receive from France, upon which country he had built such lofty and such
reasonable hopes.

While this unfortunate event was occurring, the Prince had already put
his army in motion. On the 7th of July he had crossed the Rhine at
Duisburg, with fourteen thousand foot, seven thousand horse, enlisted in
Germany, besides a force of three thousand Walloons. On the 23rd of
July, he took the city of Roermond, after a sharp cannonade, at which
place his troops already began to disgrace the honorable cause in which
they were engaged, by imitating the cruelties and barbarities of their
antagonists. The persons and property of the burghers were, with a very
few exceptions, respected; but many priests and monks were put to death
by the soldiery under circumstances of great barbarity. The Prince,
incensed at such conduct, but being unable to exercise very stringent
authority over troops whose wages he was not yet able to pay in full,
issued a proclamation, denouncing such excesses, and commanding his
followers, upon pain of death, to respect the rights of all individuals,
whether Papist or Protestant, and to protect religious exercises both in
Catholic and Reformed churches.

It was hardly to be expected that the troops enlisted by the Prince in
the same great magazine of hireling soldiers, Germany, from whence the
Duke also derived his annual supplies, would be likely to differ very
much in their propensities from those enrolled under Spanish banners; yet
there was a vast contrast between the characters of the two commanders.
One leader inculcated the practice of robbery, rape, and murder, as a
duty, and issued distinct orders to butcher every mother's son in the
cities which he captured; the other restrained every excess to, the
utmost of his ability, protecting not only life and property, but even
the ancient religion.