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A. D. 1377.

PARTI. his arrival in the Low Countries. He faw the impoffibility of refiftance, and agreed to whatever was required of him;-to confirm the Pacification of Ghent, and difmifs the Spanish army. After thefe conceffions he was acknowledged governor, and the king's lieutenant of the Netherlands 3. Peace and concord were reftored, industry renewed, and religious difputes filenced; liberty had leisure to breathe, commerce began to lift her head, and the arts again to difpenfe their bleffings.

But the ambition of Don John, who coveted this great theatre for the exercife of his military talents, lighted anew the torch of difcord, and the flames of civil war. As he found the States determined to impofe very ftri&t limitations on his authority, he broke all articles; feized Namur, and procured the recall of the Spanish army. Animated by the fucceffes of his youth, he had opened his mind to vast undertakings; and looking beyond the conqueft of the revolted provinces, had projected a marriage with the queen of Scots, and in her right the acquifition of both the British kingdoms. Elizabeth was aware of his intentions, and no longer fcrupled to embrace the protection of the Flemings, whofe independency feemed now intimately A. D. 1578. connected with her own fafety. She accordingly entered into an alliance with them; fent them a fum of money; and foon after, a body of troops 14. Prince Cafimire, count palatine of the Rhine, alfo engaged to fupport them; and colle&ted, for that purpofe, an army of German proteftants.

BUT the Flemings, while ftrengthening themselves by foreign alliances, were weakened by diffenfions at home. The duke d'Arfchot, governor of Flanders, and

13 Bentivoglo, lib. x.

14. Camden.

feveral

LXIX.

several other catholic noblemen, jealous of the prince of LETTER Orange, who, on the return of the Spanish forces, had been elected governor of Brabant, privately invited the A.D. 1578 archduke Matthias, brother of the emperor Rodolph II. to the government of the Low Countries. Matthias, difgufted at the imperial court, rafhly accepted the propofal; quitted Prague in the night, and fuddenly arrived in neighbourhood of Antwerp, to the aftonifhment of the States. Swayed by maxims of the trueft policy and patriotifm, the prince of Orange, contrary to all expectation, embraced the intereft of the archduke; and, by that prudent measure, divided the German and Spanish branches of the houfe of Aufaia. Don John was depofed by a decree of the States; Matthias was appointed governor-general of the provinces, and the prince of Orange his lieutenant, to the great mortification of d'Arfchot 15.

MEANWHILE Don John being joined by the famous Alexander Farnefe, duke of Parma, with eighteen thousand veterans, attacked the army of the States. near Gemblours, and gained a confiderable advantage over them. But the caufe of liberty fuftained a much greater misfortune, in that jealoufy which arofe be-, tween the Proteftant and Catholic provinces. The prince of Orange, by reafon of his moderation, became fufpected by both parties; Matthias, receiving no fupport from Germany, fell into contempt; and the duke of Anjou, brother to Henry III. of France, through the prevalence of the Catholic intereft, was declared Defender of the Liberties of the Netherlands.

DON John took advantage of thefe fluctuating councils to push his military operations, and made himself

15. Le Clerc, lib. iii.

16. Reidan, lib. ii. Metern. lib. x.

mafter

PART J.

A. D. 1578.

A. D. 1579.

Jan. 15.

mafter of feveral places. But he was fo warmly received by the English auxiliaries at Rimenant, that he was obliged to give ground; and seeing little hopes of future success, on account of the numerous armies affembled against him, under prince Cafimire (who was paid by Elizabeth) and the duke of Anjou, he is fuppofed to have died of chagrin: others fay of poison, given him by order of Philp, who dreaded his ambition. But be that as it may, he died unexpectedly, and was fucceeded by the duke of Parma, much his fuperior both in war and negociation, and whofe address and clemency gave a new turn to the affairs of Spain in the Netherlands

The confederates, in the meanwhile, fpent their time in quarrelling, inftead of acting. Neither the army of prince Cafimire not that of the duke of Anjou, was of any ufe to the States. The Catholics were jealous of the first, the Proteftants of the laft, and the two leaders were jealous of each other. Those evils induced William prince of Orange to form the fcheme of more closely uniting the provinces of Holland and Zealand, and cementing them with fuch others as lay moft contiguous; Utrecht, Friefland, Groningen, Overyffel, and Guelderland, in which the Proteftant intereft predominated. The deputies accordingly met at Utrecht, and figned that famous UNION, in appearance fo flight, but in reality fo folid, of feven provinces independent of each other, actuated by different interefts, yet as clofely connected by the great tye of liberty, as the bundle of arrows, the arms and emblem of their republic.

It was agreed, That the Seven Provinces fhall unite themselves in intereft as ONE province, referving to each individual province and city all its own privileges, rights, customs, and ftatutes; that in all disputes

between

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L

between particular provinces, the reftifhall interpofe only as mediators; and that they fhall affift each other with life and fortune, againft every foreign attempt A. D. 1579. upon any fingle province". The first coin ftruck after this alliance is ftrongly expreffive of the perilous fituation of the infant commonwealth. It reprefented a fhip ftruggling amid the waves, unaffifted by fails or oars, with this motto: Incertum quo fata ferant ; “ I "know not what may be my fate 18."

THE States had indeed great reafon for doubt. They had to contend with the whole power of the Spanish monarchy; and Philip, instead of offering them any equitable conditions, laboured to detach the prince of Orange from the Union of Utrecht. But William was too patriotic to refign the interefts of his country for any private advantage. He was determined to share the fate of the United Provinces: and they ftood in much need of fupport. The duke of Parma was making rapid progrefs both by his arts and arms. He had concluded a treaty with the Walloons, a name commonly given to the natives of the fouthern provinces of the Netherlands: he gained the confidence of the Catholic party in general, and took by affault the cities of Marfien and Maeftricht; where, in defiance of his authority, great enormities were committed by the Spanish troops. Every thing feemed poffible to him. The States, however, continued refolute, though fenfible of their weakness. They again made an offer of their fovereignty to Elizabeth; and as the ftill rejected it, they conferred it on the duke of Anjou, finally withdrawing their allegiance from A. D-1580. Philip II.

17. Temple, chap. 1. Reidan. lib. ii. 19. Grotius, lib. iii.

18. Id. Ibid.

PART I.

A. D. 1580.

WHILE Philip was lofing the feven United Provinces, fortune threw in his way a new fovereignty. Don Sebaftian, king of Portugal, grandfon of the great Emmanuel, fmit with the paffion for military glory, determined to fignalize himself by an expedition against the Moors in Africa, where his ancestors had acquired fo much renown. In confequence of this direction of mind, he efpoufed the caufe of Muley Mahomet, whom Muley Moluch, his uncle, had difpoffeffed of the kingdoms of Fez and Morocco; and, contrary to the opinion of his wifeft counsellors, embarked for Africa, in 1578, with an army of twenty thousand men. The army of Muley Moluch was superior; but that circumftance only roused the courage of Don Sebastian, who wore green armour in order to be a better mark for the enemy. The two armies engaged near Alcazar-quivir; and after a defperate conflict, the Chriftians were totally routed, or rather deftroyed, being all either killed or taken prisoners. Among the flain was Don Sebaftian. The two Moorifh princes, uncle and nephew, were alfo left dead on the field 20.

THE king of Portugal having left no iffue, was fucceeded by his uncle, cardinal Henry; who alfo dying

20 H. de Mendoza. Cabrera. Thuanus. Muley Moluch, who appears to have been a great and generous prince, died with the most heroic magnanimity. Wafted by an inveterate difcafe, which the fatigue of the battle had rendered mortal, he defired his attendants to keep his death fecret, till the fortune of the day fhould be decided. Even after he loft the use of speech, he laid his finger on his lips as a farther injunction of fecrecy; and, ftretching himfelf in his litter, calmly expired in the field of victory. (Ibid). In regard to the manner of Don Sebaftian's death, hiftorians are by no means agreed; but all admit that he fought gallantly, and difdained to furvive the defeat of his army. Some fay, that he laid violent hands upon himself; others, that being difarmed and made prifoner by the victors, he was flain by a Moorish officer, who came up while the foldiers were violently difputing their right to the royal captive. (Thuanus, Hift. fui Temp.) Muley Mahomet perished in attempting to fave himself by flight, and Hamet, Muley Moluch's brother, fucceded to the throne of Morocco. Id. Ibid.

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