old families, the great weavers and brewers, for to them property, life
and consideration were more than religion and liberty, while the poor
men, who laboriously supported their families by the sweat of their
brows, were joyously determined to sacrifice money and blood for the good
cause.

There was obstacle after obstacle to conquer. The scaffolds and barns,
frames and all other wood-work that could serve to conceal a man, were to
be levelled to the earth, as all the country-houses and other buildings
near the city had formerly been. Much newly-erected woodwork was already
removed, but the rich longest resisted having the axe put to theirs. New
earthworks had been commenced at the important fort of Valkenburg; but
part of the land, where the workmen were obliged to dig, belonged to a
brewer, who demanded a large sum in compensation for his damaged meadow.
When the siege was raised in March, paper-money was restored, round
pieces of pasteboard, one side of which bore the Netherland lion, with
the inscription, "Haec libertatis ergo," while the other had the coat-of-
arms of the city and the motto "God guard Leyden." These were intended
to be exchanged for coin or provisions, but rich speculators had obtained
possession of many pieces, and were trying to raise their value. Demands
of every kind pressed upon him, and amid all these claims the burgomaster
was also compelled to think of his own affairs, for all intercourse with
the outside world would soon be cut off, and it was necessary to settle
many things with the representative of his business in Hamburg. Great
losses were threatening, but he left no means untried to secure for his
family what might yet be saved.

He rarely saw wife or children; yet thought he was fulfilling the promise
Maria had obtained from him the evening after his return, when he briefly
answered her questions or voluntarily gave her such sentences as "There