the Silent, to assume the command. Maurice insisted that his brother was
too young, and that it was unjust to allow so grave a responsibility to
fall upon his shoulders. The States, not particularly pleased with the
Prince's attitude at this alarming juncture, and made anxious by the
glamour which seemed to possess him since his conferences with the
revolutionary party at Utrecht, determined not to yield.

The army marched forth and laid siege to the city, Prince Frederic Henry
at its head. He was sternly instructed by the States-General, under
whose orders he acted, to take possession of the city at all hazards.
He was to insist on placing there a garrison of 2000 foot and 300 horse,
and to permit not another armed man within the walls. The members of the
council of state and of the States of Utrecht accompanied the army. For
a moment the party in power was disposed to resist the forces of the
Union. Dick Kanter and his friends were resolute enough; the Catholic
priests turned out among the rest with their spades and worked on the
entrenchments. The impossibility of holding the city against the
overwhelming power of the States was soon obvious, and the next day the
gates were opened, and easy terms were granted. The new magistracy was
set aside, the old board that had been deposed by the rebels reinstated.
The revolution and the counterrevolution were alike bloodless, and it was
determined that the various grievances of which the discontented party
had complained should be referred to the States-General, to Prince
Maurice, to the council of state, and to the ambassadors of France and
England. Amnesty was likewise decreed on submission.

The restored government was Arminian in its inclinations, the
revolutionary one was singularly compounded both of Catholic and of
ultra-orthodox elements. Quiet was on the whole restored, but the
resources of the city were crippled. The event occurring exactly at the