to it. The post, certainly not dishonourable in itself, had been
intended by the King as a kindly compliment to the leading statesman
of his great and good ally the Republic. It would be difficult to
say why such a favour conferred on the young man should be held more
discreditable to the receiver than the Order of the Garter recently
bestowed upon the great soldier of the Republic by another friendly
sovereign. It is instructive however to note the language in which
Francis Aerssens spoke of favours and money bestowed by a foreign monarch
upon himself, for Aerssens had come back from his embassy full of gall
and bitterness against Barneveld. Thenceforth he was to be his evil
demon.

"I didn't inherit property," said this diplomatist. "My father and
mother, thank God, are yet living. I have enjoyed the King's liberality.
It was from an ally, not an enemy, of our country. Were every man
obliged to give a reckoning of everything he possesses over and above his
hereditary estates, who in the government would pass muster? Those who
declare that they have served their country in her greatest trouble, and
lived in splendid houses and in service of princes and great companies
and the like on a yearly salary of 4000 florins, may not approve these
maxims."

It should be remembered that Barneveld, if this was a fling at the
Advocate, had acquired a large fortune by marriage, and, although
certainly not averse from gathering gear, had, as will be seen on a
subsequent page, easily explained the manner in which his property had
increased. No proof was ever offered or attempted of the anonymous
calumnies levelled at him in this regard.

"I never had the management of finances," continued Aerssens. "My