transferred to the new, free, national, independent, and prosperous
commonwealth that had risen in the "islands" which Parma and Sainte
Aldegonde had vainly hoped to restore to their ancient servitude. In a
very few years after the subjugation of Antwerp, it appeared by
statistical documents that nearly all the manufactures of linen, coarse
and fine cloths, serges, fustians, tapestry, gold-embroidery, arms-work,
silks, and velvets, had been transplanted to the towns of Holland and
Zeeland, which were flourishing and thriving, while the Flemish and
Brabantine cities had become mere dens of thieves and beggars. It was in
the mistaken hope of averting this catastrophe--as melancholy as it was
inevitable and in despair of seeing all the Netherlands united, unless
united in slavery, and in deep-rooted distrust of the designs and policy
of England, that this statesman, once so distinguished, had listened to
the insidious tongue of Parma. He had sought to effect a general
reconciliation with Spain, and the only result of his efforts was a
blight upon his own illustrious name.

He published a defence of his conduct, and a detailed account of the
famous siege. His apology, at the time, was not considered conclusive,
but his narrative remains one of the clearest and most trustworthy
sources for the history of these important transactions. He was never
brought to trial, but he discovered, with bitterness, that he had
committed a fatal error, and that his political influence had passed
away. He addressed numerous private epistles to eminent persons,
indignantly denying the imputations against his character, and demanding
an investigation. Among other letters he observed in one to Count
Hohenlo, that he was astonished and grieved to find that all his faithful
labours and sufferings in the cause of his fatherland had been forgotten
in an hour. In place of praise and gratitude, he had reaped nothing but
censure and calumny; because men ever judged, not by the merits, but by