishes. He supped twice; at first, soon after vespers, and the second time at midnight or one o'clock, which meal was, perhaps, the most solid of the four. After meat he ate a great quantity of pastry and sweetmeats, and he irrigated every repast by vast draughts of beer and wine.
Page 573 - ... the wind shifted to the north-west, and for three days blew a gale. The waters rose rapidly, and before the second day was closed the armada was afloat again. Some fugitives from Zoetermeer village now arrived, and informed the Admiral that by making a detour to the right, he could completely circumvent the bridge and the mere. They guided him accordingly to a comparatively low dyke, which led between the villages of Zoetermeer and Benthuyzen.