The advice was not taken; and before the end of her reign Elizabeth was
destined to see this indefensible city--only fit, in her judgment, to be
abandoned to the waves--become memorable; throughout all time, for the
longest; and, in many respects, the most remarkable siege which modern
history has recorded, the famous leaguer, in which the first European
captains of the coming age were to take their lessons, year after year,
in the school of the great Dutch soldier, who was now but a "solemn, sly
youth," just turned of twenty.

The only military achievement which characterized the close of the year,
to the great satisfaction of the Provinces and the annoyance of Parma,
was the surprise of the city of Bonn. The indefatigable Martin Schenk--
in fulfilment of his great contract with the States-General, by which the
war on the Rhine had been farmed out to him on such profitable terms:--
had led his mercenaries against this important town. He had found one of
its gates somewhat insecurely guarded, placed a mortar under it at night,
and occupied a neighbouring pig-stye with a number of his men, who by
chasing, maltreating, and slaughtering the swine, had raised an unearthly
din, sufficient to drown the martial operations at the gate. In brief,
the place was easily mastered, and taken possession of by Martin, in the
name of the deposed elector, Gebhard Truchsess--the first stroke of good
fortune which had for a long time befallen that melancholy prelate.

The administration of Leicester has been so minutely pictured, that it
would be superfluous to indulge in many concluding reflections. His acts
and words have been made to speak for themselves. His career in the
country has been described with much detail, because the period was a
great epoch of transition. The republic of the Netherlands, during those
years, acquired consistency and permanent form. It seemed possible, on
the Earl's first advent, that the Provinces might become part and parcel