his capital enemies, of which fact he could produce irrefragable
evidence. He claimed that the Supreme Court of Holland, or the High
Council, or both together, should decide upon that point. He held as his
personal enemies, he said, all those who had declared that he, before or
since the Truce down to the day of his arrest, had held correspondence
with the Spaniards, the Archdukes, the Marquis Spinola, or any one on
that side, had received money, money value, or promises of money from
them, and in consequence had done or omitted to do anything whatever.
He denounced such tales as notorious, shameful, and villainous
falsehoods, the utterers and circulators of them as wilful liars, and
this he was ready to maintain in every appropriate way for the
vindication of the truth and his own honour. He declared solemnly before
God Almighty to the States-General and to the States of Holland that his
course in the religious matter had been solely directed to the
strengthening of the Reformed religion and to the political security of
the provinces and cities. He had simply desired that, in the awful and
mysterious matter of predestination, the consciences of many preachers
and many thousands of good citizens might be placed in tranquillity, with
moderate and Christian limitations against all excesses.

From all these reasons, he said, the commissioners, the States-General,
the Prince, and every man in the land could clearly see, and were bound
to see, that he was the same man now that he was at the beginning of the
war, had ever been, and with God's help should ever remain.

The proceedings were kept secret from the public and, as a matter of
course, there had been conflicting rumours from day to day as to the
probable result of these great state trials. In general however it was
thought that the prisoner would be acquitted of the graver charges, or
that at most he would be permanently displaced from all office and