spit was turned in the ashes, it was sought by cunning and
numerous certificates and petitions to shift the blame upon
others. But that happened so because the war was carried too
far, and because every one laid the damage and the blood
which was shed to his account. La Montagne said that he had
protested against it, but that it was begun against his will
and to his great regret, and that afterwards, when it was
entered upon, he had helped to excuse it to the best of his
ability. The secretary, Cornelius van Tienhoven, also said
that he had no hand in the matter, and nothing had been done
by him in regard to it except by the express orders of the
Director. But this was not believed, for there are those
who have heard La Montagne say that if the secretary had not
brought false reports the affair would never have happened.<4>
There are others also who know this, and every one believes
it to be so; and indeed it has plausability. Fiscal van der
Hoytgens was not trusted on account of his drinking, wherein
all his science consists. He had also no experience here,
and in the beginning frequently denounced the war as being
against his will. So that the blame rests, and must rest
only upon the Director and Secretary Tienhoven. The
Director was entrusted with the highest authority, and if
any body advised him to the land's ruin, he was not bound
to follow the advice and afterwards endeavor to shift the
burden from his own neck upon the people, who however
excuse themselves although in our judgment they are not all
entirely innocent. The cause of this war we conceive to
have been the exacting of the contribution, (for which the
Director said he had the order of the Managers,)<5> and
his own ungovernable passions, which showed themselves