By England's Aid or The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604)
by G. A. Henty


PREFACE.

MY DEAR LADS,

In my preface to By Pike and Dyke I promised in a future story to deal
with the closing events of the War of Independence in Holland. The
period over which that war extended was so long, and the incidents
were so numerous and varied, that it was impossible to include the
whole within the limit of a single book. The former volume brought
the story of the struggle down to the death of the Prince of Orange
and the capture of Antwerp; the present gives the second phase of
the war, when England, who had long unofficially assisted Holland,
threw herself openly into the struggle, and by her aid mainly
contributed to the successful issue of the war. In the first part
of the struggle the scene lay wholly among the low lands and cities
of Holland and Zeeland, and the war was strictly a defensive one,
waged against overpowering odds. After England threw herself into
the strife it assumed far wider proportions, and the independence
of the Netherlands was mainly secured by the defeat and destruction
of the great Armada, by the capture of Cadiz and the fatal blow
thereby struck at the mercantile prosperity of Spain, and by the
defeat of the Holy League by Henry of Navarre, aided by English
soldiers and English gold. For the facts connected with the
doings of Sir Francis Vere and the British contingent in Holland,
I have depended much upon the excellent work by Mr. Clement Markham
entitled the Fighting Veres. In this full justice is done to the