Motley's History of the United Netherlands [pp. 223-238]

MOTrLEY S HISTORY OF TIlE UNITED NETHERLANDS.
her ineff-tble stinginess worked a long, delay, a heavier expenditure, and vastly increased suffering. For the purpose of effectilng, thle proposed end of the allilnce, the queen, under the im)ortuniities of the Dutch commissioners, sent a person of quality
to reside among them, and th 3 Earl of Leicester was selected.
Since the queen had refused to accept the sovereignty, whllat
was the pressing, necessity for this last request of the states?
Let oulr author answer: " TAe sovereiqnty, which had been held
by tle estates, ready to be confcrre(i respectively uplon Anjou
and Orange, relmained in the hands of the estates. There was
1no opposition to this theory" (p. 11, vol. i). We will show that
there was, lho-ever, decided opp)osition to it. At another place,
hie savs: " Since the death of William the Silent, there was no
one individual in the Netherlands to impersonate the grreat
strtggle of the provinces with Spain and Rome, and to concentrate upon his own head a practical, dramatic, and yet
mnost legitimate interest" (p. 314, vol. i). This is rather a
vague anid indefinite exposition of sovereign power, which we
find expressed in more statesmanlike temIs, by Joos do
3Ienin, pensionary of Dort, and one of the envoys to England,
lwho, in the name of his associates, delivered an address to the
queen, in which he said: " Since tlhe death of the Prince of
Orange, the states have lost many important cities, and now,
for the preservation of their existence, they have need of a
prince and sovereign lord to defend them a,gainst the tyranny
and illiquitous oppression of the Spaniards and their adherents,
whlo are more and more determined utterly to destroy their
eountry " (vol. i, p. 318).
Again: ~Leicester is sent to the Netherlands, with the limited
militaI-r authority of commander-in-chief over four thousand
Vng-lsh soldiers. The Netherland envoys in England, in their
I-),arting advice. most disti-ncetly urged him "to hold authlority
witli the first, to declare himself chlief-head and governor-g,eneral" of the whole country. The sequel not only proves the
secret purposes of the earl, but the feeling and sentiments of
the estates. The offer of governor-general was pressed uponi
lhim —an office involviIng the highest civil and military powers.
The earl hesitated, only because lhe knew the wrIathl of the
queeii would be kindled at his treachery, his duplicity, and the
assunmption of powers incompatible with her own dignity, as
well is transcending the range of his nmission. It was forbidden firuit, but he yielded to the tempter. His own wicked heart
urged lhim forward; he clutched the bait, and was inaugurated
governol-general of tl-he united provinces of Guildei-land, Zutplien, Flanders, Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland, and all
others in confederacy with them. It has been said that it was
the lhighest civil and military office kInown to tlhe confederacy;
and, i(ndeed, was it an alarming growthl of power. lIe was to
have supreme military command by land and sea. He was to
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