John de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, 1625-1672 9781400870912

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JOHN DE WITT GRAND PENSIONARY OF HOLLAND

HERBERT H. ROWEN

John de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, 1625-1672

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS Princeton, New Jersey

Copyright © 1978 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press Guildford, Surrey All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data will be found on the last printed page of this book Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press Princeton, New Jersey

CONTENTS

Preface

Vll

Note on Names, Personal and Geographical Abbreviations

Xl

xiii

Prologue: The Lances Are Blunted

3

I.

Youth (1625-1650)

2.

Holland Versus the Prince (1649-1650)

25

5

3.

The Path to Power (January 1651-February 1652)

50

4.

War with Cromwell (May 1652-July 1653)

68

5·

Life in The Hague (1653-1660)

6.

From Affluence to Fortune

I

7·

The Craft of Politics

133

8.

The Master of Patronage

154

9.

The Manager of State Finances

170

10.

Toward Peace (July 1653-April 1654)

191

I I.

Exclusion of the Prince (April-August 1654)

215

97 12

12. Diplomacy: Craft and Art

238

13. As England Goes ... (1654-1660)

257

14. Not Quite Friends or Foes (1652-1660)

271

15· The Embroiled Baltic (1652-1657)

303

16. Storm in the North (1657-1660)

317

17· Holland Politics (1654-1660)

334

18. A Clashing Harmony (1654-1660)

356

19. The Anomalous Republican

380

20. The Unphilosophical Cartesian

401

2 I. The Churches and the State

420

22. The Royal Guest (May-June 1660)

442

23. England: The Collapse of Friendship (1660-1664)

448

24· France: The Dubious Ally (1660-1664)

465

25. Life in The Hague (1660-1672)

491

26. ANew Place for Orange? (1660-1664)

513

27· Politics at Home (1660-1664)

546

28. King Charles's War (1665-1667)

574

v

CONTENTS

29· The Mouse That Bit a Lion (1665-1666) 3 0 . The Way to Breda (1665-1667)

59 8 611

3I. France: The Reluctant Ally (1665-1667) 3 2. Wartime Politics (1665-1667)

634

33· The Triple Alliance (August 1667-June 1668) 34· The Dover Treaty (June 1668-June 1670) 35· The Fruits of Dover (June 167o-April 1672) 36 . Quest for New Allies (1668- I 672) 37· The Prince Starts Back (1667-1670) 38 . The Prince Advances (June 167o-April 1672) 39· The Desperate Months (April-June 1672) 4 0 . The Fall from Power (June-August 1672)

659 68 3 709 73 1 760 781 79 8 81 5

4 I. The Final Horror (J uly-A ugust 1672)

840 861

Epilogue

884

Bibliography

894 93 1

Index

Vl

PREFACE

I

RONY, tragedy, and vitality-these are the qualities that the servant of Clio finds in the days and works of John de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1653 to 1672. Irony, for he was the supreme spokesman of republican principles and practice in a republic never wholly republican, where the name of Prince of Orange meant to many not only the memory of the Liberator, William the Silent, but also the security of monarchy in the heyday of European kingship. Tragedy, for the ultimate reward of his services to his country was a death of horror rarely matched in history. Vitality, for, despite defeat and death, he was a statesman whose sharpness of mind, strength of purpose, fortitude, and good humor were the quintessence oflife. To write the life of such a man is no small challenge. J. R. Thorbecke, gifted historian and great statesman of nineteenth-century Holland, joined warning and encouragement in a phrase: "To give us a life of De Witt worthy of the man is to assure oneself a place among historians of all time."! Yet, to know De Witt at all, in the cloudy mirrors of the histories or in the immediate but chaotic contact of the sources, is to feel the challenge-even if, as an outsider, one remembers what Robert Fruin, Holland's most eminent historian, wrote a century ago about James Geddes's first (and only) volume of his biography: "To write a history of De Witt's times which satisfies the requirements of historical art as well as those of historical science, is a very heavy task, especially for a foreigner."2 This historian came to De Witt in the course of a study of French-Dutch relations in the period of Louis XIV. Captured by the subject, he has stayed with De Witt ever since. Yet the historian-biographer who wishes to avoid hero worship finds his task eased by the very qualities of the man. A life account worthy of De Witt must be founded ultimately on honesty of judgment. He deserves no less. I hope the reader of my work will feel that it is not too unworthy of its subject.

As this work at long last becomes ready for the press, the time is here to give thanks and credit to all those, men and institutions, who have helped me in one or another way to bring it to completion. They are the libraries and archives, more than collections of books and manuscripts, but people 1J. R. Thorbecke, "Johan de Witt,"in his Hlstorische Schetsen, 2nd ed. (The Hague, 1872), 2 Robert Fruin, "Geddes over De Witt," De Nederlandsche Spectator (1880), 102.

Vll

I.

PREFACE

who served a toiling and perhaps importunate historian with competence and patience: the libraries of Columbia University, the University of Iowa, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and Madison, the University of Utrecht, Princeton University, and Rutgers University; and of the Instituut voor Geschiedenis of the University of Utrecht, the Newberry Library, the Folger Library, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek at The Hague, the New York Public Library, the Speers Library of the Princeton Theological Seminary, and the library of the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde at Leiden. And the. archives: the Archives of the Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres at Paris, the Algemeen Rijksarchief at The Hague (and special thanks, Drs. J. Fox, to yourself and all your staff), the Gemeentearchief at Dordrecht, the Gemeentearchief at Haarlem, and the Sypesteyn-Stichting in Nieuw Loosdrecht. Support for work in the shape of research leaves, funds for travel, acquisition of microfilm, typing of the manuscript, and other chores, came from the Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the FOlger Shakespeare Memorial Library, the Newberry Library, the Research Committee of the University ofWisconsin, and the Research Council of Rutgers University. There are many friends and colleagues who have contributed their ideas and criticism of my ideas as the research and then the writing progressed. Among these are Stephen B. Baxter, J. C. Boogman, N. Bootsma, Judith V. Grabiner, Margaret Judson, H. G. Koenigsberger, E. H. Kossmann, Bryce and Mary Lyon, Grady McWhiney, Theodore K. Rabb, D. J. Roorda, I. Schoffer, J. W. Smit, Traian Stoianovich, Warren Susman, Charles Vevier, H. Wansink, and John B. Wolf. Five contributed beyond the ordinary measure: Andrew Lossky, best of friends and a never-failing source of intellectual and personal encouragement, who never despaired of this book or me; Jan den Tex, who gave both friendship and an admirable model of a historical biography in his Oldenbarnevelt; William F. Church, who read the manuscript with scrupulous and perceptive attention both to the largest questions of interpretation and organization and the smallest problems of detail; Orest Ranum, who with his usual wise judgment helped solve some of the most difficult problems of organization; and Jan Poelhekke, who took time from his own work on Frederick Henry to draw upon his immense fund of knowledge and insight of this period to correct the errors of the scholar from abroad and to suggest improvements which I usually, but not always, accepted. I had, in a way, two doctorvaders who set me on my path and encouraged my journey: Garrett Mattingly, who guided me to the doctorate and then and later taught me so much about history as discipline, imagination, knowledge, and expression; and Pieter Geyl, who helped the fledgling scholar

Vlli

PREFACE

caught up in the history of his country and then gave friendship and criticism over the years. Would that they were both here now to read this book, written in their spirit, to enjoy it perhaps, but certainly to mark its weaknesses! My children, Douglas, Amy and Marthe, contributed in a way I am sure they did not realize, by helping their father to live more fully, and thus to understand Jan de Witt a little better. My wife, Mildred, did not read or type this book, as she did earlier ones, because she had her own career to keep her busy; but she made it possible, far beyond the normal sense of the phrase, and so it is, truly, hers too.

H.H.R. Rocky Hill, New Jersey February 28, 1975

IX

A NOTE ON NAMES, PERSONAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL

IN general, I have followed the practice of giving the English form of given names for men. Thus, we find John, Cornelius, and William instead of Johan, Cornelis, and Willem. Yet I continue to write of Frans and Hieronymus, not Francis or Jerome, either because the name (as in the former case) has attained currency in English, or because (as in the latter) the Latin form is permissible. I will not assert any strict logic but only the command of my own ear. Women's names, fortunately, are customary in a wide variety of forms in English, and there is no need to choose between English and Dutch forms. It was Dutch practice in the seventeenth century to call a married woman by her maiden name. In the footnotes, the maiden name will be given after the married name (e.g., Anna de Witt-van den Corput), as in modern Dutch practice. For family names which begin with "van" ("of") or "de" ("the"), I follow the Dutch practice of capitalizing the particle when the given name does not precede it, but leaving it otherwise in lower case. Estate names do not take the "van": the man called "Zwijndrecht" in these pages is Jacob van Beveren, lord (heer) ofZwijndrecht. There are a number of Dutch places for which the English name is not the same as the Dutch. Sometimes, as with Vlissingen in Zeeland, an English form (in this case, "Flushing") has been fixed by usage; but I write Zeeland, not "Zealand" (despite the existence of New Zealand), because the translated form would be "Sealand." At other times, as with 's-Hertogenbosch, contemporary Englishmen used the French name of Bois-Ie-Duc; I have preferred the common Dutch form, Den Bosch. In historical writing, Nijmegen is often called Nymwegen, the German (and dialectical local) form, but it makes better sense to use its customary modern Dutch name. For the sake of clarity, the name Holland is used only for the province and never for the republic as a whole, except within quoted material. It was already customary for foreigners to use the name of the leading province for the whole country; however, this sometimes leads to uncertainty, particularly when "States of Holland" is used to mean the States General and not the provincial assembly. I always avoid this ambiguous usage.

Xl

ABBREVIATIONS

r

AEH

AGN AMON ARA AF ARA StGen ARA StH

AVW BA Bib. Ars. BJ BGN BMGN BMHG BNZ

BR BVGO CEP CF CWB

Archives du Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Paris, Correspondance de Hollande Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden Archives ou correspondance inMite de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague. Eerste Afdeling, ArchiefFagel Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague, Staten Generaal v66r 1795 Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague, Staten van Holland v66r 1795. (Inventory entries for "Staten van Holland" citations are given in either of two forms. The abbreviation "StH" followed by a number indicates the file number; followed by a capital letter and then a number, it indicates a box number. The file number is the earlier form, while the box number is more recent and incorporates the file number. The numbers are given as marked at the time of use. Since the incorporation of material in boxes is continuing, no effort has been made to update inventory numbers.) Archiif voor de Verzekerings- Wetenschap en aanverwante vakken Brieven aan Johan de Witt Bibliotheque de l' Arsenal, Paris Brieven van Johan de Witt Bijdragen voor de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden Bijdragen en Mededeelingen betreJfendede Geschiedenis der Nederlanden Bijdragen en Mededelingen van het Historisch Genootschap gevestigd te Utrecht Bescheiden uit vreemde Archieven omtrent de groote Nederlandsche Zeeoorlogen Brieven geschreven ende gewisselt tusschen . . . Johan de Witt. . . ende de Gevolmaghtigden van den Staedt der Vereenighde Nederlanden . .. Bijdragen voor Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis en Oudheidkunde Correspondence de la Cour d' Espagne sur les Affaires des Pays-Bas au XVII- siecie Correspondance Franfaise du Grand Pensionnaire Jean de Witt Correspondentie van Willem III en Hans Willem Bentinck xiii

ABBREVIATIONS

GAH HMGK KBH KHGU Kn. Min. Res. St. Holl. RC Res. St. Holl. Res. Vr. Haarlem Sec. Res. St. Gen. Sec. Res. St. Holl. SR SS DWBR SS FA

TvG

UA VLHB WG

Gemeente Archief, Haarlem Historia: Maandschrift voor Geschiedenis en Kunstgeschiedenis Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague Kronijk van het Historisch Genootschap gevestigd te Utrecht Knuttel, Catalogus van de Parriflettenverzameling Minute Resolutien van de Staten van Holland Resolutien van Consideratie Resolutien van de Staten van Holland Resolutien van de Vroedschap van Haarlem Secrete Resolutien van de Staten Generaal Secrete Resolutien van de Staten van Holland Secrete Resolutiifn van de Edele Groot Mog. Heeren Staten van Holland De Sypesteyn-Stichting, Nieuw Loosdrecht, De Witt, Brieven De Sypesteyn-Stichting, Nieuw Loosdrecht, FamilieArchief Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis ( I 892-1893 Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis en aardrijkskunde; 1894- I 9 I 9 T~idschrift voor Geschiedenis, land- en volkenkunde) Urkunden und Aktenstucke zur Geschichte des Kurfiirsten Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen-Historie en Binnenlandsche Bibliographie G. von Antal and J.C.H. de Pater, Weensche Gezantschapsberichten van 1670 tot 1720

JOHN DE WITT GRAND PENSIONARY OF HOLLAND

PROLOGUE

THE LANCES ARE BLUNTED was a hard year for the Dutch. Their war of independence against Spain, confidently resumed in 1621 after twelve years of truce, was going badly. Maurice of Nassau, the stadholder and commander-in-chief, had lost the touch of victory. In March, after a siege of eleven months, the fortress of Breda in northern Brabant fell to the wily, persistent Spinola. The silky courtesy of the victorious Spaniard, eternalized in Velasquez's Las Lanzas, did not make defeat less bitter or dangerous for the Dutch. Breda was the key to the Generality Lands, the strip of northern Flanders and Brabant reconquered by the States General, a glacis keeping the enemy away from the great river line of Rhine and Maas which was the main defense of the Dutch. If the Spaniards could maintain the momentum of victory, the war could be carried directly to the maritime provinces of Holland and Zeeland. But Zeeland and, even more so, Holland were the soul of the republic. If they faltered, it was doomed; if they held, it lived. l Maurice had not lived to see Breda lost. His half-brother Frederick Henry, youngest son of William the Silent, succeeded Maurice in April 1625. The new stadholder, who became captain general of the union, had made a name for himself as a ladies' man, not as a commander of armies. Could he be counted upon to halt the Spaniards? Fortunately, Spinola did not advance beyond Breda, and Frederick Henry was not tested until he was ready. Two years later he proved his worth, capturing Grol and beginning his career as the stedendwinger-"the forcer of cities." In 1629 he took 's-Hertogenbosch, celebrated in the military annals of the time by its f'rench name of Bois-le-Duc. 2 In 1632 came the turn of Maastricht, the fortress far to the southeast commanding the Maas below Liege. Five years later Breda itself was recaptured. The republic was safe. A statesman's career lay open now for a child born to a Dordrecht family months after Breda fell to the Spaniards. If Spinola had pushed beyond Breda and crossed the river line into Holland, Dordrecht would have been the first city in his path. If he had gone all the way and subjugated the republic, as he hoped, the best that could have been hoped for by a son of the De Witts and the Van den Corputs, who had been so

SIXTEEN TWENTY-FIVE

1 1. Schoifer "De Crisis van de jonge Republiek, 1609-1625," in Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, ed. J. A. van Houtte et al. (hereafter cited as AGN), 12 vols. (Utrecht, 1949-58). VI, 60. 2 J. W. Wijn, "Krijgsbedrijven onder Frederik Hendrik," AGN, VI, 261-62, 267.

3

PROLOGUE

active in the Revolt and the Reform, was to be tolerated and perhaps to prosper in business. It would not have been given toJohn de Witt to guide his "beloved Fatherland" as Grand Pensionary for almost twenty years, nor, probably, to die a martyr's death. But the years of John de Witt's boyhood and youth were the years when Spinola's dream proved hollow, when Spain slipped from greatness and the republic of the seven United Provinces rose high among the powers and potentates of Europe.

4

CHAPTER ONE

YOUTH (1625-1650)

(or Dort, as it is also known in Dutch and English), as the oldest city in Holland-it dates from the eleventh century-was the first in rank in the province. Situated in the heart of the Rhine-Maas delta, it had seemed destined for economic leadership during the Middle Ages. Its merchants traded upstream to Germany and over the North Sea to England in such wares as Rhine and Moselle wines and lumber, and it had the staple for English cloth. By the seventeenth century, however, its trade had fallen far behind Amsterdam's, while Leiden and Haarlem were more important as industrial centers and Rotterdam was moving ahead as a harbor. Dordrecht had few more than three thousand houses early in the century and less than four thousand at the end. 1 The Trips, an energetic and successful family, moved to Amsterdam, where they climbed from affluence to immense wealth. 2 Those who stayed behind accepted a more modest role for their town and for themselves. Among these were the De Witts, a family whose name first appears in Dordrecht town and guild records during the thirteenth century. A genealogy drawn up for Grand Pensionary De Witt four hundred years later begins with a Geert de Witt, who was an alderman in 1255 and 1266. 3 We do not know how much earlier the De Witts were in Dordrecht or whence they came. The records tell us little more than their names and posts in government until the sixteenth century, although twelve generations of De Witts can be traced before the John who attained fame. The name, however spelled, merely means White, and the Grand Pensionary, like the ancestor recorded as "Jan die Witte," bore the same name as any Englishman called John White. 4

DORDRECHT

1 C. Postma, ed., Holland in Vroeger Tiyd, I ('s-Gravezande, 1962), 58 (a modernized version of Hedendaagsche H,storie of Tegenwoordige Staat van aile Volkeren, XIV [Amsterdam, 1742J; Sir William Brereton, Travels in Holland, the United Provinces, England, Scotland and Ireland, ed. Edward Hawkms, (n.p., 1844), 12-14; P. W. Klem, De Trippen in de 17eEeuw. Een studie over het ondernemersgedrag op de Hollandse Stapelmarkt (Assen, 1965), 76-79, 89-90. 2 Klein, De Trippen, passim. 3 Summary of genealogy of De Witt family, drawn up for John de Witt, Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague, Staten van Holland v66r 1795 (hereafter cited as ARA StH), ColI. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 1. (Materials in the Algemeen Rijksarchief are numbered by file and sometimes by box; a file number IS given without any preceding letter, a box number with a preceding capital letter.) 4 Correspondents, pamphleteers, and clerks spelled the Grand Pensionary's name De Witt, De Wit, De Witte, and De With, but he wrote an unvarying "Johan de Witt."

5

YOUTH

By the thirteenth century the De Witts were probably already enjoying a measure of affluence, chiefly as lumber merchants. Jan die Witte Godschalkszoon, who lived in the second half of the fourteenth century, began the procession of De Witts in the service of their town. He served repeatedly as an alderman after 1367 and became burgomaster in 1375. More than a century passed, however, before another De \Vitt came into the government; the family produced instead a goodly number of priests, nuns and priors. 5 Cornelius de Witt, born in 1485, served twice as a member of the council and then four terms as alderman before his death in 1537. Cornelius's son Frans is already recorded as owning the lumber business which remained in the family for another century. His marriage to Liduwe van Beveren in 1539 advanced the family's standing in Dordrecht. The Van Beverens were perhaps the most eminent family in town, and Liduwe's mother, Aleyd Muys van Holy, also bore a distinguished name. Although Frans lived to see Lutheranism and even Calvinism enter the Low Countries, he remained a strict and staunch Catholic. His younger son, Cornelius, was the first De Witt to embrace the Reformed faith and the first to playa major political role in the country. When he was converted is not known, but by the time he was elected as an alderman, in 1575, Dordrecht was under the sway of the Revolt and Cornelius was a Calvinist. He governed Dordrecht as burgomaster for eighteen years, and his position of power there made him an active participant in provincial and national politics. While '"deputy in the field," representing the States General with the army besieging Grave in 1602, he won the favor and esteem of Prince Maurice. 6 The close tie between the De Witts and Prince Maurice was maintained by Cornelius's elder son, Andrew. The first De Witt to take up a career in the law, he was pensionary of Dordrecht for a few months in 1618. During the final year of the conflict between the prince and John van Oldenbarnevelt (who shared the founding of the Dutch Republic with William the Silent), Andrew de Witt, as pensionary of Holland's first town, was called to The Hague to act as land's advocate after

5 N. Japikse, "Witt (de)," Nieuw NederLandsch Biografisch Woordenbaek (hereafter cited as NNBW), 10 vols. (Leiden, 1911-37), III, col. 1448; J.L. van Dalen, Ge;chzedenis van Dordrecht, 2 vols. (Dordrecht, 1931-33), I, 357. 6 Japikse, entries on various De Witts, NNBW, III, cols. 1148-72; C.A. van Sypesteyn,

"Mr. Jacob de Witt. Een aanslag op zijn Leven te 's Gravenhage, 24 Juni 1653," in Holland in Vroegere Ti:;den: A4erkwaardzge Personen en Schetsen uit het maat;chappeli:;k Leven (The Hague, 1888),96; James Geddes, HIstory of the Admznistration of John de Witt, Grand Pe/1sionary of Holland, I (New York, 1880 [only one vol. pub.]), 27-29; Jan den Tex, Oldenbarnevelt, 5 voLs. (Haarlem, 1966-72), III, 471,667.

6

YOUTH

Oldenbarnevelt's arrest. After Oldenbarnevelt was executed, Andrew became acting land's advocate and held the office until 1621.7 Cornelius de Witt's youngest son, Jacob, was the father of the Grand Pensionary. Like Andrew, he took a doctorate in law, presumably at Leiden. 8 His excellenee as a writer, notably of Latin verse, brought him appointment in 1611 as curator of the Latin school of Dordrecht and as town librarian. 9 After making a grand tour which lasted several years and took him through Germany, France, and England, Jacob returned home to marry a seventeen-year-old girl, Anna van den Corput, at Breda, on October 9, 1616. 10 The Van den Corputs, "a celebrated family of Brabant," had long been active in the political life of Breda, although Anna was born in Dordrecht. 11 Many of the Van den Corput women married members of patrician families in Holland and Utrecht, certainly as much for sound political reasons as for love. The part of Brabant recaptured by the States General from the Spaniards had not been accorded equality by its liberators, who gave it neither a seat and a vote in the States General at The Hague, nor any right of self-government. The Van den Corputs went north to seek protection and favor from the De \Vitts and other marriage connections, not the other way around as might have happened a century before. 1 2 As for Anna herself, not much is known of her as a personality. Contemporaries called her "pious and respectable," and apparently she could be quite stern. In appearance she was a buxom Dutch matron, whose round face bore no more resemblance to the thin, long-nosed visage of her famous younger son than did that of her square-faced husband. 1 3 After his marriage, Jacob de Witt settled down in Dordrecht, where for almost two decades he operated the family 7 Geddes, Administration of John de Witt, I, 29; Japikse, "De Witt (Andries)," NNBW, III, cols. 1148-49; Van Sypesteyn, "Jacob de Witt," 667, 761, 773. 8 The year of his degree is unknown, but he was identified as such in contemporary documents. Geddes, AdministratIOn qf John de Witt, I, 29. 9 Van Sypesteyn, "Jacob de Witt," 96. loDe Witt family records give the date of her baptism as May 1599. ARA StH, ColI. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 14, fol. 15. I I Het swart toneel-gordyn, Opgeschovel< voor de Heeren Gebroederen Comelzs en John de Wztt (n.p., 1676): no. 11410 in W.P.C. Knuttel, Catalogus van de pamflettenverzameling berustende in de Koninkli,;ke BibllOtheek, 9 vols. (The Hague, 1889-1920). Pamphlets listed in Knutte!'s catalogue will be listed in future citations with the "Kn." number. 12 W.D. Verduyn, Emanuel van Aleteren: Bijdrage tot de kennis van zijn leven, zijn tijd en het onstaan van zijn geschiedwerk (The Hague, 1926), 114-17; J.L. van Dalen, Mr. Cornelzs de Witt (Dordrecht, 1918), 3. 1 J [Germain] Antonin Lefevre-Pontalis, Vingt annees de repuhlique parlementaire au dixseptihne szeele: Jean de Witt, grand pensionnazre de Hollande, 2 vols. (Paris, 1884), I, 85. See portraits of Anna van den Coq:iut and Jacob de Witt by Jan de Baen in the Dordrecht Gemeente-Museum.

7

YOUTH

lumber business in the yard behind the De Witt home on the Grotekerksbuurt.'4 In 1618, Jacob, a supporter of the Prince of Orange in the struggle against the Remonstrants, was chosen as treasurer of the national synod of Dordrecht. '5 The post was no sinecure, although it did not involve Jacob directly in the savage debates; for that matter, his father, who was a delegate, did not play any role of importance. Jacob provided for the finances of the entire synod and made arrangements for the foreign delegates in particular, who praised the bountiful Dutch hospitality which they received from his hands. ' 6 A career in Dordrecht town government opened wide for Jacob in 1620. His brother Andrew gave up the post of town pensionary, which he had continued to hold while acting as land's advocate, in order to take a seat in the Court of Holland. Jacob was elected as an alderman for the first time and was repeatedly renamed over the decades. In 1622, when his father died, Jacob was elected burgomaster to replace him. He was also named by the Old Council (as Dordrecht called its governing body) to sit for the city in the Chamber of the Maas of the West India Company, which met at Rotterdam. Although named on April 3, 1622, he did not take the oath of office until 1626. The honor was clearly greater than the function.' 7 In 1625, the year when his youngest child, John, was born, Jacob de Witt was also named receiver of taxes for Holland in Dordrecht and continued in this lucrative post until 1637. 18 Jacob's prosperity was coming to depend more upon his government service than upon the income from his lumber business. No evidence has been found to substantiate the charge made by a hostile pamphleteer years later that he had gone bankrupt, but it is clear that he sold the

14 This is the location of the house now numbered 21/23, actually on the tiny Manhuisstraat. However, after Jacob's father died m 1622, the son moved to a house built on the other side of the timber yards behind the mam house, at 10 Houttuinstraat, and it is assumed that Jacob's two sons were born there in 1623 and 1625. The house Itself, which Jacob later sold, has since been demolIshed; a memorial stone marking the birthplace of the Grand Pensionary has been affixed to the house on Grotekerksbuurt. C.J.P. Lips, Wandelingen door Oud-Dordrecht (Dordrecht, 1974), 127-28; Van Dalen, Geschiedems van Dordrecht, I, 102; P.J. Bos of Gemeentearchief; Dordrecht, to author, Dec. 18, 1974. 15 Van Sypesteyn, "Jacob de WItt," 95--97; Hendrik Kaajaan, De Pro-Acta der Dordtsche Synode zn 1618 (Rotterdam, 1914), 48n.2. 1 6 Matthias Graf, Beytrage z;ur Kenntnis der Geschichte der Synode von Dordrecht ... (Basel, 1825),69; Hendrik Kaajaan, De Groote Synode van Dordrecht zn 1618-1619 (Amsterdam, [1918]),62; Kaajaan, Pro-Acta, 10-11. 17 Van Dalen, Geschiedems van Dordrecht, I, 341. 18 Japikse, "De Witt (Jacob)," NNBW, III, cols. 1455-58; Van Sypesteyn, "Jacob de Witt," 99; Matthys Balen, Beschryving van Dordrecht ([Dordrecht], 1677), 226, 1323; N. Japikse, Johan de WItt, 2d rev. ed. (Amsterdam, 1928), 10-11.

8

YOUTH

business, part in 1633 and the remainder in 1651. I 9 His transformation from a merchant capitalist into a regent (a member of the governing bodies) was complete. Indeed, in 1637, when he was elected a delegated councilor, that is, a member of the standing committee of the States of Holland which acted for the whole assembly in the intervals between its meetings, he had to accept frequent stays in The Hague. He was renamed a delegated councilor in 1638 and 1639, and then again in 1649 and 1650. But in 1639 he became burgomaster of Dordrecht and was renamed five times, in 1640, 1646, 1647, 1654 and 1655. His increasing weight in national politics was shown in May 1644, when he was named one of the three extraordinary members added by the States of Holland to its deputation to the States General on the occasion of the preparation of instructions to the ambassadors going off to Munster to negotiate peace with Spain. 2a The prosperity of the De Witt family enabled it to live well but not high. They did not compete in way of life with the great ones of the land, either the courtiers assembled about Prince Frederick Henry or the merchant princes of Amsterdam. It was in this period that Jacob acquired the right to call himself "Lord (Heer) of Manizee, Melissant and Cromstrijen," after estates which he bought wholly or in part.21 Although most members of the town patriciates gladly proclaimed their eminence with the titulature of lordship, Jacob de Witt continued to call himself by his family name. When he died in 1674, his total fortune amounted to about 150,000 guilders, a sum which for the time meant solid prosperity but not dazzling wealth. Jacob de Witt had strong intellectual interests. He was one of the circle of literary-minded regents around Jacob Cats, who was elected pensionary ofDordrecht in 1623-the "Father Cats" who is famed in the Netherlands not for his public service, but as the poet of Everyman. At this time Jacob de Witt began to compose verse himself, mere occasional poems which display firmness of character and strength of mind but not literary talent or the fiery personality we know him to have possessed. 2 2

John de Witt was a Dordrechter, the most celebrated in the city's history. Yet we do not know with certainty that he was born there, on

19 Nieuw Rotterdams Marckt-schl!yt Praeljen. Varende van Rotterdam nae Dordrecht, tusschen 7 personen . .. (Dordrecht, 1647) (Kn. 5596). 20 J.J. Poeihekke, De Vrede van Munster (The Hague, 1948), 176. 21 Japikse, "De Witt (Jacob)," NNBW, III, col. 1455. 22 D. Veegens, Historische Studien, ed. J.D. Veegens, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1884), II, 94; Jacobus Schcltema, "De Dordtsche Dichtschool," in Geschied- en Letterkundig Mengelwerk,

6 vols. (Utrecht, 1817-36), III, 93-94.

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September 25, 1625. He was not baptized in the family church, the Grote Kerk close by the De Witt home, and no baptismal record for him has been found elsewhere. But his rights as a natural-born citizen were never called into question, even by the most bitter of his opponents. 2 3 Although we do not know as much about the years of De Witt's childhood and youth as we do for kings and princes, the general quality of his upbringing is clear. He was a vigorous nurseling; years later his mother recalled that he "sucked her so dry that now she had almost no breast." 24 What such hard nursing implied for the grown man may be left to the psychologizers, but the warmth of the De Witt family circle is well attested. Jacob de \Vitt was a father whose strong emotions and obvious

23 The absence of the baptismal record and the fact that John and his elder brother Cornelius were inscribed as being 18 and 20 years of age (that is, born In 1625 and 1623) when they entered the UniverSity of Leiden together in 1641, have led to some confusion as to the year of John's birth (Geddes, Administration of John de Witt, I, 31-32). But the doubt is idle. The 1625 date is given in every contemporary source except the journal of the rector of the Illustrious School of Dordrecht, Dr. Isaac BeeckInan (Journal tenu par Isaac Beeckman de 1604 a 1634, ed. C. de Waard, 4 vols. [The Hague, 1939-53], 111,322) and the roster of students at Leiden UniverSity (Album studwsorum Academzae Lugduno Batavae MDLXXV-MDCCCLXXV Accedunt nomma curalorum et professorum per eadem secula [The Hague, 1875]. Beeckman's remark about De Witt's age was recorded in December, 1633; of itself, it would imply that De Witt was born in 1624, but it gives the writer's impression, not his mother's statement. (Japikse [Johan de Witt, 15-16], baSIng his statement upon a personal report by De Waard, put the entry in 1636, which would have made De Witt's year of birth 1627.) The Leiden student roster is marred by numerous errors (R. Fruin, ed., Overblyfsels van geheugchenis, der blsonderste voorvallen, In het leeven van den Heere Coenraet Droste, 3d ed., 2 vols. [Leiden, 1879J, II, 279-80; Japikse, Johan de Witt, 9). Furthermore, CorneliuS's baptism In 1623 is duly recorded (Van Dalen, Cornelis de Witt, 5; extract of baptismal register of Nederduytse Gereformeerde Kerke In Dordrecht on baptism ofCornclius de Witt dUring June 1623, ARA StH, Coil. "De Witt [Beyerman]," no. I). If John had been born In The Hague, a possiblhty suggested by Geddes (I, 31) because the baptismal records there are not extant for this period, his right to serve as town pensionary of Dordrecht without naturalization would have been called Into questIOn (J. L. van Dalen, "Wittiana," Eigen Haard,Jaargang 1904, 592 ; Japlkse, Johan de Witt, 9); such naturalization was reqUired of his successor in the office, his cousin Nicholas Vivien, who was born In The Hague, although both his parents were cItizens of Dordrecht (T. J. Geest, "Nicolaas Vivien: Een van de 'Ware Vrijheid'," BlJdragen voor Vaderlandsche Geschiedenzs en Oudheidkunde [hereafter cited as BVGO], 7th ser., no. 8 [1937], 51-52). De Witt, while residing in The Hague, obtained assurance of Dordrecht citizenship for his children born there (see pp. 105-6). Van Dalen (Cornelis de Witt, 5), suggests thatJohn was born at Breda, but it is unhkely that Anna would have gone there to bear her baby three months after the city had surrendered to Spinola. In any case, the baptismal registers of the Reformed Church of Breda for that perIOd are not extant (J.M.F. IJsseling, Keeper of the Records, locum tenens, Gemeentearchleven, Breda, to author, Aug. 29, 1972). A pamphleteer's remark that De Witt was 25 years of age when he became councilor pensionary in 1653 (Den .Noyt Omgekeerden Rock, ofte t'Samen-spraeck Tusschen een goedt Hollandts Patnot, Snyder en Soldaet [Amsterdam, (1660)] [Kn. 8380], 4) is the only confirmatIOn of the Leiden register that I know of, but it hardly weighs against the other evidence. 24 Beeckman, Journal, III, 322.

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sternness did not unduly strain his sons' affection for him. John's vision of proper relations between father and son, expressed when he was just short of thirty years of age, almost certainly reflects his own memory of his early upbringing. "Well-born children," he wrote, followed closely in their father's footsteps, and "generous parents" delighted in bringing up children for "greater things" and in seeing them acquire competence. 2 5 Cornelius, who was two years older, had more of Jacob's passionate intensity; John, the baby, was the wiser head and better mind, even while they were children. Yet they were as close as brothers could be, through the years of boyhood, youth, and maturity, until the day they died together. Dutch family life is notoriously close: the De Witts were a close and healthy family. We know less about Anna van den Corput than about her husband, but the reports tell of a warmer personality. Two older sisters, Maria and Johanna, who were five and seven years older than John, treated him all his life with a combination of bossy affection and admiring respect. Little though we know specifically about John's education, it was clearly anything but the "simple upbringing" one historian describes. 2 6 Jacob de Witt was too devoted to learning to neglect his children's education. His sons, despite the two years' difference in their ages, went through all their schooling together; their in timacy was intellectual as well as personal. At home they learned their daily prayers and the tenets of a Calvinism at once orthodox and tender. As John later put it, they were taught "that we had to subject ourselves to the will of the Lord and that all happens for the best to those who fear God." They learned to read, write, and calculate, probably at the "trivial school" which they attended. It may have been the elementary school attached to the Latin school of Dordrecht, of which their father was curator. 27 In any event, they began their secondary education in the Latin school in 1635, just after it had been renamed the Illustrious School, in recognition of a celebrity extending far beyond the borders of Holland. The rector, Dr. Isaac Beeckman, headed a faculty of distinction, which taught physics, medicine, surgery, Greek, history, and the language and literature of the

" De Witt to William Bored, June 30, 1654, Brieven geschreven ende gewisselt tusschen den HeeT Johan de Witt, Raedt-pensionaris en Groot-Segelbewaerder van Hollant en West- Vrieslant; ende de Gevolmaghtlgden van de Staedt deT Vereenighde Nederlanden ... (hereafter cited as BR), 7 vols. (The Hagne, 1723-27), I, 142-43. 26 Heinrich Peter, "Johan de Witt," Wetemchappelvke Bladen, II (1865),276. ,7 Japikse, Johan de Witt, 17; H. Brugmans, "Johan en Cornehs de Witt," Onze Eeuw, 18, pt. IV (1918), 2; Historisch VeThael en Politique Bedenckingen Aengaende de BestieTinge van Staat- en Oorloghs-Saken, Voor-gevallen onder de Bedieningen van de Heeren Comelis en Johan de Witt (hereafter cited as Historisch Verhael) (Amsterdam, 1677), 2.

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Netherlands, as well as Latin, of course. Beeckman was a mathematician and philosopher, respected by his longtime friend, Rene Descartes. 2 8 It was probably from Beeckman that John acquired his first taste for mathematics, although it was not taught in class. Two years after the De Witt boys entered the academy, Beeckman died. His successor, Gaspar Parduyn, was a pupils' pet, who "employed neither switch nor cane" as instruments of education. 2 9 But he does not seem to have been a strong shaper of minds. John probably learned more about language and its uses from Johannes Michaelius and Peter van Godewijck, who were both humanist scholars and practising poets; Van Godewijk was on close terms with the De Witt family and dedicated much verse to them, including some to his pupil John. Latin was obviously well taught, for John learned to write it with fluent correctness and to use Latin tags and citations with easy familiarity. It was during these years that he acquired facility in French; it was a favored second language at home. He also acquired a bit of German and English, but never used them as he did French or Latin; he could probably read them, no more, and in later years he had German documents translated for his use. 30 He may have shared his brother's delight in the pure beauties of literature-witnesses differ as to this-but in later life, unlike his father, he did not cultivate the friendship of men of letters. 31 If he played the part of Julius Caesar in a school play written by Michaelius, this would have been a tribute not to his literary talents but to his general intellectual achievements, for the leading role generally went to the best student. 32 He took with pleasure to training in "all the exercises of a cavalier," winning the honor of being held up to his fellow-students as a model to follow. 3 3 A contemporary tells us that he was "diligent and uncomplaining" at his studies and already gave signs of being another Wunderkind like Hugo de Groot (Grotius). Yet, when mealtime came, he was "most joyous, whether pleasantly playing upon Instruments, or dancing a Ballet, or engaging in several permitted arts,

28 H.S.M. van Wickevoort Crommeim, Johan de Witt en zijn tijd (Amsterdam, 1913), 59; Charles Adam, Vie & Oeuvres de Descartes: Etude hlstonque (Pans, 1910),45. 29 G.D.]. Schotel, De lllustre School te Dordrecht (Utrecht, 1857),80. 30 See translation into Dutch of a letter to De Witt in German from King Fredenck III of Denmark, Aug. 26, 1659, ARA StH DIO. 3 I Emanuel van der Hoeven, L"even en Dood der doorlugt'ge Heeren Gebroeders Comelis de

Witt, Ruwaard van den Lande van Putten, enz. enz. en JolulI! de Witt, Raad Pensionarzs van Holland en Westvriesland (hereafter CIted as Van der Hoeven, Cornelis en Johan de Witt), 2 vols. (Amsterdam, 1705), I, 16; "Korte beschryving van 't leven en ombrengen der E. E. Heeren Gebroedern Comelis en Johan de Witt," in Het swart toneel-gordyn; G. Kalff, "Uit 'Brieven aanJohan de Witt'," Vragen des Tijds, XLIX (1923),76-77. 32 N. Japikse, Waarderzng van Johan de Witt: Rede uitgesproken Juni 1918 in Pulchn StudIO (The Hague, 1918), 6; Japikse, Johan de Witt, 18. 33 Van der Hoeven, Cornelis en Johan de Witt, I, 16.

12

YOUTH or conversation, or chess." 34 His musical instrument was the violin, and the "permitted arts" probably included fencing, at which he became adept, and card games. 3 5 Within three years John and Cornelius had learned all that the Illustrious School had to give them. On October 24, 1641, they went up to Leiden together to join four hundred and forty-four other students enrolled that year at the university. Their field of study was the law: public and private law and the science of government, then all considered one field. Legal training could lead to a private practice before the bar and as an attorney, to a seat upon the bench in the courts of Holland, or to government service. As was common, the two scholars went to live with their principal professor, Dr. Bernard van Schooten (Schotanus). There is no record of the courses the brothers took, but John ventured beyond his required work in law to undertake serious study in mathematics, his special intellectual love, with Frans van Schooten, Sr. 36 In the field of law, his precocious command amazed his elders. 3 7 Shortly after his eighteenth birthday his father took him to Delft to be examined by N. Vermeulen, a close friend and noted legist. Vermeulen put question after question on "the laws and the foundations of policy" to the young man, in Jacob's presence, and was almost nonplussed by his "extraordinary understanding and capacity." He exclaimed, "I can already perceive in this youth greater gifts, energy and understanding than all the studies and the entire life of a man, even until his gray old age, can confer upon him."38 Otherwise, we still know virtually nothing of how the young man's mind was formed and filled. We do know that it was a time when orthodox Calvinism was facing the corrosive new philosophy of Descartes and his band of fearless rationalists. Leiden was already open to the Cartesian ideas, and Frans van Schooten was one of the first popularizers of Cartesian mathematics. John was interested in the figure of the restless Frenchman, who lived near Leiden during the youth's years at the university, but he did not bite with interest into the apple of Cartesian philosophy. 39 34 Historisch Verhael, 2; Leven, en Doodt, Vande Heeren en Meesters, Cornelis, en Johan de Witt. I. Deel (n.p., 1672) (Kn. 10434),34. 3 5 Geddes, Administration of John de Witt, 33-36; Lefevre-Pontalis, Vingt annees de republzque parlementaire, I, 85-88, 91-92; Japikse, Johan de Witt, 17-18. 36 Geddes, AdministratIOn of John de Witt, 37-38; Lefevre-Pontalis, Vingt annees de ripublique parlementaire, I, 88; Wickevoort Crommelin, Johan de Witt, 59. 37 Historisch Verhael, 3. 38 Leven, en Doodt. 39 Brieven aan Johan de Witt, ed. Robert Fruin and N. Japikse (hereafter cited as BA), 2 vols. (Amsterdam, 1919-22), I, 145, II, 91; Adam, Descartes, 122 n.d; Japikse, Johan de Wztt, 19-20.

13

YOUTH During 1644 the brothers had an opportunity to advance their education in practical matters in a practical way. Jacob de Witt was named to head a six-man embassy to Denmark and Sweden in 1644. It was customary for young men destined for careers in the state to join such embassies as "noblemen (diplomatic aides-de camp)," and so Jacob de Witt included his sons, as well as their twenty-six-year-old cousin, John de Wit, who served as secretary to the ambassadors. 40 On August 6 the envoys were received at Stockholm in public audience by Queen Christina. vVhen it ended, she gave her hand to the "noblemen" to be kissed. The negotiations were useful education for the young "noblemen" in the difficulties of seventeenth-century diplomacy. Conflict arose almost at once over the forms of address the Dutchmen were to use to their Swedish negotiators. The envoys finally decided to follow the practice of the French ambassador, De la Thuillerie, at his audience of departure, and the "noblemen" were given the task of observing and noting the formalities used. At the end of August, Jacob fell ill; in November it was son John who was kept to a sickbed for some time. John and Cornelius departed on December 8 with the other envoys, leaving Jacob alone with his nephew until September 1645. The homeward journey of the two brothers was anything but a delight. A storm forced the party to go ashore in Pomerania; they then sailed to Danzig, where they continued their journey by land. They found Pomerelia (West Prussia), Pomerania, and Mecklenburg devastated by war and "not without danger and great inconvenience." The Thirty Years War had subsided into chronic small-scale combat while the negotiators at Munster and Osnabriick worked on, but the young men saw for themselves its destructiveness and felt personal anxiety over its savagery. The travelers, not trusting to their status as a diplomatic party, bought weapons and hired an armed guard, and went through safely. On January 25, 1645, they reached The Hague, just too late for John and Cornelius to see their mother alive. Anna had died in Dordrecht on

40 J. Heringa, "Een onbekende reis van Johan de Witt," Budragen voor de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden (hereafter cited as BGN), XV (1960), 231-32;John de Witt to Adrian Veth, Mar 31, 1652, Robert Fruin, G. W. Kernkamp and N. Japikse, eds., Brieuen van ]ohan de Witt (hereafter cited as B]), 4 vols. (Amsterdam, 1906-13), 1. 63. Heringa con-

sidered the presence of cousin De Wit as not proved, because his source (Japikse, NNBW, III, col. 1458) gave no source of his own. However, in the letter cited above,

John de Witt identified his cousin as having served as secretary of the embassy. Although John wrote his cousin's name identically with his own, it is customary to spell the latter with one t to keep the two namesakes distinct.

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January 22, at the age offorty-five. 41 Jacob remained in Sweden, while his sons resumed their studies at Leiden. After their father's return in September 1645, the brothers' formal education came to an end without formality; instead, they were sent on the grand tour together to round off their training before they entered the life of affairs. Some eight years later John described the principal purpose of the tour as to enable young men to "converse with personages and persons of renown and science, receiving access to them by proper references." 4 2 The journey, which lasted twenty-one months, is recorded in a daily log kept by John, later condensed into a journal, as well as in small notebooks in which he noted letters received from home, his replies, sums spent, and miles traveled. The log is an account of places and persons visited, which, alas, reveals little about what went on in the minds of the young travelers as they met famous men and observed historic events; it is somewhat more informative about their reactions to such places as Catholic churches and to natural marvels. The journal is, if anything, even drier than the log: John did not use the opportunity on his return to add any personal touch of feeling or judgment. 4 3 It is hazardous, no doubt, to draw conclusions from the evidence of things not done, yet the character of these documents seems to reveal a young man whose attention was turned outward to the world, not inward to himself. In any case, it was John's last direct experience of the world outside his native country: a brief pleasure trip with friends into Spanish Brabant, a long voyage with the fleet on the North Sea, the only times he left the United Provinces thereafter, hardly changed his horizons. The brothers sailed from Dordrecht on October 14, 1645, changing ships off Calais four days later because the convoy in which they were sailing was not coming in at Le Havre, their destination. They landed there two days later, ate at an inn called "Le Prince d'Orange," visited the castle (whose strong situation and regular design impressed John), and were at Lillebonne that evening. The next day they reached Rauen, where they saw a great procession of the town magistrates, as well as large 41 Heringa, "Een onbekende reis," 231-34; Van Sypesteyn, "Jacob de Witt," 98-99. The date of departure of the brothers with the other envoys is given as December 8 by Jacob de Witt himself. [Jacob de Witt], Verbael vande Besolgnes gedaen, ende gehouden by de Heer de WItt, als extraordis Ambr byde Croonen Sweden, Ende Denemarcken, sedert den Ben Decemb. 1644 ... , ARA StH, Coil. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 2. 42 De Witt to W. Boreel,June 30,1654, BR, 1,143. 43 Log and journal of journey to France and England, ARA StH, Coil. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. I (hereafter cited as De Witt, "Log and journal").

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YOUTH numbers of infantry and cavalry, but made no mention of the uprising in Normandy which occasioned the display of force. They left for Paris four days later with the post and were in Paris early on the twenty-sixth. 44 They remained in the French capital for two weeks. As young men of good family, they were admitted both to the Hotel du Luxembourg, where they saw Cardinal Mazarin and the Prince of Conde, among other French notables, and to the royal palace, where they saw the boy king, Louis XIV, at dinner. They were also guests of the Dutch ambassador for lunch. On November 7, having hired a servant to accompany them, they left for Angers, where they would continue their legal studies at the Protestant university. They passed through Chartres and Orleans without recording any comment on the towns' famed cathedrals. John did have more to say about the cloister of St. Francis of Paule at Tours. In the chapel where the saint had taken refuge, they were shown depictions of the "many great miracles which he is supposed to have done, such as bringing the dead to life, traveling over the Sea upon his cloak, &c .... " The brothers also viewed relics of St. Francis and other saints, as they were to do many times during the next months in other churches, without drawing from John any expression of skepticism more forceful than that use of the conditional tense. On November 20 the travelers reached Ponts-de-Ce (which John reduced in his account to a singular), on the Loire, and they walked the last few miles to Angers. There they lodged first at an inn and then at the boardinghouse (pension) of "Monsr. Besson," where they lived for the next three months. Only a month later, on December 22, they took their doctorates in law, paying 102 guilders to the rector, according to John's diary. (It was common then for a student to take his courses at one university and his doctoral "promotion" at another.) They did not leave Angers until February 21, presumably to avoid traveling in the bleak winter months; they went repeatedly to the theater, played cards, fenced, and learned to dance. Then, having provided themselves with horses and a servant, they began what John identified as the "grand tour" proper, through southern and eastern France. The next day they were at La Fieche, where they saw the Jesuit college; John did not

44 Ibid. Both Geddes (Admzmstration of John de Witt, I, 39) and Lefevre-Pontalis (Vingt annees de ripublzque parlementaire, I, 89) erroneously report that the brothers crossed the Spanish Netherlands by land from Antwerp and went directly to Paris. Japikse, who makes use of this material, calls attention to Geddes's use only of the journal (net~lournaal), not the daily log (klad-journaal), as well as to hIS inaccurate application of the former (Japikse, Johan de Witt, 20n.!). Lefevre-Pontalis also reports only "a journal" in the possession of descendants, and he repeats Geddes's error.

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YOUTH comment that this was the school where Descartes had studied, but only that it was "the most beautiful in all France." Four days later, in the chapel at Champigny, the brothers saw relics that would have shocked the anti-Papist sentiments of the orthodox Calvinist preachers back home-a piece of the wood of the Cross, some of Christ's blood, a hair of the Virgin Mary, one of Judas's thirty pennies-but John recorded them without a word of outraged disbelief. Instead, he merely noted that he and his brother went on at once to the little town of Richelieu, where they visited the late cardinal's house, "with all the rarities and the Court." At Loudun they saw one of the notorious possessed women, and John set down that she had driven out the devil through her hand, on which the words "Jesu, Maria, Joseph" were marked, "as if scratched by a knife." He did not stint in his admiration of a tomb in the Carmelite church in Nantes, however, although he ordinarily gave such praise to fortresses like La Rochelle (he did not mention that it had been taken from the Huguenots by Richelieu, with Dutch help, only eight years before) and castles like the one at Lernac. He was also interested in natural wonders, such as a well near Perigueux that ebbed and rose with the flow of the sea, although the estuary of the Gironde was more than sixty miles away. He recorded, too, a similar phenomenon at Bordeaux, where, outside the town, he saw a stone cistern in which the water level was said to rise and fall with the moon. He wrote, perhaps with greater psychic comfort, of a fountain at another place where everything put into it turned to stone within a few days, for he could see for himself how the moss on the side was rock hard. Nor did desiccated bodies that did not "stink" after hundreds of years, which he saw at a church in Toulouse, surprise him. But he enjoyed such sights as the duke of Epernon's castle at Cadillac, with its very costly tapestries, and the castle at Perpignan, on the Spanish border, which was considered to be one of the strongest in Europe. On May 7 the brothers reached the southern city of Montpellier, which had remained in Huguenot hands. There the presence of "very good company" brought a halt to their journey for almost two months. John does not tell us anything of what they did there, except that they took lodgings at the inn "Au Cygne"; but it was obviously a pleasant interlude for the young men of twenty and twenty-two, among people of their own faith and, presumably, their own age, after more than two months' journeying, dutifully viewing Catholic relics and monuments. Early in July they were ready to resume their travel and left on July 2 for Nimes. Although they had already seen one Roman amphitheater, at Doue-IaFontaine (which John wrote "Douai"), they were deeply moved by the sight of the amphitheater, fountain, and temple of Diana outside Nimes

I7

YOUTH and the rich collections of Roman antiquities preserved within the city. They went on to Pont-du-Gard, where John remarked on the healthful waters but not on the famed aqueduct. He did record in some detail their visit to the aqueduct at Arles, as well as the ancient city's amphitheater and network of stone-lined canals with carvings and inscriptions from pagan and early Christian times. They remained at Arles, with a side trip to Tarascon and Beaucaire, for two weeks. Their journey then took them to the ports of Marseilles and Toulon, and John was charmed by the lemon and orange groves near the chapel of Saint Baume, to the northeast. After a few days at Aix, they turned north up the Rhone valley, stopping for a while at Orange, where again they admired the Roman remains, before going onward on August 19 to Pont-Saint-Esprit, where John fell ill and was bedridden for almost a week. Once recovered, he and his brother continued their journey to Grenoble, and thence to Geneva, stopping on the way at the famed monastery of the Grande-Chartreuse. At Geneva the brothers met the well-known Calvinist theologian Jean Deodati, who was on friendly terms with the De Witt family. From Geneva they rode through Burgundy and Champagne back to Paris. The travelers remained in Paris at an -inn on the banks of the Seine from October 10 until March 22, when they made another journey through western France before beginning the second leg of their tour, a visit to England. They retraced much of their route of the year before, observing such wonders as a horn weighing nine hundred pounds ("so they say") on display at the church in Amboise. They spent Lent in Loudun, but ate well. At Nantes they attended a meeting of the Estates of Brittany. Mont-Saint-Michel, which they visited early in May, drew comment from John, not about its location beyond a tidal ford, but only on its church and relics. After a leisurely return through southern Normandy, they arrived at Saint-Germain on May 13, where they visited the old and new chateaux, the French court, grottos, and other sights and then slept at Saint-Cloud before returning to Paris for a final stay. They spent the neXI fortnight preparing for their trip to England, leaving on May 29 with the Calais post. They sailed from Calais onJune 2 and were in Dover late the next day. After riding with the post through Canterbury and Rochester, close by the naval shipyards at Chatham, and staying the night at Gravesend, they reached London on May 5 and took lodgings at the "Globe" inn. During the next few days they visited the Houses of Parliament, although John made no mention as yet of the civil war still raging in England. Besides the chambers, they took in the tombs in Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London, where their interest was held by the collection of wild beasts and the splendid tapestries. On May 14 they began a trip across southern England with two Dutch merchants, named Reael and 18

YOUTH Vander Mersch, as their guides. After looking through the royal house of Hampton Court, they stayed two days at \Vindsor, made the acquaintance of a member of Parliament at Levistoke, spent the night of May 17 at his house, and then rode on to Salisbury (which John Dutched as "Salsburg"). There they not only saw Stonehenge, "a place where a great many large and very old stones are standing in the ground, with others set across them on top," but were taken up by a local gentleman named Howe, who invited them to stay for several days at his house nearby, Great Wishford (which became "Wisfort" in John's Dutch). They continued on to Bristol, where they saw both castles and John was impressed by the presence of diamonds in the river; thence to Bath, where he bathed in the waters, and Marlborough (a name Dutchmen, and others, would come to know well half a century later), where the brothers met again one Major Nicholas, whose acquaintance they had made earlier in Salisbury; they spent the next few days at his house in hunting, which they obviously enjoyed. They were taken up by another gentleman, Sir John St. John (an ancestor of the famed Bolingbroke of Queen Anne's reign), who invited them to his house at Lidiard, where they were shown "much courtesy" and killed a stag in his park. They gave the carcass to a neighbor, Sir Robert Lechlade, who took them out of the inn where they were staying to his own house. The next day, July 5, they went on to Oxford, visiting most of the colleges; John found the library very beautiful but wrote at greater length about such "rarities" -in this Protestant center of learning-as a piece of the salt into which Lot's wife had been turned and a fragment of Joseph's cloak, which his brothers had dipped in his blood and taken back to his father. After returning to London for a few days, they went with Albert Joachimi, the Dutch ambassador, to visit the detained king Charles I at Reading on July 15. They first saw Sir Thomas Fairfax, the king's captor, and then were present when Joachimi was received by the monarch in audience as well as by the parliamentary commissioners negotiating with him.45 The record of the episode is surprising for its aridity. Could these intelligent young Dutchmen of a class born to politics not have discussed among themselves or with at least some of their hosts, and certainly with the aged but well-informedJ oachimi, the significance of the king's capture, which occurred soon after their arrival in England? There is no word of it in John's diary. What he made of the Puritan Revolution we cannot

45 Geddes (Admznistration of John de Witt, I, 43-44) interprets the passage in the diary to mean that only Joachimi saw the king and the commissioners. The passage is indeed anything but clear, with puzzling shifts between the singular and plural forms of verbs, made more opaque by the frequent use of verbs without subjects, as was customary. My own reading, however, favors the brothers' presence.

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YOUTH know directly; but subsequent events were to show that he certainly did not gain imaginative understanding of violent politics from this experience. The brothers left Reading with no indication of their reaction to the drama which they had witnessed unfolding, and they returned to London two days later. On June 23 they left for Gravesend, sailing that evening for Flushing. The voyage over the North Sea took two days, with a calm no doubt trying the patience of the much-traveled pair. The journey from Flushing to Dordrecht took another two days, and they were home again on July 27.46 In view of John's later praise for the grand tour,47 it may be taken for granted that the brothers acquired polish and poise, as well as greater fluency in French (they were never at ease in English). No less important was that they had taken their doctorate in law during their journey and were now called Meester, "master [of laws]," then as now the honorific title of Dutch lawyers. Having qualified to practice their profession, they took their oaths before the Court of Holland, Cornelius on October 8 and John on November 11, 1647. The elder brother then returned to Dordrecht, where his father, serving another term as burgomaster, was in the midst of political controversy. As Jacob de Witt had risen in the political world, his acerbic personality and habit of blunt talk had made him increasingly the target of the discontent of the guilds in Dordrecht. The artisans saw with anger the widening of the cleavage between the mass of the burghers and the regents who governed them. Dordrecht, alone among the towns of Holland, retained a rudiment of democracy in the council of the Good Men of the Eight, elected by the guilds to sit with the Old Council, but without a vote; but all real power remained in the hands of the latter body. And Jacob de Witt, with his relatives and friends, controlled the Old Council. They were accused of monopolizing the offices of town government and of violating the law which forbade more than one member of a family (within certain defined limits) from holding office at the same time. The decision of the Old Council to revise the charter of the dockworkers' guild fanned resentment into open violence. OnJanuary 15, 1648, some four hundred dockers marched to the home of Jacob de Witt to demand repeal of the amending ordinance. He met them on the steps of his home and coolly listened to their demands; finally, forced back indoors, he agreed to rescind the offending law. When the disorders continued, the magistrates called out the town militia, supported by nine companies of troops sent from Delft and Rotterdam. Order was restored

46 De Witt, "Log and journal." Brugmans ("Johan en Cornel is de Witt," 2) incorrectly gives the date as July 28. 4 7 See p.15.

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YOUTH

after several days; the ringleaders were arrested or fled. Meanwhile, rumors had reached The Hague, where John had stayed on, that Jacob had been killed, and it was a while before reassurance came that he was alive. 48 \Ve have no word of John's response to the threat to his father's life, but the riots in Dordrecht, which resumed in March and continued until July, when order was finally restored for good, gave only too clear indication of the bitter resentment which continued against the regents, and notably against Jacob de Witt personally. 49 The attack upon the nepotism of the De vVitts and their associates was probably one of the principal reasons for John's decision to remain in The Hague. It may well be that Cornelius, as the elder, was given preference for the offices that would come open in Dordrecht; in any case, it was he who was named sheriff in September 1648, as soon as he came of age. Or the family may have felt that The Hague, as the seat of government for both the province of Holland and the States General, was a more likely place for a man of John's extraordinary gifts to build a career. 50 John did not attempt to set up in practice at once but, as was usual, entered an apprenticeship under the guidance of a prominent lawyer, John van Andel. 51 His relationship with Van Andel was closer than business alone required, for he lived with the Van Andels in their home in Nieuwstraat. That he was almost one of the family is clear; whether he went further in intimacy is not. Years later a hostile pamphleteer asserted that he had given his troth to a niece of Van Andel, a member of the Coljer family, who also lived under the same roof; he broke off with the "sweet creature" (het ;:::,oete dier) when he became pensionary of Dordrecht in December 1650, but made good his own falseness by arranging her marriage to another Dordrechter. Such a report cannot be either accepted without question or rejected out of hand; the source is tainted by obvious political animosity, yet young John was certainly no sobersides, even if blatant jilting does not seem wholly in character. 52 Van Andel was a Remonstrant, a member of the Arminian group that had left the official Reformed church in 1619 after the Synod ofDordrecht, where Jacob de Witt had begun his career as one of the Gomarian majority. Although what happened to Jacob's religious convictions has 48 Van Dalen, Geschiedems van Dordrecht, II, 1130; Van Sypesteyn, "Jacob de Witt," 99-103. 49 Van Dalen, Geschiedenis van Dordrecht, II, 1I3!. 50 See H. Enno van Gelder, "Johan de Witt als Hagenaar," Die Haghe-]aarboek, 1919-20, 87. 51 Japikse (B], I, 285n.2) gives the name as "Van den Andel," but De Witt always used the form "Van Andel." 52 Sleutel, Ontsluytende de Boecke-kas van de Witte Bibliotheeck . . . (The Hague, 1672) (Kn. 10442), 4; Japikse, ]ohan de Witt, 27-28.

21

YOUTH not been investigated in detail, it is clear that three decades later his continuing adherence to the dogmas of Dort did not mean, as it did for so many preachers, continuing enmity for the vanquished party. 5 3 John was not so busy learning the art of the attorney that he had no time for other activities, frivolous and serious. But in serious matters as in frivolity, he already displayed a characteristic methodical bent. In a list of his daily expenditures, kept from January 1649 on, he includes the names of eighteen different dishes on which he dined well, including finch pie and artichoke pastry; for these he paid the not inconsiderable sum of thirty-five guilders. Other sums were for the theater and "games at the fair" (kermisspelen) ; clothes and the barber took substantial sums; and once he paid to have minor repairs done on his violin. Nor had method yet tamed a young man's zest for having at once what he desired-or so we may surmise from a notation of June 25 that he had received fifty-seven guilders ten stivers but would only be able to spend forty-five guilders ten stivers because he had overspent twelve guilders during the previous period (and presumably was in debt to that amount). The young lawyer may have been a Calvinist, but he was no ascetic Puritan. 54 Questions of clothing formed a fair part of his correspondence with his sisters and brother. Maria sent lace frills to put at wrist and knee; Cornelius, a piece of cloth from his coat to be matched in The Hague. And Johanna asked him to buy a gold hatband for her husband to match his gold buttons; it was a style so new that it was not yet available at Dordrecht, and the Heer van Zwijndrecht was impatient to wear his new jacket. 5 5 Servants were another requisite in which The Hague was more favored than Dordrecht. John found a "sharp and civil youth" as a personal servant for his brother, but his talents turned out to include thievery; little more than a year later Cornelius had to ask John to help him find another servant. 56 Johanna called upon her younger brother for assistance in selecting a French maid to help with her children and to teach them French. He immediately spoke to a girl from Rouen, who had been well recommended to Johanna, and found her a nasty-tempered, ill-mannered wench who associated with "objectionable women." Johanna asked him to find someone better, and this time added a reminder that she had to be a Protestant, "as my dear husband would not like to see a Papist maid

Veegens, Historlsche Studien, II, 8. ARA StH D33. 55 Geddes, Administration of John de Witt, I, 47-48; Johanna to John de WItt, Feb. 26, 1649, ARA StH Dl. 56 Geddes, Administration of John de Witt, I, 48-50. 5J

54

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YOUTH

the house." 5 7 \Ve do not know whether John found the paragon of talents and virtue his sister wanted. During his years as a house guest of the Van Andels, John, now a "well-formed, active" young man, 5 8 practiced the graces and arts he had learned at Dordrecht and Leiden and presumably on the grand tour. There were "meetings with knights and maidens," friends fromDordrecht that we know of and, beyond question, those he was making in The Hague. 5 9 He carried on a correspondence with relatives at Dordrecht, not only about family affairs, but also about literature, music, and geometry. 60 His interest in music was that of an amateur performer, and he may have written verses. One contemporary called him a "lively poet," another "a dulcet poet, if only he had been willing to finish his work," but a nineteenth-century Dutch literary historian who read verses attributed to him did not think well of them. 61 Unfortunately, the collection of work by Dordrecht poets, De Dortsche Kraem (Stall in a Dordrecht Market), is now lost and we cannot judge for ourselves. 6 2 But of all his avocations, none so fascinated De Witt as mathematics. Anthony Vivien, his uncle, thanked his nephew for sending him four problems in geometry "solved according to the manner of Descartes," presumably by the m~thod of analysis. Vivien admitted he needed more than one reading to grasp the solution. He added that he would keep only In

57 Ibid., 50-51. Johanna to John de Witt, [Feb.] 14, [1650], ARA StH DI, Feb. 18, 1650, BA, 1,1-2. 58 Het swart tonee!- gordyn. "Japikse, Johan de WItt, 25; Nicholas Vivien to De Witt, July 25, 1648, BA, 1,4. 60 Vivien to De Witt, Mar. 7, 1648, ARA StH DI; BA, I, 3n.5. 6 I H!stoTlsch Verhael, 2; Domselaer, Het Ontroerde Nederland, 345 (cited in Veegens, H!storzsche Studien, II, 94-95); Scheltema, "De Dordtsche Dichtschool," 116, 119-20. 02 Even if we had the little book, we could not be sure that the poems are John de \Vitt's, for the signature CandIde (Latin for "\Nhite"!) could as easily refer to his cousin John de Wit as to himself. The same problem holds with a Dutch verse translation of Corneille's Horace which appeared In 1648 over the intials, "JD\'\I." It was attributed to John de Witt by a tradition recorded in the eighteenth century by the noted hnguist Balthazar Huydecooper, whose ancestor, John Huydecooper van Marseveen, burgomaster of Amsterdam, was a fnend of De Witt's. There is no difficulty in believing that De Witt had seen the play during his stay in France, nor that the subject, a paroxysm of patnotism, would have interested him. But the initials are not a compelling argument, for cousin De Wit shared them, and there was a well-known contemporary translator named Joris de \Vyze. But the telling argument seems to be that of style: the translation is accurate enough but inept in dictIOn and clumsy in structure, where De Witt's own writings are pithy and almost always clear, even when obviously tossed off the pen. The style of the translation seems to point to John de \Vit. Scheltema, "De Dordtsche Dichtschool," 119-20; Kalff, "Uit 'Brieven aan Johan de Witt'," 76-77; Japikse, Johan de Witt, 26-27; Lefevre-Pontalis, Vingt annees de republique parlementazre, 1,92-94; Veegens, Historische Studien, II, 94-96, 101, 103; Geddes, Admmistration of John de Witt, I, 46--47. Geddes and Japlkse give the date of the first edition of the translation, Horace en Curiace, as 1648, but Lefevre-Pontalis (I, 93n.4) assigns it to 1647. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague possesses only the editions of 1699 and 1709.

23

YOUTH one of the two copies of a set of mathematical questions posed by one Jan Stampioen, which John had sent him; the other he would forward to their cousin, the preacher Dr. Andreas Colvius, to be put before Colvius's friend and correspondent, Descartes. 6 3 John also busied himself at this time with writing a major treatise on the geometry of curved lines; he allowed it to remain in manuscript, however, not quite ready for publication but not wholly forgotten, for the. next decade. 64 In all his correspondence for the years 1648 and 1649, De Witt left unmentioned the whole vast area of public affairs. It was almost as if he left politics to his brother Cornelius in Dordrecht and was making his own career a purely private one. Yet these were years of vehement political agitation in which his father and kinsmen were deeply involved, and it is difficult to imagine that he was not concerned. But it was not until crisis and near civil war gripped the country in 1650 that politics took command of the young lawyer serving his apprenticeship in The Hague. 63

64

Anthony Vivien to John de \OVitt, Mar. 7, 1648, EA, I, 2-3 ; Japlkse, Johande WItt, 24. Japikse, Johan de Witt, 24; Geddes, Admmislrlttion of John de WItt, I, 46.

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CHAPTER TWO

HOLLAND VERSUS THE PRINCE (1649-1650 ) IN JAN U AR Y 1648 the United Provinces made "sweet Peace" with Spain,l a happy ending to an Eighty Years War for independence. Dutchmen felt that their "Golden Age" was beginning. The Republic of the United Provinces was for its members rich beyond compare among the states of Europe; it was excelled in absolute wealth only by a France ten times more populous. Dutch riches flowed from thriving trade, fishing, and shipping, for Holland served not only as the general emporium for Europe but was also the principal carrier of the continent's goods and the producer of a considerable part of them. These resources enabled the States General to hold place among the very strongest powers in Europe. The Dutch navy dominated the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. The Dutch army was one of the best, noted especially for the discipline and training made possible by regular and high pay. The potential rivals of the republic were beset by decadence or crisis: France was falling into the morass of the Fronde; England was not yet out of its civil wars; Germany was a political monstrosity; and Spain was a mockery of the nation which had once threatened to put all Europe under its "universal monarchy." Yet Dutch might and greatness were in danger from within. The United Provinces soon faced again the selfsame question which had ripped at the country during the Twelve Years Truce of 1609-1621 : did peace abroad mean war at home? Ironically, the very issue that set Dutchmen against Dutchmen was the choice between remaining at peace or plunging again into foreign war. Holland, the province which was the seat of Dutch trade and power, wanted to enjoy the fruits of long-hoped-for peace, to ship, trade, and make profits without giving constant tribute to Moloch. William II, the Prince of Orange since 1647, stadholder of Holland and the other provinces (except Friesland in the north, where his cousin William Frederick of Nassau held the governor's post), had purposes exactly opposite to Holland's. He wished to harness the military and naval strength of the Dutch to the cause of the Stuart kings of Britain; for, as the youthful husband of the girlish Princess Royal, Mary Stuart, he was brother-in-law to the exiled and harried Charles II. But Parliamentary England was not enemy enough for this "prince eager for war," to whom peace offered the chance only "to hunt hares and rabbits and sometimes 1 De Na- Ween vande Vrede. O/te Ontdeckinge van de kommerlijcke ghelegentheydt onses lieven Vanderlants . .. (n.p., 1650) (Kn. 6756).

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HOLLAND VERSUS THE PRINCE

to ride a horse almost into the ground." 2 William also desired a renewal of the war with Spain: it was the enemy of his house and that was sufficient reason for hating it and fighting it. Yet many in the republic saw total destruction of Spanish power as bringing not advantages but danger. "The right way to make friendship between us and France endure is to follow Spain to retain some strength," a pamphleteer wrote in 1648. 3 French might was too immense for the Dutch to be safe if the United Provinces and France, by conquering and dividing the Spanish Netherlands, became direct neighbors: Gallus amicus non vicinus, the Frenchman for a friend but not a neighbor, as the old adage warned. William did not publicly announce his deeper purposes, and conflict broke out over a subordinate but not unimportant issue. This was Holland's demand that numerous companies, especially of French, English, and Scottish troops, be paid off and the savings used to reduce its immense debts. The annual deficit in the province's budget was more than 2 million guilders. 4 But such merely financial considerations were hardly persuasive with a prince of Orange who was not troubled because he could not pay the bakers, brewers, and butchers who fed his household at The Hague and who spent the wealth of the House of Orange on behalf of the Stuarts with such recklessness that his mother, Ar:1alia van Solms, a fierce but selfish dynast, protested his sale of lands and his continued borrowings in Amsterdam. 5 In October 1649 the States of Holland instructed the delegated councilors to dismiss a number of companies on its authority. When they sent out discharge orders in November, the Council of State (the Generality body in charge of the army) and Prince William as captain general issued counterorders, and it was their commands which were obeyed, not Holland's. The Hollanders sought a compromise. Discussion with the prince continued for months, but the difference in the number of troops each side was willing to see discharged, though repeatedly reduced, could not be eliminated. Furthermore, the prince insisted that most of the forces to be let go come from Dutch troops, not the foreign companies

2 Haagseh Wmkel-Praatje, oft Gesprek, Voor-gevallen in den Hage, tussehen vier Personen, Een Hollander, een -(eeu, een Vries, ende een Greuninger: Nopende de AmnestIc, Dank, en Vier-dag (Leeuwarden, 1651) (Kn. 7039), 5-6. Cf. Abraham de Wicquefort, Hlstoire des ProvmeesUmes des Pais-Bas, depuis Ie parfazt etabllssement de eet etat par la paix de MUllster, ed. E. Lenting

and C.A. Chais van Buren, 4 vols. (Amsterdam, 1861-74), I, 329. 3 Nederlantsehe Absolutie Op de Fransche Belydenis (Amsterdam, 1684 [read 1648]) (Kn.5770). 4 G. W. Kernkamp, Prins Willem II (Amsterdam, 1943),98. 5 Lieuwe van Aitzema, Saken van Staet en Oorlogh, in, ende omtrent de Vereemghde Nederlanden, 2d ed. 6 vols. in 7 pts. (The Hague, 1669-72), III, 410; Titia Johanna Geest, Amalza van Solms en de Nederlandsehe Politiek van 1625 tot 1648 (Baarn, 1909), 74, 76.

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HOLLAND VERSUS THE PRINCE

who composed half the Dutch army.6 The Hollanders could not but be disturbed by the implications of such a choice, because the obeclience of the foreign troops, even those who adopted citizenship in one of the provinces, seemed based on their contract to serve for pay, not on the "love, affection and inclination" natural to native Dutchmen. 7 The attitude of the prince had been exacerbated to the extreme by his inability to prevent Holland from sending a provincial representative, Gerard Schaep, to England to negotiate with the Parliamentary authorities. His mission was to provide the province with a more effective spokesman than Joachimi, the Dutch ambassador who was tottering toward ninety years of age. The prince's party accused the Hollanders of seeking to achieve a separate alliance between the province of Holland and the English. The allegation could not be proved, but it indicated the prince's wrath over the province's efforts to prevent a clash with the Parliamentary regime in England. And it increased the importance in his mind of breaking Holland's ability to resist his will. 8 By early June the conflict had reached an impasse. Neither side was ready to give in on essentials. How long could the government of the republic go on this way, with the authority of the principal province balancing that of the Prince of Orange, the other provinces, the Council of State? Certainly the situation would become impossible if the country were called upon to meet any but ordinary business. The prince now decided to outflank his opponents in Holland. It was well known that there were disagreements in the provinces, both among and within the towns. 9 If only a few member towns could be persuaded to join those which were outright Prinsgezind, in favor of the prince, or at least amenable on the army reduction issue, the insistence of Holland upon discharging troops could be overcome. During the morning of Whitsuntide, June 5, just after the States of Holland had gone into recess, the Council of State went with the two stadholders, Prince William and Count William Frederick, to the States General immediately after its morning prayer. They informed Their High Mightinesses that they intended to warn commanders of the garrisons not to permit the discharge of any troops without orders from them, and they asked that the States 6 J. A. Wijnne, De geschillen over de afdanking van 't Krijgsvolk in de Vereenigde Nederlanden in dejaren 1649 en 1650 en de handelingen van Prins Willem II (Utrecht, 1885), xxiv-xxvi; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 406. 7 Waerachtigh Ende Noodigh Bericht, Van 't gunt by de Heeren Staten van Hollandt ende WestVries landt in den jare 1650, van tzjdt tot tijdt is ... ghedaen omtrent het werck van Menage . .. (The Hague, 1651) (Kn. 7U20). 8 Kernkamp, Prins Willem II, 92-94; P. Geyl, Orarue en Stuart, 1641-1672 (Utrecht, 1939), 70-78; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 469. 9 Haagsch Winkel-Praa!Je, 7.

27

HOLLAND VERSUS THE PRINCE

General send similar instructions. This was voted the same afternoon, along with a decision to send a deputation to the member towns of Holland, calling upon them to change their policy. The number, personnel, and organization of the deputation were entrusted to the prince. More important was the vaguely formulated task of maintaining "good order and quiet in everything," especially the preservation of the Union against any and all efforts directed against it. To a man like \Villiam, that was a wide gate through which he could march a whole army, for it could justify almost anything. The Hollanders protested vigorously against the decision. It had been taken in violation of normal procedure, they held, and they reserved their province's freedom of action. The next day Prince ·William returned to report that he would lead the deputation in person, and asked that four deputies be appointed to join him. Again, all the provinces but Holland approved. 1 0 The deputation was a threat to Holland's position in the Union. The internal arrangement of power within the provinces had always been a matter of their individual concern; indeed, it was a matter of utmost political delicacy. Although the spokesmen of Holland urged, learnedly and passionately, the sovereignty of the States of Holland, in fact sovereignty as the locus of final decision ana. ultimate appeal could no more be found in a single place or a single body within the provinces than it could be within the country as a whole. The members of the States of Holland-the Nobility (Ridderschap, literally "Knighthood") and the voting towns-were the source of its authority, its masters. Which measures could be adopted by the States of Holland by majority decision and which required unanimity was still debated and undecided; in general, new measures came under the rule of unanimity, while those based on resolutions already adopted dio not. Nor was the extent to which citizens were mbject to the municipalities or to the provincial authorities clearly determined. If the Generality bodies-the States General, the Council of State, or the captain general-could establish relationships directly with the towns, then the effective authority of the provincial States would be undermined. Nor would this ultimately be to the advantage of the towns; against the Generality organs they would, one and all, even mighty Amsterdam, find themselves too weak, too easily overmastered, to defend their autonomy .._ The prince, beset by no such uncertainties, moved swiftly. On June 8 he set off with the deputation, which, with its suite of colonels and soldiers, came to about four hundred persons. But before he left The Hague, William went to Honselaardijk, where the exiled Charles II was

10 Altzema, Saken van Staet, Ill, 427-28; Wijnne, Geschzllen, xlvui-xhx, Iv-Ivi; Kernkamp, Prins Wlllem II, 108-109.

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HOLLAND VERSUS THE PRINCE

staying, to bid him farewell, and, we may guess, to discuss again purposes and plans which could be so important to his royal brother-in-law. Dordrecht, first of Holland's towns in precedence, was the prince's first destination. He arrived at eleven o'clock that night, but before retiring he asked that all the town councils meet with him and the deputation the next morning. The burgomaster came at once to his lodgings to tell him that only the Old Council, the senior body of the town's government, would receive the visitors in audience. And even this was conceded only as a personal courtesy to William because it violated the council's freedom of debate. When the deputation met the Old Council the next morning, William spoke only a few words. The spokesman for the deputation, Alexander van der Capellen, lord of Aertsbergen, read a declaration accusing the province of Holland of "breaking and dissolving the Union" and thereby imperiling the "true Reformed religion." The prince was then escorted back to his lodgings. The Old Council debated but did not budge. It decided, and so informed the prince, that it would support in the States of Holland such policies as would best preserve the sovereignty, liberty, rights, and justice of the province and its member towns, as well as maintain the Union. The Old Council reassembled on Friday and received the prince and his party in a new audience. Again it was Aertsbergen who spoke, in "very sharp, bitter and intolerable words." The deputation would not depart until it knew whether Dordrecht wished to remain within the Union. There must be a "proper, short, positive, categorical and immediate reply in scriptis" to the proposal of the States General, as well as prompt and effective steps to repair the damage done to the Union. Failure to act would make the recalcitrants subject to imprisonment and confiscation of property under Article XXIII of the Union of Utrecht. If the Dordrechters failed to give satisfaction, they would hear "other language. " Scandalized by such an obvious threat to use force, the Old Council decided, without a dissenting voice, to refuse to make any further reply, written or oral, and to continue with the policies already fixed. Dordrecht would seek remedies for these insults in the States of Holland. This was the blunt reply brought to the deputation, and to Aertsbergen in particular, by Jacob de Witt, with "special vigor, courage and feeling," in the name of the council. William asked one last time that they reconsider their decision. When the council refused by the same unanimous vote, the deputation left the next afternoon. The failure to split the Dordrechters was a disappointment to the prince, because there was notorious dissension among them. 11 Several members of the Old Council had even met with him and apparently given him some assurances. There II

Haagsch Wmkel-Praalje, 7.

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was only one concession. Dordrecht promised not to oppose continued payment of the affected companies for the time being. This did nothing to still William's fury against Jacob de Witt, who had been the soul of the opposition to him.! ~ Aertsbergen's words about "other language" showed which way the prince's mind was working. His rancor-he was "half-raving," wrote the Spanish ambassador-was not assuaged during the remainder of the deputation's tour of Holland's voting towns, interviewing and intimidating, but succeeding nowhere. The deputation returned to The Hague on the evening of June 25 and reported two days later to the States General on its unsuccessful mission. 13 On June 30 William came in person to the States of Holland to complain bitterly of the slights and slanders he had suffered. His voice rose when he spoke of Amsterdam, which had offended his "dignity and respect" by refusing to receive him as captain general and stadholder, and he asked that the assembly order Amsterdam to give him satisfaction. But it refused to do SO.!4 July seemed to bring a calmer mood. Cornelius de Witt, on his return to Dordrecht from a visit to Brabant, asked his brother to send news, "when convenient," of how the States General was taking the refusal of the Holland towns to receive the deputation.! 5 There were renewed efforts at a negotiated settlement. A delegation from the States of Holland met with the Prince of Orange on July 15; Jacob de Witt, one of the members, took elaborate notes. William would not move to overcome the crisis until Holland accepted his demands of June 30, but he told the Hollanders that at least twenty-seven thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry were needed for the defense of the country. Holland would have to continue to pay the troops while the Council of State discussed its proposals. On July 26, in a final gesture of compromise, the States of Holland proposed that the army be fixed at 26,000 foot and 2,700 horse, scarcely less than the 26,315 foot and 3,000 horse demanded by the prince. Holland was even willing to permit the prince and the Council of State to take charge of the troop reductions and to pay pensions to company commanders who did not take service with other states. But if these concessions were rejected, Holland would go back to 12 Aitzema, Saken van Siael, III, 427-32; Wijnne, Geschillen, lvii, lix; Wlcquefort, Hisloire, I, 303, 445-48; Kernkamp, Pnns Willem II, 114-15; Van Dalen, Geschiedenis van Dordrechl, II, 1132-33. cr. Count William Frederick to William II, June 4/14, 1650, G. Groen van Prmsterer, ed., Archives ou correspondance medlte de La Maison d'Orange-Nassau (hereafter cited as AMON), 2d ser., IV (Utrecht, 1859), 366. 13 Aitzema, Saken van Siael, III, 432-33, 592-93; Wijnne, Geschillen, IVlii-lxi. 14 Aitzema, Saken van Siael, III, 434-36; Wijnne, Geschillen, Ixxvili; William II to

States of Holland, June 30, 1650, ARA StH 2642. I' Cornelius to John de Witt, July 4, 1650, ARA StH Dl.

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its original decisions. A letter was sent to the other provinces on July 27 explaining this proposal. 1 6 The offer came too late. In that last week of July, although there were many who anticipated a settlement, neither party had been willing to take the last small step. 1 7 On the contrary, Amsterdam, the heart of Holland's resistance, sent a long reply on July 27 to William's proposals. It castigated not only the advisors who prompted him to take unwise measures, but the Prince of Orange himself. A stadholder was the servant of a province, not its master; it was for him to obey its commands. And Amsterdam wished "to enjoy the fruits of the present peace, which would be impossible if troops which are unnecessary and disorderly are still retained." 1 8 It was a challenge to the prince-but one given after its reply was already being prepared in the "other language" of which Aertsbergen had spoken. Force, after all, was the ultima ratio of politics when reasoned argument and even threats worked no longer. A coup d' etat could cut through the Gordian knot. Earlier, in December, Count William Frederick had already suggested that if Holland did not give way on the army, the prince could make himself master of Amsterdam, and he offered to lead the task force. Not long after, William began dropping hints to the French of what he had in mind and received from Cardinal Mazarin guarded but sufficient assurances of support. 19 The final decision to act was taken only on July 25 or 26, after the failure of the deputation to the towns. 2 0 Count William Frederick was given command of the forces with the task of taking Amsterdam, but Prince William kept for himself another operation which was designed to assure the obedience of the rest of Holland. This 16 Jacob de Witt, "Notulen van 't geresolveeerde ter Generaliteyt den 15den July 1650," ARA StH D33; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 436, 438-440; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 249; Wijnne, Geschillen, lxxxi. 17 J. N. de Parival, Abrege de l'histoire de ce szecle defer (Leiden, 1653),427. 18 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 440-43. I 9 Kernkamp, Przns Willem II, 119-20; Wijnne, Geschillen, lxxxv; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 326. De Witt later told the English ambassador at The Hague, Sir William Temple, that the French had led William II into the adventure. Temple to Arlington, Sept. 7, 1668, The Works of Sir William Temple, Bart. (hereafter cited as Temple, Works), 4 vols. (London, 1757), II, 12. According to an account given by his son John decades later to an English traveler in Venice, De Witt compared the French role in the affair to the attempt by Duke Francis of Anjou to seize Antwerp by force in 1583. See Verdedigende Redenvoering Voor de Ere van den Doorlugtigen, Getrouwen en Doorsigtigen Grondlegger der Nederlandsche Vryhezd Willem den Eersten. Translated from the English. 2d ed. (Leiden, 1779), 57. (The author of this work is identified only as "a nobleman of Middlesex." Although an English original edition is cited as having been published in 1714, I have not been able to identify it or its author.) 20 F.J.L. Kramer, "Journalen van den stadhouder Willem II uit de jaren 1641-1650," Bijdragen en Mededeelingen van het Historisch Genootschap gevestigd to Utrecht (hereafter cited as BMHG), XXVII (1906),519.

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was to arrest at The Hague a number of deputies to the States of Holland whose towns had been most forthright in resistance to the deputation. "We must always be in a position where we cannot be insulted," the prince wrote in a memorandum on his plan of action. 21 Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of Saturday, July 30, a halberdier brought to Jacob de Witt a message that the prince wished to speak to him at half-past the hour. Jacob stilled his suspicions "because the business of the reduction of the army seemed very near to solution" ; a conciliatory proposal was scheduled to be adopted that day. The call to see the prince was in itself quite normal, for as stadholder he had the right to confer with deputies to the States of Holland on business of state. Jacob therefore was at the prince's chamber in the Binnenhof (actually, that of the Princess Royal, who was out of town) at the stroke of 8 :30, to "see whether I could win some support for the proposal." On entering, he was met by Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Cuyck van Meteren, commander of Gorinchem and nearby Loevestein House, who arrested him on orders of the prince and on behalf of the States General. Have you been given the reasons for the arrest, since you have no right to take such a step in the province of Holland? Jacob asked Van Meteren. No, the soldier replied. Then a guards lieutenant, accompanied by two soldiers, took Jacob to a room upstairs, where he remained by himself until Sunday evening. Five other deputies received the same call and were arrested in the same way. They were Jan de Wael and Albert Ruyl, burgomaster and pensionary of Haarlem, John Duyst van Voorhout, of Delft, Nanning Keyser, pensionary of Hoorn, and Nicholas Stellingwerff, pensionary of Medemblik. Four deputies who had been on the original list of those to be arrested escaped seizure because they were not in The Hague that day. The arrests were completed before nine o'clock. The prince then called in Cornelius van Bronckhorst, the presiding deputy of the States General, and told him of what he had done at The Hague and that Count William had been sent to take control of Amsterdam. The States General should be informed at once of the actions which had been done by its authority and on its behalf. The next visitor was Jacob Cats, councilor pensionary of Holland. When he entered the chamber, Cats was surprised to see the prince wearing his rapier. He was "staggered" and heard "with whirling brain" of the arrests and the expedition against Amsterdam. 2 2 William asked him to go at once to the

21 Wijnne, Geschillen, 145-48; Jan Wagenaar, Vaderlandsche Historie, 21 vols. (Amsterdam, 1749-59) XII, 90-91. 22 Jacob Cats, "Twee en Tachtigjarig leven," Aile de Werken, (Amsterdam, 1712),54: "Ik stond hierop versteld, als van een zeldzaam wonder.! Mljn brein was omgeroerd van een grooten donder."

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States of Holland, which was meeting downstairs, and tell what had happened. After taking a few moments to compose himself, Cats hurried to the assembly chamber and gave the news to the deputies. The meeting broke up, and many of the deputies returned to their towns, "not without great fear and faltering." Only a few of Holland's deputies to the States General climbed the stairs to join their colleagues there. Although the States of Holland was supposed to reconvene the next day, some time passed before all deputies returned from their homes to take part. 2 3 Meanwhile, news of the prince's bold stroke spread. Crowds assembled outside the Binnenhof and on the streets. Considerable discontent could be heard. But the murmurers were overawed by the company of guards which had been assembled under arms early that morning on the pretext of going target-shooting in the dunes and which now appeared at the gates of the Binnenhof. Toward noon reinforcements came from Delft, Schiedam, and elsewhere: four "colonel's companies" of French, Scots, and English troops, considered particularly trustworthy, and two cavalry companies. The soldiers, who had been complaining bitterly, now were all joy and eagerness. 24 The simple-minded pleasure of the men of arms was not shared by politically wiser folk even in the prince's own party. After Cats had left, the prince called in Aertsbergen, who received the news with shock and fear. He had been in fact a reluctant participant in the journey of intimidation and reminded the prince that he had frequently denied that his plans ran in this direction. Now there was danger that William would face ruin and the loss of his authority, such as the Stuarts had suffered in England. The actions against the deputies and Amsterdam were of "excessive harshness and consequence," and he would have to refer to his principals, the States of Gelderland. When Aertsbergen left, other deputies to the States General told William that they too had been left in the dark and showed similar anxieties. Amalia van Solms was also taken aback by her son's bold blow. 2 5 23 Jacob de Witt at Loevestein House to his children, Aug. 2, to John de Witt, Aug. 3 or 4, 1650, BA, I, 5-6, 8; Knimer, "Journalen van den Stadhouder Willem II," 519-20; Wijnne, Geschillen, xciv-xcvii; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 444-45; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 302, 305; Robert Jaspar van der Capellen, ed., Gedenkschriften van Jonkheer Alexander van der Capellen, Heere van Aartsbergen, Boedelhoff, en Mervelt ... (hereafter cited as Van der Capellen, Gedenkschriften), 2 vols. (Utrecht, 1772-73), II, 275-76, 281; Wagenaar, Vaderlandsche Historie, XII, 90-9\. 24 Aitzema, Saken van Staat, III, 445; P. Geyl, "Een Engelsch republikein over Willem II's staatsgreep in 1650," BMHG, XLV (1924), 79-81; Christian Huygens at The Hague to Constantine Huygens, Jr., Aug. 2, 1650, Christiaan Huygens, Oeuvres completes, 8 vols. (The Hague, 1888-89), I, 130. 25 Van der Capellen, Gedenkschriften,II, 274-75; Wijnne, Geschillen, Ixiii; Wicquefort, H1stoire, II, 197. Cf.J.]. Poelhekke, "Nijmegen, Gelderland en de 'Grote Vergadering' van 1651," Numaga, XVI, no. 2 (May, 1969), 123, about the "great anger" in Zutphen among the ordinary people against Aertsbergen for his part in the affair.

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The manner of the arrests was disturbingly similar to the way in which Oldenbarnevelt and his associates had been detained by Prince Maurice in 1618. Did the arrested deputies also face trial by special commissioners? William may have had some such notion in mind, but what he could do depended upon how the operation against Amsterdam went off. 2 6 The "shortest way" to gain his objectives, the prince noted in a memorandum on his plans, "will be to change the magistrates in the cities, and we shall have to begin with Amsterdam, because it is the most important and the most powerful. In order to be able to do this safely, it will be necessary to make use of soldiers so that we can change the magistrates by force if they do not wish to do so willingly." 27 For this wetsverzetting, as the Dutch called it-"changing the government," or replacing members of the ruling councils of the towns out of the normal course of electionsWilliam had the States General's broad grant of authority to preserve the Union, given in the resolution of June 5; if he succeeded, it would easily stretch to cover the use of troops. He does not seem to have contemplated any other possible outcome. But nature and chance took a hand in the events, as a more experienced military commander might have anticipated. The crucial operation against Amsterdam depended upon the concentration of troops from distant Arnhem and Nijmegen, as well as from nearby garrisons, during the night of July 29, in order to surprise the great city the next morning. Count William Frederick would be their commander. He left The Hague that evening after taking a leisurely stroll along the Vijverberg, across from the Binnenhof, during which he saw Jacob de Witt and his friend Nanning Keyser. 2 8 Did he smile at them, knowing that they would be prisoners of the prince by the morrow? Suspicion thus presumably disarmed, William Frederick hastened to the rendezvous at Abcoude, some six miles southeast of Amsterdam. When he arrived around midnight, Cornelius van Aerssen, lord of Sommelsdijk, and Burgrave Frederick von Dohna, two of his subordinate commanders, were already there with four companies, but there was no sign of the troops from Arnhem and Nijmegen, to which marching orders had been sent two days before. 29 They came up the next morning with a sad tale. Marching at night, in Wicquefort, Hislolre, I, 303; Kernkamp, Prins Wlllem II, 155-57. Wijnne, Geschillen, 152-53. 28 William Frederick to William II, [July 29], 1650, AMON, IV, 385. A. Waddington, La Ripublique des Provlnces-Unies, la France el les Pays-Bas espagnols de 1630 ii 1650, 2 vols. Paris, 1895-97), II, 332n.5, correctly notes that Groen van Prinsterer's dating of July 30 is manifestly incorrect. Aitzema (Saken van Siael, III, 443) says that Wilham Frederick left in the afternoon, but the count's letter may be accepted at face value. 29 P. L. Muller, "Spanje en de partijen in Nederland in 1650," BVGO, new ser., VII, (1872), 156. 2.

27

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a thunderstorm, through the Gooi, the marshy country just to the east, they had missed a house supposed to be lighted at a fork in the road and had taken the wrong turn. Even more disastrous than the loss of time, as it turned out, was the failure of the troops to detain the post courier from Hamburg, whom they permitted to ride past them to Amsterdam. When he reached his destination shortly after eight in the morning, the courier at once informed Cornelius Bicker, the only burgomaster in the city, that around daybreak he had fallen in with a thousand cavalry en route to Amsterdam who claimed to be Lorrainers-notorious for their raids into the Rhineland and the Spanish Netherlands, but who had never yet ventured this far into the United Provinces. The news was confirmed by Gerard Bicker, Cornelius's nephew, and governor of Muiden castle, who arrived to report the presence of large numbers of troops in the Gooi and at nearby Naarden fort. He had ridden in from Muiden in great haste, leaving behind his younger sisters, who made their way safely to Utrecht. 30 Cornelius Bicker had to take defensive actions without his three fellowburgomasters; one had died a few days before, another was at The Hague, and a third had gone for a visit to his country home. Aided by John Huydecooper, lord of Marseveen, Bicker consulted with the available magistrates. A proposal to break the sea dike at St. Anthony's Gate was rejected; it would flood not only the whole region where the strange troops were located, but also large areas of Holland and Utrecht provinces. Instead, only a few sluices were opened and a single polder put under water, enough to make clear the threat of more drastic action. The drawbridges were pulled up, the watch strengthened, cannon made ready on the walls, and the citizenry armed. 31 When Count William Frederick arrived at Amsterdam he found the gates closed and the alarm raised. Although he had a force of ten to twelve thousand troops, he did not attempt to carry the great city by storm. Instead, a nobleman took in a letter from the Prince of Orange to the magistrates, informing them that Count William Frederick had the task of maintaining "peace and quiet" in their city until the prince himself arrived, which "a few persons of ill will" desired to prevent. William asked the magistrates to assist the count in his task. 3 2 The magistrates deliberated upon the letter from the stadholder, and, 30 't Muyder-Spoockje. Ontdeckt aen haren Drost den Heer Gerard Bicker . .. (n.p., 1650) (Kn. 6813); Bikkers Grzllen, Drost van Muyden, Den 30. Julij, Anno 1650 (n.p., [1650] (Kn.6811). 3' Aitzema, Saken van Staet, I II, 443-44; Wijnne, Geschillen, cxxviii-cxxxvii; W icquefort, HlstDlre, I, 307. 32 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 444; S.l. van Nooten, Prins Willem II (The Hague, 1915),146-47; Kernkamp, Prins Willem II, 138-39.

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although the burghers were ready for action, "every merchant as brave as a count," 3 3 it was decided to parley. Huydecooper was sent with alderman Wigbold van der Does to confer with Count William Frederick. They met him and his officers drawn up in a circle under the blue sky at an estate near Ouderkerk. Huydecooper asked that the troops come no closer to the city, lest the magistrates feel compelled to use every possible means and weapon afforded them by God and nature-an evident allusion to the opening of the dikes. 34 The count did not attempt to decide the delicate issue by himself. He sent a letter to the prince "in great haste," telling him of the loss of surprise and of his failure to fulfill his mission as planned. He hoped that the enterprise in The Hague had been more successful. 34 William, at dinner when the news came, rose angrily from his table and rushed to his chamber. There he refused to see anyone for some time and was heard stamping his feet and throwing his hat upon the floor. When his wrath had calmed, William decided to make what he could of the situation and left for Amsterdam, arriving there that evening with a magnificent suite. 3 5 Amsterdam was not unready for a compromise. The other to'.vns had failed to respond to its appeal that they send deputies for an emergency session of the States of Holland within its walls. If it came to an open clash of arms, the dikes would have to be opened; however, the flooding waters would not only entrap the besiegers or force them to flee but would also cause enormous damage to the countryside. Business was already beginning to suffer; losses during the few days of uncertainty rose to several million guilders. Civil war would destroy the confidence of foreign merchants that their funds would be safe; letters of exchange written on Amsterdam would not be honored. The prince, for his part, decided to narrow his target to burgomaster Bicker and his brother Andrew, who with their late brother John had formed the "Bickers' League" that had dominated Amsterdam politics for many years. They had become William's principal foes within the city, although within the recent past they had served the House of Orange well in financial matters. William had to face the unexpected loyalty of the populace of Amsterdam to their magistrates, despite their traditional Orangism. He had somehow to emerge with a semblance of victory, and a compromise by which the Bickers would be driven from office would suffice. In any case, outright seizure of power or even making his office 33't Vragende Amsteldam, Aan de vereenzgde Provintien, Verryckt met een Olipodrigo Ofte Mengelmoes ("De Vaag-Stadt" [Amsterdam?], (1650) Kn. 6798), 2. 34 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 444; William Frederick at Ouderkerk to Wilham II, July 31, 1650, AMON, IV, 388-89. 35 Wagenaar, Vaderlandsche Historie, XII, 100; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 446.

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of captain general and provincial stadholder "absolute, independent and arbitrary" does not seem to have occurred to him. He perhaps took to heart Aertsbergen's warning that he was risking the future of his house. It may have been only a step from absolute command of the army to sovereignty, as Mazarin remarked, but William apparently had in mind having his way on particular issues of policy rather than a revolution in the constitution of the republic. 36 Few then or since have doubted, however, that his victory, if it had been complete, would have hastened the transformation of the stadholderate into a quasi monarchy, as in fact occurred in the eighteenth century. On August 2 William met with a committee of four acting on behalf of the burgomasters and the council of Amsterdam. Before day's end, terms of settlement had been worked out. Amsterdam agreed to seek Holland's approval of the military budget accepted by the other provinces; it would stay at the same level until the war between France and Spain ended, but no longer than three or four years. William would be received by the council in the same way as his predecessors had been. A separate article provided for exclusion of Cornelius and Andrew Bicker from all posts of government in Amsterdam, although without offense to their persons or damage to their property. The principal treaty caused little discussion in the council, but the separate article on the exclusion of the Bickers aroused long and acrimonious debate during the morning of August 3. Deep jealousy of the Bickers, merchants of vast wealth and domineering politics whom their foes saw as "ignorant, surly, haughty and insufferable cheats who devour money and the state," came to the surface. Nonetheless, there was great consternation at such blatant interference in the council's freedom of choice. The Bickers voluntarily renounced their posts, preferring, as they said, the repose of the city to their private satisfaction and the interests of their family. The treaty was approved at noon and signed and sealed that evening. 3 7 A few hours later a delegation from the States General, named that very day, arrived to beseech the prince not to attack Amsterdam or molest its trade. The States of Holland had another delegation en route which was bringing conciliatory proposals, including a request to Amsterdam 36 Ibid., 446-47; Hollantse Mercurius, 41 vols. (Haarlem, 1650-91), I, 37; Hollants praatjen, Tusschen vier personen ... Het Eerste Deel (Antwerp, 1650) (Kn. 6824), 8; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 316-17, 326, 360; Kernkamp, Prins Willem II, 139-41; Henri Brasset, memoir of early 1651, AMON, V, 211. A pamphlet which accused William to make himself sovereign was Briif, Rakende het vangen der Ses Leden van de Groot-mogende Heeren Staten van Hollandt en West- Vrieslandt, En 't belegeren van Amsterdam . .. (n.p., 1650) (Kn.

6771). 37 Lauweren-Krans Gevlochten voor Syn Hoocheyt, Wilhelm, de Heer Pnnce van Oranjen . . . (n.p., 1650) (Kn. 6851); Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 447-48; Wicquefort,Histoire, I, 315.

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not to resort to flooding. But there was nothing for the newcomers to do now but dine. When one of the Amsterdammers at the table boasted that if it had come to a clash, they would have had the element of water in their favor, William retorted, "And I would have used the element of fire against it," meaning the artillery being brought up from Delft. Everyone laughed and nothing more was said about it. The prince did not enter Amsterdam but returned to The Hague the next morning. 3 8 Eighteen years later, reminiscing about the events at Amsterdam, De \\Titt displayed more respect for the forthrightness of the prince and his ability to make a compromise when victory evaded him than for the thirty-six Amsterdam regents who allowed themselves to be "taught the facts of life" (deniazser) by a young man of twenty-four. 39 But what concerned him at the moment was the fate of his father and the other arrested deputies. Dordrecht moved at once to seek Jacob de Witt's release. The very day after the arrest the Old Council met and voted to send a delegation to William. They would offer him Dordrecht's vote in favor of the military budget at his own figure if he promised not to interfere in the future with the right of the towns to decide upon the army budgets nor with the right of the States of Holland to meet, debate, and resolve in full freedom and security. Before the delegation was able to set out, news came that evening of the prince's departure from The Hague for Amsterdam. The mission was cancelled; instead, measures were taken to prepare the city for defense. Few other towns in the province displayed such sturdiness of spirit. Only Stellingwerff's little Medemblik took similar but miniscule steps of defense. 40 Had the Dordrechters proceeded to The Hague, they would have found the six deputies gone as well as Prince William. At about ten o'clock that night they had been brought down from the rooms in the Binnenhof where they had been kept since their seizure and put in two of the prince's own coaches under heavy guard. Jacob de Witt entered the first coach together with Keyser and Stellingwerff. Keyser fearfully told of the threat made to him by Captain Pellnitz when he refused to write a letter to his town government to be brought to the prince. You'll have to do as you're told, Pellnitz snapped: "He who has the army on his side is 3S Kernkamp, Prins Willem II, 137-38; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 446-49; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 318. 39 See Dohna's account of a conversation between himself and De Witt in 1668, In Les memoires du Burgrave et Comte Friderze de Dohna, 1621-1688 (hereafter Cited as Dohna, Memoires), ed, H. Borkowski, (Konigsberg, 1898),271-73. This report is confirmed by the account of De Witt's attitude given by his son (see n. 19). Verdedigende Redenvoenng, 56-57. 40 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 450-51; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 320-21 ;J. Belonje and R. Kaptein, eds. "Een Kroniek van Medemblik [by Cornelius Janszoon Opperdoes]" (hereafter cited as Opperdoes, "Kroniek van Medemblik"), BMHG, LXIV (1943), 78-79.

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master, as in France and England." De Witt and Stellingwerff managed to calm Keyser's fears a little. Apart from an order to speak Dutch only, not Latin, which their guards could not understand, they were treated with "all proper discretion and courtesy," in accordance with the orders of William to Colonel Van Meteren, who commanded the little expedition.41 The procession moved across Holland by a roundabout route, avoiding all big towns. Between midnight and two o'clock on the morning of August 2 it reached its destination, Loevestein House, the castle-prison at the confluence of the Maas and Waal rivers, where Hugo Grotius had been held after his conviction during the same trial in which Oldenbarnevelt was condemned to death. 4 2 Later that same day, in Dordrecht, the Old Council met again to consider the new situation. It reaffirmed its support of Jacob de Witt and its willingness to compromise. 43 John de \Nitt, who had come to Dordrecht on the first news of his father's arrest and consulted with the city fathers, left at once for Loevestein, only a few miles upstream from Dordrecht. Taking lodging at the inn "His Highness' Ship" (did he smile bitterly at the thought that he was enjoying the symbolic hospitality of the prince?), John finally smuggled a letter to Jacob, informing him of the failure of the attack upon Amsterdam and the events in Dordrecht. 44 Within Loevestein House, Jacob, unaware of his son's presence outside, wrote a letter to him telling of his arrest and present situation. He was being well treated and his mind and feelings were "very much at ease." He knew that he had done nothing except upon the instructions of the government of Dordrecht and that he had never given the prince any reason for offense. His family should keep stout heart and "do nothing but what is proper and honorable" in seeking his release. 4 5 A day or two later Jacob wrote again, more hopefully. He had informed the government of Dordrecht that he was willing to give up his offices, but only in an honorable way. A settlement of the affair by a compromise ought to bring the deputies' release, "I shall await everything with courage and good patience." His family should do likewise. They should especially avoid harsh words against the prince or anyone else, but be "quiet and moderate" in discussing the situation. 46 41 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 449; Kernkamp, Prins Willem II, 145; G.W. Kernkamp, "Memorie van Nanning Keyser betreffende de gebeurtenissen van het jaar 1650," BMHG, XVIII (1897), 355-57, 362; Wijnne, Geschzllen, cxiii-cxiv, 73-74; W.J.C. van Hasselt, "De Loevesteinsche Gevangenschap (1650)," De Gids, IX (1845), 287; De gesteeurde Hollantsche Leevw. Ofte het !3elegerde Amserdam [sic] ... (n.p., 1650) (Kn. 6865), 8. 42 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 449; Wijnne, Geschillen, cxiii. 43 Aitzema, Saken van Slaet, III, 451-52; Wicquefort, Histom, I, 321. 44 Veegens, Historische Studien, II, 21-22; Joh[an] H. Been, "Een praatje over Jan de Witt," in his Historische Fragmenten (Rotterdam, 1912), 130-31. 4' Jacob to John de Witt, Aug. 2, 1650, BA, I, 5-7; Veegens, Historische Studien, II, 19. 46 Jacob to John de Witt, Aug. 3 or 4, 1650, BA, I, 7-8.

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Cornelius de 'Witt came to Loevestein to join his brother but returned to Dordrecht before John managed to have a long letter with a summary of events delivered into his father's hands. He had also secretly received a reply from Jacob. "Be careful with this information, for good cause," John warned Cornelius in a letter written at nine o'clock on the morning of August 5. Cornelius should write "a note" (letterken) to Jacob about events in Dordrecht. John was sure he could secretly get it to Jacob; he had been able to have a long conversation with their father that morning. A letter from the government of Dordrecht to Jacob had arrived at six in the morning, and John brought it to Loevestein House. Van Meteren, after reading it, permitted him to take it in person to his father in his room. While Jacob remained in bed, they talked at length in Van Meteren's presence. 47 Van Meteren's courtesy to the prisoners was kept on short rein by the prince. At first William allowed them to write letters, which would have to pass his inspection, but not to receive any. However, when the prisoners sent a joint letter on August 8 to the States of Holland, asking permission at least to eat together and stroll around the fort, William became angry. Not even their expressed appeal for an honourable compromies mollified him. Three days later he sent orders to Van Meteren to accept no more letters from them. 48 The next day he relented somewhat. He permitted Jacob to write to his children and gave the two sons, who had apparently come to The Hague to put their plea directly to him, a letter for Van Meteren. The young men, he wrote, might speak to their father for two or three hours; the soldiers on guard were to remain at the door of his chamber. But they might not see any other prisoners. Similar letters were sent on behalf of the other arrested men. 49 During the next few days John made repeated journeys between Dordrecht and Loevestein House, sometimes with Cornelius, to visit Jacob with the prince's permission. William indicated to a delegation from the prisoners' towns that they would be freed if they followed the example of the Bickers and resigned their posts in the town governments. When the elderly Duyst van Voorhout, who was about to retire in any case, accepted the prince's terms,Jacob's sons were urged to have him follow the example of his colleague from Delft. They refused, saying that they would not admit their father's guilt even by implication.

John to Cornelius de Witt, Aug. 5, 1650, BJ, 1,52-53. Wijnne, Geschillen, cxiv-cxv, 75, 158-60; AMON, IV, 397. The letter is incorrectly identified by Geddes (Administration of John de Witt, I, 122) and Lefevre-Pontalis (Vingt annees de republique parlementaire, I, 54n.l) as being addressed to William I I. 49 See Jacob de Witt to children [addressed to Johanna van Beveren-de Witt], Aug. II, 1650, holograph, ARA StH, ColI. "De Witt (Gevaerts)," no. 3; Wijnne, Geschrllen, cxviii, 76; AMON, IV, 396; Hasselt, "De Loevesteinsche Gevangenschap," 288. 47 48

40

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The situation changed on August 13, when the States of Holland went as a body to the States General, with the prince, Count William Frederick, and the Council of State present, to say that Holland was ready to accept the military budget proposed by the council on July 15. It was thereupon approved, with a declaration that henceforth any action by a province to red uce the army on its own would be considered a violation of the Union of Utrecht and subject to repression. The way was open for the release of the Loevestein captives. 50 Jacob de Witt now accepted honourable defeat. On August 14 he wrote to the government of Dordrecht, asking to be released from his seat in the Old Council and his post as the town's member in the Delegated Council of the province, "in view of the present state of times and circumstances" and provided that no offense was given to the honor of himself or his family. The next day the request was approved, "very unhappily," with a proviso that neither he nor his descendants would be affected then or thereafter in "their honor, good name and fame." 51 A day later William instructed Van Meteren to permit Jacob's sons or other members of his family to visit him without limit of time, but he was to continue to keep good watch as before. 52 On Thursday, August 17, William was given an official copy of Dordrecht's declaration, in abridged form, at his request. 5 3 John was concerned about how his father's release should be handled. He urged his brother to take every precaution lest it appear that it had, been the De Witts who had negotiated with the prince, "per indirectum, through the city." The business was not so urgent that it would be '''rorth risking scandalous talk for the sake of so little time." 54 On Friday, August 18, William sent orders to Van Meteren to release Jacob de Witt and to permit him to go where he pleased. The next day Jacob was home in Dordrecht. His fellow prisoners were also released at about the same time on similar conditions. 5 5 There was a general desire to forgive and forget. When on August 15 William gave the States General a sealed document setting forth his reasons for arresting the deputies, the assembly decided to put it away, unread, und~r lock and key, as the States of Holland had done with a similar document on August 8 at the prince's request. 5 6 Between August 50 Wijnne, Geschzllen, 72-73; AMON, IV, 397; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 449-50; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 322, 324; Veegens, Historzsche Studien, II, 24. 51 Jacob de Witt to Old Council (copy), ARA StH 2677; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 452; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 322. 52 Wijnne, Geschillen, cxviii, 78; AMON, IV, 402. 53 ARA StH 2677; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 452-53. 54 John to Cornelius de Witt, Aug. 17, 1650, BJ, I, 53-55. 55 Wijnne, Geschillen, 81; AMON. IV, 403; Hasselt, "De Loevesteinsche Gevangenschap," 290, 292; Veegens, Historische Studien, II, 25. 56 Wicquefort, Histoire, 1,322-23; notation by Cats, dated June 16, 1651, on memorial of Aug. 9 [!], 1650, ARA StH 2642.

41

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27 and October 21, the States of Zeeland, Friesland, Overijssel, Gelderland, and Utrecht sent messages of thanks to William. Yet only the Zeelanders were unabashedly congratulatory; the others hinted at reservations, used general terms, avoided approval or disapproval, and stressed how important it was to preserve the unity of the provinces. 57 It was as if they were having second thoughts and wondered whether, in truth, political power was passing to the army. William himself was satisfied. The affair "has entirely reestablished my authority," he rejoiced. An anti-Orangist pamphleteer agreed. Almost all the town officials in Holland, he wrote, "sit up like puppies before His Highness and wait for him to throw a crumb into their mouths." 58 The prince's opponents dared not move. As an English republican observer neatly put it, "they see that the Armie which they pay, and all their Garrisons are at the dispose of their saucie servant who went over the Rubicon at Amsterdam." 59 For the De Witts, the end of the crisis permitted a resumption of normal personal life, despite blighted public careers. There is no sign in their correspondence of bitterness against the prince. Was this the result of politic caution, lest His Highness extend his vengeance to Jacob de Witt's sons? Was it continuation of the policy of "quiet and modera­ tion," a Stoic resignation to fate, that Jacob laid down for them while he was still in Loevestein House? We do not know, and it is dangerous to ready back into these months the active program of resistance to the cause of the house of Orange that John was later to embody for almost twenty years. There is no reason to accept the tale, told many years later in the memoirs of Antoine Gramont, count of Guiche, and taught to Dutch school children for endless decades, that Jacob daily instructed his son, "John, remember Loevestein!" 60 The attention of the De Witts was fixed for the moment on lesser matters than high policy. On September 21 Cornelius wed Maria van Berckel, a forthright and intelligent eighteenyear-old from one of Rotterdam's most illustrious families. Since such marriages were at least in part affairs of convenience, dynastic wedlock 57

Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 454-56; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 325-26. William II to "one of my good friends," Aug. 26, 1650, AMON, IV, 407; Het Rechte Tweede deel, van't Hollands Praatje, Verdedigende het Recht van de . . . Staten van Hollandt en West-Vrieslandt (Antwerp, 1650) (Kn. 6839), 10-12. Cf. Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 456. 5 9 Geyl, "Een Engelsch republikein, over Willem II's staatsgreep," 81-83. 60 "Jan, denk aan Loevestein!" Veegens doubts Guxche's report ("je sai d'original que souvent il donne Ie Bonjour a son Fils, en Iui disant, Souvenez-vous de la Prison de Louvestein"), while Japikse considers that it undoubtedly reproduces the feelings within the family. Veegens, Historisehe Studien, II, 42; Memoires du Comte de Guiche, concernant Ies Province-Umes des Pais Bas (London, 1744), 30-31; Japikse, Johan de Witt, 30; see also Wickevoort Crommelin, Johan de Witt, 49. There does not seem to be any contemporary evidence of such a vengeful spirit, however, and Guiche was notorious for having a dramatic touch far stronger than his truthfulness. 58

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writ small for merchant patricians, it was a good sign for the reputation of the De Witts. John went back to The Hague to live with Van Andel and practice his profession of the law before the bar, winning attention for his "eloquence and skill." 61 By the end of October he was willing to discuss politics. He learned from his brother that their father had lost his influence even behind the scenes in Dordrecht. And when he wrote on October 29 to a cousin in Dordrecht, he discussed with cool objectivity the new pamphlets which were on everybody's lips. One, An Ointmentfor Blind Hollanders' Eyes, which justified the recent actions of the prince, he judged to be written by a man of reasonable judgment and knowledge. Another, The Alarmed Amsterdammer, was so sharp against the prince that it had been banned by the Court of Holland and was difficult to find; but John would send a copy if it could not be obtained in Dordrecht. 62 Such reading could satisfy a spectator of the game of politics but not one who wanted to take part in it. We do not know how John de Witt would have shaped himself had the world gone on as he found it in these months. He could make a good living as a lawyer, and he could indulge his love of mathematics, which Van Schooten encouraged. But weather and disease took a hand in the course of history and changed the pattern of John's life. Once the excitement of bold politics by action had given way to humdrum daily business, the prince went to his favorite hunting lodge at Dieren, in Gelderland, "to have some fun," and to keep an eye on the meeting of the States of Gelderland in Zutphen nearby. With cousin William Frederick at his side, he rode to the hounds even when rains beat down and winds whipped the hunters. Late in October, William caught a fever. Failing to mend after several days, he went by boat down the Rijn and Lek to Rotterdam and thence to The Hague, arriving before dawn on October 29. His illness turned out to be smallpox; but he seemed to be past the crisis and well along the road to recovery, when a sudden relapse occurred on the evening of Sunday, November 6. Two hours later he was dead. 63

6 1 Veegens, Historiscke Studien, II, 126; Jacob Focanus tojohn de Witt, Nov. 28, 1650, ARA StH Dl. 6 2 John to Cornelius de Witt, Oct. 29, 1650, BJ, I, 55; Cornelius tojohn de Witt, Oct. 30, 1650, ΒΑ, I, 9-10; Oogen-Salve, voor de Blinde Hollanders . . . (Rotterdam, 1650) (Kn. 6852); d'Onstelde Amslerdammer, Met Sijn trouwe waerschouwmgke, Raed en Antwoort Op Bickers Beroerten. Eerste Deel. (Brussels, 1650) (Kn. 6848); De Witt to unnamed cousin [John de Wit?], Oct. 29, 1650, ARA StH 2643. 6 3 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 456; Wicquefort, Histoire, 1, 327-28; De Witt to Cornelius van Sypesteyn, Nov. 7, 1650, BJ, I, 55-56; Stephen B. Baxter, William III and the Defense of European Liberty, 1650-1702 (New York, 1966), 1-3.

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The report of the prince's death was brought within a few minutes to John van Gendt of Gelderland, presiding officer of the States General for the week ending that midnight. He called the members to an emergency meeting to consider what needed to be done "in this dangerous and unprecedented situation." The deputies who assembled at about half-past ten o'clock, less than two hours later, were still at work when the hour of midnight rang. By custom, a deputy of Holland, the province next in line of precedence, was supposed to take the chair, but the Hollanders asked Van Gendt to continue presiding until the meeting was concluded. The only immediate decisions taken were to write to the States of each pro­ vince, asking them to consider what should be done and to send proposals to the States General, and to rush orders to the military commanders to put their units on the alert, particularly along the frontier. 64 Holland's delegated councilors acted with even greater alacrity. Before midnight they had already written to all the voting towns of the province, making the new situation caused by William's death the principal business of the meeting of the States of Holland scheduled for Wednesday, instead of the agenda of regular matters sent out on November 5. 65 When the States of Holland met, its first action was to call upon the States General to convene a Great Assembly, or common meeting of all the provincial States, in The Hague to consider means for maintaining unity among the provinces upon the basis of the Union of Utrecht, confirming the order of the Reformed church as established by the Synod of Dordrecht, and settling the status of the army. In the meanwhile, no changes should be undertaken. The Hollanders also made special efforts to win the support of Zeeland, closest to it of all the provinces in shared history and institutions. 66 The Zeelanders, who had been the first to con­ demn the Hollanders in the conflict with William II, now felt the loss of his protection and were not unreceptive to Holland's approaches. In the language of a pamphleteer, Zeeland became the first to embrace Holland, like a wife returning to a husband after an escapade with a lover. 67 The Orangist party was stunned by the loss of its leader. "A prince, captain, governor, father of our fatherland . . . the terror of our foes, . . . the protector of our unity, the champion of the true religion, has been taken from us." Preachers proclaimed that there was no more king in Israel. "The only hope we have left," said dominie Stermondt, who had 6 4 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 458; Wagenaar, Vaderlandsche Historie, XII, 125; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 331-32. β 3 Extract of Dordrecht registers, Nov. 8, 1650, ARA StH 2677; resolution of the States of Holland (hereafter cited as Res. St. Holl.), Nov. 5, 1650, ARA StH 83. 6 6 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 458-59. 67 Het Rechte Derde Deel van 't Hollands Praatje, Aangaande De wettige Souverayniteyt van de .. . Staten van Holland, etc. (n.p., 1650) (Kn. 6842), 26.

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been present at William's bedside as he died, was that the Princess Royal, in her chambers in the last weeks of pregnancy, would give birth to a son. 68 On the opposite side, pent-up feelings broke out in a flood of frank speech and writing. A rhyming pamphleteer said the prince had died too young for Nassau (the house of Orange) but not too old for Holland, because "he opened our eyes before he closed his." 69 In Amsterdam, contributions of gold coins were found in church poorboxes with an attached rhyme: The Prince deceased, My gift's increased: No news pleased more In years four score. 70 Nor was the jubilation limited to the patrician leaders of the towns that had resisted the prince. The citizenry joined them in expressions of joy. The crisis of 1650 had brought them together in mutual need and fear. 7 1 In foreign parts the prince's death brought equally divided feelings. The French were disconsolate because it overthrew, as the French resident said, "all the first foundations" of French policy toward the United Provinces. 72 Mazarin, who told the Venetian ambassador that the prince's death was a worse blow to France "than the loss of four fortresses in Picardy," suspected, characteristically, that the death was too advan­ tageous for the prince's enemies to have been wholly natural. 7 3 The party of the exiled Stuarts believed their loss to be even greater than that of the French. Now there was no hope that the Dutch could be swept into war 6 8 Wee-klaghe, over de . . . Doot van Syn Hoogheyt (n.p., 1650) (Kn. 6869); Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 457-58; Nesca A. Robb, William of Orange: A Personal Portrait 3 2 vols. (New York, 1962-66), I, 52-53. Wicquefort, Histoire3 I, 330; Herstelling van de E.E. Heeren Bikkers, Burgemeesteren der Stadt Amsterdam (n.p.,[1650]) (Kn. 6885). 70 u De Prins is doot, /Mijn Gaef vergroot; /Noyt blijder Maer,/In tachtig Jaer": Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 458; Van der Hoeven, Cornells en Johan de Witt, I, 27. See a slightly different version in Bedenkingen Op het Boek Interest van Holland, Onlangs uitgegeven onder de Letteren V.D.H. . . . (n.p., [1662]), 13.1 have used the translation in Charles Wilson, Profits and Power: A Study of England and the Dutch Wars (London, 1957), 49. 71 [J. de Bosch Kemper], De staatkundige partijen in Noord-Nederland, geschetst in een historisch overzigt van binnenlandsche staatsgesteldheid van het einde der grafelijke regeringe tot ophetjaar 1813 (Amsterdam, 1837), 158-59. 12 Brasset to Mazarin, Nov. 9, 1650, AMON, IV, 428; Everhardus Cornells Molsbergen, Frankrijk en de Republiek der Vereenigde Nederlanden 3 1648-1662 (Rotterdam, 1902), 107n.l. Wicquefort (Histoire, II, 59-60) depicts Mazarin as unfavorable to the prince, but the whole weight of other evidence goes against him. 73 J.J. Poelhekke, Geen Blijder Maer in Tachtig Jaer (Zutphen, 1973), 179; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 358.

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against Cromwell's Parliamentary regime. But republicans in London rejoiced for the same reason. 74 How different the calm with which John de Witt received the news. He did not even write at once about it to his father or brother, depending instead upon the emergency message from the delegated councilors to the town government. Writing the next day to his uncle Cornelius van Sypesteyn, he discussed various matters for some twenty-five lines before adding, almost as an afterthought and with few details, that the prince of Orange—"God take his soul"—had died the previous evening (actually two nights before). There was in De Witt none of that "private passion" which made some men respond, as an Orangist writer complained, "not with Christian compassion and fitting affliction but on the contrary with joyful shouts and jubilation." ButJohn was not unduly sorrowful either. He hoped that the resulting changes would benefit the welfare and safety of "our dear Fatherland." 75 De Witt was more concerned with what would happen in Dordrecht now that the prince was gone. He feared that there might be some delay in readmitting his father to the Old Council when "reason of violence or other cause" could no longer be alleged, failure to act at once would imply approval of his exclusion. 76 It was no idle concern: Amsterdam did not restore the Bickers until November 22. 7 7 But in Dordrecht the Old Council was called into special session on Tuesday, November 8, and it restored Jacob de Witt to its ranks. John was relieved and pleased that the resolu­ tion releasing his father from his declaration made while a prisoner at Loevestein gave as the reason for its adoption that "present circumstances" had changed. The Old Council also decided to return Jacob to the States of Holland as one of the town's deputies. Cousin John de Wit, bubbling with delight and anticipation, wrote that "matters of consideration and importance which might give birth to a great work in the future" lay behind the decision. But he would not say in writing what these were; he would like to speak about them to his cousin at The Hague in person. 78

74 Edward [Hyde], Earl of Clarendon, The History of the Rebellion and Civil War in England begun in the year 1641, ed. W. Dunn Macray, 6 vols. (Oxford, 1888), V, 158-59; "Berichten aangaande "t gepasseerde in Engelant in den jaere 1650, 1651, 1652 ende 1653,' (Archief van Hilten)," BMHG, III (1880), 239. 75 John de Witt to Cornelius van Sypesteyn, Nov. 8, to Jacob de Witt, Nov. 9, 1650, BJ, I, 55-57; Grondigh Bericht, Nopende den Interest van desen Staet, vermidts de doodt van Sijn Hoogheyt, methet noodtsaeckelijcke Redres van dien (Rotterdam, 1651) (Kn. 7009), 3. 7s John to Jacob de Witt, Nov. 9, to Charles Loten, Nov. 23, 1650, BJ, I, 56-59. Cf. Jacob Focanus to John de Witt, Nov. 28, 1650, ARA StH Dl. 7 7 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 461; Hollantse Mercurius, I, 56. 78 Extract of Dordrecht Old Council resolutions, Nov. 8, 1650, ARA StH 2677; John deWit to John de Witt, Nov. 8, 1650, ΒΑ, I, 10-11; John to Jacob de Witt, Nov. 9, 1650, BJ, I, 56; John de Witt to Loten, Nov. 23, 1650, ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Gevaerts)," no. 6.

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On November 14 came the event for which dominie Stermondt had hoped. In a chamber only doors away from the room where William II had died, Princess Mary gave birth to a son. The crowds packed together in the courtyard below and along the Vijverberg across the moat, to whom pealing bells brought the news, rejoiced as if "the Prince were sovereign and heir to the country." Aitzema, the chill chronicler for whom all enthusiasm was evil and all motives suspect, commented that they were "common burghers [who] benefited by being suppliers to the Court and doing other services for it." 79 Thejoy of Cavalier exiles in the crowd had a different explanation, blended too of ideals and self-seeking: for them the new-born child was a Stuart prince. 8 0 All shared the belief that he had inherited not only his father's worldly goods but also his offices. William I, Maurice, Frederick Henry, and William II had all been stadholder in Holland and other provinces, all had commanded the armed forces. It was obvious, at least to Orangists, that uninterrupted succession established heredity in fact, if not in law. On the very day of her son's birth Mary sent to the States General a request that the dignities of his father be granted to her son in his turn, and grandmother Amalia made the same appeal in her own name to the provinces and the States General six days later. 8 1 Such solicitations at once called forth arguments against continuation of the stadholderate. "All nations, especially republics," wrote one pamphleteer, "mock us and laugh at us as children who knowingly and willingly go into slavery." It would be madness to make a child stadholder or captain general, all the more because he would be brought up by an English mother to prefer the interests of the Stuarts above those of Dutchmen. 82 The States of Holland soon drew practical conclusions from the changed circumstances and reformed the manner of selecting magistrates in the towns. Hitherto, the prince of Orange, as stadholder, named them from a list, usually double in number, submitted by the town council (vroedschap) , except in the case of the small number of towns whose coun­ cils had a right of cooptation. This right was now extended to all towns which had a vote in the States of Holland; all other political offices were to be in the absolute grant of the States of Holland, except when held by other bodies by law or known custom. Only Friesland and Groningen 79 Joh[an] H. Been, "De geboorte van een Oranje in de 17de eeuw," in Historische Fragmenten, 117; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 459; Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 328; Baxter, William HI, 7-9. 8 0 Hollantse Mercurius, I, 57. 81 F.J. Ten Raa and F. de Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, 1568-1795, 8 vols, to date (Breda, 1911—), V, 22; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 460. 8 2 Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 345; Trouwhartige Aenspraeck, Aen alle goede Patriotten Van desen Staet, in dese gelegentheit (Leiden, 1650) (Kn. 6905).

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among the other provinces did not adopt similar measures. 83 Henceforth, the tangible rewards of power would be in the gift not of the prince but of the States and the town councils, and hence of those who had and kept first say in them. The range of political intrigue was narrowed, and its focus became the key officials—the burgomasters and pensionaries in the towns and the councilor pensionary in the States. They would now be courted and flattered as Frederick Henry and William II had been, and their choice of men for the magistracies would in time make over the governments in their own images. It was clear, too, that the leadership of the republic was in Holland's hands; the great rival, the house of Orange, was now out of the way, at least for the moment. The constitutional conflict between central authority, as represented by the prince of Orange, and provincial parti­ cularism, embodied in Holland, had been in large part a false one, or at least only one of form. The deeper rivalries concerned the leadership of the state and the aims of national policy. The new pattern of politics soon became visible. The States General, where so many of the deputies had been subservient to the prince during the summer events, now deferred to Holland's judgment in carrying through the reduction of the army; foreign, not Dutch, companies would be dismissed. Holland's proposal for a Great Assembly, a meeting of all the provincial States in common session, was also accepted. 84 John de Witt continued to be a spectator of politics until December, when another death cleared the way for his entry into public life. Cornelius Musch, the griffier or secretary of the States General, a man notorious for his venality and his role as a tool of the princes of Orange, died on December 15. Two days later Holland put forward the candidacy of Nicholas Ruysch, one of Dordrecht's pensionaries since 1640 and its regular deputy to the States of Holland. With the Great Assembly just in the offing, it was essential to Holland to have its own man in this key post. Ruysch was unanimously elected and entered upon his duties on December 23. 85 Ruysch's post in Dordrecht's councils fell open, and it was a sign of the times that young John de Witt was elected to it. He took his oath as 8 ^ ARA StH D33; Aitzema, Saken van Staet III, 461-62, 467; Project Vande . . . Staten i van Holland: Jn wat voegen deselve van meeninge zyn hare Regeennge te formeren (n.p., [1650]) (Kn. 6734); P.J. Blok, "Pons Willem III te Leiden (1659-1662)," BVGO, 5th ser., VII (1920), 171; Kernkamp, Prins Willem II, 187-88; Hollantse Mercurius, I, 60. 84 Res. St. Holt, Nov. 23, 24, 1650, ARA StH 83; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 334 (not 234 as printed); Aitzema, Saken van Staet 1 III, 459-60. 8 5 Th. van Riemsdijk, De Griffie van Hare Hoog Mogende: Bijdrage tot de kennis van het archief van de Staten-Generaal der Vereenigde Nederlanden (The Hague, 1885), 11-12; C.A. van Sypesteyn, "De voormalige pensionarissen," Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen—Historie en Binnenlandsche Bibliographie (hereafter cited as VLHB), CIX (1869), 119.

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pensionary on December 21 and then went to The Hague to take another oath as a new deputy to the States of Holland. 86 His tasks as pensionary of Dordrecht were more political than administrative. He was the pen­ sionary assigned to serve on the town's delegation to the States of Holland; another, Matthew Berck, served as its secretary at home. If the councilor pensionary of the province was absent, he was replaced by the pensionarydeputy of Dordrecht, in recognition of its precedence. Although the other members of the town's delegation, who served three-year terms, came to The Hague only for meetings, De Witt remained there, staying on the Vijverberg in Dordrecht's residence for its deputies, which was marked by the town's coat of arms carved on a rock in front. 8 7

8β Official collated copy of appointment, Dec. 21, 1650, ARA StH 2677; copy of oath as pensionary of Dordrecht, Dec. 21, 1650, ARA StH 2678; Res. St. Holl., [Dec. 1670], ARA StH 83, 324-27. The exact date of the oath-taking in the States of Holland is not indicated. «? Enno van Gelder, "De Witt als Hagenaar," 93; Brugmans, "Johan en Cornells de Witt," 3; Gysbert de Cretser, Beschrymnge van 's Gravenhage (Amsterdam, 1711), 52; J.D.M. Cornelissen, Johan de Witt en de Vrijheid (Nijmegen, 1945), 10. The town pen­ sionaries had originally been legal experts named by the councils to assist the aldermen in difficult or complex legal matters. During the seventeenth century the pensionaries began to accompany their town's delegation to the provincial States, where they spoke for them and cast the town's vote. See G.W. Kernkamp, De Regeering (Baarn, 1910), 43-44.

CHAPTER THREE

THE PATH TO POWER (January 1651-February 1652) ^ F O R S E V E N M O N T H S of 1651, from deep winter until high summer,

the political life of the republic was centered in the Great Assembly in The Hague. It did not become a joint meeting of the provincial States, as Holland had wanted. The other provinces sent only fractions of their assemblies to join their permanent deputies to the States General. This was enough, however. The Hollanders were able to negotiate directly with members of the other ruling assemblies, not just with deputies who had no right of final decision. It also meant that many issues could be discussed face to face, informally, without all the perils of public debate. 1 The most important of these issues was touched upon by Cats in his opening address to the Great Assembly when it convened on January 18 in the Great (or Knights') Hall of the Binnenhof. This was a brief but clear reaffirmation of Holland's commitment to the Union of the seven provinces, a reply to those who feared that Holland would go it alone when there was no Prince of Orange at the head of the state to be both symbol and guardian of its unity. 2 But many other issues remained to be debated, in the Great Hall, in committees, and in private meetings of the delegates. John de Witt took an active part in these assemblies, as well as in separate meetings of the States of Holland, and he kept close track of their proceedings. 3 He was the acknowledged spokesman for Dordrecht, and other deputies from the town frequently remained home, entrusting its interests wholly to him. During March, when "affairs of the greatest importance" were coming up, he had to appeal to them to join him at The Hague. 4 The first notable success of the Great Assembly went without detailed discussion in De Witt's initial report of its activities on January 29, although the issue had been decided only two days before. This was a resolution on the place of religion in the country and the state, the source of so many difficulties since the foundation of the republic. A delegation sent by the Calvinist synods recited a litany of woes and 1

Poelhekke, "Nijmegen," 100, 124, 131. Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 498; Poelhekke, "Nijmegen," 148-51. 3 Lists of actions to be taken or discussed, in De Witt's hand, Feb. and Mar., 1651, ARA StH D33; De Witt, "Consideratien, ende inclinatien by de respective Provintien in de groote Vergaderinge . . . op den poincten van Religie, Unie, ende Militie, etc.," ARA StH 2642; many other documents of this character in ARA StH 2642. 4 De Witt to government of Dordrecht (hereafter cited as De Witt to Dordrecht), Mar. 25, 1651, ARA StH 2678. 2

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demanded a program of action against Catholics, Jews, Socinians, and violators of public morality, to be taken not individually by each of the seven provinces, where the power of decision in religious matters had rested, but by the States General (with the clear implication that true sovereignty belonged to Their High Mightinesses, not to the provincial States). The dominant party in Holland and many regents elsewhere had no wish to bring back the inquisition against which their forefathers had fought, even an inquisition under Reformed auspices, or to imperil the prosperity of a trading nation by making Calvinist orthodoxy a condition for buyers and sellers, or to stir up the wrath and violence of the people; and they certainly were not ready to abandon provincial prerogatives in religion to the Generality. The problem was how to avoid an outright rejection of the preachers' demands and yet not allow them to usurp the powers of the state. On January 27 the Great Assembly adopted a proposal on religion submitted by Holland. It was a reaffirmation of the principles of the Synod of Dordrecht and an enactment of restrictions upon Catholics and sectarians; but it remained silent about legislating sin out of existence and left practical matters of relations between church and state in the hands of the provinces.5 It was a subtle maneuver, avoiding the error of Oldenbarnevelt's confrontation with the Gomarians at the level of doctrine, yet retaining firm hold upon what would actually be done. It corresponded, too, with the way in which the De Witts saw the relation of church and state: in the former they remained loyal adherents of the dogmas of the Synod of Dordrecht; in the latter they followed the practice of an enlightened tolerance equalled nowhere else in Europe in their age. Yet, to stop the mouths of the preachers, what the synods demanded in religion was granted—it was nothing new, since they already had it all—and what they sought in politics was not refused outright, but not granted either. Words took the place of deeds, becoming a kind of negative deed. No wonder De Witt preferred not to discuss such matters in his letter of January 29.6 The linked questions of the stadholdership and the captaincy general could not be solved by such evasions, and the debate on them was long, intricate, and bitter. Friesland, where Count William Frederick was stadholder, argued that the Union of Utrecht required every province to elect a stadholder, and merit and gratitude to his house required that William III be named captain general. In private correspondence William Frederick put the case in frankly dynastic terms: the post of

5 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 506-9; Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 23-24; Poelhekke, "Nijmegen," 151-52. 6 De Witt to Dordrecht, Jan. 29, 1651, BJ, I, 4.

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commander in chief "belongs of right" to the Prince of Orange, and it would be usurpation for the regents, on whom for the moment "everything smiles," to take upon themselves to grant it to whom they would. As for the formality of election, the Orangists held that only a majority of votes was needed in the States General. 7 By April, after Zeeland called home its delegation to The Hague, it was evident that this key province was not as yielding as De Witt had thought. The States of Holland thereupon sent a delegation of four members, including De Witt, to Middelburg to ask the States of Zeeland to send their province's delegation back to the Great Assembly. Holland was ready to make concessions on the matter of the army. 8 The four delegates arrived in Middelburg on Thursday, April 20. De Witt, new though he was to a public career, took the lead in their work. By Monday the Zeelanders had been persuaded to send their delegation back to The Hague, but this was not enough for the visitors. They desired a firmer decision against seeking election of a lifetime captain general, and De Witt presented their arguments in a lengthy address. 9 The Holland deputies were back in The Hague on April 29, soon followed by the Zeeland deputation, which reached agreement with them on the issue of army marching orders ("patents"). 1 0 Friesland and Groningen thereupon decided to accept Holland's proposals on the stadholderate and the captaincy general, although they had to be dissuaded from entering "annotations" in the resolutions to indicate that their assent was reluctant. It then became possible to gain unanimous accept­ ance of a decision on army movements as well. 11 The question which now came to the fore was what to do about the events of the summer of 1650. The Hollanders could not easily forget how 7 Ibid.; William Frederick to Constantine Huygens, c. Jan. 29, 1651, De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens (1608-1687) (hereafter cited as Huygens, Briefwisseling), ed. J. A. Worp, 6 vols. (The Hague, 1911-17), V, 60-61; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 510-11; Van der Capellen, Gedenkschriften, II, 369. 8 Res. St. Holl., Apr. 8, 1651, ARA StH 84; Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 2; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 554; De Witt to Dordrecht, Apr. 9, 1651, ARA StH 2678; De Witt, "Concepten op't beslichten vande geschillen die tusschen de Provincien souden mogen ontstaen," 1651, ARA StH 2642. 9 Letters of the deputation at Middelburg to States of Holland, Apr. 20, 1651, and following days, extract copy of resolution of States of Zeeland, Apr. 24, 1651; address of Holland deputation to the States of Holland, and " Discours off het oorbaer ende dienstich is . . . ," Apr. 25, 1651, and draft letters and documents, ARA StH D145; Van der Capellen, Gedenkschriften, II, 347. 10 Res. St. Holl., May 19, 1651, ARA StH 84. 11 De Witt to Dordrecht j June 17, 24, 1651, BJ. I, 18-19; De Witt to [Rabo Scheie?], June 17, 1651, ARA StH 2643; Res. St. Holl., June 21, 1651, ARA StH 84; De Witt, "Stucken raeckende t'recht van de Generaliteyt, ende particuliere Provincien totten vergeven van militaire charges," "Besoigne, ende advis conciliator over d'inclinatie van de Provincien . . .," "Besoignes, Formulieren, eedt van de militie," 1651, ARA StH 2642.

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close they had been to the loss of their liberty, nor that a few men had been more than William's agents but had actually urged him on. Would the instigators of the coup be allowed to go scot-free? Yet to act against them might wreck the general amnesty upon which civil peace and Holland's leadership of the Union depended. Was punishment worth the price? The questions could no longer be put aside when Cats, about to lay down his post of councilor pensionary, told the States of Holland on June 15 that he no longer wished to keep in his possession the declaration of "reasons and motives" which William had given him on August 8 the year before. When the seals were broken, it was observed that there was no signature on the document. The late prince's clerks and one of his two secretaries, John Heilersieg, (Constantine Huygens, the principal secretary, was away), all denied that they knew the hand; and continued probing by a committee led by De Witt yielded no result. De Witt was also named to a committee organized to investigate who had drawn up the marching orders for the troops which had besieged Amsterdam and to propose action. 1 2 Rumors spread that Sommelsdijk was being singled out as the principal culprit. He had expected to be accused and warned Count William Frederick to "take your measures." He told the committee that he had acted under orders and would have been subject to the most severe punishment had he refused. If he had revealed what was being planned, he would have been denounced as a calumniator and liar. 13 Although a Loevestein pamphleteer called Sommelsdijk and his fellow instigators of the attack upon Amsterdam traitors, griffins, and werewolves, De Witt was more responsive to appeals from Zeeland and Overijssel not to risk their provinces' amity. 14 He urged his principals in Dordrecht to support a proposal by Friesland for a general amnesty for the events of 1650. He would urge its enactment unless they commanded otherwise. The Sommelsdijk case was sent to the Court of Holland, but the act of amnesty, if adopted, would probably save him. 1 5 De Witt presented a draft act 1 2 Res. St. Holl., June 16, 17, 1651, ARA StH 84; Cats's notation of June 16, 1651, on William II's memorial "Redenen ende motieven," Aug. 9, 1650, ARA StH 2642; De Witt to Dordrecht, June 17, 1651, ARA StH 2678; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 584-86. 13 Justus de Huybert to De Witt, June 26, 1651, ΒΑ, I, 17; Sommelsdijk to William Frederick, Feb. 13, 1651, AMON, V, 32; Res. St. Holl., July 14, 15, 1651, ARA StH 84; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 585-88. 14 Geschreven Antwoord, Op eenige Vragen 1 Rakende de Belegering van Amsterdam, en den Heer van Sommelsdyk (27 Juli) (Leiden, 1651) (Kn. 7016), 9-10; J. de Huybert to De Witt, July 18, 23, ArentJurien van Haersolte to De Witt j July 12/22, 1651, ΒΑ, I, 21-23, 32; De Witt to Tohn Singendonck, Rabo Herman Scheie, and Haersolte, May 13, 1652, ARA StH 2643. ι' De Witt to government of Dordrecht, July 23, 1651, BJ, I, 22—23; De Witt, memorandum of debate in States of Holland, July 22, 1651, ARA StH 2642.

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of amnesty to Their Noble Great Mightinesses on July 26, which adopted it despite some opposition, and De Witt was instructed to support a general amnesty in the States GeneraL 16 Justus de Huybert, pensionary of Zierikzee in Zeeland and a new friend of De Witt's, was enthusiastic: the decision was an act of "great wisdom, foresight moderation and temperateness." Sommelsdijk himself acknowledged that it was the Dordrecht deputies who took the initiative in removing his exclusion from the general amnesty. He agreed to stay away from the States of Holland until he had given satisfaction on the past year's events. Holland's amnesty proposal was then adopted by the Great Assembly. 17 In the meantime the Great Assembly faced the prickly problem of relations with the English Commonwealth. William's policy of systematic hostility to the new powers at Westminster was dropped. Even Friesland and Groningen approved Holland's proposal to recognize the Common­ wealth "as a free and sovereign republic," with titles and rights equal to those of any other state. Joachimi, who had been expelled from England the year before, would go back with the credentials of an ambassador. 1 8 In Westminster, the Council of State decided to send an extraordinaryembassy consisting of ChiefJustice Oliver St. John and Walter Strickland, M.P. They arrived in late March and made a formal appearance before the Great Assembly on March 30. 19 It did not make talks with the victory-proud Englishmen any easier that they were "daily plagued with taunts and threats," as an Orangist preacher boasted. Some of the mockers were natives of The Hague, others were Cavaliers in the service of the Duke of York, who resided at the court of Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia, widow of Frederick V, the "Winter King." To put down such disturbances, the States of Holland forbade all insults and indignities to foreign envoys and their suites and put a military guard before the English envoys' residence. But trouble continued. De Witt reported the arrest of two "mischief-makers." One was publicly whipped, but the other ι ® Res. St. Holl., July 26, 1651, ARA StH 84; Dordrecht draft of proposal of amnesty, July 22, 1651, ARA StH 2642. 17 J. de Huybert to De Witt, July 23, Aug. 3, 1651, BA I, 21-25; Sommelsdijk to William Frederick, Aug. 11, 1651, AMON i V, 46, 48; De Witt, "Besoigne conciliatoir. Amnestie," Aug. 15, 1651, ARA StH 2642; "Concept. Acte van Amnestie," Aug. 17, 1651, ARA StH 2642; minutes of committee of States of Holland, in De Witt's hand, Aug. 17, 18, 1651, ARA StH D33; De Witt to government of Dordrecht and others, Aug. 20, 1651, BJ, I. 23. ι β De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Tan. 7, Feb. 4, 1651, BJi I, 3, 5; Wicquefort, Histoire y II, 75-76. 1 9 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Feb. 11, Mar. 31, 1651, ARA StH 2678; Maurits Cornells Tideman, De Z ee Betwist: Geschiedenis der Onderhandelingen over de Zeeheerschappij tusschen de Engelsche Republiek en de Vereenigde Provincien voor den eersten Zee-Oorlog (Dordrecht, 1876), 39; Aitzema Saken van Staet j III, 638—39; Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 78—80.

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would not confess even under torture and had to be let go, according to the rule of Dutch law. 2 0 The English envoys, for their part, gave their Dutch hosts little cause for satisfaction. Strickland and St. John brought a vague offer of a closer alliance and wanted a precise reply from the States General; but Holland favored negotiating only upon the basis of written proposals, a measure of caution with more than a hint of suspicion in it. 21 The Dutch thereupon informed the envoys on April 28 that the States General was willing to enter into a closer alliance but offered no terms. The Englishmen, backed into taking the initiative, proposed an alliance providing, in De Witt's words, "for the maintenance of the freedom of the people" against violators or those declared to be enemies. Asked just what these broad words meant, the envoys said that they had in mind specifically only a ban upon direct or indirect assistance to the "King of Scotland"—Charles II— by the Dutch. Otherwise they were willing to grant equal conditions to the Dutch and to listen to their counterproposals. 2 2 By late June, thirty-six articles of a draft treaty with the English had been worked out, but disagreement continued over the last article because of its provisions for treating the Stuarts as enemies of the republic. On June 30 the ambassadors came to the Great Hall to have an audience of departure with the States General and left the next day. They seemed satisfied with what had been achieved, De Witt reported, although further conferences had not brought agreement on the disputed article. 2 3 The Dutch soon decided to send an extraordinary embassy to England consisting of Cats, Schaep, who was already there, and a Zeelander to be named. (Joachimi was also named but at his request was released from the onerous duty.) The ambassadors did not leave until Cats resigned as councilor pensionary of Holland in October. 24 While these negotiations were going on with the ruling powers in England, a different kind of contact was had with the only armed forces still operating under the banner of Charles II. These were the naval forces based on the Scilly Islands off Land's End, which preyed on the commercial shipping that came through those busy seas. The States 20 Daniel Grosheide, Cromwell naar het oordeel van zijn Nederlandse Tijdgenoten (Amsterdam, 1951), 29; Aitzema, Saken van Staetj III, 530-38, 659; Wicquefort, Histoirej 81-82; De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Apr. 29, 1651, ARA StH 2678 and BJ 1 I, 15. 21 Res. St. Holl., Apr. 8, 1651, ARA StH 84; Wicquefort, Histoire II, 81. 1 22 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Apr. 29, 1651, BJ, I, 15; Aitzema, III, Saken van Staet 1 658-59; Wicquefort, Histoire 1 II, 82. 2 J De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Tune 17, 24, July 1, 1651, ARA StH 2678 and BJ 1 I, 17-18, 21. 2 4 D e W i t t t o g o v e r n m e n t o f D o r d r e c h t , J u l y 1 5 , 1 6 5 1 , BJ 1 I, 21; Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 89.

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General, at Holland's proposal, decided to send a fleet of ten ships under Admiral Martin Tromp to the Scillies to seek prompt restitution of seized Dutch merchantmen. If the Royalist commander refused, Tromp would attack his forces as notorious pirates. 25 De Witt was closely involved in the preparation of Tromp's expedition. Overlooking the great sea dog's well-known fondness for the Orange house, he obtained for Tromp restitution of his old title of lieutenant admira.1 without the demeaning epithet "former," as was proposed. Thus he averted an offense to Tromp's dignity and kept him from refusing the command. 26 Consulting frequently with the Zeelanders, he drafted Tromp's instruc­ tions for submission by Holland to the States General. (It was at this meeting that De Witt showed a harsh side of his soul. Reporting on the problem of Turkish and Moorish pirates who had been found in Atlantic waters, he suggested the States order employment of the old punishment of voetspoeling, "wetting their feet"—in plainer words, drowning. But it was a law of the lawless sea that the Dutch employed not only against marauders from Islam but also against fellow Christians from the pirate nest at Dunkirk.) No further progress on the expedition to the Scillies was made before the Great Assembly ended, but it provided De Witt, through his work in Holland's committee on naval affairs, with his first important lessons in the problems of the sea. 2 7 The Great Assembly formally concluded its sessions with a meeting for prayer on Monday, August 21. Its primary accomplishment was to seal the transfer of leadership in the Dutch Republic from the princes of Orange to the province of Holland. Leadership had been exercised since the foundation of the United Netherlands by the princes in collaboration with Holland, with the two notable exceptions of the conflict between Maurice and Oldenbarnevelt in the second decade of the century and that between William II and Holland in the year just past. Now it was Holland which took over responsibility for guiding the republic, not only because that province sought it, but also because the lesser provinces, for all their distaste for the preponderance of an overmighty Holland, had no real alternative. 2 8 First, however, the leadership of Holland itself had to be decided. On May 20 Cats asked the States of Holland for permission to resign his post

2 5 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Jan. 7, 1651, ARA StH 2678; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 637. 26 Johanna K. Oudendijk, Maerten Harpertszoon Tromp 2nd ed. (The Hague, 1952), 9 93-94; Oudendijk, Johan de Witt en de ^eemacht (Amsterdam, 1944), 12-13. 2 7 Res. St. Holl., Mar. 4, 6, 11, 1651, ARA StH 84; draft instructions for Lt. Adm. Tromp (with De Witt's emendations), ARA StH 2642; Tideman, De %ee Betwist, 68; Oudendijk, De Witt en de Zeemacht, 10-11. 2 8 L. J. Rogier, "De Vestiging van de Ware Vrijheid (1648-1672)," AGJV, VII, 11.

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of councilor pensionary. At seventy-four years of age he thought it proper to have a time—"probably a year, a month or a week"—between the turmoil of the world and the stillness of the grave to prepare himself for his last journey. It was not until late July that Cats's resignation was finally accepted, but he was asked to remain in office for a few days until a successor could be chosen. The few days stretched out to two months, during which much of the preparatory work of the States of Holland was in De Witt's hands, including the drawing up of the agenda for the September meeting. 2 9 On September 27 the States of Holland turned for a new councilor pensionary to Adrian Pauw, lord of Heemstede, who reluctantly accepted on October 2. 30 Pauw's choice was a tacit admission that the States had no candidate of younger years in whom they had full confidence. Pauw had been in public service since 1616, had been councilor pensionary before Cats, and was almost as old as the gray-haired poet; he was the "grand old man" of the republican party in Holland. 31 He had stood up to Frederick Henry in the conduct of Dutch diplomacy and then had carried through the negotiation and conclusion of the peace treaty with Spain in 1648 over the vehement opposition of the Orangists and the province of Zeeland. 32 Old though he was, he was still a forceful politician, unlike the easy-going Cats. For all that, his appointment was obviously an interim measure, and it was made possible by the already demonstrated capacity of young De Witt for hard work and effective statement, which would be at Pauw's disposal. No thought that De Witt himself might be given the office seems to have occurred to anyone then. 33 De Witt's specific duties, however, remained those of Dordrecht's permanent deputy to the States of Holland. These tasks lay in both the realm of high politics and the mundane region of ordinary politicking. From the beginning, De Witt was concerned to uphold the honor and sovereignty of Holland. He was the principal proponent of changes adopted by Their Noble Great Mightinesses in their form of address, replacing the ancient formula "High Authority and County" in oaths by the more explicit "States of Holland and West Friesland." (This was the full name of the assembly. West Friesland was the northeastern part of the peninsula of North Holland; originally part of the ancient Frisian 29 Res. St. Holl., May 20, 1651, ARA StH 84; De Witt to government of Dordrecht, July 23, 1651, ARA StH 2678; Draft agendas, Sept. 12, 1651, and undated, ARA StH D33. 30 Res. St. Holl., Sept. 27, Oct. 2, 1651, ARA StH 84; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 603-4; Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 48, 280. 31 The phrase is vised by Prof. J. J. Poelhekke of Nijmegen (letter to the author, Oct. 1, 1974), to whom I owe much of the content of this paragraph. 3 2 See p.25. 33 Enno van Gelder, "De Witt als Hagenaar," 93-94.

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community, it had long since been politically part of the county—now province—of Holland.) De Witt also took the initiative in requiring foreign powers to use the correct forms of address and watched for lapses. 34 He berated Dutch envoys in England for permitting the English to refer in a draft treaty to the United Provinces as a respublica. This was an "incongruity" because each province was a sovereign republic in itself. Therefore "these United Provinces must not be given the name of respublica (in the singular) but rather of respublicae foederatae or unitae (in the plural)." 35 Holland's pride found outlet not only in titles of greater dignity and precision but also in a work of bricks and mortar, glass and paint—the rebuilding and refurnishing of the Statenzaal. This was the hall on the first floor in the "stadholder's quarters" in the Binnenhof where the States of Holland met (and where the First Chamber of today's States General still sits). De Witt was the guiding spirit in the committee named to study expansion of the chamber, and it was he who conferred with the architect Peter Post in producing plans for a massive addition, seventy by forty-three feet, mainly in a drained portion of the moat, but also at the expense of Princess Mary's apartment (for she continued to reside in the Binnenhof). Neither De Witt nor the assembly was offended by the incongruity of attaching a neoclassical ell to the medieval structure of the Binnenhof itself; the construction was ordered and lasted the best part of a decade. 36 "High authority" in the United Provinces was imperiled in a more than symbolic way when the common people in the towns, lacking any voice in government, made their opinions felt by rioting. De Witt had learned to know the face of such disorder in Dordrecht, when the guilds rose up against the government of his father in January 1648. The specter of civil violence reappeared during the time of the Great Assembly, when disorders broke out in the Zeeland towns of Middelburg and Flushing. The equivocal role of mobs in the Dutch system of power became quickly evident in De Witt's correspondence with De Huybert. The "wrath of the commons" might endanger the country, but when the mob in Middelburg rose against a political foe, the ardent Orangist Henry Thibault, it could bring good, wrote De Huybert. Several weeks of continuing disturbances finally compelled Thibault to step down, and 34 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, June 17, 1651, BJ, I, 18; Res. St. Holl., Dec. 19, 22, 1651, ARA StH 84; Feb. 29, Mar. 21, Apr. 25, Nov. 29, 1652, ARA StH 85. 3 5 De Witt to [Schaep?], May 10, 1652, BJ, I, 61-62. 36 Res. St. Holl., Dec. 19, 1651, ARA StH 84, Feb. 3, 7, 1652, ARA StH 85; Enno van Gelder, "De Witt als Hagenaar," 94; Veegens, Historische Studien i I, 292-93; Aitzema, Saken van Staet y III, 603; De Witt to unnamed ambassador, Feb. 9, 1652, ARA StH 2643.

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he was replaced as town pensionary by Paul van de Perre. De Huybert, who was Van de Perre's cousin, was delighted. 37 Through all these events in Zeeland, De Witt refrained from comment. It was as if he too liked the results but could not bring himself to approve the means by which they had been achieved. In any case, his reticence saved him from embarrassment, for rioting broke out in Dordrecht soon thereafter. It was sparked by anger over a new 5 percent tax on livestock, with the guilds claiming that town ordinances required their approval and the government denying that this was so. 38 The magistrates of Dordrecht were not able to bring the movement under control by their own means and had to seek the help of the States of Holland. Their Noble Great Mightinesses, calling the claims of the guilds "evil and seditious," sent officers of the Court of Holland to repress the movement. 39 When one of the ringleaders was brought to trial, De Witt urged the Dordrecht authorities not to press the case, "all the more since the affair itself does not seem to reflect well upon the reputation of the City of Dordrecht.,' 40 De Witt strongly supported Dordrecht's commercial interests, notable its traditional position of dominance in trade up and down the Maas, against such rivals as Rotterdam. He defended Dordrecht's action in holding a grain ship sailing from Rotterdam to nearby Geertruidenberg because it had not observed the city's staple privileges. 41 He helped to strengthen the port's competitive position by persuading the States General to reduce tolls on river-going ships and to place equivalent charges on overland and through shipments. He joined forces with the representatives of Leiden on measures to resist attempts of Spanish authorities to bar import of Dutch cloth (made in Leiden and shipped by Dordrecht) into Brabant. But when the English Company of Merchant Adventurers asked exemption from import duties, he led the forces in Holland which opposed it. 42 Serving the interests of Dordrecht could set De Witt at odds with the whole province of Holland as well as with individual towns. The first

3 7 J. de Huybert to De Witt, May 9, 15, June 7, 11, 26, July 3, 1651, ΒΑ, I, 12-19; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 610-12. On this episode, see Aen-wijsinge Van de Heyloose Treken En Gebreken, van Air. Hendrik Thybout Voor desen Grooten Albeschik in Zeeland, en voornaamsten Aan-rader van het Belegeren van Amsterdam . . . (Flushing, 1651) (Kn. 7318), 1-6, 11-14. 3 8 Wicquetort, Histoire, II, 56; Discovrs, Tusschen D. Borstius, Hugo Bastiaensen Vander Meer, Ende Jan Goedt-bericht . , . (Leiden, 1651) (Kn. 7058). " Res. St. Holl., July 28, Aug. 9, 11, 14, 15, 1651, ARA StH 84. 4® De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Apr. 26, 1651, BJ, I, 36. 41 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Apr. 29, June 17, 1651, BJ, I, 16, 18; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 658-59. 42 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Mar. 8, 1652, Apr. 24, 1652, ARA StH 2678; Res. St. Holl., Apr. 25, 1652, ARA StH 85.

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time such an issue arose, he displayed an autonomy of judgment which hinted that he would not be content always to obey his masters passively. A sharp conflict had developed between Dordrecht and the province when Cornelius van Hoogeveen, receiver of provincial taxes in Dordrecht and a cousin of Jacob de Witt, went bankrupt in 1650. As was usual in the Netherlands, and generally in Europe, the funds of such officials remained their personal property until paid into the public treasury. Therefore, receipts for tax payments which Hoogeveen had taken in but not transferred were repudiated by the States. De Witt and his fellow deputies from Dordrecht repeatedly pressed the delegated councilors to honor the receipts, at least in part. During the busy months of the Great Assembly, De Witt had to find time to argue the affair with the delegated councilors, who were stubborn in their refusal to make any concession. Dordrecht then ordered him to withhold approval of an increase in export duties until Hoogeveen's receipts were honored. The other members of the States of Holland were indignant; there was nothing in common in the two matters, they declared, and they barred the Dordrechters from a committee considering the question. 43 In July, when De Witt, upon orders from his principals, again made Dordrecht's consent to another extraneous question—funds for the Rotterdam admiralty—dependent upon solution of the Hoogeveen problem, he met such outrage that he decided against offering any argument in rebuttal other than the impropriety of negotiating such loans in peacetime. 44 Was he warning his masters that he considered their case, or at least their tactics, to be weak? It is probable, for half a year passed before the Hoogeveen business came up again. In December De Witt made some progress after "strong urging," and at the end of January the committee handling the matter proposed a limited settlement, including the arrest of Hoogeveen. This was not satisfactory to Dordrecht, and two months later the committee again proposed reaffirmation of the principle of limited responsibility. The States accepted its proposal over De Witt's vigorous objections. In May 1652 Dordrecht went along with a com­ promise, and the States of Holland named a new receiver in Dordrecht, Michael van Feltrum, who would continue to make payments on provincial bonds every half year. But the Hoogeveen affair was not mentioned by name. It was not until the summer of 1653 that it was settled, when the holders of receipts under litigation were given a period of time to present their claims. (Hoogeveen himself, rejected by the De

"3 Veegens, Historische Studien, II, 9-10; De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Feb. 4, 25, Mar. 11, May 6, 20, June 17, 1651, ARA StH 2678; Res. St. Holl., May 23, 1651, ARA StH 84. 4 4 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, July 15, 1651, BJ, I, 21-22.

THE PATH TO POWER

Witts for his offense against the family's honor, had to flee to Utrecht province, and never returned to Dordrecht.) 45 In April 1652 the captaincy of the Guards of the States of Holland came open. De Witt firmly warned Dordrecht to make no recommenda­ tions, for the States had forbidden all intrigues and solicitations for it. 46 He was even more adamant against the extreme forms of job-seeking— bribery and corruption. They found no defense in De Witt's eyes; they were not part of healthy politics, which wove together honest self-interest and the common good, but politics gone sour. That corruption was a commonplace in Dutch political life was for him no excuse for it. He was active in the investigation and punishment of cases of corruption which become known. He had no scruples about torture of a man who was accused of misappropriating Maas river tolls. 47 He was more deeply troubled by a bribery scandal brought to light with the arrest of William Cuylenburch. Members of the States General and the Council of State from every province, including four Hollanders, were implicated. De Witt saw the affair as "of very great importance," all the more because some of those involved were well-known Orangists. The leaders of the Orangist camp also understood that the investigation had political as well as moral significance. A spy in the office of Holland's councilor pensionary informed Sommelsdijk that De Witt and another deputy had proposed in the States of Holland prosecution of those found to have accepted gifts from the East India Company. By such means, Sommelsdijk wrote William Frederick, "these censors, at the instigation of our libertines, apparently intend to do some violence to a number of those who are not adapting themselves to their designs." 48 As pensionary of Dordrecht, De Witt did no more than his duty when he served the interests of the town. When he tended to the interests of family and friends, when he made friends in other towns and provinces and did them favors, he was doing not Dordrecht's work but his own. In part, of course, he was reaping the fruits of political power for himself and his clan, in a way that none but disappointed rivals faulted. No bribe need be offered or taken, yet there was a give and take of mutual favoritism that was already beginning to make the Dutch political system a narrow oligarchy. To be able to use political rewards was as essential to a political leader as intelligence, knowledge, and purposefulness. 45 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Dec. 16, 1651, Feb. 3, Mar. 23, 1652, June 23, 1653, ARA StH 2678 and BJ, I, 34, 51; Res. St. Holl., May 16, 1652, ARA StH 85. 4 6 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Apr. 24, 1652, ARA StH 2678. 4 ? Res. St. Holl., Mar. 21, 22, 1651, ARA StH 84; De Witt to Dordrecht, Mar. 25, 1651, BJ, I, 12-13. 4 8 Oe Witt to government of Dordrecht, Jan. 26, 1652, ARA StH 2678; Sommelsdijk to William Frederick, Jan. 29, 1652, AMOM, V, 61-62.

THE PATH TO POWER

Ultimately, therefore, service to town, province, and country required that men in leadership be skilled politicians no less than wise statesmen. As soon as De Witt went to The Hague, no longer a lawyer in private practice but a public servant, it was understood that he was foremost in his family. Jacob de Witt began his withdrawal from activity by seeking election to the Chamber of Accounts of the province of Holland, a kind of honorable and remunerative semiretirement. The government of Dordrecht had already decided in March 1651 to support his election to a vacant post in the chamber by every means. 49 In January 1652, when the Dutch began naval preparations for a possible conflict with England, Cornelius de Witt was nominated by the States of Holland, on the proposal of Dordrecht, to become a member of the admiralty of Rotterdam (or the Maas). 50 His brother's membership in this important position increased John de Witt's capacity for influencing measures of naval readiness. In supporting the candidacy of his cousin John de Wit as secretary of the Bipartite Chamber (Chambre mipartie) in Mechelen, which governed the portions of Brabant under the concurrent authority of the States General and Spain, De Witt was not moved by ideological considerations. His cousin's chief rival was the distinguished advocate of Dutch republican theories, Dirk Graswinckel. Graswinckel's writings won him no favor from De Witt, who argued instead the services of De Wit's father, his own good studies and travels, and his service in Sweden as secretary of the special embassy in 1645. With the support of Adrian Veth, secretary of the States of Zeeland, for whom he promised to perform the same service when the occasion arose, De Witt won Zeeland for his cousin's candidacy. But it was to no avail. The other provinces insisted on giving the secretaryship to Graswinckel, who rebuffed the request of his own province, Holland, to withdraw his candidacy. 5 1 The friendships with Veth and De Huybert were only a few of those which De Witt began to form with men of influence and power in other provinces during these years. Sometimes they were allies because they had become friends who thought and felt as he did about essentials; in other cases they were friends only so long as they remained political allies. In either case, De Witt depended upon them for information about 49 Agenda of the States of Holland, with annotations by John de Witt, c. Mar. 1651, ARA StH 2678. so Res. St. Holl., Jan. 18, 1652, ARA StH 85. 5 1 De Witt to Veth, Mar. 31, May 11, 1652, BJ, I, 63; J. de Huybert to De Witt, Apr. 8, May 6, 1652, BA I, 27—28; De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Dec. 16, 1652, ARA StH 2678; G.J. Liesker, Die Staatswissenschaftlichen Anschauungen Direk Graswinckel's (Fribourg, 1901), 47-48.

THE PATH TO POWER

internal conditions and reactions to Holland's policies and for help in shaping the policies of their provinces as Holland desired. De Witt began to correspond with De Huybert in April 1651, after his return from the mission to Middelburg. De Huybert told him who were Holland's friends among Zeeland officials and who might be won over. 52 Yet, almost from the beginning, De Huybert's position was equivocal. On the one hand, he could passionately urge the Hollanders to probe the events of 1650 to the bottom, finding the instigators and punishing "all injustice, every act of grasping and devouring." Holland and Zeeland, the two "mother provinces," should act together with "courage and vigor," threatening to go it alone if the other provinces balked. It was strange that some Dutchmen, "naturally born to freedom," should now want to become "slaves." But—and between De Huybert and De Witt there was always to be a "but"—the accusations against Sommelsdijk ought not to be pressed, for, he suggested, Sommelsdijk had tried to protect the sovereignty of the province of Holland during the attempted coup. 53 That was in June. A month later he no longer approved of investigating the motives of the managers of the 1650 coup. There was suspicion now in Zeeland that Holland's real reason for the probe was to blacken the memory of William II and hence to put a brand on his son. AfterJohn and Jacob de Witt gained Holland's assent to a general amnesty including Sommelsdijk, De Huybert was all smiles again. He came to The Hague to discuss some matters with De Witt personally rather than by letter and promised to continue to inform him of important events in Zeeland. Illness and a hard frost interrupted their correspondence however, and when it was resumed after several months, De Huybert was bitter against the English in the current diplomatic negotiations and bitter too against those Zeelanders who rejoiced at the prospect of war. 54 De Witt developed similar friendships in other provinces, notably Overijssel and Gelderland. The first of these was with Arent Jurien van Haersolte, an Overijssel nobleman who had previously been strongly Orangist in his sympathies. Now, recognizing that leadership had passed to Holland and that Holland controlled the award of colonelcies and captaincies in its pay, he accepted the hand of friendship offered by De Witt. It was probably Haersolte to whom De Witt wrote on June 17, urging that they transform their acquaintanceship made at The Hague de Huybert to De Witt, May 9, 1651, ΒΑ, I, 13. J. de Huybert to De Witt 1 June 26, 1651, ΒΑ, I, 16-18. 54 J. de Huybert to De Witt, July 23, Aug. 3, 9, Sept. 2, 1651, Feb. 6, 1652, ΒΑ, I, 23-26, Oct. 15, 24, Dec. 12, 1651, ARA StH Dl. 52 J. 53

THE PATH TO POWER

during the Great Assembly into "closer friendship and mutual under­ standing" and asking that he keep De Witt posted on developments in his province. 55 Haersolte replied on July 11, taking up De Witt's offer of regular correspondence but asking him to keep silent about it. Letters to him should go privately, not by the public post. The revelation of the Cuylenburch scandal strained their friendship because Haersolte's cousin, Rutger van Haersolte, was implicated, but Arent van Haersolte backed De Witt in the matter of naval rearmament. He complained about his failure to obtain the captaincy as well as the lieutenant colonelcy left vacant by the death of a cousin, and he hinted at his desire for support for gaining the more lucrative captaincy. 56 De Witt's friendship with Rabo Herman Scheie was of a different order from the start. Scheie was a nobleman, lord of Welburgh and Veenenbrugge in Overijssel, and De Witt used the honorific "Jonkheer" before his name. He was also a man of learning, whom De Witt addressed as "Wei Ed[el] Hoochgeleerde" (Most Noble and Learned), as he would a university professor. Scheie was a republican by principle and had published a Latin treatise in defense of political liberty. He met De Witt at The Hague and on his return wrote a "little letter" about events in Overijssel. It was the beginning of a regular correspondence. They exchanged not only information but also encouragement to preserve "freedom" by not electing another stadholder. 57 De Witt also established a similar relationship with John Singendonck, secretary of the city of Nijmegen in Gelderland, although it was less intimate and trusting; often he merely sent Singendonck copies of newsletters. But De Witt was moved to warn him, as he had not done with the others, to keep "necessary secrecy" regarding the various matters confided to him. 58 De Witt's most important task in the year after the Great Assembly ended was to help Pauw in the complex and difficult negotiations with the Commonwealth of England. The membership of the extraordinary embassy to Westminster was completed in October 1651, with the appointment of Paul van de Perre as Zeeland's member, but it was almost Christmas before the envoys sailed. There was no sense of urgency 5 5 De Witt to [A.J. van Haersolte?], June 17, 1651, ARA StH 2643. 5 6 A - J . van Haersolte to De Witt, July 1/11, 1651, Feb. 4/14, 23, Mar. 7/17, May 12/22, 1652, ΒΛ, I, 31-32, 35-37, 40; C. H. Th. Bussemaker, Geschiedenis van Overijsel gedurende het eerste stadhouderlooze tijdperk, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1888-89), I, 25n.l; De Witt to A.J. van Haersolte, Feb. 24, 1652, ARA StH 2643. " De Witt to Scheie, Jan. 29, 1652, ARA StH 2678, May 13, 1652, ARA StH 2643; Scheie to De Witt, Mar. 3, 1652, ΒΑ, I, 36-37. 5 8 See Poelhekke, "Nijmegen," 126n.31; De Witt to Singendonck, July 23, Aug. 20, 1651, Jan. 14, 29, 1652, ARA StH 2678, Feb. 24, May 13, 1652, ARA StH 2643.

THE PATH TO POWER

in The Hague, no realization that the English were deciding for war. 59 The signs told against the mission's success. In October, Parliament had passed the Navigation Act, "the notorious ordinance . . . to the disadvantage of trade," as De Witt called it. 60 The Dutch saw at once that its provisions were directed against their shipping and commerce, especially the ban against exportation to England of goods not made or grown in the exporter's own country. In a pamphleteer's words, "they know quite well that we have nothing of our own to export except butter and cheese, as well as a few manufactures made in this country." News came in January that English presses were printing old histories of the "Amboina massacre," the questionable trial and execution of English merchants in the East Indies in 1623, to whip up hatred of the Dutch. Still the leaders in The Hague continued to hope for a settlement. As De Witt wrote, "a great deal of the prosperity of the country" depended upon peace with England. 61 The Orangists felt otherwise; they wanted a conflict with England, which could lead to restoration of "men of merit and honor" to the seats of power as well as to reestablishment of the "old form of government." 62 The course of negotiations gave more encouragement to Orangist belligerence than to the peaceful desires of the States party. De Witt, at first dubious that the English were actually giving letters of reprisal to privateers to operate against Dutch as well as French shipping, soon found it to be a fact. The negotiation was already limping, but he hoped that it would be moved along by "General Cromwell," one of the thirteen commissioners named by the English Council of State to negotiate with the Dutch envoys. Cromwell was reported to be well disposed toward the Dutch. 63 De Witt became more deeply disturbed when English reprisals continued despite Dutch remonstrances, and he wondered whether the English rulers were so blind that they wished to seek their mutual ruin. Hoping that somehow the affair would turn out well, he

59 J. de Huybert to De Witt, Oct. 16, 24, 1651, ΒΑ, I, 25-26; De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Nov. 24, Dec. 2, 1651, BJ, I, 24—25, Dec. 16, 1651, ARA StH 2678; Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 113; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 667; Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit degeschiedenis van ons zeewesen, 6 vols. (The Hague, 1916-30), 11,6. 6 0 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 667-68; De Witt to Dordrecht, Jan. 14, 1652, ARA StH 2678. fi Waerachtigh, Kort en Bondigh Verhael1 Van d'Oorspronck, ende Voortganck der Nieuwgepretendeerde Engelse Republique (Utrecht, 1652) (Kn. 7232), 4; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 701; De Witt to burgomaster of Dordrecht and an ambassador in England [Schaep or Cats], Jan. 19, 1652, BJ, I, 28. 6 2 Sommelsdijk to William Frederick Jan. 29, 1652, AMON, V, 63; J. de Huybert to 1 De Witt, Feb. 6, 1652, BA, I, 26. 6 3 De Witt to Scheie and Singendonck, Jan. 29, 1652, BJ, I, 28-29.

THE PATH TO POWER

began to count upon the "very considerable" fleet which the Dutch were preparing for sea. 64 He became more deeply involved in the negotiations when the States of Holland named him as one of the members of a special committee for English affairs. Although he deprecated his role—he was, he claimed, "destitute of the capacities and qualities required"—he became the leading member of the committee. He made the handling of English matters by the States of Holland more methodical and the committee presented regular reports. 65 He arranged authorization to the envoys to "spend funds"—the dreadful word "bribes" could not be used—to penetrate the curtain of secrecy surrounding the discussions of the English Council of State. 66 When the committee decided to propose to the States of Holland that the province send its own representative, a person possessing "inner knowledge" of its policies, to England, it was De Witt who journeyed to the towns to persuade various possible candidates to accept. In May, William Nieupoort accepted and was named. 67 De Witt continued to favor an alliance with England upon the basis of the draft treaty. He discussed the matter with his principals at Dordrecht and they give him a declaration favoring "a good and firm alliance with the republic of England." 68 When he returned to The Hague, he began to take the minutes at meetings of the committee, although Pauw was present. 69 Yet a "good and firm" alliance upon a basis satisfactory to the Dutch was becoming more and more unlikely. When the Dutch, after considerable hesitation, began to take countermeasures against English shipping, and when Tromp moved his fleet into the North Sea, "impatient and threatening talk" increased in England. 70 6 4 De Witt to [Schaep or Cats], Feb. 9, 1652, to Scheie, Feb. 24, 1652, ARA StH 2643. 65 Japikse, Johan de Witt, 45; De Witt to [Schaep?], [Feb. 2, 1652], BJ, I, 61. Fruin here identifies the recipient as Schaep; the date of Feb. 2 is confirmed by De Witt's letter of Feb. 9 to the same envoy (ARA StH 2643). Draft minute of letter from States General to ambassadors in England, in De Witt's hand, Mar. 8, 1652, ARA StH D33; secret resolutions of the States General (hereafter cited as Sec. Res. St. Gen.), Mar. 8, 1652, Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague, Eerste Afdeling, Staten-Generaal (hereafter cited as ARA StGen) 2318; Res. St. Holl., Mar. 8, 1652, ARA StH 85. 6 7 "Notulen van't gunt by gedep.en wtte ordre vande Ridderschap, mitsgaders wtte steden van Dordt., Haerlem, . . . als Commissanssen van d'Heeren Staten van Hollandt ende West-Vrieslandt totte Engelsche saecken . . . successivelyck is gebesoigneert," in De Witt's hand, Mar. 23, 1652, et seq., ARA StH D33; Res. St. Holl., May 10, 1652, ARA StH 85; De Witt to [Schaep?], May 16, 1652, ARA StH 2643. " Declaration of Dordrecht government, in De Witt's hand, Apr. 15, 1652, ARA StH 2678. 69 Draft minutes of committee on English affairs of States of Holland, in De Witt's hand, Apr. 16, 17, 18, 26, May 10, 14, 1652, ARA StH D33. το Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 730, 739-40.

THE PATH TO POWER

Serious discussion of naval preparations had begun in The Hague in February 1652. The leading role in Holland's committee on naval affairs belonged to Conrad van Beuningen, the pensionary of Amsterdam. De Witt, who apparently remained on the committee in a more modest capacity, could observe the zeal and vigor of the Amsterdammer, with whom he formed a close friendship. 71 The situation of the fleet was worse than early brave talk had promised. Where one pamphleteer had boasted that there were 172 merchantmen which could be adapted for naval duty, including at least 24 that could be made ready within three weeks, it was discovered that there were no more than 38 ships of adequate size on hand. The States of Holland was so shocked that it sought to prevent distribution of the pamphlet. 72 It was with a fleet not yet brought up to the 100 ships finally authorized that Tromp met the English admiral Robert Blake off Dover on May 29, refused to give him the first salute, and fought a naval battle. 73 The negotiations became parleys between enemies. 71

Oudendijk, De Witt en de ^eemacht, 26. Elias, Schetsen, II, 40; Het ghetal'der Schepen, die van de . . . Staten van Holland, ^ee-Iandt en West-Vrieslandt connen in Z ee ghebracht warden . . . (Rotterdam, [1652]) (Kn. 7128); Res. St. HolI., Feb. 21, 1652, ARA StH 85. 73 Tideman, De %ee Betwist, 107-9. 72

CHAPTER FOUR

WAR WITH CROMWELL (May 1652-July 1653) THE FIRST REPORT of the battle off Dover reached The Hague on the evening of June 4. 1 The next day a crowd of youths gathered in front of the stadholder's quarters in the Binnenhof, waving orange banners and demanding to see the baby Prince William. De Witt heard of the distur­ bance from his uncle Quentin de Veer, who was bailiff of The Hague and helped to disperse the assemblage. When De Witt came back to The Hague, De Veer wrote, he would learn some things that could not be entrusted to paper. Although we do not know what De Veer had in mind, the letter Constantine Huygens wrote a few days later to an English royalist may give a hint. A crisis might be coming which would stir up the populace against the government before it had time to consolidate its authority. 2 The immediate task for the government, however, was to rescue peace if possible, and if it was not, to wage war. On June 7 the delegated councilors called an emergency meeting of the States of Holland and asked the towns to give their deputies full power to take decisions without having to obtain confirmation from their principals, as was usual. The Old Council of Dordrecht granted its deputies the requested power and instructed De Witt to leave at once for The Hague. On his return to the capital he was encouraged by a report from Nieupoort that Cromwell had returned from the Downs in a "soft" mood and that there was still hope for a settlement. 3 The work of the reassembled States of Holland went at once into the hands of the committee on English affairs, where De Witt was the most active member. On Tuesday, June 12, he presented its report to the full assembly. Although he privately wondered whether Tromp had actually attacked first, 4 he proposed that the ambassadors be instructed to lay the fault at Blake's feet, with assurances added that the States General would

1 Abraham de Wicquefort at The Hague to Queen Christina of Sweden, June 6, 1652, H. T. Colenbrander, ed., Bescheiden uil vreemde Archieven omtrent de groote Mederlandsche ^eeoorlogen, 1652-1676 (hereafter cited as BNZ) 2 vols. (The Hague, 1919). I, 1. Wicquefort (Hutoire, II, 131) gives the time as 10 P.M . on June 3. 2 De Veer to De Witt June 5, 1652, ΒΑ, I, 47-48; Huygens to Mrs. [Anna?] Morgan, 1 June 6, 1652, Huygens, Briefwisseling, V, 147. 3 De Witt to [A. J. van Haersolte] and [Cats?], June 7, 1652, to J. de Huybert, June 8, 1652, ARA StH 2643; extract resolution of Old Council of Dordrecht, June 7, 1652, ARA StH 2678; De Witt to N. Ruysch 1 June 8, 1652, BJ, IV, 469-70. 4 De Witt to De Huybert, June 8, 1652, ARA StH 2643.

WAR WITH CROMWELL

reprimand Tromp and punish him if it were proved that he had been the aggressor. The English should promise to do the same with Blake and say whether they would go on with the talks. The proposal was adopted, and De Witt brought it to the States General that same evening. 5 The next day the States of Holland decided it would be better for the States General to send another extraordinary ambassador to attempt to persuade the English that the battle had been no more than an "unexpected accident." Pauw, upon whom the choice fell, tried to beg off but was assured that if he took this last mission he would be allowed to retire on his return; he could leave England, too, whenever he felt his cause was hopeless. He accepted the next morning and was also given the right to act separately from the other ambassadors if he felt it best. 6 The task of performing Pauw's duties during his absence fell to De Witt as pensionary-deputy from Dordrecht, the first town of the province. Pauw left for London on June 15, and De Witt, burdened now with "double duties," had to cancel a trip to Dordrecht to attend a cousin's wedding celebration. 7 When Pauw landed at Gravesend on the morning of June 17, he was met by Nieupoort, Holland's unofficial envoy, who had been given his passport the day before and was on his way home. On his arrival at The Hague, Nieupoort could only confirm the ambassadors' reports that everything was being readied in England for open war. 8 What Pauw saw in England made him fear that the fleets would clash again. If the English won, their appetites would increase; but if victory went to the Dutch, the English would hold out "to the bitter end" for revenge. He asked De Witt to tone down tempers, "at least while my negotiation is in such a tender state." 9 De Witt, however, did not share his fears. In Holland's committee on English affairs, he drafted a proposal recommending that if Parliament did not make an "open, frank and honest" declaration and release the Dutch prisoners of war held at the Downs, Tromp should be ordered to seek action when the advantage lay with him. This was presumably the proposal which De Witt brought to a meeting of the States General on June 29, at which the members took an oath of secrecy. 10 On July 3, 5 Draft minute of committee on English affairs, in De Witt's hand, June 12, 1652, ARA StH D33; Res. St. Holl., June 12, 1652, ARA StH 85; draft of Holland resolutions and "notulen," c.June 12, 1652, in De Witt's hand, ARA StH D33. 6 Res. St. Holl., June 13, 14, 1652, ARA StH 85; De Witt to N. Ruysch, June 14, 1652, BJ, IV, 470-72. ^ De Witt to cousin [John de Wit?], June 16, 1652, ARA StH 2643. 8 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 712-14; Tideman, De Z ee Beiwist, 159; memorandum, in De Witt's hand, [June 20, 1652], ARA StH D33. 9 Pauw to De Witt, June 28, 1652; Tideman, De £ee Betwist, 204-5. 10 "Advys van Commissarissen . . . op d'Engelsche saecken," in De Witt's hand, [after June 27, 1652], ARA StH D33; Sec. Res. St. Gen., June 29, 1652, ARA StGen 2318.

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Their High Mightinesses sent orders to Tromp not to await attack but to take the initiative if the English fleet approached, especially if he should learn that the Dutch ambassadors had left England. The decision was taken without the usual formality of consulting the provincial States first, in view of "pressing necessity." 1 1 Orders were sent to the ambassadors to leave for home, rejecting all arguments and promises, unless the English showed by deeds that they were ready for a treaty. Although Pauw warned the English against rousing the common people in the Netherlands (and, by implication, the Orangist menace), they replied with stiffened demands and told the envoys to leave unless they could give satisfaction. The four envoys sailed home on July 10. 12 Whether it was the Dutch or the English who had flung down the challenge off Dover, it had been taken up. Negotiations gave way to war. Parliament's declaration of war on July 31 accused the Dutch of in­ gratitude and impugned their failure to recognize that the Prince of Orange in 1650 had sought tyranny over both nations. The States General gave their reply on August 2. It condemned the Navigation Act, rejected the English claim to maritime sovereignty, and portrayed the present govern­ ment of England as being drunk with success within the country and losing all sense of measure—in other words, accused it of acting like a revolutionary state at the height of its triumphs, not yet cooled by long possession of power, like the Dutch. 13 The Dutch decision was taken in an atmosphere of widespread hatred and bitterness, whipped up by the preachers. "The government could no longer stand still," Aitzema recorded. A pamphleteer called the war the devil's work because it set against each other two peoples with the same religion and the same form of government. Satan sang: I gather strength while they both doe fight . . . I will assist the one and set the other by the ears, I will cry Ha Ha, fight Dogs fight Beares. 14 The Orangists, however, were delighted with the prospect of a "fine war"; it would create a "sure bridge" over which Charles II would return to England and the young Prince of Orange gain his father's offices. The 11 Sec. Res. St. Gen., July 3, 1652, ARA StGen 2318; Aitzema, Sacken van Staet, III, 721; Tideman, De Z ee Betwist, 185. ' 2 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, 718-20; Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 135. 13 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 722—23, 725—30; [Jean] Dumont, Corps universel diplomatique du droit des gens, 8 vols. (Amsterdam and The Hague, 1726-31), VI, pt. 2, 20-35. ι 4 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 719, 731; Eutrapelus, Ofte Middelburgs Praetje (Middelburg, 1652) (Kn. 7311); Christelijeke en Politique Redenen, Waer om dat Nederlandt en Engelant tegens malcanderen niet moghen Oorloghen (Rotterdam, 1652) (Kn. 7204).

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common people, with the facile optimism of the uninformed, were confi­ dent that the enemy could be trounced. The regents in Holland, wiser and sadder, saw that the strategic odds lay with the English. As one of the envoys in England explained, "The English are moving against a golden mountain, but we on the contrary against one of iron." The English could capture merchantmen carrying valuable cargos, the Dutch, only colliers carrying coals from Newcastle. 1 5 Here was the nub of the issue. The Dutch depended on the sea for their very livelihood, while the English were still a predominantly agrarian people who panted for the profits of trade but did not need them to sur­ vive. While it would have been madness for the Dutch to seek war with England, they had no choice but to accept it once the English made surrender of freedom of the seas the price of peace. 16 De Witt drafted the new, more positive orders sent by the States General to Tromp on July 15. He was to sail northward, seek out Blake, and defeat him. Victory was expected, "according to all human prob­ ability," because of Tromp's numerical superiority. But Blake evaded Tromp and took shelter at Newcastle, leaving the Dutch to capture a few paltry fishermen (but sparing Scottish ships as "good royalists"). De Witt became impatient. He was eager for the fleets to come to battle again and hoped for a victory which would repay the "damage, insults and out­ rages,' suffered at the hands of the English. 1 7 Instead, Tromp was beaten off again in a bad storm off the Shetlands on August 4 and 5, while trying to protect the northern route to the ocean. The news came in on August 14, followed quickly by a warning that Blake was bringing his fleet to the Dutch coast. The task of meeting the peril fell to De Witt, who had taken over leadership of Holland's naval affairs committee from Van Beuningen. He drafted the necessary resolutions of the States of Holland and presented them to the assembly: instructions to Tromp to sail into the Wielingen Gate (inlet) when he reached the mouth of the Maas; and to the admiral­ ties and other authorities to act quickly to repair the fleet. 1 8 When Tromp reached land, he was ordered to come to The Hague with his vice admiral, Witte de With, to report to the States General. On their arrival the admirals made it clear that the fleet was in no condition to take the offen-

15 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 721; Hoe veel den Vereenigde Provintien Gehoort gelegen te zyn, de her-stellinge van den Coninck van Groot-Britangie . . . ([The Hague], 1653) (Kn. 7426). ' β Wilson, Profits and Power, 27. ι ? Elias, Schetsen, II, 112; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 721; De Witt to government of Dordrecht, July 31, 1652, ARA StH 2678. 18 Draft resolution of the States of Holland, in De Witt's hand, Aug. 14, 1652, ARA StH D33; De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Aug. 14, 1652, BJ, I, 37-38; Oudendijk, De Witt en de ^eemacht, 27—28.

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sive, as was planned. In the States of Holland they met some sharp criticism from members who were suspicious of Tromp's well-known Orangist loyalties. 1 9 De Witt quickly learned to adjust goals to available means. If the Dutch fleet could not yet defeat Blake's main fleet, retaliation was still possible against English depradations. At De Witt's suggestion, it was decided to strike against English coalships plying between the northern ports and London, as well as against the cloth ships making the usual winter journey to Hamburg. The Dutch fishing fleet would be protected by four convoyers taken from the ships just back from the Shetlands. 20 But Witte de With met defeat when he took on the English fleet in early October. De Witt accepted this new defeat in the same way he had the first, as "principally the work of God Almighty." This time, however, he also saw human forces at work in the lack of discipline among a number of Dutch captains. 21 What could not yet be done by straight use of power might be achieved indirectly. Reports reached The Hague that the English were suffering a severe shortage of naval supplies. Since it was known by experience that these were being shipped from the Dutch provinces to England by way of the Flemish ports, export of contraband, naval stores in particular, was forbidden. A committee of the States of Holland studied other means of obstructing England's trade for an extended period. The resulting hard­ ship among the merchants and the common people, De Witt thought, could bring the government of the Commonwealth "to reason." 22 On December 1, after several weeks of waiting for favorable winds, Tromp took seventy warships and two hundred merchantmen out of Goeree Gate to join eight warships and another seventy merchantmen which came down from Texel. On December 10 he met Blake again off the Downs and compelled him to withdraw up the Thames after losing several ships. Blake's escape was a disappointment to De Witt, who had hoped that Tromp could bring him to further action. 23 It was a generally shared mood, for the first enthusiasm was tempered by realization that the English had lost only two ships. Some hoped nonetheless that it would be

19 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 722; Elias, Schetsen, II, 29; Res. St. Holl., Aug. 20, 1652, ARA StH 85; Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 149. 20 Res. St. Holl., Sept. 26, 27, 1652, ARA StH 85; draft minute in De Witt's hand, Sept. 26 , 1652, ARA StH D33. 21 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Oct. 13, 1652, ARA StH 2678. Cf. Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 750-51. 22 Res. St. Holl., Nov. 21, 1652, ARA StH 85; De Witt to burgomaster of Dordrecht, Nov. 23, 1652, ARA StH 2678. 2 3 De Witt to government of Dordrecht, Dec. 16, 1652, BJ, I, 46; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 761-62; John to Cornelius de Witt and others, Dec. 17, 1652, ARA StH 2643.

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enough of a defeat to make the English readier to negotiate. They quickly learned better when word came that the English were refitting their fleet strongly. Tromp too asked for reinforcements of thirty ships, including a very large flagship. He was told that the government planned a war fleet of one hundred capital ships; in the meanwhile he should blockade the Thames. The purpose of the new fleet would be to cut off all trade into England from Flanders and Sweden and thus to make the neutrals see that the war was hurting them as well as the Dutch. De Witt favored vigorous naval action and awaited success "from God Almighty." Success, he thought, would go to the Dutch "for many reasons." 24 Early in February word came from England that a majority of the government there, including some of the leaders, were very favorable to peace. At the same time, an English colonel of horse, Sir Robert Stone, came over without credentials but with an unofficial proposal addressed to Pauw by which peace negotiations might be renewed if the Dutch took the initiative. The committee on secret correspondence debated it at length. Although they feared a public uproar if it leaked out, they did not want to lose even a slim chance of ending the war. Colonel Stone was sent back with an encouraging reply. After Stone's return, however, De Witt was less hopeful. What the English really wanted, he feared, was to get their fleet out to sea before the Dutch. 2 5 Charles II was dissuaded with difficulty from coming in person from Paris to put a brave proposal before the Dutch. Instead, he gave it to William Boreel, the States' ambassador who was "very much devoted to the King's service." Charles proposed to go aboard the Dutch fleet and sail with it, so that English sailors could be persuaded to desert, if Their High Mightinesses would put a few ships under his flag. Boreel was reluctant to send the proposal to The Hague, and when he did at last, De Witt slapped it down. Such action would tie the Dutch perpetually to the king's cause and make the war "endless." 2 6 The naval war did not provide the kind of success for which De Witt hoped. Tromp, escorting a body of merchantmen from France down the Channel, ran into Blake's fleet off Portsmouth on February 28. The battle 2 4 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 781, 783-84; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Jan. 6, 1653, BR, V, 66. 2 5 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 3, Mar. 3, 1653, BJ, I, 72-75; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 803-4. 2 6 Sec. Res. St. Holl., Mar. 13, 1653, Secrete Resolution van de Edele Groot Mog. Heeren Staten van Holland en Westvriesland, genomen zedert den aanvang der bedieninge van den Heer Johan de Witt, als Raadpensionaris van den zelven Lande (hereafter cited as SR), 2 vols. (Utrecht, 1717), I, 6-7; Clarendon, History of the Rebellion and Civil War, V, 257-59; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 790.

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raged for three days; finally, the Dutch ships ran out of powder. Tromp nonetheless kept the English from taking many prizes, but he had to face again what he already knew only too well, that the English possessed more powerful ships and could defeat a larger number of his own. (He had pleaded the previous autumn for sixty ships built for combat, rather than a hundred converted merchantmen, such as most of his ships were.) 27 On March 8, two days after the first news of the defeat reached The Hague, Tromp arrived in person to give a report. It left De Witt with a keen sense of Dutch naval weakness, but he clung to his strategic concept for waging a naval war against England: a blockade of the Thames. 2 8 De Witt even came to hope that Blake's victory might make for peace. Having saved face, the English could now show themselves readier to come to terms. More important, however, was the secret negotiation initiated by Colonel Stone and now in the hands of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Dolman, an English officer in the Dutch army who had gone to England for a visit in December. 29 De Witt reported the matter to the whole States of Holland for the committee on secret correspondence. After the deputies had taken a pledge of secrecy, he told them that informants (he did not name Dolman) indicated that "the most honorable and consider­ able regents there" were ready now to send a deputation to The Hague to seek out the true intentions of the Dutch. The committee also presented a draft letter, written by De Witt but read by Haarlem's Ruyl, which they thought should be sent to Parliament and the Council of State in order to correct the "sinister impression" in England. It was designed to make the war appear to the English people as an unfortunate conflict between "comrades in the Faith." The text was adopted and sent in the name of the province of Holland. The other provinces were left in the dark about the whole affair. 3 0 Several days later it became clear that they would not remain in the dark. Colonel Dolman wrote to tell of the letter's favorable reception in England, adding that the reply would be sent not to the States of Holland but to the States General. It was therefore decided on April 9 to send an expanded delegation to the States General to make a "frank, clear and pertinent" declaration about the secret correspondence with England, especially the letter of March 18. 31 2' Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 764, 781, 788; Wicquefort, Histovre, II, 155-57. 28 De Witt to N. Ruysch, Mar. 8, 1653, ARA StH 2678; Elias, Schetseni IV, 149-50; Colenbrander, ed., Beseheiden uit vreemde Archieven, I, 48. 2» De Witt to Van Beuningen, Mar. 10, 1653, BJ, I, 75-76; Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 204; Elias, Schetsen, V, 22. 30 Sec. Res. St. Holl., Mar. 18, 1653, SR, 1, 7-9; Minute Resolutien van de Staten van Holland (hereafter cited as Min. Res. St. Holl.), I, Mar. 18, 1653, ARA StH 406. 31 Elias, Schetsen, V, 22; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 804; Sec. Res. St. Holl., Apr. 9, 1653, SR, I, 33-34.

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The impatiently awaited replies from Parliament—one for Holland and one for the States General—arrived on April 18. They were in English and had to be laboriously translated. When they were in plain Dutch at last, they proved to contain assurances of willingness to continue negotiations toward ending the war. 3 2 The States of Holland did not assemble until April 23, so that the deputies who had remained in The Hague had to face alone the storm in the States General. The Groningers denounced Holland's unilateral correspondence as a violation of the Union of Utrecht; accusations were made that Cromwell was its true instigator; and De Witt was singled out as the worst culprit among the Hollanders. However, when deputies known for their Orange sympathies demanded that the war be fought with greater vigor and that support of Charles II be made one of the war aims, a blunt answer came from Medemblik's Stellingwerff. They ought to know why it was necessary to bring the war to an end—it was their pro­ vinces which refused to pay their share of the cost of waging it. 3 3 When the States of Holland met, De Witt reported on the developments and presented the letters from Parliament to them and to the States General; these were given to a special committee for immediate study and proposals. However, when De Witt reported for the committee on April 25, the assembly was unwilling to come to a decision without further consideration. 34 On April 28 the States of Holland heard a new report from the com­ mittee, which raised the possibility of sending a proposal for resuming negotiations at a neutral place in a Protestant country. It might be taken by a messenger "with more skill than a simple letter carrier," one who could urge a suspension of hostilities. De Witt thought such a truce to be desirable at once, but most of the deputies did not agree. The main pro­ posal was adopted and carried to the States General, which could not come to a final decision because some of the provinces were absent. De Witt thought the affair had "run into strange waters." 35 Two days later Holland pressed again for its adoption and gained three provinces to its side, enough for a bare majority. The letter, drafted by De Witt and accompanied by a French translation, was sent to England by two couriers. 32 De Witt to N. Ruysch and others, Apr. 16, 1653, ARA StH 2644; Sec. Res. St. Holl., Apr. 23, 1653, SR, I, 34-35. 3 3 Aitzema, Saken van Staeti III, 804-5; De Witt to N. Ruysch, Apr. 23, 1653, ARA StH 2678; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Apr. 21, 1653, BR, V, 113-14; Clarendon, History of the Rebellion and Civil War, V, 260; Elias, Schetsen, V, 2. 3 4 Sec. Res. St. Holl., Mar. 18, 1653, SR, 1, 7-9; Minute Resolution van de Staten Apr. 24, 1653, BJ, I, 48-49. 3 5 Sec. Res. St. Holl., Apr. 28, 1653, SR, I, 37—38; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Apr. 28, 1653, BR, V, 115-17.

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One, Tileman Aquilius, went directly to Gravesend by sea, and the other by way of the Spanish Netherlands. 36 Aquilius returned from London on May 19 and reported at once to the States General. On May 8 he had given the letter in his charge to Crom­ well, who had dispersed the Parliament to which it had been addressed. Cromwell was now more of a sovereign, Aquilius observed, than any English king had ever been. Everything was tranquil there. 37 De Witt, then at Dordrecht, was unhappy with what he learned about the courier's report, and he hastened back to The Hague to question Aquilius "at length and in breadth." Aquilius spoke very favorably of the sincere desire of the new government in England for peace, but De Witt, neither skep­ tical nor credulous, waited for the official reply. It came on May 23 in the form of a letter from the Council of State. The Council was willing to go ahead with peace talks but not to shift them to a neutral place; they should continue in London, and the council would talk to whomever the States General sent. 3 8 Debate on the new situation created by this reply began in the States General on May 26 and continued until June 5. De Witt and other Hollanders met repeatedly with their Zeeland colleagues in an effort to win their support for a common proposal in the Generality. Agreement finally was reached on sending a delegation of two or three persons "with a fundamental understanding of the affairs and interests of the state" to England quickly, without title but with proper credentials and power to conclude a treaty. On the larger issue of the content of an acceptable treaty, Holland favored attempts to continue the negotiations only if the English dropped the demands that had been made upon Pauw. If they continued to press for them, there was no reason to expect further negotia­ tions to succeed. And De Witt believed that they should be told so "baldly." Acrimonious debate followed the presentation of Holland's proposal to the States General on May 28. Zeeland supported the Hollanders gene­ rally, although with constant harping upon the need to safeguard relations with France. Friesland and Groningen suggested that an effort be made first to find out by letter whether the English would drop the demands upon Pauw. The Hollanders replied that "a letter cannot give an answer"

3' Sec. Res. St. Holl., Apr. 29, May 1, 1653, SR, I, 38-41; draft of letter of States General, in De Witt's hand, Apr. 30, 1653, ARA StH D44; De Witt to N. Ruysch, Apr. 30, 1653, BJ, I, 49; De Witt to Van Beuningen, May 5, 1653, BR, V, 122; Sec. Res. St. Gen., May 1, 1653, ARA StGen 2318; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 806. 3' Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 809; De Witt to Van Beuningen, May 19, 1653, BR, V, 131-32. J s De Witt to N. Ruysch, May 20, 23, 1653, BJ, I, 49-50; De Witt to Van Beuningen, May 26, 1653, BR, V, 138-39; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 812-13.

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and that time would be saved by personal action. Finally, on June 5 Gelderland, Friesland, Overijssel, and Groningen gave their consent, sub­ ject to the approval of their principals. Only the Utrecht deputies insisted on waiting for a formal decision of their States. 3 9 When the nomination of members for the extraordinary embassy began on June 8 in the States General, an unexpected situation confronted the deputies from Holland. Gelderland proposed that three envoys be selec­ ted by the assembly itself from the trading provinces and suggested Hieronymus van Beverningk, John de Mauregnault, and Cornelius Haulbois from Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland, respectively. The sur­ prised deputies from Holland conferred among themselves, and then De Witt replied for them. This was an unusual procedure, he declared tartly. The nomination of persons for such appointments had belonged to each province individually. Furthermore, special care had to be taken in these dangerous times that the persons sent to England should be accep­ table to the government there. It would be best to begin with two only. The Gelderland deputies replied angrily. Provincial nomination had been the custom in years past, to be sure, but times were changed now; Holland wished to dominate over the other provinces and exclude them from everything. The Friesland deputy took De Witt's suggested figure of two envoys as a personal attack upon Haulbois. He observed bitterly that Holland seemed to hate and suspect anything connected with the house of Nassau, that is, the Orange family; the amnesty for the events of 1650 was being disregarded. If the Hollanders continued this way, he would revoke his consent to the resolution of June 5. The wrangling continued to the end of the day and no decision was taken. 40 When the discussion was resumed the next day, the Gelderland deputies proposed that no one who had previously served in England should be sent back. The startled Hollanders warned that the new envoys had to be personae gratae to the Protectorate, not persons who would probably be rebuffed. They turned, as before, to the deputies from Zeeland to over­ come the obstruction. The Zeelanders came along without too great reluctance. Despite their hatred for the "scoundrel Cromwell," they too had come to feel that the "wholly pernicious and ruinous war" had to be ended. 41 In mid-June Holland decided to accept expansion of the mission to four

5® Sec. Res. St. Holl., May 27, 29, 31, June 2, 4, 5, 1653, SR, I, 44-50; De Witt to N. Ruysch, May 28, June 6, 1653, BJ, I, 50; De Witt to Van Beuningen, June 2, 1653, BR, V, 142-45; J. de Huybert to De Witt, June 7, 1653, ARA StH D2; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 3, 813-15. 4° Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 815-16. H DeWitt to Van Beuningen, June 9, 1653,5Λ, V, 150—51; J- de Huybert to De Witt, May 20, 1653, ARA StH D2 and ΒΑ, I, 53.

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members, naming Van Beverningk and Nieupoort as its members. Friesland chose Allard Jongestal, while Zeeland delayed naming its member. Van Beverningk was authorized to leave first and reached London on June 27. The others, including Van de Perre, who was finally named by Zeeland, joined him soon afterward. 4 2 The urgency of a political solution had become clearer as Dutch hopes of regaining naval supremacy or even equality continued to be dashed. The English became cocky and insulting, flaunting their supremacy at sea. Vice Admiral Jan Evertsen, escorting a fleet of forty-eight fishing boats, was defeated on May 14 and had to come in. The English caught all but one of the hapless hookers and one convoyer. The captured fishermen were put ashore at Scheveningen with a message: The English were looking for Tromp, and when they found him they would destroy him. Then they would make peace. 4 3 On June 12 the English found Tromp off Nieupoort, on the coast of the Spanish Netherlands. Both sides had about the same number of ships, but the English craft were better. The Dutch ran out of powder and lost the day. The Dutch regents carped about Tromp's repeated failures, but on the wagons and the canalboats the talk ran against the government. The populace did not blame Tromp, their idol, but the government; it did not want to fight, they said, and failed to support the admiral. 44 De Witt worked on in what he called "perplexing" times. Troops were sent to reinforce coastal positions until the damaged ships were repaired and ready for defense. 4 5 Van Beverningk sent warnings of English plans to attempt landings on the Dutch coast.46 The situation was so bad that the blunt sailor Witte de With declared that the English "are our masters. We have lost the sea until we have other ships." De Witt hoped that the English would still 42 De Witt to John Wolfert van Brederode, June 19, 1653, ARA StH 2644; De Witt to Van Beuningen, June 16,23, 1653, BR, V, 155, 162; De Witt to Van Beverningk, June 27, July 4, 1653, B], I, 77-93; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 820, 823. 43 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 811; J. de Huybert to De Witt, May 20, 1653, BA, 1,53. 44 Aitzema, Saken varl Staet, III, 817; intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], June 10/20, 1653, A Collection of State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq; Secretary, First, to the Council of State, And afterwards to The Two Protectors, Oliver and Richard Cromwell (hereafter cited as Thurloe, State Papers), 7 vols. (London, 1742), I, 279-81. Aitzema's letters of intelligence to Thurloe are not so identified in the text, but some correspond to passages in his Saken van Staet. I have given Aitzema's name in brackets whenever he seems the probable author, based on style and character of thought. 45 De Witt to N. Ruysch, June 16, 1653, BJ, I, 50; De Witt to Brederode, June 17, 18, 19, 1653, ARA StH 2644. 46 Sec. Res. St. Holl., July 2, 1653, SR, I, 91.

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accept a settlement, but if they would not, an extreme effort would have to be made at sea. 47 An outbreak of rioting under slogans of Orange restoration did not escape English attention. The Dutch envoys were given to understand that a peace treaty might have to include a provision for joint action against the houses of Orange and Stuart, "those who are Enemyes to the Interest of God and his People, not onely in this Common Wealth but in that also." This civil turmoil, the two Holland envoys wrote to De Witt, was the greatest difficulty they faced. 48

One of De Witt's most important duties during his thirteen months as acting councilor pensionary was to rebuild the navy which the English had mauled so badly. The fleet commanders, as brave and able as Blake, quickly learned the lessons of the English admiral's victories. But bravery and skill could not replace adequate ships in adequate numbers. Com­ modore Michael de Ruyter, who did not bluster, said straight out that he "did not intend to go to sea again unless the fleet was reinforced with more and better ships than had been used until now." 49 Most of the Dutch regents were landlubbers with no experience of the sea; and they found it difficult to believe that numbers did not matter more than quality; they were reluctant to accept the notion that a modern navy required ships built just for combat. They continued to prefer arming merchantmen; after all, merchantmen could be returned to the ordinary work of trade when the war was over. That merchantmen did not handle or fight as well and were often lost when they could not keep up with the main force seemed forgotten. 50 De Witt learned slowly and from harsh experience that such a policy was shortsighted. Only when the Dutch could meet Blake on his own terms could they hope to beat him, and they had to 41 Intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], July 4, 1653, Thurloe, State Papers, I, 314; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 829; J. C. de Jonge, Verhandelingen en onuitgegeven stukken, betrejfende de geschiedenis der Nederlanden, 2 vols. (Delft, 1825, and The Hague and Amsterdam, 1827), 1,182; De Witt to Van Beverningk, June 27, July 4, 1653, BJ, I, 77, 92-93. 48 Verbael Gehouden door de Heeren H. van Beverningk, W. Nieupoort, J. van de Perre, en A. P. Jongestal, Als Gedeputeerden en Extraordinaris Ambassadeurs van de Heeren Staeten Generael der Vereenigde Nederlanden, Aen de Republyck van Engelandt (hereafter cited as Van Beverningk, Verbael) (The Hague, 1725), 37; Van Beverningk and Nieupoort to De Witt, July 18, 1653, ΒΑ, I, 80-83. 4 » P.J. Blok, Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter, 3d ed. (The Hague, 1947), 102; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 821. Cf. Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 122. 30 Johan E. Elias, De vlootbouw in Nederland in de eerste helft der lie eeuw, 1596-1665

(Amsterdam, 1933), 88.

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beat him if they were not to be swept off the oceans, driven from the fisheries, ousted from trade and shipping, in a word, starved into insignificance. Thus it was a question not just of repairing the damaged ships, replacing the lost ones, and adding others. The navy had to become a fleet of the new kind, created deliberately, with an understanding of the new needs and a readiness to disregard tradition and habit. Although the specific work of naval construction belonged to the five admiralties, three in Hol­ land and one each in Zeeland and Friesland, effective leadership—in particular, finding the resources to pay for the new ships and spurring the admiralties to work more quickly than was their custom—fell to the coun­ cilor pensionary of Holland. But De Witt, as Pauw's substitute and helper and then as his interim sucessor, did not yet have the full powers of high office for wielding such leadership. What he could do was to use his membership in the naval affairs committee of the States of Holland, which he dominated, and in the same committee of the States General, where his influence was more limited, to push the work of rebuilding as he under­ stood it. 5 1 He was aided from the beginning by his brother Cornelius, who was named a member of the admiralty of Rotterdam on January 18, 1652. 52 There was no question in De Witt's mind about the need for more, if not for bigger, ships. At the end of November the States of Holland, on his initiative, proposed to the States General that it increase expenditure for obtaining and equipping ships. Several weeks later the Holland deputies in the States General called upon it to pay for the new warships by general taxation, since it was the entire state which they would defend. They sug­ gested that the extraordinary taxes just introduced by Holland, a land tax and a capital levy of|percent, be made general for the entire country, along with several other lesser imposts. 5 3 The other provinces were not ready for such reforms. Zeeland in parti­ cular disliked the idea of a general "State of War," or military and naval budget, for the country as a whole, because it would open the financial activities of the admiralty of Zeeland to examination by representatives of Holland. The States General declined to take over the command function of the former admirals general and instead gave it to the admiralties. In so doing, they deprived the Dutch fleet of the kind of single authority that the English Council of State possessed over the British naval forces. 54 De Witt also attempted to persuade the States of Holland to make funda51

Sec. Res. St. Gen., Oct. 16, 1652, ARA StGen 2318; Oudendijk, De Witt en de

Zeemacht, 31-32.

52 ARA StH Dl. 53 Res. St. HolI., Nov. 30, 1652, ARA StH 85; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 766. 54 Elias, Schetsen, IV, 109, 173; Oudendijk, Tromp 141. i

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mental reforms within its own jurisdiction. On December 5 and 10, De Witt and his fellow members of the naval committee proposed to tighten control over the admiralty boards, which had responsibility for naval construction, sent out squadrons and even whole fleets, and named com­ manders. The instruction under which they operated dated from 1597 and had been originally intended only as a provisional measure; it was out­ dated and should be replaced. The Holland members in the admiralties should be bound by oath to obey the decisions of the States of Holland and the States General. De Witt also proposed that any violation be punished by instant dismissal, unless reported with extenuating circumstances. Such administrative discipline was too sharp a break with practice, however, and the proposal was set aside.5 5 De Witt expected Holland to be able to achieve more in building a new fleet than it could do in fact. He had promised that Witte de With would find forty to fifty new ships to add to his force when he returned in April, but when the time came the vice admiral found not a single ship such as he wanted. 56 Yet ships would be badly needed, for a Dutch sea captain who escaped from English captivity brought the fearful news that he had seen at least seventy English ships off the Downs and another forty-eight in the Thames, all ready for action. On April 19 English ships of thirty-two and forty guns were reported off Walcheren, preying on fishing vessels.57 The States General, shaken by the news, accepted Holland's proposal to raise another 4 million guilders for the fleet. Half would be used to equip a fleet of one hundred ships, and the other half to build thirty new frigates, of forty to sixty guns, especially designed for the new battle conditions, such as the admiralty and municipality of Amsterdam were already building on their own account.58 The resolutions, lacking the discipline of the reforms proposed by De Witt and rejected by both Holland and the Generality, remained largely ineffectual. Neither assembly had any means of assuring adequate performance by the delinquent admiralty boards. De Witt's most effective means of getting them to do their duty was to ask burgomasters to use their influence upon the admiralties to strengthen the fleet and make it seaworthy. His report of these proceedings to the ambassadors in England concluded with a remark that was to be a constant refrain in his correspondence for the next twenty years: the States had not yet come to a conclusion.5 9 55 Draft resolution of States of Holland, in De Witt's hand, c. Dec. 7, 1652, memorandum of "Besoigne" in De Witt's hand, Dec. 7, 1652, ARA StH D33; Res. St. Holl., Dec. 10, 12, 1652, ARA StH 85; Elias, Schetsen, IV, 106; Oudendijk, De Witt en de Zeemacht, 33-34. Elias, Schetsen, IV, 163, V, 22. 57 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 809—10. 58 Res. St. Holl., Apr. 30, 1653, ARA StH 86; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 810. 59 De Witt to Pauw and unnamed ambassador [Cats], June 19, 1652, ARA StH 2643.

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In January 1653 De Witt threw his support behind a proposal for a voluntary contribution in lieu of a new tax, but the States of Holland did not share his confidence in the fiscal productivity of Dutch patriotism and rejected the measure. He then backed a traditional tax called the "two hundredth penny," a capital levy of|percent, which was adopted in a compromise form. It proved difficult to collect. The country, stripped of so much of its trade and shipping, was gripped by economic crisis. In Amster­ dam, the authorities asked those who complained to pay what they could and what they thought they should. Reporting for the delegated coun­ cilors, De Witt urged the States of Holland to consider new sources of revenue. The task of preparing specific proposals was at once given to the admiralty members from the province. 69 On June 17 De Witt persuaded the States of Holland to send three of its own members to Zeeland to speed naval construction, even though the States General had just named a deputation for the same purpose. It was a blunt demonstration that Holland was seeing to its own defenses. Admiral Tromp supported this policy; he wanted enough ships built so that he could sail out again in force. During July De Witt obtained virtual supervisory powers for himself over the naval construction program within Holland. OnJuly 16 the States of Holland directed the province's mem­ bers in the admiralties in the province to report from time to time on their measures "to advance naval business." 61

Important as was the work of rebuilding a battle-worthy fleet, De Witt had to give even closer attention to the ever-vexing problem of the resur­ gent Orangist movement. To place the infant Prince of Orange in his forefathers' offices might dramatize the conflict with the Commonwealth, but once done it would make it endless. Yet it would not give the Dutch the means of naval victory. As the Hollanders repeatedly reminded their colleagues in the States General, it was the provinces most zealous for the prince which were most reluctant to contribute to the costs of the war. On Wednesday, August 28, 1652, Pauw gave the States of Holland the disturbing news that, six days before, Middelburg had placed before the States of Zeeland a proposal to seek election of William III as captain and admiral general. After Van Beverningk, back from his mission to England, gave a close analysis of the problem created for Holland by Middelburg's initiative, the States of Holland decided to oppose it by every means. The first measure would be a deputation to Zeeland to persuade the provincial 6 0 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Jan. 20, 1653, BR, V, 70; De Witt to N. Ruysch, Jan. 25, 1653, BJ, I, 47; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 761, 781—82; Elias, Schetsen, V, 7-8. Elias, Schetsen, IV, 106n,3, V, 104, 112, 135.

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assembly and individual persons of importance to stand by the position which Zeeland had taken at the Great Assembly, where the two provinces had worked as one. 6 2 Word was sent at once to Zeeland that the mission would consist of De Witt, John Huydecooper van Marseveen of Amster­ dam, Jacob vander Nieuwstedt, alderman of Alkmaar, and Franco Riccen, pensionary of Purmerend, 63 They departed from The Hague that same afternoon aboard a yacht belonging to the Council of State and reached Middelburg on Saturday evening. Informed that the provincial States were in recess until September 9, they agreed to meet with the delegated councilors of Zeeland but then were told that the matter would have to be considered by the whole assembly. De Witt was privately pessimistic: it would not be easy to persuade the States of Zeeland to do as Holland wanted. He was less explicit in writing to the States of Holland. 69 The mission spent Monday visiting the ships moored in Flushing harbor and the roadstead off Rammekens castle a few miles to the west, and they found many of the vessels without adequate supplies. On his return to Middelburg, De Witt wrote his father briefly that the populace was acting "boldly" and that the Hollanders would have to be careful. He did not tell Jacob how far this boldness had already gone: an incursion of a mob into the assembly room of the States of Zeeland, intent upon killing the visitors (already gone to Flushing) who had come to thwart the election of the prince; a mob of sailors, women, and children gathered before their inn in Flushing (again after they had departed); a mob in Veere harbor on their return. A "slanderous and seditious pamphlet" directed against them, The Direct Exposure of the Loevestiners Who Rule Holland, was widely distributed. Nor did he mention the "dead" trade of the province, which left its merchants with little business and its little people without jobs. 65 De Witt treated the danger through which he had passed with disdain, although he was singled out as the delegation's leader, the one "who mis­ leads the others." The populace, he wrote to a cousin, was so concerned with our persons that they wish to spare us the long torture of their

¢2 Extract of register of Middelburg town council, Aug. 22, 1652, ARA StH D146; draft minute of resolution of States of Holland, "Deputatie naar Zeeland, over t'Captn.schap generl.," in De Witt'shand, Aug. 28, 1652, ARA StH D33; "Verbael, gehouden by d.Heeren Johan de Witt, etc., etc., van haer reyse naer de Provintie van Zeeland . . .," in scribe's hand, after a draft in De Witt's hand (hereafter abbreviated as "Verbael . . . Zeeland"), ARA StH D146. 63 Slates of Holland to States of Zeeland, Aug. 28, 1652, copy, ARA StH D146. 64 "Verbael . . . Zeeland"; draft letter of mission at Middelburg to States of Holland, in De Witt's hand, Sept. 1, 1652, ARA StH D146; John to Jacob and Cornelius de Witt, Sept. 1, 1652, ARA StH 2643. 6 5 De rechte Ondeckinge Vande Hollantsehe Regerende Loevensteynsche Heeren (Dordrecht, 1652) (Kn. 7302). See Hollants ende Zeevws Praetjen, Op't voorstellen van een aensienlijek ende gequalificeert Hooft . . . (Amsterdam, 1652) (Kn. 7309).

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Zeeland fever or other painful sickness, as well as the expense of a return journey, or at least to make it unnecessary to provide our yacht with food and drink for us. 6 6 On Wednesday De Witt and Huydecooper went to see John de Brune, the councilor pensionary of Zeeland, about the threats. They gave him a copy of The Direct Exposure and asked that the States of Zeeland, whose members were arriving in Middelburg, meet with them without delay. De Brune agreed to hold the audience the next day. He thought precau­ tions taken by the provincial Delegated Council and the burgomasters were sufficient but urged the Hollanders to leave the town as quickly as they could for their own safety, which the Middelburg authorities could not guarantee. It would be better if they submitted their proposal in writing; it could be debated even if they were not present. De Witt and Huydecooper brought this request to their colleagues. Some thought they should do as suggested, but De Witt turned on them indignantly: They could go if they wanted, but he would stay and do what Their Noble Great Mightinesses had sent him to do. The others found courage in his words and agreed to remain. The States of Zeeland sent a delegation the next morning to escort them from their inn to the meeting hall, amid heavy guard, to assure that they arrived, in De Witt's words, "unharmed and with whole skins." But the Hollanders had taken their own precautions. A guard organized from the nearby garrisons on Holland's payroll stayed close to them in the streets and at the doorways in the assembly place. Once safely arrived, the dele­ gation asked the States to work closely with Holland and to send a deputa­ tion to The Hague to confer with the States of Holland. This done, they strode out through the crowd in the courtyard, which did not stir. 67 The States of Zeeland gave a preliminary reply the next day but refused to make a final decision until the next regular meeting, after instructions had come from the towns. The Hollanders did not wait but left that morning to board their yacht at Veere for the return voyage. 6 8 Some days later De Witt wrote to one of his older companions on the mission, probably Huydecooper. He had had time to reflect on the events through which they had lived. Only his colleague's prudence and the

66 De rechte Ondeckinge 4; "Verbael . . . Zeeland"; John to Jacob de Witt, Sept. 2, 5, i 1652, ARA StH 2643; to unnamed cousin, Sept. 5, 1652, BJ, 1, 66; declaration of Holland deputies, Sept. 5, 1652, in De Witt's hand, ARA StH D146; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 189-90. 67 "Verbael . . . Zeeland"; John to Jacob de Witt, Sept. 5, 1652, ARA StH 2643; to unnamed cousin, Sept. 5, 1652, BJ, I, 66. 68 States of Zeeland to Holland delegates, Sept. 6, 1652, ARA StH D146; "Verbael. . . Zeeland"; J. de Huybert to De Witt, Sept. 8, 1652, BA 3 I, 28-29.

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measures he himself had taken for their safety—that, and God's providence —had saved them, he thought, from the raging mob. 69 On September 21, a fortnight after the departure of the Hollanders from Middelburg, the States of Zeeland sent a formal answer to the proposal of August 28. It was a strong call for the election of the young Prince of Orange as "a notable and competent head" of the armed forces in the posts of captain and admiral general. Count William Frederick should be his lieutenant general. 70 Such a reply would have meant that the mission had failed. But there was an escape clause, noted in a letter to De Witt from Zeeland the same day and underlined as the heart of the matter: the Zeeland assembly was willing to make election of the prince—"designa­ tion," in the language of the period—conditional upon the agreement of Holland and the other provinces. 71 The Zeelanders were playing a game of "now you see it, now you don't" with their own people. They calmed them with a promise of what they wanted, and made its performance depend upon the good will of those who did not want it. 7 2 The Hollanders were more concerned for the moment with the hostility that had been directed against their mission. The States of Holland called upon the Zeeland assembly to hold another conference and to thwart the efforts of persons "outside the government and belonging to other pro­ fessions" to interfere in its work. 73 De Witt wrote to De Huybert and Marinus Stavenisse, a Zeeland deputy to the States General, to complain that Zeeland had shown "not the slightest spark" of the old collaboration with the States of Holland. He added, with a soft but clear threat, that "many here take the matter most strangely and make curious reflections upon it." De Huybert, ill and bedridden, only replied to De Witt three weeks later. Why were the Hollanders so indignant over the States of Zeeland's decision? They wished only to stand by the "ancient reasons, fundamental maxims, and unchangeable rules of the state." 7 4 When an expanded delegation arrived from Zeeland on November 15 to present the proposal to "designate" the prince, the States of Holland, with only Leiden abstaining, adopted an "Advice" on the question of the captaincy general. Drafted by De Witt, the lengthy document served as a 6 » De Witt to "C. van Beuningen," Sept. 13, 1652, BR, V, 3-4. This letter is wrongly printed as to Van Beuningen, who was not a member of the mission but on embassy to Sweden. 70 States of Zeeland to States of Holland, Sept. 21, 1652, copy, ARA StH D146; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 745-46. ' 1 Stavenisse to De Witt, Sept. 21, 1652, ARA StH Dl and BA, I, 29—30. ?2 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 745-46. 73 Res. St. Holl., Oct. 2, 1652, ARA StH 85. 74 De Witt to J. de Huybert and Stavenisse, Oct. 2, 1652, ARA StH 2643; J. de Huybert to De Witt, Oct. 25, 1652, BA, I, 30—31.

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basis for discussion with the Zeelanders. It was characteristic of De Witt's earlier political writings, an argument by specific points, not general prin­ ciples. Apart from giving the historical background of the relationship between the two provinces and repeating the decisions of the Great Assem­ bly of 1651, it merely sought to prove that the election of a captain general was not necessary or desirable. No present need called for election of a "child in the cradle" before his capacities and skills were known.7 5 The "Advice" was presented to the Zeelanders on November 20 and debated during eight meetings which lasted until December 5. The Hol­ land deputation consisted of nine persons, not always the same ones, but with De Witt standing in for the absent Pauw as its leader; the Zeeland deputation was headed by that province's councilor pensionary, De Brune. The visitors admitted that they were acting under the pressure of an angry public, but argued that election of a captain general would relieve the "disorder in the government" of Zeeland and that they had a right to act on their own. When the Hollanders chided them for giving way to a mob, they retorted with a reminder of past rioting in Holland, especially at Dordrecht, Rotterdam, and Enkhuizen, and predicted that there would be more unless a captain general were elected. By December 2 it was clear that there would be no meeting of minds. The Hollanders then sought to dissuade the Zeelanders from carrying the discussions to deputies from the other provinces but obtained agreement only to present the arguments of Holland to the States of Zeeland after they had completed their other conferences. De Witt observed that the Zeeland stiffness was the achievement of three "young and hotheaded" members from Tholen, Veere, and Flushing, who insisted upon following their instructions to the letter. He was pleased, on the other hand, with the unanimity displayed by his own delegation in rejecting the proposal of Zeeland and with the "unusual modesty, friendliness, and respect" with which the conferences had gone off, "neither side employing any vehemence or displaying any sign of passion."7 6 When the "Advice" was formally presented to the Zeelanders on December 5 for transmission to their principals, it had a new final para­ graph, written by De Witt, which for the first time lifted the debate from the level of juridical precedents and political expediency to that of a broad view of the world of state. The Zeelanders, it noted, counted upon a cap­ tain general to remove and prevent "all abuses, failings and shortcomings" in the government. Yet such a man could well be expected to be subject to " Res. St. Holl., Nov. 19, 1652, ARA StH 85; De Witt to N. Ruysch, Nov. 19, 1652, BJ, I, 41. 76 De Witt, "Conferentie met Zeeland over 't captainschap generl.," Nov. 20-Dec. 5, 1652, ARA StH D33; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Nov. 25, Dec. 2, 1652, BR, V, 45-46, 48; Res. St. Holl., Dec. 3, 4, 1652, ARA StH 85.

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"human failings and shortcomings no less than any other person," and his powers would be such that "correction of abuses and outrages" on his part would be extremely difficult, for there would be no "counterpoise" to him. (Here, thirty years before Locke penned the Second Treatise on Government, we find its key argument already enunciated.) De Witt continued with an argument on behalf of popular government, although without distin­ guishing between its aristocratic and democratic forms. When power and authority belonged to many, he argued, it was easy to discover faults and to remedy them. Assemblies and boards with an adequate number of members were not subject to the tendency of "personages of much too great power and dignity" to be flattered by "pernicious counselors" and to punish those who "told the truth."77 The Zeelanders finally returned to their province without presenting to the States General their proposal for designation of the prince. One observer thought that they were not quite as put out by Holland's refusal as they asserted, for they themselves did not wish to fall under the domina­ tion of a "First Noble," who would be the Prince of Orange in his capacity as marquis of Veere and Flushing. Some even hinted that the deputies supported the resolutions of their States only pro forma.78 By mid-December De Witt thought the affair of the designation was already out of the sphere of active politics. He shared the feelings, if not the sarcastic scorn, of Huydecooper, who mocked the "brackish Zeelanders" returning home "with a long face." In time, thought Huydecooper, they would see more clearly, but it would take a Dutch victory to teach Mary Stuart—"Princesse mere"—and her adherents to "speak a better language."79 Support in the other provinces for the designation of the prince was mixed. In Overijssel one of the permanent deputies to the States General, John van der Beecke, was able to counter the efforts of his colleague, Roeloff van Langen, to gain the province's vote for Zeeland's proposal.80 Gelderland was more troublesome. In October De Witt was sure that "the adherents of Freedom are more and more gaining the upper hand," but within a few weeks Holland had to send a delegation led by Wassenaer van Obdam to Gelderland to defeat the "provocateurs" who sparked the movement for designation. De Witt was delighted when the States of Gelderland adjourned without taking a decision. But he found his correspondent, Singendonck, to be of little use in bending Gelderland's policy as Holland wanted, and he remained suspicious of the "men of ill 77 Declaration of States of Holland to States of Zeeland, Dec. 4, 1652, in scribe's hand except for a final paragraph in De Witt's hand, ARA StH D146. 78 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 762—63. 7 9 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Dec. 16, 1652, BR, V, 56-57; Huydecooper to De Witt, Jan. 5, 1653, ARA StH Dl. 80 Bussemaker, Geschiedenisvan Overijsel. I, 27-28.

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will" in the province. 8 ' Friesland and Groningen were not open to the persuasive wiles or even the retaliatory blows of the Hollanders. Both remained firmly in the hands of their stadholder, Count William Frederick, and did his bidding in the States General. De Witt had no independent connections in either province and was more concerned with thwarting their policy than in shaping it. The Orangists became more active as the English war turned toward disaster. The uproar in Zeeland during the visit of the delegation from Holland in September 1652 became the pattern of events which shook Holland itself. The leaders of Holland, and De Witt not least among them, did not understand the nature of the Orangists' grip upon the common people, or at least what to do about it. De Witt could suggest in all serious­ ness a campaign to persuade the people that it would not be in the prince's own best interests for him to obtain his offices except by his merits, thus learning gratitude to the state. He did not understand the starkly emo­ tional nature of their love for "our Prince" and thought only of cool calculation of desired ends and best means. 82 On the other hand, the Orangists already recognized De Witt as one of their most important adversaries. They did not hesitate to attack the States party with slander and hints of treason. 8 3 Rumors were spread that a strong party in Holland and other provinces was engaged in secret correspondence with the enemy. That was why the war against the English republicans was being lost. It was necessary to join forces with Charles II (whose great feat had been his escape after the battle of Worcester): "everything else was make-believe fighting which wastes money and time." 84 On May 4, 1653, the Prince of Orange, aged two and one-hall years, was inducted into the Order of the Garter by a herald-at-arms of Charles II. The ceremony was the signal for a demonstration in The Hague the next day. The burgher guard assembled and marched along the Vijverberg to Count William Frederick's house, where they were regaled with Rhenish wine while the trumpeter sounded the Wilhelmus van Nassouwen. Youths gathered in turbulent bands and broke windows—often the pre­ lude to looting of patrician homes. Early in June it was Dordrecht which had an Orangist demonstration. Burghers carried the prince's arms, printed or painted on paper, attached to their hats and weapons. Others pinned to their breasts a heart of white paper with the Orangist coat of " De Witt to Van Beuningen, Oct. 7, 28, 1652, BR, V, 20-21, 27-30; De Witt to Obdam, Nov. 1, 4, 1652, ARA StH 2643 and BJ, I, 67-68; De Witt to Van Beverningk, July 18, 1653, BJ, I, 99. «2 Draft minute of resolution of States of Holland, Oct. 5, 1652, in De Witt's hand, ARA StH D33. Been, "Praatje over Jan de Witt," 140-41. 8 3 De rechte ondeckinge, [3]. a·· Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 572.

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arms. The town government prudently allowed the demonstration to pass unnoticed. Several weeks later there was another display of Orangist senti­ ments, when the prince and his party stopped at Dordrecht en route to Breda. Aboard the yacht, Princess Mary lifted up her son to be seen by the crowd ashore. They replied with shouts of "Long live the young Prince!" and a privateer ship lying in the stream shot off its cannon. Delft, known as a "good Holland" town in the political sense, was forced to permit the recruitment of sailors to be carried on under the flag of the Prince of Orange, not of the States General, as required by law. 8 5 What could happen if a "good Holland" town did not act with Delft's cautious pusillanimity was shown later in the month in Enkhuizen, a small port town on the Zuider Zee. When drummers beating for naval recruits failed to use the name of the Prince of Orange, angry crowds threatened to throw them into the water. The burgomaster and councilmen were com­ pelled to assent to the drummer's use of the prince's name in place of that of the States General, but it was too late to forestall widespread violence. The home of a leading magistrate had its windows smashed and then was looted. The civic guard was called up, but the disorders continued the next day. The municipal authorities, following the example of Dordrecht the year before, asked the States of Holland to send in troops. Ten com­ panies, which had been ordered to stations on Texel Island, were therefore dispatched by the States to Enkhuizen. Worried lest "the sparks of such a damaging fire" catch elsewhere, the States also warned other towns to be on the alert and sent a committee led by Obdam to investigate the dis­ turbances, seize the ringleaders, and have them taken to The Hague for trial. Recruitment in the name of the prince was to halt. The deputies of Enkhuizen protested, however, that they needed only soldiers, not a committee of the States. 86 The troops did not actually enter Enkhuizen, and the committee was barred from the town, to the dissatisfaction of Their Noble Great Mightinesses. Shortly after mid-July, full quiet and order were reestablished. 87 De Witt did not see the affair as a spontaneous outburst. He wondered "from what quiver the poisonous arrows came which inflict such harm upon the state." 8 8 The entire North Qparter seemed infected, with Hoorn and Medemblik ready to go up in flames. In Medemblik, indeed, a mob prevented troops from entering the city by the threat of cannon fire from the walls, and it 85

Aitzema, III, 811, 824, 825; Van der Hoeven, Cornelius en Johan de Witt, I, 44. Aitzema, III, 820; Wicquefort, Histoire, II, 216; Sec. Res. St. Holl v June 23, 1653, SR1 I, 73-76. 87 John to Jacob de Witt, July 1, to Noordwijk, July 7, 1653, ARA StH 2644; Sec. Res. St. Holl., July 4, 17, 1653, SR, I, 91-94, 96-97; De Witt to Van Beverningk and Nieupoort, July 18, 1653, BJ, I, 97. 88 De Witt to Obdam June 29, to Brederode, July 1, 1653, ARA StH 2644. j 86

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raised the prince's flag over the town hall. The council did not attempt to suppress the armed commoners, and summer was almost ended before order was restored. 89 Disturbances were also widespread in South Hol­ land. In Rotterdam the recruiting drummer was threatened with death unless he called out in the name of the prince, and Cornelius de Witt was perturbed that the city government was unwilling to act. He expected more trouble from the "seafaring folk and the stinking rabble." During the fair in Haarlem the burghers insisted on marching only under flags of the prince's colors. John was pleased when the municipal authorities in Alkmaar responded to a riot in mid-July by calling in two companies of cavalry and arresting three rioters: it was an example that other towns should follow. 90 Violence also came close to the De Witts personally. On June 24 a drunken man accosted Jacob de Witt as he came from the Binnenhof, cursing him and promising to teach him a lesson for talking against the prince. Herbert van Beaumont, the secretary of the States of Holland, who was with Jacob, urged that the guard be called to arrest the man before he made good his threats, but Jacob treated the matter lightly and continued to stroll about. WhenJohn was told, he had the man watched and sent for the public prosecutor to come with his officers to arrest the offender. The drunkard turned upon his watchers with a knife, but they held him off with hurled stones, one of which knocked him unconscious. When he came to, he was arrested and jailed in the Gevangenpoort. Investigation showed that he was a German hanger-on of the Orange family. Despite specula­ tions on who might have prompted the attack, Jacob returned to his duties the next day. 91 Anonymous correspondents continued to send John warnings that plans were afoot to murder him and his father and that he was being careless. He finally persuaded Jacob to leave for Dordrecht by the end of the month. There, in turn, Jacob constantly heard about plots and asked John to take steps to protect himself. Cornelius sent a similar plea from Rotterdam. John was not easily stirred, however. ByJune 27 he reported everything quiet in The Hague. 9 2 89 Noordwijk to De Witt June 30, 1653, ΒΑ, I, 57n.2; De Witt to Van Beverningk, j June 27, 1653, ARA StH 2644; Opperdoes, "Kroniek van Medemblik," 79-80. 90 Cornelius to John de Witt, July 2, 1653, ΒΑ, I, 68, July 3, 4, 1653, ARA StH D2; intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], July 4, 1653, Thurloe, State Papers, I, 314-15; John to Cornelius de Witt, July 13, 1653, ARA StH 2678. 91 John to Cornelius de Witt and others, June 24, 1653, BJ, I, 76-77; Res. St. Holl., June 25, 1653, ARA StH 86; Van Sypesteyn, "Jacob de Witt," 112-15; draft minutes in Jacob de Witt's hand, June 25, 1653, ARA StH D34. 92 Van Sypesteyn, "Jacob de Witt," 118-19; intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], June 16/26, 1653, Thurloe, State Papers, I, 293; Cornelius to John de WittjJune 28, 1653, ΒΑ, I, 67; De Witt to Van Beverningk, June 27, 1653, ARA StH 2644.

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De Witt at last saw that troops alone were not the answer to the dis­ turbances. Enkhuizen was calmer, but "seditious talk" increased elsewhere. Some means had to be found to recapture the confidence of the common people.93 On his proposal, the States of Holland on July 3 decided to print and distribute a declaration describing its vigorous efforts to wage the war and the absence of any action by the other provinces to back up their brave talk. The synods were instructed to ask preachers to warn and instruct the populace. Those who spread slanders were to be hunted down and punished. Yet De Witt had little confidence that these measures would do much good. Unless the regents acted at once with "foresight and courage," there was danger that the government would be overthrown and the English driven beyond reconciliation. The state would be ruined, and its inhabitants would fall into "wretched slavery." Ruyl let it be known that Haarlem was ready to support designation of the prince because "some satisfaction" had to be given to the common people.94 De Witt was on the point of desperation, and he described the country as under siege, almost under occupation. The belief of the common folk that there had to be a head of state was so deeply rooted that "hardly one out of a thousand" among them was free of it. He saw a crisis at hand but hoped he was wrong.9 5 Princess Mary refused to rest the prince's cause upon a revolu­ tionary populace, however; she wanted his elevation to come from the States of Holland.96 But the crisis did not break. De Witt was able to persuade Ruyl to urge his principals to delay their proposal, at least until it was seen how the negotiations with England went, and they agreed. Zeeland also decided not to put its proposal for designation before the States General.9 7 It was in the midst of this large crisis, diminished but not eliminated by the small success with Haarlem, that De Witt undertook on July 23 the whole burden of the office of Holland's councilor pensionary.

Ever since June 1652, De Witt had served as Pauw's deputy during his absence in England and then as his assistant, carrying many and some­ times all of the responsibilities of the councilor pensionary's office. Pauw returned from London in July, but there was no respite for De Witt in his

93

De Witt to Brederode, July 1, 1653, ARA StH 2644. Res. St. Holl., July 3, 1653, ARA StH 86; De Witt to Van Sypesteyn, July 7, to Jacob van den Corput 1 July 10, 1653, ARA StH 2644; Elias, Schetsen, V, 131-32. 95 De Witt to Van Beverningk, July 11, 1653, BJ, I, 95-97. 96 Geyl, Oranje en Stuart, 11-3. 97 De Witt to Van Beverningk, July 18, 1653, BJ, I, 98-99. 94

WAR WITH CROMWELL

varied occupations. 98 The burden became even heavier when the coun­ cilor pensionary fell ill during August and could not even attend the meetings of the States of Holland—his primary duty." De Witt had already been given the right to open letters to the States of Holland as soon as they were received, instead of having to wait until it was in session—a clear sign of confidence. In October, when Pauw was given permission to go to Amsterdam to visit a son who was gravely ill, De Witt was officially asked to take on the duties of councilor pen­ sionary. 1 00 After Pauw's return to The Hague, De Witt continued to serve as one of the busiest of deputies to the States of Holland and the States General, aiding Pauw in the conduct of the multifarious business of the Dutch state in the midst of a war that was not going well. There are few traces of their intercourse, because they were usually in the same town and the same buildings and hence had no need to write to each other. But it was obvious to Van Beuningen in Stockholm that De Witt was responsible for "everything which concerns the service of the state." 1 01 When the States of Holland recessed on February 1, 1653, De Witt made his usual intersession journey home to Dordrecht. He remained there for the better part of two weeks, going back to The Hague on the afternoon of February 20. He found that the sixty-eight-year-old Pauw had been ill for five days. The next morning, after the States of Holland convened, Van Beaumont brought word that Pauw was too sick to come but would not fail to be present when his health permitted. In view of Pauw's indisposi­ tion, De Witt was asked to take his place temporarily, according to custom. That afternoon, at three o'clock, Pauw died. 1 02 Foreseeing "a great change in the affairs of the Republic," De Witt wrote at once to burgomaster Ruysch in Dordrecht. Several of the most senior and influential members from the town should come as quickly as possible to help give the leadership necessary '"for the welfare of the state and principally for the security of the province of Holland." It was especi­ ally important that the handling of affairs pass into the hands of a person 98 Draft materials for the States of Holland, in De Witt's hand, Aug. 9, 1652, ARA StH D33; De Witt to Dordrecht, Aug. 10, 1652, ARA StH 2678. The materials which might reveal more details of their collaboration are unfortunately not present in the Pauw family archives now in the Algemeen Rijksarchief in The Hague; before these were deposited there, a fire destroyed most of the family's historic papers. Communication of Prof. J. J. Poelhekke to author, Oct. 1, 1974. »» De Witt to Van Beuningen, Aug. 17, 1652, BR, V, 3. 10 0 Res. St. Holl., July 1, Oct. 16, 1652, ARA StH 85. 101 Van Beuningen to De Witt, Feb. 22, 1653, BR, V, 90. 1 0 2 De Witt to Pauw, Feb. 3, 1653, ARA StH 2644; De Witt to Dordrecht, Feb. 21, 1653, ARA StH 2678; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 24, 1653, BR, V, 83; Res. St, Holl., Feb. 21, 1653, ARA StH 86; Min. Res. St. Holl., 1, Feb. 21, 1653, in De Witt's hand, ARA StH 406.

WAR WITH CROMWELL

whose "good maxims, upright zeal, and total firmness" were beyond doubt and who could be relied upon completely. 103 On March 1 De Witt put before the States of Holland the question of naming a new councilor pensionary. It was essential, he reminded them, to have the "ordinary Director of the affairs of this province" in office, "especially in the present perplexing situation." Before leaving The Hague to consult their principals, they should choose someone to direct the work of the assembly during the interim. The assembly thereupon decided to seek election of a new councilor pensionary during the present session and asked De Witt to continue serving. This is all that the resolution of the States, which was drawn up by De Witt, tells us. But Aitzema records in his chronicle that Dordrecht's deputies proposed the election of Ruyl, the pensionary of Haarlem, the town next after Dordrecht in rank, while the Haarlemmers and all the other members urged that the post be given to De Witt. 104 We might think this no more than becoming modesty on the part of De Witt personally and his home town were it not for evidence that all had not gone smoothly between Dordrecht and its servant during previous months. More and more he had begun to judge situations and set goals from the vantage point of Holland's general interests rather than Dord­ recht's private ones. His masters at home were quick to remind him that his first duty was to them, but still he questioned their judgment and reminded them of their duty to the province and the "common father­ land." During December he defended himself vigorously against the charge that he had failed to support a candidate put forward by Dordrecht for the post of bailiff of South Holland. The deputies of Dordrecht had followed the instructions of the Old Council "precisely, so far as lay in our power." He was shocked and angry when burgomaster Ruysch peremp­ torily ordered him to put aside his personal opinions. If Matthew Berck, his fellow-pensionary, was responsible for Ruysch's "blind errors," he retorted, then Berck lied. Ruysch's action in writing directly to Pauw to warn that "private interests and considerations" would not prevail and to ask for delay of the appointment touched not only his own person but also the "honor and reputation" of Dordrecht in the person of its deputies. 105 The Old Council, informed of the situation, dutifully supported the burgomaster, but instructed the other Dordrecht deputies to return and

10 3 De Witt to N. Ruysch, Feb. 21, 1653, ARA StH 2678 and BJ, I, 47; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 24, 1653, BR, V, 83. 104 Res. St. Holl., Mar. 1, 1653, ARA StH 86; draft resolution in De Witt's hand, [March 1, 1653], ARA StH D34; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 787. 105 De Witt to Dordrecht, June 28, Aug. 3, 27, Dec. 13, to N. Ruysch, Dec. 14, 1652, BJ, I, 36-38, 41-45.

WAR WITH CROMWELL

report on what had happened. 106 The States of Holland acceded to De Witt's "repeated" arguments and separated the bailiff's election from that for other offices. De Witt then went in person to Dordrecht to give his own version of the affair. 107 While the deputies to the States consulted with their principals about the candidates for the councilor pensionary's office, De Witt wrote for advice to his father, who was in Liibeck on a diplomatic mission. Jacob approved his son's taking the duties of the vacant office on a provisional basis. If the States should look to him when it came to electing a regular councilor pensionary, however, "it would be best, in my judgment, to decline, although in terms not too strong, displaying modesty and civility and allowing the government of Dordrecht to direct the affair in the most fitting way." Jacob de Witt's hesitancy and caution were not shared by his cousin in Den Bosch, Jacobus Focanus. He wrote to John on March 19 to congratulate him: "If I were in France, I would count myself among those called princes of the blood." 108 Alas, John does not seem to have found time to reply, so that we do not know how he felt about being compared to the Most Christian King! On April 10, with the States of Holland «η the point of recessing, De Witt was asked to remain in The Hague to continue performing the duties of temporary councilor pensionary during its absence. Not until June 10 did the States of Holland reconvene to elect a permanent replacement for Pauw. A committee of nine was named to work with the delegated coun­ cilors on an instruction for a new councilor pensionary, which was pro­ posed and adopted ten days later. In addition to the usual provisions that the councilor pensionary be an orthodox Galvinist and know at least Latin and French, he was to "hold himself neutral, and give advice or consulta­ tions to no one or grant anyone pensions or wages." 109 Finally, on July 23 the States of Holland decided to elect De Witt as councilor pensionary in his own right. There had been seven other nomi­ nees, but when the question was finally put, the others stepped aside in his favor. He asked for several days in which to consider acceptance and to consult with the burgomaster and council of Dordrecht. The request was granted and he left the next day for home. 110 De Witt met with his father, who had returned from Liibeck, and his brother on July 25. The question of acceptance was seriously debated, not merely taken for granted. John 1»« BJ, I, 45n.l. 107 De Witt to Dordrecht, Dec. 19, 1652, ARA StH 2678; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Dec. 23, 1652, BR, V, 61. 1 ο»Jacob to John de Witt, Mar. 11, 1653, ΒΑ, I, 65n.2; Jacobus Focanus to De Witt, Mar. 19, 1653, ARA StH Dl. 109 Res. St. Holl., Apr. 10, June 10, 20, 21, 1653, ARA StH 86. 110 Res. St. Holl., July 23, 1653, ARA StH 86; intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], July 18/28, 1653, Thurloe, State Papers, I, 359.

WAR WITH CROMWELL

painted the difficulties of the post, which carried immense responsibilities in a time of extreme danger. Jacob and Cornelius, for reasons upon which we can only speculate—honor, duty, certainly, perhaps also the welfare of the clan—urged him to take the post nonetheless. He bowed to their judgment. 111 The consent of the magistrates of Dordrecht took more time. Finally, on July 29 the Old Council gave him permission to accept the post of councilor pensionary of Holland for five years; during that term he would be dispensed from his oath and duty as pensionary of Dordrecht. 112 He returned to The Hague that evening and informed the States of Holland the next morning that he had decided to take the post "in the name of God." Van Beaumont, his cousin and secretary of the assembly, read to him the commission for the office, after which he took the oath and began "actual possession and service." The States unanimously accepted the next day the act of indemnity for all the official acts which De Witt had drafted. It provided the protection of law to the holder of "a very dan­ gerous office" against attacks within the law but was no shield against the personal violence which had already begun to be directed against the De Witts. The unanimity of his election showed the confidence given to De Witt, although formal congratulations were rare. De Huybert hoped that God would endow him with "the comfort of wisdom, prudence and courage" to help guide the country. Van Beuningen's felicitations mattered more, as from a true friend and political companion. "You can be given no wider or more illustrious field to which to devote your extraordinarily sharp gifts of wisdom, vigilance and good leadership in the service of the state. Nor could the state find anyone else on whose shoulders the burden of so heavy and notable an office can be given with the same confidence and reliance." For the first time it was possible to believe that the "desperate course" of the republic's affairs was not without remedy. Personally, he had long anticipated and desired De Witt's election, and he hoped that all "good patriots" would also approve. In reply, De Witt passed silently over his friend's compliments and thanked him for his good wishes. 114 De Witt's cousin Nicholas Vivien repeated Van Beuningen's judgment in somewhat different terms. The great expectations which had been placed in De Witt could now be made good. Another cousin, Gijsbert i i i D e V V i t t t o V a n B e u n i n g e n , A u g . 5 , 1 6 5 3 , BR, V, 180; De Witt to W. Boreel, Aug. 15, 1653, BR, I, 1. ι 1 2 "Acte van ontsaeginge, ofte dispensatie, Mr. Johan de Witt pensionaris van Dordrecht, om Raedtpensionaris," July 29, 1653, copy, ARA StH 2717. 113 Res. St. Holl., July 30, 31, 1653, ARA StH 86; Hollantse Mercurius, IV (1653), 138n. 1 i 4 J. de Huybert to De Witt,July 30, 1653, ARA StH D2; Van Beuningen to De Witt, Aug. 16, De Witt to Van Beuningen, Sept. 9, 1653, BR, V, 208-9.

WAR WITH CROMWELL

de With, did not send congratulations for half a year because he lived in Mauritsstad in Brazil. He admitted surprise that so important a post had been given to so young a man, but he was confident, thanks to reports sent to him by friends, that De Witt was capable of carrying the burden. 11 5

113 Vivien to De Witt, Sept. 13, 1653, ARA StH D2; Gijsbert de With to De Witt, Dec. 3, 1653, ARA StH D3.

CHAPTER FIVE

LIFE IN THE HAGUE (1653-1660)

D

E W I T T ' S P R O M O T I O N from pensionary and deputy of Dordrecht to chief functionary of the province meant that The Hague became his permanent residence, not just his place of duty away from home. It was then a small city of notable charm, only a half hour across the dunes from the sea, whence came fresh winds that moderated the heat of summer. The dunes, where coneys roamed in large numbers, were a place of relaxation. The moats around the town were planted with trees, and the road and footpaths were well laid out. To south and west there were still meadowlands with cattle grazing as far as the eye could see. 1 No longer an official of Dordrecht, De Witt had to move out of the residence provided by the town for its delegates at The Hague and set up his own home. At first he lived with the Verbies family on the Vijverberg, but in mid-August he rented from one Assendelft a house on West Einde street. It possessed the size and dignity adequate for a man of rank: it had been the home of Amelis van Bouckhorst, lord of Wimmenum and a member of Holland's order of Nobility, and it would be the residence of the English ambassador in later centuries. Yet De Witt had only a single servant to keep house, sent by his sister Johanna. When maid Lijsbet van der Linde found it a bit too much for herself alone, Johanna suggested hiring another girl to help her, at least for one day a week. 2 De Witt's establishment needed money that neither his salary of 3,000 guilders a year nor his inheritance of less than 10,000 guilders from his mother provided. His father paid the costs of furnishing the home and lent some of his own household possessions, including a bedstead. De Witt ordered beer from his home town, as well as wine, which was cheaper and of better quality there than at The Hague. 3 Cretser, Beschryvinge van 's Grauenhage3 2. Johanna van Beveren-de Witt to John de Witt, Aug. 16, 1653, Aug. 2, 1654, ΒΑ, I, 75, 78-80; De Witt to Catharina van Sypesteyn, Aug. 21, to Johanna van Beveren-de Witt, Oct. 3, 1653, BJ, I, 79-80, 82-83; Fruin, in ΒΑ, I, 75-76; Enno van Gelder, "De Witt als Hagenaar," 95. 3 Veegens, Hisionsche Studien, II, 146; John to Jacobde Witt, Oct. 2, 1653, ARA StH 2644, Dec. 22, 29, 1653, Aug. 6, 1655, BJ, I, 84-85, 286, Sept. 20, 1654, ARA StH 2645, Oct. 28, 1656, ARA StH 2647; John to Cornelius de Witt, Feb. 8, 1658, ARA StH 2649; John de Witt to Johanna van Beveren-de Witt, July 28, 1658, ARA StH 2646; Jacob to John de Witt, Jan. 1, 1654, ARA StH D3; Cornelius to John de Witt, Nov. 4, 1656, ARA StH D7. 1

2

LIFE IN THE HAGUE

Two months after taking office, De Witt asked his uncle Cornelius van Sypesteyn to buy him carriage horses at any price he thought fit, "without holding you to a hundred guilders more or less." Although his newly hired coachman preferred geldings or mares, De Witt was ready to take stallions if they were of better quality and cost less. A year later he spent a long day buying two roans which he judged to be "gentle and pure." Cornelius arranged hire of a meadow for his brother's horses and purchased hay for him. De Witt still did not know horses well, for he had to ask how much hay two horses needed for a year. Many years later, he could be quite precise in ordering a horse for his coach: it had to be a black mare, round in the rump and broad in the breast, with a big white star.4 It was not until 1659, after his reelection to a second term as councilor pensionary, that De Witt took the next step in external display of status, the acquisition of a coat of arms. The work was done in Dordrecht, according to his instructions and under Cornelius de Witt's supervision. After consultation with cousin De Wit, "because I do not understand the subject at all," Cornelius had a helmet included because it would go well on a coach. De Witt brought the work of heraldry to the Hague to give to John in person.5 De Witt, under thirty when he took office and in the fullest vigor of his years, took an active part in the social life of The Hague. Parties were his "element" and he enjoyed them "no less than a fish does the water," he wrote in regretfully declining an invitation. His cousin Catharina van Sypesteyn teased him because he had a "new darling" who probably would rob her family of a visit from him.6 Social activity in The Hague was no longer centered in the stadholder's circle, left empty by the death of William II, but in the mansion of field marshal John Wolfert van Brederode, who gave his lead to the gay blades of the capital. De Witt fitted in easily with them; he was not abashed by scions of the House of Nassau or by young noblemen, and certainly not by regents' sons. As a patrician and the country's highest official, he was accepted by blue bloods as a friend, if not quite an equal, and was invited to join the "Ordre de l'Union de la Joye," a band of cavaliers and their ladies. The grand mistress of the order was Amelie de Brederode, the field marshal's eldest daughter, who was married to 4 De Witt to Cornelius van Sypesteyn, Sept. 4, 7, to Dirk van Coolwijk, Sept. 7, 1653, BJ, I, 80-83, to Huyg Coorn, July 9, 1669, BJ, III, 516; John to Cornelius de Witt, Sept. 14, 18, 1654, ARA StH 2645, July 8, 2, 8, 1656, ARA StH 2647. 5 Cornelius to John de WittjJuly 3, 1659, ΒΑ, I, 292-93. ' De Witt to a cousin, June 16, 1652, ARA StH 2643; Catharina van Sypesteyn to De Witt, Aug. 22, 1653, De Sypesteyn-Stichting, Nieuw Loosdrecht, Familie-Archiefvan Sypesteyn (hereafter cited as FA), 800.

LIFE IN THE HAGUE

the Baron of Slavatha (or Slabatha). De Witt was sponsored for member­ ship in the order by her younger half-sister, Sophie Marguerite, known as iiJreule [Miss] Margaretha van Nassau" because she was an illegitimate daughter of Count John of Nassau-Siegen and Brederode's first wife. He was given his commission as a member on February 23, 1653, in recognition of his "love of laughter, dancing, gambols and delights." 7 In writing to the baroness, De Witt handled with easy skill the bantering, precious style of the company's life, but a tone that hints of infatuation slipped into remarks about Sophie Marguerite. His physical absence from her he attributed only to a "violent obstacle." Some six weeks later she asked him in French verses to return something he had taken from her as a mark of affection, and she reminded him that the time had come to propose a prayer "in which your whole being is involved." He replied a week later, returning the "handwork" (probably a sachet) together with an extract from his instructions forbidding him to accept any gifts, an order "quite reasonable in all other occasions but very hard in this one." They visited the fair in The Hague together, and he seems to have lost some kind of wager to her, for he owed her a gift, an "instrument mobile," probably a watch. 8 Did De Witt, forgetting his rank, truly fall in love with freule Margaretha and even consider a proposal of marriage to Brederode's stepdaughter, as one historian, descended from De Witt's uncle Van Sypesteyn, has suggested? 9 Or was there nothing more at stake than the ordinary gallantry of the Union de la Joye? Is the notion that a Jan de Witt might ask the hand of a cousin of the Prince of Orange, if a distant one without the benefit of legitimacy, "simply to be rejected," as another, greater historian, Fruin, has suggested? 10 The evidence can be read several ways, but Fruin's very sobriety of spirit and mind may well have made him unable to feel the surge of a young man's passion. What is certain is that within a few months Jacob de Witt was suggesting to his son girls of his own class who were worthy of his interest. When John 7 C. A. van Sypesteyn, "Johan de Witt in zijne betrekking tot den veldmaarschalk Brederode, tot de freule Margaretha van Nassau en tot TUnion de IaJoye' (1653-1655)," VLHB3 CIX (1869), 424-26; "Commission pour Mons r de Witt, en qualite de Chevalier de l'Ordre de TUnion de la Jove, receu Ie 23. fevr. 1653," ARA StH, Coll. ti De Witt (Gevaerts)," no. 7; Enno van Gelder, "De Witt als Hagenaar," 95-97; BJ 3 I, 266n.3. 8 See De Witt to Baroness de Slabatha, Oct. 10, 1653, ARA StH 2644, Jan. 16, 1654, BJ3 I, 270-71; Sophie Marguerite de Nassau to De Witt, Mar. 1654, Correspondance Francaise du Grand Pensionnaire Jean de Witi, e d . Francois Combes (hereafter cited as C F ) (Paris, 1873), 377; De Witt to Sophie Margaretha van Nassau, Mar. 14, Aug. 13, 1654, BJ i I, 268-70 and CF3 131; Van Sypesteyn, "De Witt in zijne betrekking tot Brederode,'' 438, 483-85; De Witt to Obdam, Aug. 13, 1654, ARA StH 2645. 9 Van Sypesteyn, "De Witt in zijne betrekking tot Brederode," 494-95. 10 Fruin, in BJ I, 271. 3

LIFE IN THE HAGUE

went to Amsterdam early in October with his friend Van Beuningen for a few days' visit, Jacob wrote that there was a Miss Bernarts there, duly noted as the daughter of an administrator of the Dutch East India Company. "You can give some attention to her," he wrote pointedly. 11 John apparently was not attracted to her but gave his attention briefly to Margaretha Tulp, daughter of the famed anatomist Nicholas Tulp. When he won no success with her, he turned to a nineteen-year-old heiress, Wendela Bicker. Her late father, John Bicker, had been former burgomaster of Amsterdam and, with his brothers Andrew and Cornelius, the head of one of the wealthiest business families in the city as well as a leader of the political clan which had been driven from power by William II in 1650. Within a fortnight, it was known in The Hague that De Witt was courting Wendela. 1 2 At the end of October De Witt returned to Amsterdam. This time there was no question that his heart was taken. A visit planned for less than two weeks was extended to almost three, and this "matiere d'Amour, which I have indeed often heard disturbs even the strongest minds," caused him to live "between hope and fear." He returned to Amsterdam that same weekend, and continued to do so whenever the pressure of his work permitted. To the widowed Alida Trip, Wendela's aunt and his own cousin once removed, he wrote an apology for not visiting her in her mansion upon the Heerengracht. She would understand "how busy a lover is with his amours." 1 3 De Witt was invited in December to the wedding of Wendela's elder sister Geertruid and Jean Deutz, a banker and merchant living on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. In accepting the invitation, subject to the pressure of duties in The Hague, De Witt asked Deutz to speak "to her who you know possesses my soul, and to whom I am prevented from speaking directly in this way by a rigorous command (which, in truth, is based on nothing save the sovereign will of her who is truly my sovereign)." Deutz could tell Wendela that her suitor was able to suffer absence from her only by remembering her delightful presence and conversation and by hope and imagination of "still more solid joy in the future." Deutz read John's letter to Wendela, and her response was 1 1 De Witt to Van Beverningk and Nieupoort, Oct. 9, 1654, BJ, I, 242-43; Jacob to John de Witt, Oct. 10, 1654, BA, I, 146n.l. 1 2 Kernkamp, in BJ, I, 274n.2; Wendela to John de Witt July 1, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 151-52; j intelligence from The Hague, Oct. 23, 1654, Thurloe, State Papers, II, 666. 1 3 C. A. vail Sypesteyn, "Mededeelingen omtrent het huiselijk leven van Johan de Witt en zijne vrouw Wendela Bicker," Haagsche Stemmen, 1887/88, 156; De Witt to Van Beverningk, Oct. 30, to A. Trip, Nov. 24, 1654, BJ, I, 248, 275; De Witt to Riccen, Nov. 20, to Obdam and others, Nov. 20, 1654, ARA StH 2645; Fruin and Kernkamp, in BJ, I, 275n.l.

LIFE IN THE HAGUE

encouraging. 14 On December 20 De Witt arrived in Amsterdam for the wedding, and he stayed on there (the States of Holland were in recess) until January 9 to press his courtship. On a day which he did not record for history, she accepted his proposal, after overcoming her mother's scruples. 1 5 Custom now barred De Witt from speaking to his bride-to-be. After returning to The Hague he wrote to her at her home with her mother on the Keizersgracht. He was overjoyed at the thought of his marriage and impatient for "enjoyment of the incomprehensible joy which comes afterwards as completion." 16 Wendela replied in letters which give an insight into her accomplish­ ments and character. She admitted unabashedly that she had an "unreadable hand and botched spelling," and her use of language was simple. Yet she was clearly an easy-going, friendly, and happy girl of nineteen, who did not fuss over the house in which she would live but asked only that it be warm and easy to care for. 17 The pair were duly bound by contract of marriage on January 29. Wendela received from her. mother a dowry of fifty thousand guilders, consisting of twenty-four thousand guilders in cash and the rest in a parcel of land in Hofland near Voorschoten. In addition there was the expectation of eventually sharing with two older sisters in her mother's fortune. Although De Witt drafted a codicil providing that if either WendeIa or he died without children or dependents the survivor should enjoy the goods of the deceased, widow Bicker reduced her obligation to an outright gift of four thousand guilders to John if her daughter died first. 1 8 During the feast that followed the signing of the contract, De Witt took time to write a few lines to Nieupoort, "amid the noise of the friends at their plates." The banns were issued the next Sunday, January 31, and the wedding itself was set for February 16. 19 The guest list for the wedding feast grew until it numbered seventy-nine, and then was reduced to seventy-one. The letters of invitation display the frankness 14 Deutz to De Witt, Dec. 6, 11, 1654, BA, I, 142-44; De Witt to Deutz, Dec. 9, 1654, BJ, I, 276-77. 1 5 Fruin, in BJ, I, 277-78; De Witt to Nieupoort, Jan. 8, 1655, BR, III, 4-5; De Witt to Deutz, Feb. 24, 1668, BJ, III, 446n.2. 1 ' De Witt to Wendela Bicker, Jan. 10, 1655, BJ, I, 278-79. " Wendela Bicker to De Witt, Jan. 15, 18, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 150, 151. 1 8 Marriage contract of John de Witt and Wendela Bicker, Jan. 29, 1655, ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," nx 1; draft codicil, Jan. 29, 1655, ARA StH D31; dowry memorandum of Agneta Bicker-de Graeff, [Jan. 29, 1655], ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 1; Van Sypesteyn, "Huiselijk leven," 160n. 1; Been, "Praatje over Jan de Witt," 144. 1 » De Witt to Nieupoort, Jan. 29, 1655, BR, III, 12-13; Agneta Bicker-de Graeff and others to Gosewinus Buytendijck, Jan. 29, 1655, BJ, I, 283,

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characteristic of a Dutch people not yet turned prudish. They felt, wrote John and Wendela, "together with the powerful imagination of coming joys, the sweetness of a preparatory union of souls, to which a desired joining of bodies is to follow." 20 Various members of the family arranged for furnishing their home. John and Maria Coenen, who lived in the Assendelft house, lent them a blue bedstead and arranged to hire maidservants, although Mevrouw Coenen thought that if Wendela desired exemplary cleanliness in the housework, as was evident, she would do better to bring one from Amsterdam, since it was difficult to teach girls from The Hague to do the work properly. Her husband arranged for a beaver hat to be made for De Witt at a cost of fifty-six guilders, and asked for further details of a heavy lamp and other silverware being made for De Witt by goldsmith Van der Made. 21 SisterJohanna had various articles of clothing made up for him. Father Jacob inquired whether he had bought any jewelry on his own, and, if so, at what price. Did he need money? He probably did, although we do not have his letter of reply, for he spent 6,339 guilders on a pearl necklace, a ring, and other jewelry. 2 2 When the costs of the wedding came in, Jacob was shocked. They were much higher than he had expected, and he would have to borrow to pay them. He could get 3,000 to 4,000 guilders at Dordrecht, but suggested that John arrange the loan from receiver John van Berckel or at Amsterdam, where the interest rate was 5 percent. It took some months for De Witt to make these arrangements, but he was finally able to obtain a loan of 3,000 guilders from Jacobus Trip at 4 percent (Trip had been unwilling to make the loan at 3| percent, as De Witt had proposed). 23 In the meantime John began to repay some of his indebtedness to his father. He sent 1,000 guilders on July 8, and promised more when he could, but it would not come quickly. 24 Of the wedding itself we have no report, for De Witt was "still busy" with Wendela two days afterward and had no time for duties of state. Their expectations of each other were obviously met. When De Witt

20 De Witt, four lists of invited persons, Feb. 16, 1655, ARA StH D35; De Witt and Wendela Bicker to Fannius and Catharina van Sypesteyn 1 Feb. 2, 1655, ARA StH 2646, to Zwijndrecht and others, Feb. 2,1655, BJ,1,285, to Nieupoort, Feb. 12, 1655, BR, III, 15. 21 M. Coenen-de Veer to De Witt, Feb. 1, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 146; J. Coenen to De Witt, Feb. 4, 1655, ARA StH D4 and ΒΑ, I, 147. 22 Johanna van Beveren-de Witt to John de Witt, Feb. 7, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 147-49; De Witt, list of purchases, [c. Feb. 16, 1655], ARA StH D35. " Jacob to John de Witt, Mar. 9, 1655, ARA StH D4; BA, I, 149n.2; Cornelius to John de Witt, Nov. 24, 1655, ARA StH D5; De Witt to J. Trip, Dec. 5, 1656, ARA StH 2647. 24 John tojacob de Witt, July 8, 1655, BJ, I, 311.

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received a letter from Nieupoort on February 26, in which his older friend repeated the wish that "Father" Cats had "with grave mien" expressed to him in the presence of the assembled delegated councilors after his own marriage—that the bridal pair "might wear each other down to the thinnest splinters,"—De Witt replied with easy confidence that many years would pass before that happened. 25 Joost van den Vondel, greatest of Dutch poets, wrote a long poem in celebration of the union between the councilor pensionary and the daughter of the Bickers, whose flag threw its shadow over the great ocean and whose richly laden ships brought the golden harvest of the world to Holland. He praised De Witt's leadership during the late war, when, still young in years, he "stood like a rock at the rudder of my free state, I tempted by no man's favor, frightened by no man's hate," and won back peace. Now, amid his fatiguing duties, "this Hercules, who stands guard for freedom," needed a woman to refresh his soul. Vondel called upon Heaven to bless the pair and their country "with golden times." 26 There were many other poems on the marriage, preserved in handwriting or broadsides in the De Witt family papers. 27 Most of these are nothing more than verses in the heavily classicistic style popular in Holland's Golden Age, shining with good will and little talent, but one anonymous broadside is not without charm. In short couplets this Minne-Sang (love song) chants the "sweet battle" of physical love about to begin, in which both sides win. 28 Another poem, by J. van der Pen, beautifully inscribed, displays imagination only in a politically perilous line: "De Witt's destiny was to be born to rule." 29 The affairs of state had to await the conclusion of the business of Love, as the amused French ambassador remarked, because Van Beverningk, who had been spelling De Witt during his absence, was engaged in his own courtship, which, with De Witt's good hopes accompanying him, succeeded in early March. 30 Van Beverningk, asking for De Witt's

25 Van Beverningk at Amsterdam to Nieupoort, Feb. 19, 1655, Thurloe, State Papers, II, 144;NieupoorttoDeWitt,Feb. 19, De Witt to Nieupoort, Feb. 26, 1655, BR, III, 16-17. 16 VondeJ, "Ter Bruilofte van den E. HereJoan de Witt, Raadpensionaris van den Lande van Holland en Westfriesland, en de Ed. Joffer Wendela Bickers," in Volledige Dichtwerken en Oorsponkelijke Proza, ed. Albert Verwey (Amsterdam, 1927), 860-61. 27 ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 1. 2 8 Minne-sang Op de Bruijloft van den Heer Mr. Johan de Witt en Juffr. Wendela Bickers (n.p., [1655]). 2« "Het Noodloth heeft de Witt ter Heerschappij geboren": Ms, ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 1. so De Witt at Amsterdam to Nieupoort, Feb. 26, 1655, BR, III, 17; Esteban de Gamarra to Alonzo de Cardenas, Spanish ambassador in England, Feb. 26, Pierre Chanut to Antoine Bordeaux-Neufville, Mar. 5, 1655, Thurloe, State Papers, 111, 155, 168; BA, I, 155n2.

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advice about arrangements for the wedding and the purchase of jewelry and wine, gave De Witt reason for additional self-congratulation. Van Beverningk's bride-to-be, Johanna Gillon, was proving to be a willful partner, so unlike Wendela. WhenJohanna and Hieronymus invited the newly-wed De Witts to their own wedding early in April, John assured them he would come unless "tedious and unpleasant reasons" kept him away. He wished them joy in the joining of bodies with complete frankness but emphasized too the superiority of the joining of souls. 31 When Wendela's cousin, Gerard Bicker van Swieten, became engaged to Alida van Papenbroeck, De Witt wished that she might soon "put her new boss in his prison." 32 By early March John and Wendela were at home in The Hague, but after a few weeks they returned to visit in Amsterdam. John went off for a few days' "pleasure trip" (speelreysjen) through the towns of North Holland with several friends. 33 Wendela rapidly won confidence in her husband's devotion. When she returned to Amsterdam again late in June, she teased him about the engagement of his "former mistress [in the sense of object of attention], I mean Miss Tulp, whom the young people call Sis Tulp," to Jan Six. Wendela already had a wife's concern for her John: she warned him in a postscript to take care of himself and to remember to eat breakfast, "for it is good for your health." When she left for a stay of a week or two at De Wijck (the modern Beverwijk), the country place bought by her father in 1650 where De Witt had courted her, she wrote him to join her there. He would not have to bring bedding, as she had anticipated. Her thoughts never wandered from him; she would love him as long as she drew breath. 34 The newlyweds did not stay long in the Assendelft house, which they shared with the Coenens and which in any case was too far from the Binnenhof. They moved twice, first to a house on the Wagenstraat near the bridge, and then soon again to another house on the Vlamingstraat, which were hardly closer, before renting a house on the Heerengracht, at the corner of the Fluweelen Burgwal, where they stayed for five years. The rental was 750 guilders a year, but De Witt stipulated that he would 31 Van Beverningk at Amsterdam to De Witt, Mar. 13, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 155-56; De Witt to Van Beverningk and Gillon, Mar. 17, 1655, ARA StH 2646. 32 "Den frisschen baes haest in de boutten mach crygen": De Witt to J. Trip j July 29, 1655, BJ 1 I, 289-90. 33 John to Cornelius de Witt, Mar. 5, 1655, BJ, I, 286; De Witt at Amsterdam to Nieupoort, Apr. 2, 1655, BR, III, 34-35. 34 Wendela de Witt-Bicker to John de Witt, July 1, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 151-52, July 3, 5, 1655, ARA StH D5. Wendela continued to sign her name as "Wendela Bicker," in accordance with the contemporary Dutch usage by which wives retained their own family names. See "Note on Names," p. xi.

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not be obligated to pay the land tax or any other tax on the house. To decorate the anteroom of this new house, into which they moved on May 1, 1656, De Witt ordered a hanging from the Delft tapestry-maker Maximilian Vander Guch, at a cost of eight guilders per ell. 3 5 Wendela remained at The Hague with John until the session of the States of Holland ended in August, and then she went with him to Dordrecht. When the time came to return to The Hague, she asked him to come with their coachman and carriage and not travel by common canalboat and wagon. He was not afraid, she knew, but he should not take the chance, for her sake. She thought of him at night, "when I am alone," and by day, "when I look for you and find you nowhere." 36 Married life brought her a natural honesty of phrase that no longer warranted her self-reproof as a "limping writer." 37 Wendela was becoming what Vondel had hoped for in his poem, a respite for her husband from the troubles and pressures of the world. She was not a bluestocking, with a keen intelligence whetted by education, like Cornelius's wife, Maria van Berckel, who, people said, "wore the pants." For all her high status, Wendela was a woman of simple ways and strong feelings, devoted to her husband and to the children that came to the marriage; in the best sense of the word, she was a huisvrouw, wife and homemaker. When De Witt returned to his home in the evening after a day's toil, he found not stimulation but relaxation. If he was able to bear his immense burdens for so many years, it was perhaps because Wendela gave him the spiritual rest that he needed and refuge from incessant tasks and perplexities. On the morrow of her death many years later, the perceptive French exile Saint-Evremond wrote that De Witt had "found ease and comfort [toute sa douceur ] in life at home after his heavy tasks." 38 She would have liked that tribute. By the time of her stay in Dordrecht, it was evident that Wendela was carrying her first child. De Witt wrote to the Old Council at Dordrecht to ask that the children born to him and Wendela at The Hague, where he served with the council's permission, be considered as natives of Dordrecht itself, with all the privileges and rights of those born in the city.

Enno van Gelder, u De Witt als Hagenaar," 99; Van Sypesteyn, "Huiselyk leven van Johan de Witt," 155-56; corrected rental agreement with Servaes van Panhuys, Jan. 15, draft agreement between De Witt and Maximilian Vander Guch, May 22, 1656, ARA StH D31. } e Wendela de Witt-Bicker to John de Witt, Aug, 26, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 152-53. 3 7 Wendelade Witt-BickertoJohnde Witt,Jan. 18, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 151. 3 8 Van Sypesteyn, "Huiselijk leven van Johan de Witt," 156; Saint-Evremond to Arlington, July 5, 1668, Gustave Cohen, Le sejour de Saint-Evremond en Hollande et I'entree de Spinoza dans Ie champ de lapensee Jrancaise (Paris, 1926), 91.

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A written declaration granting this request was issued by the council five days later, on August 30, and was sent to him by Jacob, as he had already returned to The Hague with Wendela. 39 The couple did not return to The Hague until early September because John fell ill with colic. He braved a storm to come back, but was not well enough to go to the meeting halls of the States until September 1. His brother warned that he should not assume the full burden of his duties until completely recovered. 40 On December 27 Wendela gave birth to a daughter, Anna. Jacob was not well enough to come to The Hague for the baptism. 41 When Wendela failed to regain her strength and suffered spells of deep anxiety, her mother came from Amsterdam to help, followed by John's sisters from Dordrecht. At one point late in January, John remained home for three days, for his mother-in-law herself fell sick. He went to Dordrecht to get a wet nurse, but when his mother-in-law became much worse, Wendela called him back at once. 42 Wendela's mother returned to Amsterdam two weeks later and died on March 4. De Witt met with his in-laws during April and May on the distribution of her estates among the five daughters, and he drafted an agreement which they accepted on May 7 after some minor amendments. Each of the girls, including two unmarried minors, received about 110,000 guilders. 43 De Witt was particularly grateful that Wendela's uncle, Cornelius de Graeff, lord of Zuidpolsbroek, had taken time off from his public duties as a burgomaster of Amsterdam to help arrange the settlement. Zuidpolsbroek's "wise and moderate" judgment had helped avoid the "reefs" which so frequently wrecked people in that situation. De Witt also stressed the importance of avoidance of conflict among the heiresses 3 « De Witt to Old Council of Dordrecht, Aug. 25, 1655, ARA StH 2646; Fruin, in BJ, I, 312-13; John to Jacob de Witt, Sept. 4, 1655, BJ, I, 310; Japikse, in BA, I, 152n.2; "Acte van den oudtraede der Stede Dordrecht. Kinderen vande Raedp. de Witt voor ingeboren borgers van Dordrecht te houden," Aug. 30, 1653, original, ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 1. 40 £)e Witt to the Delegated Councilors, Aug. 20, 23, 1653, BJ, I, 291-92; Johanna van Beveren-de Witt to John de Witt, Sept. 4, 1655, ARA StH D5; De Witt to Nieupoort, Sept. 17, 1655, BR, III, 120; Francois Focanus to De Witt, [c. Sept. 18], 1655, ARA StH D5; De Witt to W. Boreel, Oct. 28, 1655, BR, I, 223; Cornelius toJohn de Witt, Sept. 19, 1655, ARA StH D5. Fruin's suggestion (BJ, I, 292) that the illness was feigned so that De Witt could remain in Dordrecht to enjoy the company of his friends seems quite unwarranted. 4l Jacob to John de Witt, Dec. 28, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 153-55. 42 Jacob to John de Witt, Jan. 13, 1656, ARA StH D6; De Witt to Van Ommeren, Jan. 24, 1656, BJ, I, 313n.l; Johanna van Beveren-de Witt to John de Witt, Feb. 12, Wendela to John de Witt, Feb. 12, 1656, BA, I, 154n.l, 179n.3. 43 Deutz to De Witt, Mar. 2, 4, 1656, ΒΑ, I, 179-80; draft agreement in De Witt's hand, May 7, 1656, ARA StH D31.

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in a letter to Wendela's older sister, Elisabeth, and her husband, Jacob Trip. The winding up of the estate was left to banker Deutz. When he submitted a report to De Witt in 1658, the councilor pensionary expressed confidences in his work, admitting he knew little or nothing about most of what was involved. 44 After settlement of the estate, John and Wendela went on a short vacation trip into Spanish Brabant with Jean and Geertruid Deutz, who were in mourning not only for their mother but also for their first-born child, who had died late in March. De Witt was given official permission to leave the country by the States of Holland on May 25, and he obtained a yacht from the Rotterdam admiralty to bring him to Antwerp. 45 The party, which grew to include several cousins on John's side, left on June 5 from Dordrecht, where the infant Anna remained with an aunt. The travelers landed at Antwerp, where De Witt "was made much of." 46 They stayed overnight at an inn and then journeyed to Brussels in two carriages, one brought with a team from Amsterdam and another hired at Antwerp. At the Belgian capital they were delayed for some time until the gates opened. On returning to Antwerp, De Witt found a message from the delegated councilors calling him back to The Hague because of urgent political business. The party had to cancel its planned visit to Den Bosch to see the Focanus family and returned to Dordrecht. 47 At half-past three on the morning of June 15 De Witt left Wendela and reached The Hague at half-past eight. The next day he wrote to Deutz, berating him for not accepting the fifteen guilders he had sent in repayment of the sum laid out by the Amsterdammer for the hire of the horses. Had not Deutz risked his own team and carriage for the service of the whole party? But Deutz was not to be dissuaded. He returned the fifteen guilders with arguments which avoided his obvious principle that he, a man of wealth, could afford the expense more easily than a young official. 48 During the fall little Anna, not yet ten months old, became so ill with fever and abdominal pain that for a time her life was feared for. After two days, however, she fell into a long sleep and her parents dared hope for her recovery, "according to the judgment of the doctor and also

44 De Witt to Zuidpolsbroek, May 15, 1656, BJ, I, 315-16; De Witt to E. and J. Trip, May 15, 1656, ARA StH 2647; De Witt to Deutz, June 16, 1658, BJ, II, 199. 45 Fruin, in BJ, I, 316-17; De Witt to admiralty of Rotterdam, May 28, 1656, BJ, I, 317-18. 4 6 Intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], July 8, 1656, Thurloe, State Papers, V, 166-67. 47 De Witt to J. Focanus, Aug. 17, 1656, ARA StH 2647. 4 8 Fruin andJapikse, in ΒΑ, I, 182-83; Fruin, in BJ, I, 318; De Witt to Deutz, June 16, 1656, BJ, I, 319-20; Deutz to De Witt, June 23, 1656, BA, I, 182n.4.

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according to our own observation." De Witt had attended the final meetings of the June session of the States of Holland but had not taken time to write correspondence until the baby's fever broke. A week later, Anna was hearty and healthy again. Her father could even consider making a quick trip to Beverwijk, if events permitted. 49 By January of 1658 Wendela was pregnant again. Deutz repeatedlyasked to be godfather to the child, but De Witt held back from such a promise because Wendela, "like a woman," could not make up her mind whom she wanted. 5 0 Finally, after a visit to the Deutz home, she agreed to take Deutz and Cornelius de Witt as the godfathers, while John was invited to play the same part to the child expected by the Deutz's. De Witt could not break away from his official duties to go to Amsterdam for the baptism of the Deutz's child, Isabella, but Deutz came to The Hague after the birth of Agneta, named after Wendela's mother, on June 16. 5 1 There was a brief fright eleven days later when Wendela came down with chills and high fever, but the illness passed in two days. De Witt could not imagine what had caused it: Wendela indulged in no excesses of eating, drinking, talking, or otherwise! Three weeks later she was well enough to have lunch and dinner with him at the table. 5 2 A third daughter, named Catherine, arrived on August 30, 1659. Again Wendela suffered from intermittent fevers and sore throat. De Witt was not disturbed that he did not have a son. Some months before, he had chided Deutz for accepting his offer to be godfather to the child expected by the Deutz's if it were a son. No such distinction should be made, and he did not want it thought that he was "a discriminator [ uutnemer ] among persons preferring the masculine to the feminine sex." Wendela would not like it. He would accept^ but only "absolutely and without conditions." 5 3 In 1656 De Witt rented a house from Servaes van Panhuys, a son-in-law of his predecessor, Adrian Pauw. In 1660, when the lease still had two years to run, De Witt heard that a more convenient house right on the Vijverberg might become available for sale or rent because the owner, Thomas Cletcher, was moving to Amersfoort. He wrote to his sister Maria to ask whether she or her husband, Diedrich Hoeufft, who was Cletcher's brother-in-law, knew of any concealed faults. Hoeufft replied that the

49 De Witt to G. Deutz, Zuidpolsbroek, and J. Trip, Oct. 13, 1656, ARA StH 2647 and BJ, I, 320-21; De Witt to Johanna van Beveren-de Witt, Oct. 14, 1656, BJ, I, 321, Oct. 21, 1656, ARA StH 2647; Fruin, in BJ, I, 321-22; De Witt to Cornelius van Sypesteyn, Oct. 21, 1656, BJ, I, 322. 5® De Witt to Deutz, Jan. 9, 1658, BJ, II, 100. si BJ, II, 100-101. 5 2 De Witt to Deutz, June 29, to Cornelius de Witt, July 18, 1658, BJ, II, 98-99. 53 BJ, II, 196; Deutz to De Witt, Nov. 4, 1656, ΒΑ, I, 210; De Witt to Deutz, Nov. 7, 1656, BJ, I, 331.

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faults were not hidden but obvious; the house was not as good as the one De Witt was living in. 54 John continued to depend upon his family for various kinds of assistance. Sisters and aunts gave household aid. Now and then his father sent gifts of money, usually about 300 guilders. He had to ask for Jacob's contributions, even though such dependence was not to his taste. It was a different thing to have a pair of shoes made for him in Dordrecht; he preferred the lower prices and better quality he often found in goods bought in his home town rather than at The Hague. 5 5 Strong affection bound him to his brother and sisters. Maria Hoeufft broke into tears when she learned that John thought she had forgotten and neglected him. For months there had been nothing in the world she had yearned for more than to see him, but she had feared to make her thoughts visible, she wrote, lest they be so numerous and so frequent that they would have troubled him in The Hague. When her "dearest" had business there, she would come with him. De Witt replied with tenderness: Her letter was one he could not read without "unaccustomed stirring." He had not meant to accuse her of anything. Weeks passed before Maria could come to The Hague, and then the younger brother played host to the older sister, to her delight. When she returned to Dordrecht, she had seen him so busy that she delayed writing her thanks lest he take time from sleeping and eating to read her letters. 56 In the summer of 1657, when the plague struck Dordrecht, De Witt pressed Maria to come to The Hague. If no necessity compelled her to remain there, it would be "a species of temerity" to do so. The Hoeuffts did quit Dordrecht, but to go to a country place. 57 WhenJohanna lost the youngest of her children in 1659, John comforted her husband, Zwijndrecht. To the customary reminder of the need to "subject ourselves obediently to the will of the Lord, in accordance with our daily prayer," he added the solace of a hope that a new child would soon be born. 5 8 De Witt's affection and confidence closely touched his cousins as well. His namesake from Dordrecht j John de Wit, was deeply disturbed during a visit to The Hague when he thought he saw in conversation with his cousin that he no longer enjoyed "the former overflowing abundance of favor." When he asked De Witt whether he might have given unwitting cause for offense, the councillor pensionary reassured him he had not. 5 9 54 D e Witt to Maria Hoeufft-de Witt, Feb. 9, 1660, BJ, II, 236-37; BJ, II, 237. 55 Fruin, in BJ, II, 271-72; John tojacob de Witt, July 16, 1654, BJ, I, 272. 5 6 Maria Hoeufft-de Witt to John de Witt 1 Jan. 22, De Witt to Maria Hoeufft-de Witt, Jan. 24, Maria Hoeufft-de Witt to John de Witt, Apr. 13, 1654, ΒΑ, I, 77-78, 141-42. 57 De Witt to Maria Hoeufft-de Witt, Aug. 29, 1657, BJ, II, 16; BJ, II, 15-16. 5 » De Witt tojacob van Beveren, lord of Zwijndrecht, Dec. 8, 1659, BJ, II, 229n.3. 5« De Wit to De Witt, Mar. 21, 27, 1655, ΒΑ, I, 175-77.

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Early in 1656 De Witt began to be concerned again about the future activity of his father, whose two-year term as burgomaster of Dordrecht would end in March. He suggested that Jacob join him in The Hague rather than stay on in Dordrecht, where he was a burden on his daughters. His effort to find a sinecure for Jacob did not immediately succeed— when it came to such plums, the regents of Holland did not yet automatically defer to their councilor pensionary. When the seat held by Dordrecht among the delegated councilors came open later in the year, De Witt sought to restore Jacob to the position which he had resigned in the summer of 1650 during William II's coup d'etat. De Witt was aware that there would be no shortage of competition, and warned his brother of the need to prepare carefully for the election. 60 Finally, Jacob was elected to the lesser post of councilor and master of accounts for the domains of Holland, which gave little power, easy duties, and some income. It required, however, that he reside at The Hague, and so Jacob came to live with his younger son. Despite the imprecations of his enemies in the Orange camp, he was not vindictive, although he became somber and withdrawn, spoke little, and read his Bible constantly. 61 John's marriage to Wendela Bicker greatly expanded the field of his effective family relationships. In the system of oligarchic dynasticism which prevailed in the Dutch Republic by the middle of the seventeenth century, this was a matter of first importance. De Witt's family ties counted as much in his ability to lead the country as his personal capacities, however great. 6 2 But he was no longer so strongly dependent upon his traditional family base in Dordrecht, nor even upon the connections which Cornelius made in Rotterdam after he became a member of the admiralty board there. 6 3 The Bickers possessed wealth and prestige of a different magnitude from the De Witts'. It was said that the three Bicker brothers, Andrew, John, and Cornelius, had divided the world among themselves. One had Russia, the second, the Levant, and the third, America. 64 A noble member of the Union de la Joye, in a courteous but otherwise cool letter, congratulated De Witt, his "confrater," upon an alliance with a family of "such power in your fatherland." Although Wendela's cousin, Bicker van Swieten, had written while she was still only engaged that her beloved 60 John

tojacob de Witt, Mar. 31, to Cornelius de Witt, Nov. 1, 1656, BJ, I, 332, 334. 61 Andreas Colvius to De Witt, Aug. 13, 1654, ΒΑ, I, 24n.2, 66n.5; Veegens, Historische Studien, II, 25-26. 6 2 Enno van Gelder, ' 1 De Witt als Hagenaar," 97. «3 Johan E. Elias, Geschiedenis van het Amsterdamsehe Regentenpatriciaat, 2d ed. (The Hague, 1923), 144. ft* Enno van Gelder, "De Witt als Hagenaar," 98.

LIFE IN THE HAGUE

would bring "luster" to the Bickers, none of her family, not even her mother, would accompany her on her visit to Dordrecht in August 1655. 6 5 De Witts came to the Bickers, it was plain, not Bickers to the De Witts. Yet it was not long before the Bickers began to defer somewhat to Wendela's husband, who had influence over patronage dispensed at The Hague. By December of 1655 Wendela's cousin, Jacob Bicker, was writing to De Witt to ask him for a favor. In 1657 John Bicker, another cousin, asked him to give Jacob a letter of recommendation to Van Beuningen, then ambassador in Copenhagen, in connection with a case pending in Denmark. 6 6 Although their wealth remained intact, the Bickers had lost their political influence during the event of 1650. The immediate political advantage that Wendela brought to her husband was the support and friendship of her maternal uncle, Zuidpolsbroek, who had not gone down in the debacle of the Bickers but had risen to become the predominant burgomaster of Amsterdam. Within a few months of his marriage, De Witt was discussing political business with Zuidpolsbroek during family visits. 67 De Witt treated Wendela's two younger sisters, Cornelia and Jacoba, with teasing affection. Writing to ask them to come in early November for a visit before winter set in, he apologized because public affairs did not give him time to come for them. He hoped that brother-in-law Trip or other "good companions" would take them. "And," he added, "although there are forests and mountains to be crossed in this journey [is there flatter terrain anywhere in the world than that between Amsterdam and The Hague?!], there have almost never been reports of dangers from evil men, savage beasts, or others." The girls came, but the stay was not a long one because of the impatience of the family in Amsterdam for their return. 68 There was a good deal of visiting back and forth, but De Witt was more often than not the would-be host complaining that his invitations were not accepted, so that "people there do not think of us any more." 69 Amsterdam took precedence over Dordrecht and The Hague in such matters. 65 Frederic de Dohna at Orange to De Witt, Mar. 7, Bicker van Swieten to De Witt, Jan. 20, 1655, ARA StH D5; De Witt to J. Trip, July 29, to Jacob de Witt, Aug. 5, to Deutz, Aug. 14, 1655, BJ, I, 289-90. 66 Jacob Bicker to De Witt, Dec. 3, 1655, ARA StH D5; John Bicker to De Witt, July 1, 1657, ARA StH D8. 6 ' De Witt to P. van Zuidpolsbroek, Apr. 12, 1655, ARA StH 2646. 6 8 D e Witt to Cornelia Bicker, Nov. 8, 1656, ARA StH 2647; De Witt to P. van Zuidpolsbroek, Nov. 11, 1656, BJ, I, 323-24. 69 De Witt to J. Trip June 27, 1657, BJ, II, 15-16. 1

1 11

CHAPTER SIX

FROM AFFLUENCE TO FORTUNE

A

s C O U N C I L O R P E N S I O N A R Y , De Witt held a post that demanded that he live well. His marriage to Wendela brought him into circles that were accustomed to more than modest wealth. He therefore set himself to achieve financial independence. Loans and gifts from his father, such as tided him over the first months in office, were not a permanent answer to his situation. He went at his new task in his habitual systematic way. He learned the necessary bookkeeping techniques and recorded his personal accounts in a heavy double-folio book. It shows the growth of his fortune between 1655 and 1668. Although his salary was only 3,000 guilders a year in that period, his household expenditures ran from 6,000 to 8,000 guilders. Nonetheless, he was able to build up his capital to more than 200,000 guilders and to earn an annual income in interest on state bonds and other loans of more than 6,000 guilders.1 His mentor and collaborator in his enterprise of enrichment was Wendela's brother-in-law, Jean Deutz. Although Deutz was able now and then to reap advantage in his banking and commercial affairs from his ties with the councilor pensionary—early in 1658 De Witt spoke to President Pauw of the Court of Holland, who promised to expedite a case in which Deutz was concerned2—his wealth was essentially independent of De Witt's favor. On the other hand, De Witt, who began his career as a scion of a prosperous family with good expectations, became a man of solid wealth, although never such as to compare with that of his relatives on Wendela's side, the Bickers and the Trips.3 At first, it was Wendela's Amsterdam relatives who used De Witt's influence with the receiver general in The Hague, John van Berckel, to place funds for investment—the funds which a national economy already at its peak yielded as profit but did not attract back into the process of economic production. Van Berckel, who was Cornelius de Witt's fatherin-law, agreed to accept funds from Wendela's mother and from Peter Trip, Wendela's uncle by marriage, for purchase of state bonds.4 These bonds became intermittently available when they were turned in for cash 1 Wickevoort Crommelin, Johan de Witt 62-63, based on the account book, then in i the possession of the Hoog collection owned by the Beyerman family. 2 De Witt to Deutz, Jan. 9, 1658, ARA StH 2649. 3 On the Trips, see Klein, De Trippen. This is one of the rare studies of family fortunes in Dutch economic history. 4 De Witt to Agneta Bicker and Peter Trip, Mar. 24, 1655, BJ y I, 286-87.

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by their holders. The receiver from whose offices these obligations were issued—there was as yet no ministry of finance in the modern sense—had the option of reissuing them at his own judgment to whomever he pleased. These bonds were much sought after, even selling on the market at a premium of from 5 to 7 percent; they combined a profitable rate of interest with security. The receiver who gave them to his friends, or his friends' friends, did not hurt the interests of the state, nor did he offend current notions of fairness.5 In 1658, when Dordrecht received a quota in a loan issued by the States of Holland, De Witt arranged with Govert van Slingelandt, the town's pensionary, to obtain some bonds which became available. Some of the capital was supplied by friends in Dordrecht and the rest he sent from The Hague. He promised to give "reciprocal services" to Van Slingelandt when the occasion arose.6 Early in 1660 De Witt arranged with Deutz to put the portions of Wendela's inheritance which became available into Holland bonds issued by the receiver in The Hague.7 Deutz also put his own fortune at De Witt's disposal to enable him to buy bonds from Van Berckel for which he did not have the cash, up to a value of 50,000 or 60,000 guilders. De Witt asked Deutz to remain the legal owner of the bonds, receiving the annual interest, but with a promise to transfer them to De Witt's ownership when he had the money available. Van Berckel also suggested that John entrust to him a sum of 5,000 guilders to invest in obligations as they became available.8 The Amsterdam receiver, Johannes Utenbogaert, who was a very distant cousin of Wendela's, also put his facilities at De Witt's disposal. He began with two bonds, of 1,000 and 6,000 guilders, respectively, for which Deutz put up the cash, and he promised to do what he could for De Witt in the future. These bonds could not be put on "blind names" or no

5 Fruin, in BJ, I, 338-40. Fruin, who easily fell prey to anachronism when issues of morality or political ideology were involved (see J. W. Smit, Fruin en de partijen tijdens de Republiek [Groningen, 1958]) considered that this practice was "not wholly right" (p. 338); it was a "fault" in De Witt to use his influence to gain advantages that others did not have (p. 339). It would seem more pertinent, in view of De Witt's almost fanatical concern for personal purity in matters of money, to draw the conclusion that such practices did not infringe the prevalent conceptions of honest behavior. De Witt did fall under contemporary criticism for borrowing money at low interest to buy bonds on which he received higher interest (he first did so in 1663). See pp. 125-26, 130, 856-57, and Petrus Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa, ofte Politijke en Historische Beschryvinge Der Waare Fundamenten en Oorsaken en Revolutionen in Europa , voornamentlijk in en omtrent de Nederlanden zedert denjaare 1664 gecauseert door de gepretendeerde Universele Monarchic der Franschen i 3d ed. 2 vols. (Amsterdam, 1688) I, 681. 6 De Witt to Van Slingelandt, Feb. 8, 1658, BJ, II, 109-10. 7 De Witt to Deutz, Jan. 30, 1660, BJ II, 234-35. 3 8 De Witt to Deutz, June 16, 1656, BJ, I, 319-20, 337-38; Cornelius to John de Witt, June 27, 1656, ARA StH D6.

FROM AFFLUENCE TO FORTUNE

name at all, De Witt discovered, but had to bear names to replace those of the original purchasers. He did not approve Deutz's proposal to use these bonds in his ordinary business, to enable him to make a profit thereby. De Witt preferred to accept only the 6,000 or 7,000 guilders Deutz could spare, over and beyond the approximately 18,000 guilders entrusted to him for unspecified investment by a widow Schaep, which he was lending to De Witt at the commercial rate of interest. 9 Utenbogaert also issued to De Witt, for cash provided by Deutz, a 6,000-guilder bond turned in by another widow, who desired De Witt's support because her late husband had been an army officer. De Witt used cash from Wendela's inheritance as it became available to pay off the indebtedness thus incurred to Deutz. 10 By September of 1656 De Witt was able to record that he owned bonds in his own and other names to the amount of 37,000 guilders. 11 The pur­ chase of bonds with Deutz's funds and on De Witt's account continued. Early in November De Witt obtained bonds to the value of 10,000 guilders with funds sent by Deutz; later in the month, Utenbogaert issued a bond of 6,000 guilders to him, and another of like amount early in December. 1 2 De Witt asked Deutz to continue to display his friendship by making these loans to him when bonds became available. He also used funds lent to him by Wendela's sister Cornelia and by the widow of Peter Trip to continue these investments. Additional income came from shares in the Dutch East India Company, presumably inherited by Wendela from her mother because we have no record or discussion of their purchase. Wendela's inheritance was assuredly the source as well of a lump sum of9,263 guilders 4 stivers which De Witt instructed Jacobus Trip to give to Deutz for use according to his instructions. 13 He wrote Utenbogaert to ask his help in obtaining investment opportunity for the considerable cash funds which Deutz now held on his own account. When the States of Holland decided on June 17, 1657, to borrow 600,000 guilders at 4 percent, De Witt wrote to Deutz almost a week earlier to ask Deutz how much he could lend him so that he could.act at once "to be preferred before others." 14 By the next year, however, De Witt had "idle funds" at his disposal. He » De Witt to Deutz, June 26, 29, 1656, BJ, I, 340-42, July 25, 1656, ARA StH 2647; Deutz to John de Witt, June 28, 1656, ARA StH D6; Kernkamp, in BJ, I, 342-43; De Witt to Utenbogaert, Aug. 29, 1656, BJ, I, 383 10 De Witt to Utenbogaert, July 18, 1656, BJ, I, 342-43; De Witt to Gerard van Hellemondt, July 25, 1656, ARA StH 2647; De Witt to Deutz, Feb. 2, 1657, BJ, II, 19-22. 11 Notice of financial holdings, in De Witt's hand, Sept. 2, 1656, ARA StH D31. 12 De Witt to Deutz, Nov. 6, 1656, BJ, I, 331-32; Kernkamp, in BJ, I, 332. 13 De Witt to Deutz, Nov. 18, 1656, ARA StH 2647; Feb. 14, Apr. 7, to J. Trip, Apr. 28,1657, BJ,11, 24-5, 25n.22, 27. 14 D e Witt to Utenbogaert, May 8, to Deutz j June 11, 1657, BJ, II, 28-30.

FROM AFFLUENCE TO FORTUNE

suggested that 4,000 guilders which Deutz held on his account be used to begin repayment of the debt to the widow Schaep. A half year later he gave Deutz definite instructions to use the interest he earned on his funds for this purpose.15 During 1659 De Witt was able to reduce his involvement with Deutz in these arrangements for loans and purchases of bonds. He continued, how­ ever, to keep alert to opportunities to invest his "idle money," and he continued to rely upon Deutz to take care of his—more precisely, Wendela's—interests in real estate upon Bickers Island, in Amsterdam.16 John shared with his brother ownership of farmlands in Putten, where Cornelius was the steward (ruwaard). These were farmed by a tenant on half-shares and produced grain which was sold for 210 guilders in 1656. He asked his brother whether this sum included the tenant's half or was their share and reminded him that their father had not sent the proceeds of last year's sales. He feared that if the buyers had not actually paid up, it would become difficult to collect what was owed.17 He was no less con­ cerned to receive the rentals due him from tenant farmers. He asked his agent, Jan Coyter in Groningen, if tenants on lands owned by Wendela near Middelstom were in arrears. What is the usual time for tenants to pay their rent? he asked. It is necessary to take every precaution that they are not taught bad habits.18 The status of the various parcels of property he and Wendela owned had to be tracked down. He asked Sievert Jansz, a bookkeeper in the Exchange Bank at Amsterdam, to obtain for him the act of appraisal of the tribunal of Heemskerck for the lands and plantations near Noortdorp "which belong to me personally," for the record and to satisfy his curiosity. (Presumably they did not produce important income.) He noted the absence of any indication of how he came to own 162 roods of hay land in the woods. He would like to have the act of transfer if available, or at least information on how much had been paid for it and from whom it had been bought. He also sought information about the tenancies on other parcels.19 Jacobus Trip was asked to see whether the piece of land which Trip's brother-in-law, Joseph Coymans, was interested in selling lay close enough to De Witt's land at Noortdorp to be useful. He asked Trip to find out from the surveyor, or, if need be, the tenant, certain things about his land which he did not understand and would like to have clarified. The tenant, Arien Symonsz, fell into arrears on his rents in 1658, but De Witt

is De Witt to Deutz, Aug. 17, 1658, Feb. 28, 1659, BJ, II, 111, 198n.l. 16 De Witt to Deutz, Aug. 28, 1659, BJ, II, 197-98. ι 7 John to Jacob de Witt, Sept. 6, to Cornelius de Witt, Sept. 7, 1656, ARA StH 2647. 18 De Witt to Coyter, Feb. 8, 1658, ARA StH 2649. ι» De Witt to Jansz, Sept. 4, 1656, ARA StH 2647.

FROM AFFLUENCE TO FORTUNE

was unable to stir Trip into action to make the collection. He did receive payment for wood cut on his lots. A year later he was still reminding Trip to have Symonsz make the promised payments, or else be given a sharp warning. 2 0 These matters were settled easily enough, but not so the status of a number of "little houses" which Wendela owned on Bickers Island as part of her share of her mother's estate. Her brother-in-law, Homerus Imkes, was supposed to collect the rents and otherwise supervise the property, but he was not very efficient. De Witt therefore gladly sold two-thirds of the houses to one Otto Meyer for 11,000 guilders. 21 But he continued to use Imkes to collect rentals on the houses which remained Wendela's property. When Imkes failed to report by June 1 payment of the rentals due on May 1, De Witt warned him that he did not want tenants to become careless. At the same time he was concerned at the trouble he had to go through in correspondence with the busy Deutz over these "little houses," and he finally gave Deutz a power of attorney authorizing him to do anything he thought necessary about them. 2 2 During 1658 and 1659 the remaining eleven houses were sold off. De Witt as a seller showed himself neither covetous nor ready to take a loss. He had set the price of two houses with a steeple at 7,000 guilders, some twenty times their annual rent of 336 guilders; the steeple brought no rental but was worth something as scrap. If no buyer was willing to pay this price, he would prefer to keep the houses. He had Deutz prod the broker a little to settle everything as quickly as possible "and to protect me from disputes." Yet to the end he continued to fear that he would come out of the sale of the houses with a loss.2 3 But De Witt's troubles were not over. When Imkes in December 1658 presented the account of rents received and other income, De Witt dis­ covered that 722 guilders 15 stivers were still owed to him. He instructed Imkes to pay this sum to Deutz and asked Deutz to press him about it, for he had observed that money "is not too safe in his hands" and might go astray if left too long. Could Deutz suggest someone else to act as his rental agent until the houses were sold, now that Imkes had proved himself "useless and incompetent"? The next May, De Witt was still checking— but now with Deutz—whether the rents on the two little houses had been paid, or whether they were even both rented. 24 2 0 De Witt to J. Trip, Sept. 4, 1656, ARA StH 2647, Dec. 8, 1659, ARA StH 2650 and BJ, II, 199n.2; BJ, II, 115-16. 2 1 De Witt toj. Trip, Dec. 5, 1656, ARA StH 2647; to Imkes, Feb. 1, to Deutz, Feb. 14, 1657, BJ, II, 23-24,37-38. 2 2 De Witt to Imkes June 1, to Deutz June 1, 1657, BJ, II, 29, 38. j j 2 3 DeWitttoDeutz Jan. 9. June 3, 1658, Jan. 9, Oct. 27, 1659, BJ, Ii, 104-7, 199. j 24 DeWitttoDeutz, Dec. 14, 1658, BJ, II, 114-15, May 31, 1659, ARA StH 2650.

FROM AFFLUENCE TO FORTUNE

Despite the total personal trust he placed in Deutz, De Witt nonetheless examined the accounts of his dealings with him with an attentive eye. One statement seemed "correct and perfect" to him, except for a discre­ pancy of less than 3 guilders. It was small, he admitted, but it troubled him because he did not know its source. He was also troubled because Deutz was shown as his creditor to the amount of 1,061 guilders, 9 stivers, and 8 pence. If sums paid to Deutz on De Witt's account had not covered this sum, De Witt would give instructions for its payment. He was, in fact, almost a fetishist about keeping his books. It was, he informed Deutz, "my habit always to make a full balance at the end of the year and draw up an inventory of all my holdings to the last stiver.2 5 Deutz was his principal advisor and agent in the negotiation of the loans from private persons which enabled him to buy more bonds than he had cash for. These loans were profitable because the interest he paid on them was less than that he received on the bonds bought with the capital thus received. (On August 14, 1660, for instance, he sent 160 guilders to the widow Schaep as a year's interest on the 4,000 guilders she had lent him, that is, a rate of 4 percent.)2 6 Some of those from whom he borrowed were strangers, whose loans were arranged through brokers; but he also borrowed from members of his own family. He owed 10,000 guilders to Wendela's aunt, Christina de Graeff, the wealthy widow of Peter Trip, and paid off the loan in installments. The last payments of 800 and 3,000 guilders were made in May and November 1661.2 7 When the States of Holland (or the States General) decided to borrow money, De Witt, if he could find the cash, gained a promise from the receivers who issued the bonds to set aside some for him. Out of a bond issue of 300,000 guilders offered by Holland on August 6, 1661, receiver Utenbogaert was assigned 63,661 guilders for placement. He issued a bond for 4,000 guilders to De Witt, who paid 1,000 directly to receiver general Van Berckel and had Deutz pay 3,000 to Utenbogaert.28 During 1662 De Witt continued his efforts to arrange for Van Berckel and other receivers to accept a "good sum of money" from him for the purchase of bonds. Eventually, most of the money would be needed to pay for a manor he had purchased near Oudewater, but when Deutz could take possession of the bonds for the funds he would lay out on De Witt's behalf. In the meanwhile, De Witt would earn interest on them. De Witt had also sent 22,150 guilders, acquired from the sale of lands

" De Witt to Deutz, May 31, 1659, ARA StH 2650, Jan. 16, 1665, BJ. Ill, 1. 21 De Witt to Deutz, Aug. 14, 1660, ARA StH 2651. " BJ, III, 339. 28 De Witt to Utenbogaert, Aug. 31, 1661, BJ, II, 339; Deutz to De Witt, c. Sept. 4, 1661, ARA StH D13.

FROM AFFLUENCE TO FORTUNE

elsewhere, to Deutz in February to hold for him for six months and to receive interest at the rate of 4 percent. 2 9 De Witt's financial dealings with Deutz until this time had been well within the bounds of contemporary notions of financial propriety. 3 0 When he had borrowed from individuals in order to purchase bonds, he had done so at the going rate of interest; his only advantage had been to obtain bonds when others could not. But he lay himself open to charges of sharp dealing when he began to borrow money in 1663 for less than the interest he received. 31 The temptation came to him when burgomaster Cornelius van Vlooswijk of Amsterdam offered to sell him a "good parcel of land" near Oudewater under the jurisdiction of one of the manors he had just bought, "and so very well situated for me." He did not have enough cash on hand and did not want to sell any of his bonds, which could not be replaced at will. He heard that money was being offered at low interest in Hoorn and wrote his friend Lucas van Neck, the pensionary of the North Holland town, to ask whether "a good sum"—he had 30,000 guilders in mind—would be available at 2| percent. To encourage the lenders, he was willing to agree not to repay one-third of the principal before one whole year, another third before two years, and the remainder before three years; but they could demand repayment at any time after notice of a month or other agreed upon period. "Since the people there have no knowledge whatever of my situation," he was willing to provide annuity bonds of the province of Holland as security, to be returned upon payment of the principal. 32 There was some doubt whether the loans would be forthcoming, for Deutz had reported that the interest rate in Amsterdam to the most credit-worthy people was not less than 3 J percent, except on the security of East India Company shares, which got only 3 percent. 33 Nonetheless, Van Neck was able to turn up lenders for 10,000 or 12,000 guilders, although De Witt had to be willing to take a clutch of small loans. He instructed Van Neck to borrow what he could in his name and sent the sum to Deutz. He could borrow anything else offered at that rate up to a total of 30,000 guilders, as it became available. However, other lenders all wanted 3 percent, which De Witt preferred not to pay, since the purchase from Van Vlooswijk was not yet completed and would take some time. He told Deutz to use the sums sent by Van Neck to pay off some of his other obligations. 34 2« See pp. 129-30; De Witt to Deutz, Mar. 5, 9, 1662, BJ, II, 412-14. J ο See p. 856-57. 3 1 Japikse, BJ, II, 418n.l; Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa, I, 671. Valkenier was an Orangist historian, but well informed and without the blind hatred that characterized most of De Witt's foes in his own time. See fn. 5 above. 3 2 De Witt to Van Neck, May 30, 1663, BJ, II, 418-20 De Witt to Dirk van Foreest, June 14, 1663, BJ, II, 420. J 4 De Witt to Van Neck, June 24, ARA StH 2654; De Witt to Deutz, June 24, 1663, BJ, II, 420-21.

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The negotiation for the purchase of land from Van Vlooswijk fell through. Although he continued to be in the market for land, De Witt not only retained the funds he had obtained from Van Neck but took an additional loan for 20,000 guilders obtained through him in September, followed early the next month by an additional 3,000 guilders. To this last sum he added 1,000 guilders sent from The Hague to pay off a 4,000guilder note. 3 5 De Witt was scrupulous about not taking a profit-making advantage from his relatives. He sent the 5 guilders in cash which were short in an interest payment of 174 guilders 4 stivers made to Peter de Graeff on De Witt's behalf by Deutz. He also asked whether De Graeff wanted the whole note from his wife, Wendela's sister Jacoba, paid off if the money, amounting to 7,000 guilders, could be put to use in Amsterdam; there was little opportunity to invest it in The Hague. 36 De Witt's account with Deutz at the end of October 1663 showed credits of 25,738 guilders 11 stivers, consisting mainly in 15,000 guilders from the loans arranged by Van Neck; the debits were mainly various annuity bonds. 3 7 In December 1663 De Witt asked Van Neck to see if there were any other loans available at 2 J percent. A loan of 20,000 guilders was offered by the widow of Jean Wybrands and her son-in-law, Timan Veneman, a merchant in Amsterdam. De Witt arranged to have Deutz receive the money, either in cash or in his account at the Bank of Amsterdam, and to give the bonds which De Witt sent as security. He did not complain when the loan was made in bank money, therefore, although he would have preferred cash, but he was annoyed at being asked to pay a broker's fee, since he neither asked for nor agreed to the use of one, and he instructed Deutz to reject the claim. 3 8 On January 21, 1664, he had Deutz pay 8,000 guilders to Philip Doubleth, receiver general for the States General, as part of a private loan of 135,000 guilders to the Prince of East Friesland at 5 percent interest, under the guarantee of the States General. He feared losing out on the opportunity to invest money so lucratively because a number of deputies to the States General had reserved 216,000 guilders for themselves; he asked Doubleth to keep open a place for him and his relatives in Amster­ dam. 39 A week later he was able to place 8,000 guilders in an annuity bond issued by Jacobus Focanus, the treasurer at Den Bosch, to be paid into Focanus's account with receiver general Doubleth. When Doubleth indicated that he would probably be able to take another 6,000 or 8,000 35 De Witt to Deutz, Aug. 16, Sept. 30, Oct. 3, 1663, BJ, II, 421-22, 426. 3o De Witt to P. de Graeff, Oct. 20, 1663, ARA StH 2654 and BJ, II, 425n.l. 51 Appendix to letter of De Witt to Deutz, Oct. 31, 1663, BJ, II, 422-25. 3» De Witt to Deutz, Jan. 2, 1664, ARA StH 2655 and BJ, II, 491-92, Jan. 4, 10, 1664, BJ, II, 492-93. 3» De Witt to Deutz, Jan. 21, 1664, BJ, II, 493-94.

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guilders, or even more, De Witt asked Deutz to obtain another 12,000 guilders for him at the 2| percent rate. He sent Deutz notes covering such transactions, with open names and amounts, but asked that the loans be made from persons known to Deutz who would not pass them on to third parties. He was willing to go as high as 18,000 or 20,000 guilders; but Deutz should pay Doubleth the money due in Focanus's name at once. 40 De Witt was able to obtain a part of the sum needed in The Hague, how­ ever. Widow Wybrands furnished 12,000 guilders in cash; of which 4,000 went to Peter de Graeff. At Deutz's suggestion, De Witt accepted a broker's deduction of 2\ stivers per 100 guilders, or slightly over one-tenth of 1 percent. The broker, Van Leeuwen by name, had told De Witt he was entitled to double the amount but was satisfied with what De Witt offered. De Witt admitted some "shame" at causing his brother-in-law so much trouble on his account. He failed in his attempt to raise more money at this low rate in Hoorn, even with the security of bonds of greater value than the sums lent. 41 He looked upon such transactions as based upon trust as well as upon collateral, however. The lenders should know who was getting their funds, as security against false notes or other "bad faith," but he also wished to borrow only from persons of known character. 42 In March broker Van Leeuwen obtained another 12,000 guilders for De Witt, who suggested to Deutz that he use this and like sums until they were needed by De Witt, paying only 2| percent interest. But if Deutz had to furnish sums on De Witt's account beyond what was on deposit with him, he should charge De Witt 3 \ percent. Deutz demurred, and De Witt accepted his deposit of the money entrusted to him into the bank. 43 Utenbogaert agreed to accept another 20,000 guilders from De Witt but would not be pressed into taking any more. He also made it clear that what he was doing was an act of "courtesy," which he could refuse. De Witt thereupon asked Deutz to borrow the sum, either from "Doctor [Francois] de Vicq" or the "widow Wickfort," probably the sister-in-law of Abraham de Wicquefort. De Witt was willing to give Dr. de Vicq a verbal commitment not to repay the loan for five years; he would not put it in writing, however, because of the uncertainties of life and death. De Witt's father was also ready to accept 20,000 guilders on loan, which Deutz could dispose of. The loan to De Witt was made through Deutz, with both Dr. De Vicq and widow Wickvoort each lending 10,000 40 D e Witt to Deutz 1 Jan. 29, 1664, BJ, II, 495-96. 41 De Witt to Deutz, Feb. 4, 28, to Van Foreest, Feb. 6, 17, to Van Neck, Feb. 6, 1664, BJ, II, 496-500; BJ, II, 499. 42 De Witt to Van Foreest, Feb. 17, 1664, BJ, II, 497n.2. 4 3 De Witt to Deutz, Mar. 13, 1664 [misprinted 1663], Mar. 21, 1664, BJ, II, 500-501.

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guilders, but the money for Jacob de Witt was not forthcoming. De Witt then found an opportunity to invest "a good sum" in The Hague and offered to take the rest of the money available from De Vicq, up to 18,000 guilders, but only with a limitation to thirty-nine months or on the previous conditions. The additional sum De Vicq lent was only 6,000 guilders. 44 De Witt put another 35,000 guilders, idle funds from loans, on deposit with Deutz to earn a little profit until Utenbogaert would accept them, and he informed the receiver general of their availability and his desire to invest them. Utenbogaert took 6,000 guilders within two weeks and indicated he would soon accept another 6,000. De Witt emphasized to Deutz that the bonds should be the only security for the loans, so that there was no lien against himself or his property. 45 When the States of Holland issued bonds in May, 1664 for several hundred thousand guilders at a rate of 3 percent, a full point below the previous rate, De Witt informed Deutz of the decision so that any of their "friends" who would to buy bonds at this rate could do so. But neither he nor any of his Amsterdam relatives bought any, although some others there did. 46 Three percent brought in too few purchasers, as Dordrecht found when it issued municipal bonds at this rate. The offering moved so slowly that in February 1666 the municipal authorities were authorized to raise the interest rate to whatever was found necessary. 47 De Witt was thankful when Utenbogaert supplied bonds of 6,000 and 3,600 guilders in July. He did not take amiss the receiver's insistence upon payment in bank money, although the bonds were repayable in cash, for he acknowledged to Deutz that it was Utenbogaert who was doing him the favor. When Deutz told him that there was no money available for loan at 2f percent, De Witt borrowed 3,000 guilders from him at the going rate to help pay off an 8,000-guilder note. 48 In December he paid the 20,000 guilders he owed to widow Wybrandts and her son-in-law Veneman, together with the 550 guilders owed in interest. They had not taken his offer to continue the loan, even at ^ percent or more above 3 percent (provided that the only security would be the collateral they held rather than himself and his property). They sent 44

De Witt to Deutz, Mar. 28, 30, Apr. 4, 8, 20, 23, 1664, BJ, II, 502n.l, 502-5. De Witt to Utenbogaert, Apr. 28, to Deutz, May 10, 1664, BJ, II, 505-6, 509-10. * BJ, IV, 232n.3, 233. " De Witt to Vivien, July 20, 1672, BJ, IV, 400-402. 7 2 BJ, IV, 320n,2. The bonds are still present in the papers of the De Witt family, given to the Dutch national archives in 1913 (ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 1). 73J.J.Z.C. [Huich Janszoon Coornhout], Nasporing van Hollands Heil en Rampen . . . (Rotterdam, 1745), 397-98. The original inventory signed by Vivien and four other executors (ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt [Beyerman]," no. 1) gives the figure of 496,660 guilders.

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about $2 million. It may be true, as one author says, that a lawyer in private practice could have earned three times as much as De Witt, or even more, with much less work and remained "free of hatred," but this can be applied only to his salary. 74 He may have lived on his salary, but he built his fortune on what he inherited from his mother and Wendela from her parents. There was no explosive speculative growth in his estate, but only the steady increment of earnings from bonds and rents. He was, as he said repeatedly, not "in business," but he managed to be much wealthier when he died than his father had been. De Witt was as cautious and precise a landowner as he was an investor in bonds and shares. But he was not an unreasonably hard landlord. In 1660 Claes Symonsz, who rented farm land owned by Wendela near Voorschoten, informed him that the ditch between the adjacent land owned by her uncle, Andrew de Graeff, and the public road, was silting up; boats could not move on the Vliet, into which the ditch flowed, when the wind was from the west. De Witt proposed to De Graeff to have the ditch dredged at his own cost, with half the mud thrown on De Graeff's land if he had no objection. 75 But he had no patience with slack manage­ ment or tardy tenants. He pressed Cornelius to inform him about the term and expiration date of the lease by which Job Joosten Visscher held a tract in the Mijlpolder, which produced an income in "clear money" of 146 guilders, 10 stivers, and 3-j-^· pennies a year. He also insisted upon know­ ing what the sale of crops from this land produced, so that he could enter it in his books. He reminded his brother that Jacob Crynsz, who leased land they owned together in the Noorderpolder, had not yet paid any rental: "I've heard before that he was quite slow and stubborn," and Cornelius should keep after him. 76 In allowing Hero Coyter to continue to administer De Witt's lands at Voorschoten, as his father Jan had done for many years, De Witt reminded him to make sure that the rentals came in with less delay and were remitted to himself no later than May. 7 7 As a landlord, he saw no conflict between business-like accuracy and personal friendliness with a tenant. He wrote to Maritge Hovenier, whose husband Michael rented the house Wendela owned at Duynwijk, as a "good friend," although the letter itself was written to clear up a difference of one guilder in her favor in her rent payment. He also asked her to check on Arien Symonsz regarding the overdue rental of a parcel of land where he was the tenant and to warn him that the penalty for late payment was high and 74 Coornhout, Masporing 398. i '5 De Witt to A. de Graeff 1 June 9, 1660, BJ, II, 235. 7 6 John to Cornelius de Witt, Jan. 16, 1661, ARA StH 2652, Jan. 24, 1661, ARA StH 2652 and BJ, II, 340. 77 De Witt to Hero Coyter, Aug. 17, 1663, ARA StH 2654.

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should be avoided. He relied upon her and her husband to keep an eye upon repairs to a chimney and fences which he had authorized Symonsz to have done, but suggested that Michael Hovenier repair a door himself.7 8 De Witt's biggest acquisition of land was the result of his appointment to the post of "governor of Holland's fiefs" in 1661. One of the qualifi­ cations for the position was ownership of a manor under the province's jurisdiction (on the characteristic contemporary ground of personal involvement of interest, so different from the modern principle that such a relationship involves a "conflict of interest"). He first considered the manors of Ijsselmonde and Ridderkerk, which lay between Rotterdam and Dordrecht, but he was not ready to buy just to meet the formal require­ ments of his office. He wanted to know not only the price being asked but also the value of land and tithes elsewhere in the district and whether prices of land were likely to go up or down. 79 No satisfactory deal could be arranged, however. Instead, he turned to the manor of Linschoten and Snelrewaerde, east of Gouda in the easternmost reaches of what was then still all Holland province but is now partly Utrecht. He asked Henry Schryver, the bailiff of Oudewater, the nearest town, to check various details for him. His enquiries revealed that the property was owned by young countJohn of Merode, who was not yet of age, but that the purchase price in the event of sale would go to the mortgage holder, one John Gans. Schryver inspected the land personally and considered it worth no more than 10,000 guilders. However, the capitalized value of the tithes was about 23,000 guilders. He therefore considered the final price of 34,000 guilders a good buy. De Witt acted with some hurry in completing the transaction during October 1661, because the period of six months during which he had to acquire a manor was approaching an end. But he still was happy with his choice, because he had come to see Schryver as "a good and trusted friend" who could keep an eye upon the property for him. 80 The manor included the hamlets of Linschoten, Snelrewaerde (or Snoodelrewaert), and Hekendorp, with high, middle, and low jurisdic­ tions and all appertaining tithes, fishing rights, quitrents, and other rights. De Witt specified that he would acquire full possession both of the land and the tithes and that the seller would guarantee clear title and pay costs of all suits by possible claimants. He would make full payment of the purchase upon actual transfer of the deed; but if it were held up by suits, he would pay 20,000 guilders to Gans on October 1, 1662, paying off the mortgage loan on the property. Gans accepted these terms instead of 7 8 D e Witt to Maritge Hovenier-Dirxdochter, Jan. 24, 1661, BJ, II, 340-42. De Witt to Stoop and Gerard van Brandtwijck, July 6, 1661, BJ, II, 343. 80 Schryver to De Witt, Sept. 12, 1661, ΒΑ, II, 77—79; ΒΑ, II, 79n.l; De Witt to Schryver, Oct. 29, 1661, ARA StH D39. 79

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insisting upon cash, "in order to enjoy your favor," reported Jacob Focanus of Den Bosch, who arranged the transaction with him. 81 Because the title was imperiled by suits against the sale, including one by the young count's father, De Witt paid Gans by mortgage in October 1662, with a first mortgage payment of 21,250 guilders and a second of 8,500. He chose to raise the cash in large part by selling off other lands belonging to himself and Wendela, notably some of her property at Beverwijk. The money assembled by the end of February came to 22,150 guilders, which De Witt deposited with Deutz to earn interest at 4 percent. 82 De Witt urged young Merode's father to abandon his suit challenging the legality of the sale, apparently with success, because there is no indication that it was ever instituted. The son thereupon suggested to De Witt that he buy other lands of his, so that he could clear up the remainder of his debts to Gans. De Witt took over a mortgage loan of 2,000 guilders on the manor of Abbenbroek, and lent Merode 17,000 guilders in cash at a rate of 5 percent, much less than the 6 J percent Merode had been paying Gans. He obtained part of the funds by a short term loan from Deutz, and part by selling more land in Beverwijk. Wood cut on his property there also was sold. 83 De Witt explained the background of his financial operations in this affair in July 1672, when it became the subject of attack by political opponents. He had had the options of borrowing a large sum and paying interest, or cashing in state bonds. He preferred to do the former, but had put up the bonds as security, with the option of repayment either in cash or in the bonds. In that way he would have no "imbalance" in his estate for which either he or his children could be sued. These funds were borrowed publicly in his own name, and there was no compulsion upon the lenders. Why should he not have been permitted to do what was done daily by others? More seemed to be involved than was actually the case because the loans ran for fairly short terms, six months or so; if the lenders wanted higher interest than he wished to pay, he did not renew the loan but borrowed the sum from someone else. 84 In 1667 De Witt responded with interest but without haste to the opportunity to expand his holdings near Hekendorp. He insisted on inspecting the land in person and then told Peter de Graeff, who had

si Bill of sale of manor of Linschoten, etc., Oct. 29, 1661, ARA StH D39; BJ, II, 343-46; J. Focanus to De Witt, Nov. 19, 1661, ARA StH D13. 8 2 BJ, II, 409, 414—15; De Witt to Jan Velsen, Jan. 4, to Deutz, Feb. 26, to Merode, Oct. 30, 1662, BJ, II, 408-9, 411-12, 415-16. «J De Witt to Merode, Nov. 2, 1662, CF, 224-25; Merode to De Witt, Nov. 10, 1662, ARA StH D14; De Witt to J. Focanus, Feb. 15, Mar. 1, 1663, BJ, II, 426-27; BJ, II, 427; De Witt to Velsen, Feb. 27, 1663, ARA StH 2654. 8" De Witt to N. Vivien, July 20, 1672, BJ, IV, 395-96.

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informed him of its availability and acted as his intermediary, that he was ready to buy at a good price. If the "whole farmstead" were sold as a unit and not in parcels, he was ready to go as high as 20,000 guilders; but if sold in lots, there was a parcel of low quality at Sluypwijk he would prefer to leave out. He insisted, however, upon a meadow, De Muyge, because it was needed as a hay field. He was ready to go to 17,000 guilders with this meadow and without the Sluypwijk land and to pay the land transfer tax, but not the so-called "ransom pennies," a fee to the lord of the manor. De Graeff should try to get the land for him at the lowest price possible, however. This he did: 12,700 guilders, without the Sluypwijk parcel, and another 1,800 guilders for an additional part of De Muyge meadow. De Witt borrowed 12,000 guilders toward the purchase price from his aunt Christina Trip at 3 \ percent. He also sold, for 8,500 guilders, lands which formed part of Wendela's estate, although they had been valued at 9,014 guilders when her mother's estate had been distributed. 85 De Witt's interest in acquisition of land did not extend beyond the boundaries of his own country. Deutz might take the risk of lending money to Joachim Irgens, with land in Denmark as security, because he was "a merchant [who] can occupy himself completely with such affairs." De Witt preferred to invest in Holland (the manors he held in Groningen were inherited through Wendela), "if at a small or moderate profit, still safely and without encumbrance." He also declined an opportunity to lend money on the security of land in Saxony: it was too far away. 86 De Witt had little reluctance to aid Deutz in the advancement of his business affairs. In 1663 he helped Deutz to obtain the contract for the delivery of slaves to the West India Company as part of the notorious assiento de negros. He did not agree at once, however, to speak to the Spanish ambassador about the lucrative contract Deutz wanted to supply the Spanish silver mines in Mexico with mercury. It was a "somewhat sensitive" question. Deutz finally proposed terms which removed the councilor pensionary's scruples, and he won the contract. He obtained the mercury from mines in Austria, and De Witt came to his support in 1669 when Deutz's factoring contract came up for renewal. 87 An unexpected 8 5 De Witt to P. de Graeff, Apr. 18, 1667, BJ, III, 357-59; BJ, III, 357-59, 576. 86 De Witt to Deutz, Sept. 14, 1668, BJ, III, 475; De Witt to elector John George II of Saxony, Apr. 27, 1668, BJ, III, 475n.l., and CF, 323. » 7 De Witt to Deutz, Sept. 30, 1663, Jan. 29, Mar. 16, 1664, BJ, II, 484-85, 566-68, Mar. 21, 1664, ARA StH 2655, Jan. 7, Feb. 17, May 17, 1669, BJ, III, 513; Deutz to De Witt, Jan. 24, 30, Mar. 26 [30], 1664, ΒΑ, II, 172-73. For this affair see Heinrich Ritter von Srbik, Der staatliche Exporthandel Osterreichs von Leopold I. bis Maria Theresia (Vienna, 1907), 19-20, 83-88.

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consequence of the transactions came during the crisis of 1672. Deutz had sent cash for the mercury to Venice to be paid to the Austrian authorities, and it was advertised by opponents of De Witt to be in reality money he was sending to safety. 8 8 Deutz also turned to De Witt early in 1663 for help in winning the contract for sale of English tin. Then, in 1669, De Witt endeavored to obtain for his brother-in-law the contract for sale of three hundred thousand pounds of copper to the province of Holland to be used for casting cannon, but his prices were too high and he was passed over. The next year De Witt arranged for him to provide the security for the funds to be advanced by Spain to Sweden under the Triple Alliance guarantee just concluded. He would earn a profit and run no risk. When Deutz asked 1 percent commission, the deputies engaged in the negotiation and the Council of State thought it too high, even after Deutz explained that half would go to the guarantor in Antwerp (and in any case it had been decided the guarantee was unnecessary). De Witt then set about getting reimbursement to Deutz for his expenses, and after much speaking and writing obtained a grant of 500 ducatons (1,575 guilders) from the Council of State. 89 In all of these financial matters, large and small, De Witt displayed the acumen and care of a good businessman, but it was also clear that business was not his career. He was the seventeenth-century equivalent of a coupon clipper, drawing income from land, houses, and bonds, but became neither a landed magnate nor a merchant dealing upon the exchange in goods, shares, or bonds. He remained primarily a civil servant; wealth was the prerequisite and not the direct purpose of his career. To this extent, he personified the growing differentiation between merchants and "regents," as the Bickers and De Graeffs in Amsterdam represented their identity. But he also exemplified the slow emergence in the United Provinces of a class of professionals in the business of government, as distinct from the regents who sat in the governing councils. 88

Wickefort Crommelin, Johan de Witt, 53. Deutz to De Witt, Jan. 10, 1663, ARA StH D15; De Witt to Deutz, Jan. 13, 17, Feb. 2, Oct. 9, 11, 1669, BJ, III, 514-16, Jan. 31, Feb. 2, 6, 26, 28, Mar. 5, 8, 10, 12, Apr. 2, 8 22, May 13, 20, 1670, BJ, IV, 15-20. See also pp. 720-21 below. 8«

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE CRAFT OF POLITICS ./\.s C O U N C I L O R P E N S I O N A R Y of Holland, De Witt practiced the art of politics not as an innovator but as a skillful craftsman who takes up the means at hand and uses them as best he can. He knew that the craft of politics had its rules and that there were innumerable tricks of the trade which did not assure the success of policy but which, if neglected, increased the likelihood of failure. The words used by the Brandenburg diplomat Daniel Weiman to describe the difficulties of his own task applied even more to that of the councilor pensionary: It is indeed a miracle to be able to handle a many-headed govern­ ment like this. If you don't watch and catch the business at the right time et en son point, you have a great deal to do afterwards to put things straight again. In any case, there are always parties which have contrary ideas. 1 The operations of the Dutch state were "too fickle, slow and mechanical," Weiman complained, and its people too sure of themselves when in good fortune but downcast and despondent when things went wrong. 2 Government in an aristocratic state was not the same as in a monarchy, as was evident to the Count de Brienne, a French diplomat who visited The Hague in 1660. He found a "people's republic in which there are more than two thousand people who take part in the govern­ ment, have no head, and are replete with cabals and men of ill will." To modern democrats the figure of two thousand people governing a country of almost two million seems proof of a tight-knit oligarchy, all the more because those who ruled were not chosen by an electorate, not even a fairly narrow one, but were selected by the governing bodies by co-optation. 3 To a seventeenth-century monarchist like the Count de

1 Daniel Weiman to Frederick William, Nov. 6, 1657, Urkunden und Aktenstiicke zur Geschichte des Kurftirsten Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg (hereafter cited as UA), 23 vols. (Berlin, 1864-1930), VII, 108. The Great Elector's latest biographer, Ernest Opgenoorth, spells the diplomat's name "Weimann," but he himself used only one "n" in his corres­ pondence with De Witt. Ernst Opgenoorth, Friedrieh Wilhelm: Der Grosse Kurfurst von Brandenburp (Gottingen, 1971—), I, 215 et passim: Weiman to De Witt, Oct. 2, 1660, ARA StH D12. 2 Weiman to Frederick William, Mar. 25, 1658, UA, VII, 129-30. 3 An electorate of property owners whose farms carried voting privileges did exist in the countryside of Friesland and Groningen, in the north.

THE CRAFT OF POLITICS

Brienne, however, it meant government which moved irregularly, sometimes not at all, and often needed repair, like a bad clock. Another French diplomat, the well-informed Pierre Chanut, spoke of the United Provinces as "a state half popular, where every one doth pretend to be a great politician, and few are so in effect." 4 These were, to be sure, judgments on a state that had since 1650 mixed large amounts of aristocracy with a little democracy and no monarchy, given by representatives of princes whose first concern at home was to exclude all participation of subjects in the exercise of power by their own right. As such, these evaluations should not be taken at face value. But De Witt himself, criticizing a decision of Amsterdam to go ahead with plans to cut an opening in the Vechtdijk despite a contrary decision by a large majority of the States of Holland, could voice condemnation equally sharp, if not directed to the same point. He had always found it "very offensive and illegitimate" for members to push their own interests in affairs concerning them by means of decrees, to the disadvantage of third parties, notably fellow members of the States of Holland. 5 Although it became customary to treat the Union of Utrecht of 1579 as a kind of "constitution" of the republic of the United Netherlands, the document was really a set of rules for an alliance among seven provinces. 6 A constitution in the modern sense, a formal organic law creating or at least legitimizing the fundamental political institutions of a country and distributing powers and functions among them, did not exist. There was a persistent vagueness about crucial institutions and practices, generating conflicts and lending a constitutional coloration to much political controversy. 7 It was not so much the existence of the institutions which was involved as their powers and mutual relations. The decision after the death of William II to let the stadholdership lapse was the single exception, and the argument as to the necessity of a stadholdership in the Dutch constitution became academic. But there was

4 Louis-Henri de Lomenie, Comte de Brienne fits, to Mazarin, Mar. 4, 1660, AMON, V, 191-92; Chanut to Bordeaux-Neufville, June 11, 1655, Thurloe, State Papers, III, 498. 5 De Witt to Zuidpolsbroek, Feb. 1, 1657, ARA StH 2648. 6 P. L. Muller, De staat der Vereenigde Nederlanden in de jaren zijner wording, 1572-1594 (Haarlem, 1872), 210-11; W. A., The Present State of the United Provinces of the Low Countries as to the Government, Laws, Forces, Riches, Manners, Customs, Revenue and Territory of the Dutch, 2d ed. (London, 1671),64-65. 7 De Bosch Kemper, De staatkundige partijen in Nederland, 9; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 124; Benedict de Spinoza, "Tractatus politicus," in The Political Works, trans, and ed. A. G. Wernham (Oxford, 1958), 427; E. H. Kossmann, Politieke Theorie in het zeventiendeeeuwse Nederland (Amsterdam, 1960), 7.

THE CRAFT OF POLITICS

little dispute that the States General, although representing the sovereignty of the state externally, spoke within the country not to subjects of its own but to member provinces. 8 Legislative and executive functions were not distinguished, and decisions of the States were uniformly called "resolutions." Only the courts operated separately, although under the authority of the provincial States. (The exceptions were Brabant, where the States General did possess judicial authority over the inhabitants, and the armed forces, whose system of military justice was likewise a creature of Their High Mightinesses.) 9 Power belonged to a class of "regents," nobles in the countryside and members of the ruling bodies in the towns. In the first half of the seventeenth century the urban regents had been rapidly losing their character as an open class, fed from beneath by inclusion of common folk of wealth or talent. They were becoming a closed caste, and their government therefore was turning into an oligarchy rather than an aristocracy, the rule not of the best but of the few. 10 Indeed, despite the antipathy of the regents, especially in Holland, for the hereditary quality claimed for the House of Orange in its high offices, they were themselves becoming a class of hereditary officeholders, not by direct proprietorship but by the confinement of election to office to the same small group of families down through the decades. Since 1581 it had been the explicit law in Holland that the town councils (vroedschappen) were not subject to the citizenry and were indeed forbidden to discuss affairs of state with them or their organizations, such as the civic guards and the guilds. The debates and decisions of the governing bodies were private, although leaks were common; pamphleteers and rumor-bearers spread quickly the knowledge obtained by bribery or careless talk. 11 Although the common people (de gemeente) did not take part directly in the work of government, their desires and interests nevertheless had to be taken into account by those who ruled, more so by far than in any of the monarchies. And it was, by the standards of the time, a country where men lived safely under the laws. "How sweet it was," observed the 8 De Witt described the United Provinces as "quite correctly considered" by foreign states as "one Republic and indivisible body," but he held that this dignity was delegated, not inherent. Min. Res. St. Holl., Oct. 4, 1663, ARA StH 448. See also Aitzema, Saken van Staet, V, 326. 9 J. B. Westerkamp, Das Bundesrecht der Republik der Vereinigten Mederlande (1579-1795) (Marburg, 1890), 5-6, 37-38, 48. 10 Z. W. Sneller, De Mationale Beteekenis der Oranje-Dynastie (Wageningen, [1945]), 29; G. W. Kernkamp, De Regeering, 46; Enno van Gelder, "De Witt als Hagenaar," 105-6. 11 Jan van Vucht Tijssen, De politieke partij: Een onderzoek naar haar functie en structuur sedert het midden van de zestiende eeuw (Assen, 1941), 27; Muller, Staat der Vereemgde Nederlanden, 261; Kernkamp, De Regeering, 46-47.

THE CRAFT OF POLITICS

French visitor Saint-Evremond, who fled royal oppression at home, "to live in a country where the laws protect us from the will of men . . . ." 1 2 In any event, local interests were paramount in the minds of both regents and citizenry, and it took either long persuasion or arbitrary imposition— difficult to achieve because important questions had to be decided by unanimity in the States assemblies—to produce common policy in the provinces, not to speak of the country as a whole. 1 3 It is traditional to emphasize the Orangist interest as representative of a centralizing tendency in the republic, with the "republican" party the voice of provincialism. Although there is some truth to this vision, because the stadholdership did act as a "built-in balancer" among the provinces,' 4 especially between Holland and the lesser provinces, it neglects the deeper problem: the difficulty of coordinating into one system the two centers of political strength in the Union, the prince's party and the province of Holland. Neither could integrate the interests of the other clearly into its own, yet—as the history of De Witt's own administration and that of the second stadholderless period of the first half of the eighteenth century was to show—neither could ultimately live without the other. 1 5 With a government of such complexity, De Witt's leadership became an essential part of the mechanism of state. The French ambassador Jacques Auguste de Thou emphasized that only De Witt knew all the secrets of state, the whole course and character of state business, because everything passed through his hands and he told many things only to close friends. 1 6 He usually wrote and spoke as if he were only the agent of the States of Holland, his masters; he used the pronoun "we" to conceal his personal role, not, like a crowned head, to make himself and the state 1 2 J-J. Poelhekke, "Politieke ontwikkeling der Republiek onder Frederik Hendrik tot 1643," in A67V, VI, 241; Oeuvres de Monsieur de Saini-Kvremondi publiees sur ses Manuscritsy 5th ed., 5 vols. (Amsterdam, 1739), II, 397. H A. C.J. de Vrankrijker, "Overstemming en Submissie," Historisch Tijdschrifi, XVII (1938), 93, 120-21. The affirmation of Robert J. McShea, The Political PhiloiophyofSpinoza (New York, 1968), 24, that republican government in the United Provinces was based on "considerable political maturity, a capacity for compromise, and a strong sense of common purpose and interest," testifies more to his insistence on seeing Dutch practice through the lens of Spinoza's political theory than to his familiarity with the reality of Dutch political life. 14 See Herbert H. Rowen, "John de Witt: The MakeshiftExecutive in a 'Standestaat'," Recueils de la Soeiete Jean Bodm pour I'Histoire comparative des Institutions, XXIV (1965), 443. 15 Perhaps the most useless and ineffably silly of all comments on the Dutch constitution was that of the gifted historian Roger Bigelow Merriman, who knew early modern England and Spain so well. It was, he wrote (Six Contemporaneous Revolutions [Oxford, 1938], 87) "thoroughly impractical and hopelessly at variance with the ideas and condi­ tions prevalent at the time in most of the rest of Europe." Able men made the system work, and if it did work, did its differences from a largely monarchist Europe matter? 1 163. 3 3 W'illiam van Neck to De Witt, Jan. 1, 1665, ARA StH D18. 3 4 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 19, 1665, BR, II, 44; De Witt to Vivien, May 7, 1665, ARA StH 2656; Wicquefort to Lionne, May 21, 1665, BNZ> I» 174. 3 5 Delegated Councilors to De Witt 5 July 9, 1665, ΒΑ, II, 231-32; Vivien to De Witt, Aug. 5, 1665, ARA StH D19, Sept. 9, 1665, ARA StH D20. 3 6 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Nov. 13, 1665, BR i II, 112.

THE MANAGER OF STATE FINANCES

though they were harder to collect because of the slump in trade which accompanied the war. The French ambassador was afraid that the Dutch government could not continue to spend as it had been doing without facing a revolution. 37 Haarlem delayed the actual collection of the new taxes during February and March. When the Amsterdam admiralty asked him to arrange a payment of 300,000 guilders, even on a provisional basis, De Witt replied with "heart-felt sadness" that Haarlem's obstructions had put the country's affairs in "utter confusion." There was not 10,000 guilders at the disposal of the delegated councilors.3 8 When the Haarlemmers finally gave in to the majority on March 20, the "two-hundredth penny" was quickly put into force and the transfer of funds to the admiralties and to Dutch allies began. 39 Early in 1667 De Witt met opposition from Amsterdam toward the proposal made in November to have bonds which might become necessary during the new year issued not only by Holland but also by organs of the States General, especially the admiralties. The municipal authorities in Amsterdam feared that their admiralty would carry the heaviest burden. De Witt wrote to Gillis Valckenier, an influential member of the town council and a former burgomaster, to explain the need for the new measure and to ask his support in gaining its adoption. He warned that other towns were pressing for full reintroduction of the last-en-veilgeld, which had been cut to half rate. 40 Amsterdam decided on February 17 to go along with the majority because of the urgency of the fleet's needs. 41 But then new obstacles arose: Amsterdam insisted that loans made by its admiralty pay a lower rate of interest than those made by the States of Holland. There was not the least chance, De Witt warned Reynst, one of the new burgomasters, that the other members would permit such favoritism when Holland was already devoting half or more of its current revenue to payment of interest. 42 It was not until March 5 that a com­ promise was achieved. A financial package, passed unanimously, included an extraordinary loan of 7,000,000 guilders and a variety of burdensome taxes. One million guilders would be lent to the admiralties, as Amster­ dam wanted. 43 These measures provided the wherewithal for the last 37 De Witt to Meerman, Jan. 13, 1666, ARA StH 2657; A. to W. van der Goes, Feb. 19, 1666, Van der Goes, Briefwisseling, I, 252; D'Estrades to Louis XIV, Jan. 7, 1666, [Godefroi Comte d'Estrades], Lettres, Memoires et Hegociations de Monsieur Ie Comte d'Estrade [nt] . . ., new [4th] ed., 9 vols. (London, 1743), VI, 11. J» De Witt to De Wildt, Mar. 11, 1666, BJ, III, 166. 3' De Witt to Van Beuningen, Mar. 18, 1666. BR. II, 214; John to Cornelius de Witt, Mar. 26, 1666, BJ, III, 167; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, V, 785. 4 O De Witt to Valckenier, Feb. 5, 1667, BJ, III, 284-85. H BJ, III, 286n.l. 42 De Witt to Reynst, Feb. 19, 1667, BJ, III, 286-89; Reynst to De Witt, Feb. 23, 1667, ΒΑ, II, 304-6. 43 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Mar. 3, 10, 1667, BR, II, 447-48, 452; BJ, III, 288n.2.

THE MANAGER OF STATE FINANCES

great naval campaign of the spring of 1667, which brought the second English war to an end. Holland's financial position in 1667 was remarkably strong in view of the tremendous exertions it had made during the past three years. Al­ though Holland complained that the other provinces were not paying their shares in subsidies to allies, it paid its own contributions—including, for instance, 145,778 guilders to the princes of Brunswick-Liineburg in October. 44 There was even talk of reducing the interest rate to a mere 3 percent, although bondholders would be given the right to withdraw their principal. It was expected that Holland would pay off another 5,000,000 or 6,000,000 guilders of its debt within a year, for there had been little call on the funds raised by the extraordinary levies for 1667 and none was anticipated on those for 1668. 45 In a decade and a half of financial administration, De Witt had reduced the annual sums paid out for life annuities, interest, and call-in of redemption bonds from almost 7,000,000 guilders to a little less than 1,168,000 guilders. 46 In the political calm which followed the end of the second English war (1667) and the Peace of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle, 1668) De Witt was free to turn his attention to further improvement of the Dutch financial situation. He was able to achieve a final settlement of the quarrel, dating from the foundation of the republic, between the two quarters of Holland over their contributions to the province's payments to the Generality, and through it to the admiralties. North Holland (with West Friesland), through its local Delegated Council, refused to pay a share proportional to its capacity, and the cities of southern Holland thereupon demurred at contributing toward the expenditure of the admiralty of North Holland. De Witt was the architect of the "equalization" agreement of July 21, 1668, by which North Holland agreed to pay just over 18 percent of the provincial quota. 47 He then turned his thoughts toward reducing the military forces as much as the security of the country would permit, indeed, with an eye to strengthening the finances of the state for the event of future difficulties. 48 By the next spring it was possible to go back to the rule of applying savings from the interest reduction of 1655 to the reduction of the debt, and De Witt kept close check that the receivers of general taxation applied

" De Witt to Deutz, Oct. 1, 1667, ARA StH 2660. 45 Wicquefort to Lionne, Oct. 27, 1667, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague (hereafter cited as KBH), MS 75C8. 4 6 Houtzager, Hollands Lijf- en Losrenteleningen, 85-86. 47 De Witt to De Groot, July 30, 1668, BR, II, 579; Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 321-22; Aitzema, Saken van Staet i VI, 573-74. 48 De Witt to De Groot July 30, 1668, BR, II, 578-79; De Witt to Van Beuningen, i Sept. 13, 1668, BJ, III, 426; De Witt to J. Boreel, Sept. 14, 1668, BR i IV, 852.

THE MANAGER OF STATE FINANCES

every guilder to this purpose, even sending them a model form on which to report their redemptions.49 In the matter of taxation he worked closely with Van Beuningen, no longer his personal intimate or political ally,50 but now burgomaster of Amsterdam. The councilor pensionary followed Amsterdam's lead in these affairs when he could.51 He was sharper with Rotterdam, however, when it threatened to hold up the proposed ban on import of French brandy in the summer of 1670 unless measures it wanted for increasing taxes upon country districts were accepted.5 2 The worsening of relations with France, of which the trade conflict was one aspect, meant new expenditures on the army and navy. De Witt con­ ferred with Valckenier, once again burgomaster of Amsterdam, to argue against abolition of the extraordinary taxes in force, as the great city wanted, although he did not urge the establishment of new taxes or new borrowing by the admiralties. Valckenier was not persuaded, and De Witt turned to Van Beuningen for arguments to add to his own; in the mean­ time, public discussion of the issue would be put off, in the hope of reaching private agreement and avoiding public animosities.5 3 The dis­ cussions in the States of Holland set most of the other towns against Amsterdam, and it was finally agreed that it was not the time to reduce taxes. Everyone wanted to pay less in taxes, but no one wanted to give up protection in perilous times.54 But De Witt still could not persuade Valckenier on specific measures, and he wrote again to Van Beuningen in great haste and anxiety, fearful that the naval armaments would be approved in principle but that the admiralties would find themselves without the funds to do the work.55 A conference between the admiralties and the States of Holland on November 20 brought an agreement that the naval boards would borrow 2,000,000 guilders for their needs. De Witt acted as mediator, urging the importance of not going against the admi­ ralty, which itself should not stand rigidly on its accustomed ways. The last-en-veilgeld should be continued for at least two years, with one-third of the revenues used for debt redemption. The next day De Witt presented a conciliatory version which received the support of all but Amsterdam. However, its adoption was imperiled by the opposition of Rotterdam, 4 » Houtzager, Hollands Lijf- en Losrenteleningen, 87; Delegated Councilors to receivers of South Quarter, Oct. 9, 1669, copy, ARA StH D159; De Witt to Stoop, Jan. 29, 1670, BJ, IV, 23-24; De Witt to receivers of South Quarter, Mar. 9, 1670, ARA StH 2663.

5 o See pp. 783-84. J1 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Aug. 12, 1669, ARA StH 2662. 5 2 See the entry for Aug. 1, 1670, in Motulen gehouden ter vergadering der Staten van Holland in 1670, door Hans Bontemantel, ed. C. G. Smit (hereafter cited as Bontemantel, Notulen) (Utrecht, 1937), 176-77. 53 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Nov. 7, 1670, BJ, IV, 104—5. s* Bontemantel, Notulen, 231—33 (Nov. 13, 1670). 5 5 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Nov. 14, 28, 1670, BJ, IV, 110—12.

THE MANAGER OF STATE FINANCES

which sought reimbursement of 650,000 guilders already borrowed by the admiralty of the Maas. 56 A further compromise was worked out with the admiralties, including a doubling of the tax on flour for two years, unless grain prices rose sharply in the meantime; the increase in revenue would be given to the cities, which would advance the sum of 1,000,000 guilders. 5 7 De Witt summed up the situation in clear, almost harsh terms. Over the past fifteen years Holland had borrowed 70,000,000 guilders; if this debt had not been reduced, the country would have been ruined. The redemp­ tion program had therefore saved it during the war with England and Munster (1665-1667); it was the sheet anchor which must be preserved as a sacred thing. 5 8 But in the nation the complaints rose again that taxes never ceased to mount: "they have done nothing since 1650 but levy new taxes, although business has much diminished." 59 Those not in the inner circle of power felt that they were burdened more heavily than "regents and wellintentioned people," and a city without a vote, such as The Hague, paid as much as the whole of North Holland. 60 De Witt, on the other hand, put more emphasis upon the all-inclusive nature of the taxes upon land in Holland. Both scot and lot and land taxes were paid without considera­ tion for letters of exemption granted in earlier centuries by the counts. The few places that did not pay the full rate, towns like Vianen and Leerdam, were considered to be in law enclaves not subject to the authority of Their Noble Great Mightinesses. 61 In February 1671 the Council of State proposed a military budget of nearly 9,000,000 guilders, with Holland contributing 5,000,000. De Witt submitted a new proposal for raising the money, silently replacing that submitted in November. One million would come from the cities, and the province itself would raise the rest by various new taxes and a loan of 4,000,000, in the form of perpetual bonds at 3| percent, and the rest as life annuities paying 7 percent (fourteenth penny) on one life and just under 6 percent (seventeenth penny) on two lives. The program was adopted in April, although the interest rate on straight bonds was raised to 4 percent. 6 2 De Witt was pleased that the rate on a single life was set at a more realistic

56 Bontemantel, Notulen, 243-57 (Nov. 20, 21, 1670); De Witt to Van Beuningen, Nov. 28, 1670, BJ, IV, 112-13. 57 De Witt to Fagel, Dec. 2, 1670, ARA StH 2663; Houtzager, Hollands Lijf- en Losrenteleningen, 89-90. 5 8 Bontemantel, Notulen, 270-71 (Dec. 5, 1670). 5 9 A. to W. van der Goes, Dec. 22, 1670, Van der Goes, Briefwisseling, II, 174. «0 A. to W. van der Goes, Feb. 21, May 30, 1667, Feb. 23, 1671, ibid., I, 278, 305, II, 190-91. 6 1 De Witt to De Huybert, Jan. 22, 1671, BJ, IV, 239-40. « De Witt to De Groot, Feb. 12, 1671, BJ, IV, 158; Res. St. Holl., Mar. 21, 1671, ARA StH 104; Houtzager, Hollands Lijf- en Losrenteleningen, 90-91.

THE MANAGER OF STATE FINANCES

7 percent, rather than the earlier 8| percent (twelfth penny); this meant a savings of more than 166,666 guilders on each million guilders bor­ rowed. 63 Yet, even the lower rate was more advantageous to buyers than the 4 percent paid on regular bonds. De Witt urged his brother-in-law, the Amsterdam banker Deutz, to invest 20,000 or 30,000 guilders, as he had planned, and he explained to his sister Johanna both the greater profit of the annuities and the greater security in two-lives annuities at small additional cost. 64 Although supported by a number of the most influential towns, includ­ ing Amsterdam, De Witt had not been able to persuade a majority of the members of the States of Holland to reduce the interest rate on regular bonds to 3| percent, which would have saved the province more than 465,000 guilders a year. It was not true, as Leiden's deputies argued, that reduction of interest was self-defeating because it reduced the revenues of the state on consumption of goods. Nine-tenths of the money borrowed came from persons who did not spend the interest they received but used it to acquire new funds; insofar as consumption would go down, the effect would not be on necessities like food and clothing but rather on luxuries which had to be paid for by export of money. It was trade, shipping, and fishing which made the country prosper; money was better used there than by government. 6 5 These arguments weighed more lightly with most of the members than the fact that it was they themselves, their families and their friends, whom De Witt had in fact designated as a rentier class which turned its back on productive enterprise. De Witt himself, as we have seen, was one of them economically, but he could override his narrow personal interests as they could not. (The same realism about people and taxes was evident in his discussion of the problem of establishing quotas for the wine tax among the cities, based upon pre­ sumed consumption. De Witt suggested that what the wine merchants' families used be included, in view of the notoriously high estimates given by large dealers when seeking exemption from tax.) 66 Their Noble High Mightinesses, in adopting De Witt's life annuities proposal, had acted more upon trust than upon understanding. At the request of members seeking a fuller explanation than he had given orally, he presented to the States of Holland on July 30 a treatise, The Worth of Life Annuities Compared to Redemption Bonds. This work, inserted in the resolutions and then distributed to the members in a separate printing, with some differences in the text, became one of the seminal studies from 63 De Witt to De Groot, Apr. 30, 1671, BJ, IV, 164. 4 De Witt to Deutz, May 8, to Johanna van Beveren-de Witt, May 13, 1671, BJ, IV, 227-28. 65 Wicqueibrt Histoire. IV, 291-97. f 66 De Witt to John Meerman and Roetert Enst, Apr. 22, 1671, ARA StH 2664.

THE MANAGER OF STATE FINANCES

which modern actuarial science developed. 67 Not only does this work provide insight into De Witt as a Cartesian and mathematician, but it also confirms him as a master of Dutch public finances. The Worth of Life Annuities was a product of De Witt's effort to make the obligations of the province of Holland more attractive to lenders while less burdensome to the public treasury. He looked at such matters with the eye of a professional. He appears to have given no consideration whatever to a request from the poet Jan Zoet to listen to a way he had discovered to obtain money for the state without heavy taxation upon the people. 68 It was poet's work to praise the deeds of statesmen but not to tell them how to do their own work. A suggestion for a kind of tontine, transmitted to him early in 1667 by Van Beuningen, was treated with more respect. Under this combination of loan and lottery, annuities would be issued in batches to all groups of persons of about the same age. The total interest paid to annuitants would remain fixed, so that as some died the others would receive a higher interest; but with the death of the last annuitant, the principal would be extinguished. The interest rate, which would have to vary according to the participants' age, would have to be set above the 4 percent on redemption bonds and the 8 percent on traditional single-life annuities. De Witt explained to Van Beuningen, who doubted its practicability, that the plan would work but would not be to the advantage of the province. He estimated that it would take eighty, ninety, or more years for the outstanding capital of provincial loans to be extinguished by this method. It would be better to issue new loans in the regular way after the conclusion of the war with England, when the interest rate would probably fall to 3 percent; the savings could be used to expand the program of calling in bonds already in force, and it would take only forty-one years until Holland was free of debt. 69 It was some months after this that De Witt returned to his idea of the late 1650s of emphasizing life annuities, which in time automatically vanished, instead of regular bonds, which were perpetual until the capital was paid off. He asked the receivers of provincial taxes to answer a series of questions upon the basis of their records, showing the sum of life annuities issued by their offices at the end of 1655, when the interest rate on bonds was reduced from 5 to 4 percent; the sum of annuities issued since then, with their capital value; the sum of annuities extinguished

67

Res. St. Holl., July 30, 1671, ARA StH 104; [John de Witt], Waerdye van Lyf-Rertten

Naer Proportie van Los-Renten (The Hague, 1671).

P.J.L. de Chateleux and J.P. van Rooijen, "Le rapport de Johan de Witt sur Ie calcul des rentes viageres," Het Verzekerings-Archief, XVIII (1937), 82. See pp. 417-19. 68 Zoet to De Witt, Dec. 10, 1670, ΒΑ, II, 531. 69 Van Beuningen to De Witt, Jan. 28, De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 3, 1668, BR, II, 430, 432.

THE MANAGER OF STATE FINANCES

since then, with their capital value; the current sum of annuities in force; and the sum of bonds issued since 1655. To aid them in preparing these data, he gave them forms to be filled out and returned. By November 11 he had received the completed forms; all but one required further clarification, however. 70 At this time also, De Witt had the delegated councilors add two bookkeepers to their staff, to help him in working up the statistical materials from the receivers. He asked the assistance of Sivert Jansz, an essayer in the Amsterdam Exchange Bank, in obtaining men of judgment who could use their natural wits to do work in which they did not have any experience. A different form of bookkeeping was used in public finances than in merchants' offices and new situations arose frequently. He found one of the candidates, a certain Barend de Heus, to be just the kind of man—a "mathematical bookkeeper, experienced in arithmetic and with good handwriting"—and was disappointed when De Heus showed no interest in the post and returned to Amsterdam. 71 A year later he renewed his request to the receivers for data, explaining that he was preparing an account of its financial situation for the States of Holland. 72 He continued to obtain precise statements of their accounts from the receivers, although one of them complained in 1670 that he could not give all the desired information about the life annuities. He did not know how many of the annuitants had died off. Also, some of the annuities were not paid out regularly because the annuitants were out of the country and collected many years' arrears in lump sums. 73 The work of the clerks who summarized the materials for De Witt is almost certainly the basis for a "Reckoning" which was appended to a manuscript in De Witt's hand, "Historical Description of the Finances of Holland and West Friesland" for the period from January 1, 1653, to December 31, 1667, in The Hague archives. It shows that the South Qparter at the end of this period had outstanding redemption bonds to the value of 94,927,196 guilders, 5 shillings, 5 stivers, with annual interest payments of 3,787,087 guilders, 17 shillings, I stiver. Since the ratio of the debts of the North and South Quarters was 79| to 20|, the debt for all Holland was 119,405,278 guilders, 6 shillings, 7 stivers. The South Quarter had life annuities in force with an annual payment of 1,047,369 70 De Witt to receivers of general taxes in South Quarter, Oct. 10, Nov. 11 (excepting the receiver at Leiden), 1667, ARA StH 2660. 71 De Witt to Sivert Jansz, Dec. 4, 11, 1667, ARA StH 2660; De Witt, Waerdye van Lyf-Renten, 6. 72 De Witt to receivers in South Quarter, Nov. 26, 1668, ARA StH 2661. 7 3 De Witt to John Timmers, Mar. 5, 7, 1669, ARA StH 2662; De Witt to Van der Melle, Jan. 3, to receivers at Dordrecht, Haarlem, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Gorinchem, and Den Briel1Jan. 24, 1671, ARA StH 2664; Johan van der Meer to De Witt, Mar. 24, 1670, ΒΑ, II, 530-31.

THE MANAGER OF STATE FINANCES

guilders, 10 shillings, 8 stivers, at the established rate of a "twelfth penny" (8| percent). Adding the North Quarter's obligations, this represented a capitalized value of 12,568,438 guilders, 8 shillings. The combined indebtedness for redemption bonds was 131,973,716 guilders, 14 shillings, 6 stivers, little more than was in force in 1652, although the annuity rate at that time was an "eleventh penny" (9 percent). 74 The fundamental novelty of the Worth of Life Annuities was that De Witt moved beyond the previous empirical practice in setting the price and interest rate on such annuities to determination of their true value, based on evidence mathematically analyzed. It had been the custom to issue annuities at a single price, no matter what the age of the person on whose life they were written. Issued upon the lives of young persons, as was usual, they had an effective value of from one and a half to twice that of redemption bonds. 75 But the rentier public failed to share De Witt's enthusiasm. It was obvious that the pay-out on the new annuities was lower than before, but his mathematical demonstrations that they still were more advantageous than straight redemption bonds was beyond the public's grasp. Thus, a new loan of 1 million guilders issued by Holland on December 24 was confined 5 Examples of Lionne's dispatches may be read in Francois Alexis Mignet, Megociations relatives a la succession d'Espagne sous Louis XIV, 4 vols. (Paris, 1835-42), and D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negotiations. 3 6 J o M. Proot, "Brieven van Johan de Witt. Deel I 1650-1657(8)," TuG, XXII (1907), 252-53. 37 De Witt to Beverweert and Van Hoorn, Jan. 14, 1661, BR, IV, 65; Bontemantel, Notulen, 297. 3» See, for example, draft letter to Charles II, in Wicquefort's hand with corrections by De Witt, Min. Res. St. Holl., Nov. 23, 24, 1666, ARA StH 466.

DIPLOMACY: CRAFT AND ART

Throughout his career at the head of Dutch diplomacy De Witt was pressed, but not oppressed, by difficulty in maintaining secrecy about decisions and despatches. Diplomacy, like the war it replaces or prepares, is a contest of wills, and a knowledge of the other side's purposes undercuts his ability to impose his will on yours. But politics is also an apportionment of means to ends, and De Witt, who was willing to pay only a modest price for secrecy, also sought to evade the necessity for it by the develop­ ment ofun-Machiavallian policy. The Hague was as open to tale-bearing and outright espionage as any capital city in the world. The Dutch, with their "multiplicity of Caesars," could not aspire to the ideal of secrecy of high councils, brought so close to perfection by Louis XIV during the first decade of his government, as Dutch diplomats reported, a little enviously. De Witt's own sense of honor and his incorruptibility were as rare in his country as in others. 39 He took for granted that what became known in the States of Holland, and even more in the States General, would quickly become the possession of foreign diplomats and statesmen, as well as of the Dutch public. Any illusions he may have had on that score would have been quickly dissipated by the experience of the Exclusion affair. 40 Yet he knew that some informa­ tion which came from Dutch envoys had to be kept to himself or shared only with those in whom he had confidence, for if it became broadly known in the country, or even within the councils of government, diplomacy would become difficult or impossible. What was he to do, then, about the explicit command in his instructions not to hold back anything in the correspondence which came to the States of Holland, which he was allowed to open upon its receipt? He solved his problem by obeying the letter of his instructions and violating their spirit. He asked envoys to put matters which could safely be made public into some letters, and into others, for himself alone, could go "matters of our mutual confidence, which are not for others." 41 He even maintained levels of secrecy in the private letters for his own eyes. Some were nothing more than letters addressed to him and enclosed with other official correspondence in a diplomatic packet. But others, which he did not wish his masters to know "P. L. Muller, "De Amsterdamsche Effeetenbeurs in 1672," in Uit P. L. Mullet's Verspreide Geschriften, ed. P. J. Blok and S. Muller Fzn. (Leiden, 1906), 286. Geyl's elaborate defense of the regents against the extreme accusations of corruptibility made by the French ambassador D'Estrades is largely unnecessary. Corruption was almost universal in De Witt's time, and most of the regents were not much better than their counterparts in other countries. What was truly significant, as I have pointed out elsewhere, was how little such bribery achieved in shaping policy. P. Geyl, "D'Estrades' beweringen omtrent de omkoopbaarheid der Nederlandse regenten," Nederlandsche Historiebladen, II (1939), 163-73; Η. H. Rowen, The Ambassador Prepares for War: The Dutch Embassy of Arnauld de Pomponne, 1669-1671 (The Hague, 1957), 25n.2. 4 ° See pp. 218-19. 41 De Witt to Van Beverningk, Oct. 3, 1653, BJ, I, 107.

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even existed, he had sent to various private persons in The Hague. Later he was satisfied to have such letters "of confidence and familiarity" merely marked "private" on the cover, so that if one arrived during a meeting of the States he would not inadvertently give it public reading. 42 He developed the practice of having letters for his own eyes marked by a characteristic "my friend" after the usual "Sir" (Mijn Heer) in the salu­ tation, as a flag of warning, and later even had them delivered into his own hands. 43 But he made sure that ordinary letters were addressed to him at the same time; officials of the States of Holland, especially the delegated councilors, whose prerogatives he was careful to observe, could open these in the event of his absence. 44 During one of the most difficult passages of Dutch involvement in the diplomacy of the first Northern War, De Witt warned one of the Dutch envoys in Copenhagen not to arouse suspicions by writing only to him, as Van Slingelandt had just done. Lest there be outcries against "management of affairs outside the orders of the State and possibly even in conflict with them," he should always send something to the States General or the States of Holland by every post; otherwise, it would be best not to write at all. 45 De Witt was still following the same practice a decade later. In 1667, in the difficult period just before the conclusion of the Peace of Breda, he suggested to Van Beuningen in Paris that he inform the States General only of publicly known affairs and other things which did not require secrecy, so as to satisfy the curiosity of the provinces. Matters of more importance, which could not stand public debate, should be sent to himself and to Ruysch, the grijfier of the States General. 46 The problem became acute in 1670 and 1671, when De Groot was the ambassador. De Witt first warned him to be careful not to write everything to the States General and then alerted him to the danger that the French would learn what came to the knowledge of Zeeland. De Groot replied that it had been his practice for some time to send to the councilor pensionary of Zeeland copies of his despatches to the grijfier. But he took care not to say anything that could not be repeated in a public assembly and then in Martin Aernout's winehouse (on the Square just outside the Gevangenpoort). The result, he knew, was that he was accused of writing 42 De Witt to Van Beverningk and Nieupoort, Sept. 4, 1654, to Van Beuningen, Mar. 10, to Thomas Sasburg, Aug. 19, 1656, BJ, I, 233, 366 -67, 385; De Witt to De Neel, Sept. 4, 1654, ARA StH 2645; De Witt to Vogelsangh, Nov. 17, 1659, BR, VI, 265; De Witt to Jacob Ie Maire, Dec. 8, 1659, ARA StH 2650. 43 See De Witt to Van Beuningen, Oct. 10, 1670, ARA StH 2663. This form of address can deceive the unwary historian (as it did the writer of these lines when he first met it) into ascribing more intimacy between De Witt and the writer of the dispatch than necessarily existed. 44 De Witt to Delegated Councilors, May 5, 1656, ARA StH D217; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Mar. 10, 1656, BJ, I, 385. 45 De Witt to Van Slingelandt, Aug. 22, 1659, BJ, II, 144. 4 6 De Witt to Van Beuningen, July 7, 1667, BR, II, 534.

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only superficialities to his masters and keeping his real thoughts for letters to De Witt. What do they want of me? he asked in puzzlement. Do they want me to write nothing in secret? When the French had become aware that he had information about decisions of the king's inner council, his sources had been barred. He was given no money to pay spies: how did they expect anything but what everybody knew? De Witt was satisfied with the arrangement by which De Groot sent copies of the letter to the griffier to the Zeeland councilor pensionary. It meant that he himself could avoid giving copies of sensitive dispatches to the provinces. But De Groot should write now and then a dispatch which could be communicated safely. 47 De Witt's practice of separating the two kinds of letters, innocuous and informative, soon became obvious to acute observers. In 1656 Aitzema, Thurloe's informant, told the English secretary of state that the Dutch ambassador in England only put into his dispatches to the States General what could safely end up "printed in pamphlets." Matter of "consequence and confidence" went to De Witt and Van Beverningk. 48 Some of these private letters were too secret even to keep, although De Witt usually retained all correspondence written to him for his "release from liability." 4 9 During the tortuous negotiations over the Exclusion in 1654, in which De Witt took his own masters, the States of Holland, into his confidence as little as possible, he sent back to England letters written by his friend Van Beverningk. 50 Others, too dangerous to remain, as he put it, "in rerum natura," were destroyed. A letter from his friend in the Nobility, Obdam, was "sacrificed to Vulcan." But when his brother-in-law, Barendrecht, a member of the Dutch delegation attempting to mediate the Munster dispute in 1657, sent him incriminating information about ties between influential Dutch noblemen and the bishop of Miinster, De Witt did not bother to burn the note as he was asked to do, although he told Barendrecht he had done so. 5 1 De Witt did not even trust the committee on secret affairs of the States General with matters that had to be kept completely secret. Its members demanded copies of dispatches addressed to the committee to send to their principals. He therefore suggested to the Dutch ambassador in London that he write of such matters personally to Meerman of Leiden, «' De Witt to De Groot, Nov. 13, 1670, Jan. 1, 15, 1671, BJ, IV, 121, 149-52; De Groot to De Witt, Jan. 9, 1671, ΒΑ, II, 532-34. 48 Intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], June 9, 1656, Thurloe, State Papers, V, 73. 49 De Witt to Vogelsangh, Dec. 23, 1653, ARA StH 2644. 50 D e Witt to Van Beverningk, Aug. 21, 1654, BJ, I, 220-21. He returned original letters to Van Beuningen in 1666 because of their sensitive contents. De Witt to Van Beuningen, May 13, 1666, BR, II, 262. 51 De Witt to Obdam, Oct. 30, 1654, ARA StH 2645; Barendrecht to De Witt, Oct. 11, 1657, ΒΑ, I, 228-29; De Witt to Barendrecht, Oct. 21, 1657, BJ, I, 518.

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De Witt's intimate and a former envoy to England, who could decide what to bring before his colleagues, and also which colleagues. 5 2 Secrecy was in danger not only at The Hague but also while dispatches were en route. Those confided to the mails—by this time a public institu­ tion, even if privately run in some countries—could be rifled and ex­ amined. 53 The obvious solution was the use of ciphers. Even before he became councilor pensionary in his own right, De Witt had had codes put at his disposal to send to envoys writing to him. He did not remain long satisfied with the simple transcription code he found in use, which would hardly have given a competent cryptanalyst of the period more than an hour or two of not too unpleasant toil. 54 He replaced it with a somewhat more complicated cipher, in which consonants had two numbers and vowels multiple numbers, while specific names were keyed to high num­ bers, often in the midst of straight text. With luck, the prospective codebreaker would not even have to slave over his frequency tables and see how good a guesser he was: the same code was used for dispatches to differ­ ent Dutch missions abroad. 5 5 It is difficult to believe that De Witt did not know how easily such ciphers could be broken, and he did not lack the logical powers to construct more impregnable ones. The purpose of ci­ phers, however, was not to baffle skilled cryptanalysts if a mail pouch was stolen, but simply to thwart their being read accidentally by unauthorized persons or before action on them would be too late. 56 So far as we know, De Witt made no effort to devise a fundamentally better code during his entire career, perhaps because the thick network of Dutch merchants and shippers who could be used to carry correspondence virtually undetected provided more effective security than elaborately contrived ciphers. 57 In any event, he was not overly troubled when Van Beverningk, writing from England in the autumn of 1653, used a cipher that De Witt did not have in his possession. He simply figured out what Van Beverningk had in mind from the clear matter into which the coded sections were imbedded! He did improve the ciphers. Although continuing to rely upon a transcription cipher in which several numbers were assigned to the more frequently used letters, he did not naively clump the numbers as had been done

De Witt to J. Boreel, Sept. 7, 1668, BR, IV, 850. There were special problems with the postal service conducted by the family of Thurn und Taxis in the empire and elswhere. 5Ί De Witt to unnamed envoy [probably David de Vries, resident in Denmark], Sept. 19, to Van Beuningen, Sept. 23, 1652, ARA StH 2643. 5 5 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 3, June 27, 1653, BJ, I, 71-74, 92; De Witt to Van Beverningk, June 27, 1653, ARA StH 2644. 5« See Garrett Mattingly, Renaissance Diplomacy (London, 1955), 250. 57 He followed the same practice in domestic correspondence, except that he used trusted couriers to make personal delivery, rather than men of trade. See De Witt to A. Veth1Jan. 24, 1661, ARA StH 2652. 53

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before. 5 8 The principles of cipher organization, so obvious to his mathe­ matical mind, had to be explained to others, especially the importance of concealing the more frequent letters. It was probably De Witt who invented the cipher system which Van Beverningk found "quick and most enjoy­ able." It used a circular device, based upon the principle of shifting replace­ ments, and may well have come from De Witt's mathematical insight and experience. When his chief clerk, Van Messem, was discovered to be guilty of betraying the secrets entrusted to him, De Witt had to take over the work of encipherment himself for a while. 5 9 De Witt was unwilling to entrust the cipher he used for correspondence with England to the councilor pensionary of Zeeland, Adrian Veth, although it is sometimes meant that he had to have dispatches to him copied for the Zeelander. He suggested that the ambassador, Van Goch, develop a private cipher to use with Veth. 6 0 In Paris Van Beuningen considered the cipher he used for dispatches to De Witt to be "more secure" than that which he used in writing to the griffier, and he used it on several occasions when he was being especially prudent. Still dissatisfied, he worked out a new cipher which he sent to De Witt. Lest the key be examined while en route to The Hague, he left out the numbers but had it follow the sequence of the grijfier's cipher, which was at De Witt's disposal, and the councilor pensionary duly resolved it. 6 1

Ambassadors and dispatches are the shell of diplomacy; the nut within is policy. It was De Witt's diplomatic policy which most won him fame in his day beyond the boundaries of his own country. That policy rested fundamentally on the situation and needs of the United Provinces and on the perception and hopes of the ruling class of regents. But it was also dis­ tinctively De Witt's creation, most of all when he was given his head, but even, although more subtly, when he had to apply decisions with which he was not wholly happy, as in the Baltic War of 1655-1661. The "givens" with which he had to work were the republic's limited territory; its immense wealth, drawn from commerce, shipping, and fishing; the satisfaction of the Dutch ruling classes with what they had achieved, which they sought to preserve and defend rather than to expand; the consolidation of monarchical power in most European states, if not in England; and the beginning of the doldrums of the European economy that was to last almost to the middle of

5 8 D e Witt to Van Beverningk, Oct. 3, 1653, BJ, I, 107, Oct. 24, 1653, ARA StH 2644. De Witt to Obdam, Nov. 18, 1653, ARA StH 2644; Van Beverningk to Nieupoort, Sept. 27, 1665, holograph, ARA StH 2679; De Witt to Nieupoort, Oct. 29, 1655, ARA StH 2646 (minute of letter in BR, III, 134). For the Van Messem affair see pp. 145-48 below. 60 Van Goch to De Witt July 4, De Witt to Van Goch, July 11, 1664, BR, IV, 310-12. j 61 Van Beuningen to De Witt, Feb. 18, Mar. 22, June 5, De Witt to Van Beuningen, June 16, 1667, BR, II, 440, 462, 519-21. 59

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the eighteenth century and which the Dutch experienced as intensified commercial competition supported by sharpened mercantilist measures in rival countries. De Witt's goal was peace, in order to enjoy and protect the trading advantage already gained by the Dutch. It only takes one to make a quarrel, however, if the other is not ready to give in, and so De Witt's diplomacy was marked not only by the quest for peace but also by the preparation, waging, and settlement of wars. He was no pacifist; he obeyed the ancient epigram that he who wants peace should prepare for war. 6 2 But like some of the Renaissance diplomats and statesmen painted for us by Mattingly, he made peace his purpose even in the midst of war. 6 3 The irony of De Witt's diplomatic policy was that the republic was driven repeatedly to intervene in foreign quarrels in the endeavor to restore peace, as befitted a great power. How far such a policy could go was indicated by the way De Groot defined the Dutch maxims of state: to maintain good relations not only between themselves and other states, but also between "all the Governments of Christendom." 6 4 Neither he nor De Witt antici­ pated that this policy would drag the country into wars which ultimately accelerated its political and economic decline, compared to the rising powers of Europe. One pamphleteer even boasted of the role. It was no longer the English but the Dutch who would "hold the balance even" in Europe and keep "arbitrament and equilibrium" between France and Spain. 6 5 Since such interventions were never disinterested but always sought specific Dutch advantages along with the general good of peace, the rulers of other states were usually less than happy about accepting this republican states­ man as the "arbiter of Europe." It was the "great power" that the United Provinces had become which they resented; they did not realize that the republic had passed the peak of its might with the conclusion of peace at Miinster. 6 6 The Swedish resident, Appelboom, who neither loved nor admired the Dutch, held that their strength was such that there was no power in the world they had to fear or bow to "as long as they maintained concord among themselves by good leadership and unity." In 1672, on the eve of the French invasion, there were observers in Germany who thought the United Provinces were unconquerable. 6 7 Nor did the republic take as its aim the expansion of its territory. "This state has enough fortresses and land, even perhaps too many," was how Aitzema put their attitude. 62 Been, "Praatje over Jan de Witt," 135. The epigram Si vis pacem, para bellum is to be found in Vegetius (Epitome rei militari, 3), among others. 63 Mattingly, Renaissance Diplomacy, 166-67. 64 De Groot to De Witt, June 9, 1667, BR, 11, 568. 65 Nederlandtsche Absolutie; Lisola, La France demasquee. Cf. Lisola, Denouement des Intrigues du temps, 20. 66 Japikse, Waardenng van Johan de Witt, 7-8, 10; Carl Rennert, Abraham de Wicquefort (Halle an der Saale, 1880), 51; Peter, "Johan de Witt," 272. 07 Appelboom, "Memorien," 332; Holland, oder Beschreibung der sieben vereimgten Niederlandischen Provmtzen s Neben denen darzu Eroberten Oerten (Leipzig, 1672), 3. 6 8 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, IV, 664. See also Lisola, Denouement des Intrigues du temps, 97-98, and Spinoza, "Tractatus Politicus," in Political Works, 361.

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De Witt was not taken in by vainglorious affirmations of Dutch might, much as he was proud of his country's achievements against powerful foes. He reminded William Boreel after the conclusion of the alliance with Louis XIV in 1662 that it was France which was the more powerful partner by far; as such, it could compel the United Provinces to keep its word, but the Dutch had "no other assurance than the spur of honor and conscience" which obliges monarchs to keep their promises. Kings could take revenge against partners who broke theirs, but "weaker states, especially republics like ours," could not do the same. 69 He knew therefore that the Dutch were not well placed by play Machiavellian politics. They were not strong enough to break their treaties with impunity, nor weak enough to justify a gamble. He was sensitive on this matter, as Peter de la Court discovered when De Witt withdrew his protection from De la Court's book, the Aanwysing (Indication), because it included a vindication of such faithless­ ness, among other things. 70 De Witt knew how much the Dutch abandon­ ment of France in 1648 rankled in French minds, and in a document of 1663 he deleted a reference to the breaking of the promise in the French-Dutch treaty of 1635 not to make a separate peace with Spain. William III was to recall many years later that "the old councilor pensionary" had taught him that republics should always keep their word. 1 But such rejection of deliberate Machiavellianism could lead to self-righteousness. The Dutch self-image in diplomacy was that of a power which could be carried even beyond first intentions by sincerity on the part of those with whom it did business, but one which would respond to tricks and deception by changing its intentions. 7 2 At any event, neither the Dutch in general nor De Witt in particular were equipped by either policy or personality to play the kind of cynically artful Machiavellianism practiced by Louis XIV and Charles II on the eve of the Dutch War. 7 3 De Witt never worked out a clear attitude toward alliances. He saw the need for friends in a world peopled by so many envious and resentful foes but distrusted alliances that had to be bought. He was one of the leaders of the republic—"those who had the major part of the conduct of business"— whom Wicquefort castigated: in their halcyon times they sometimes forgot to make sure of the friendship of neighboring princcs. Treating their claims, "however just and fair," with indifference and showing them scant

69 De Witt to W. Boreel, Jan. 25, 1663, BR, I, 598-99. 7 0 See pp. 396-98, 435. 71 Draft of declaration of Holland on public prayer formulary, Min. Res. St. Holl., Oct. 4, 1663, ARA StH 448; Japikse, Johan de Witt, 296. 7 2 See declaration of Bonifacius van Vrijbergen and Jacob van der Tocht, envoys to Brussels, to Constable of Castille, Jan. 15, 1670, H.A. van Dijk, Bydrage tot de geschiedems der JVederlandsche Diplomatie: Handelinsen met Frankrijk en Spanie, In de Jaren 1668-1672 (Utrecht, 1851), 340. 73 Brugmans, "Johan en Cornells de Witt," 14. See chs. 00 and 00, for the diplomacy of the Dover treaty of 1670.

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courtesy, they incited these princes to respond in kind. 74 But De Witt could not follow the simple approach advocated by De la Court, who said that the United Provinces needed trade, peace, and hence, neutrality. De Witt found such absolute neutrality impossible to achieve. 7 5 The customary way for a wealthy state to acquire allies was to buy them, that is, to provide them with subsidies in peacetime for the maintenance of armies to be used in event of war. Although a French observer, the duke of Guiche, thought that the Dutch merchants, who were so avaricious in their own business dealings, were munificent when it came to allies, there was a reluctance to part with money for what was essentially a contract that could not be enforced. Gillis Valckenier, the influential burgomaster of Amsterdam in the late sixties, preferred to spend such funds witHin the country for re­ cruiting troops, building fortresses, and storing supplies. A pamphleteer accused De Witt of giving too much in subsidies. The Dutch, he wrote, were so active as arbiters and mediators that in the end the "Dutch dairy cow" always had to give money to still the trouble. 7 6 In fact, De Witt's attitude was quite different. He shared with Valckenier the feeling that money spent at home and under the control of the Dutch themselves provided a greater measure of safety than subsidies for allies who were so often ready to break their word when a better offer came along. He believed that the only reliable allies were those who entered a league out of a concern for their own political (as distinct from fiscal) interest. Himself a master of persuasion, he doubted the power of argument when it came to fundamentals; if a statesman saw his true interest, he did not have to be persuaded—if he did not, he could not be. The time to give subsidies to best advantage, he held, was when war began. It was a sensible doctrine; its only difficulty was that it was impossible to live up to it. For one thing, it took a longer time and more work to create a modern army than De Witt realized. 7 7 For another, its rationality applied only to states with a plethora of funds at their disposal, and in De Witt's era that meant only France. It was not only the Scandinavian monarchs and the princes of the Holy Roman Empire who sought the alliance of the States General in order to obtain cash to maintain peacetime armies; it was also the royal beggar, Charles II, who made an art of selling England's alliance to the highest bidder. Wicquefort's castigation was at least partly deserved: the Dutch regents as a class may have been too ignorant and stingy for their own good. But De Witt was well informed and ready to spend when he saw the need. His error was to think too well of his fellow statesmen in Europe. He would 74

Wicquefort, Histoirei III, 166, 194, 226. van Rees, Verhandeling over de: Aanwijsing der politike gronden en maximen van de Republike van Holland en West-Vriesland 3 van Pieter de la Court (Utrecht, 1851), 102-103. 76 Guiche, Memoires 214-15; Wickevoort Crommelin, Johan de Witt 207-8; Genees3 3 middelen voor Hollants-qualen. Vertoonende De quade Reeeerinee der Loevesteynse Factie (Antwerp, 1672) (Kn. 10378), 11. 7 7 See ch. 29. 7 5 O.

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use spies without compunction, 7 8 but he gave up trying to buy political leaders by gratifications—"greasing the sleigh," one Dutch official called it—after the failure in 1660 to thwart re-enactment of the Navigation Act by high-placed bribery. 79 Wicquefort thought De Witt could have averted the English betrayal of the Triple Alliance of 1668 by a judicious gift to Arlington, who was the chief architect of the Dover treaty of 1670, 8 0 while De Groot complained bitterly that he received no money with which to reward his friends in the French capital. "No doubt this strict virtue which we wish to practice among ourselves makes good sense," he wrote to Wicquefort, "but it is inopportune and of use only to those who can stand by themselves and need no one else. France is much more sensible; she gives everywhere and buys what she cannot conquer. . . ." 8 1 Burnet was correct in his observation that De Witt accepted the principle that "all princes and states followed their own interests: so by observing what their true interests were, he thought he could without great intelligence calculate what they were about. He did not consider enough how far passions, amours, humours, and opinions wrought on the world, chiefly on princes." 8 2 That may be the difference, of course. France was set on conquest of territory; the United Provinces could only hold on to what they had. Decades before, Vondel had written in his great drama, Gijsbrecht van Amslel: "A soldier gains enough when he gains nothing but time." 8 3 It is no less true for statesmen. But time pressed upon the Dutch both ways: if let go slack by a waiting policy, it gave the initiative to enemies of the republic; if pulled taut by an active policy, it created new enemies. This was the dilemma of De Witt's diplomacy. ^ 8 Through Wicquefort, a spy was recruited in the staff of the French ambassador at The Hague, De Thou. Wicquefort to De Witt, [c. 1661], ARA StH D215. For an espion­ age mission to the Baltic in 1655, which De Witt organized using two French officers in Dutch service, see De Witt to Nieupoort, July 2, 1655, BR, 111, 77, and De Witt to La Grand-Maison and De Reelle [probably a misreading of De Neel (see n. 42, above)], July 6, 1655, CF, 131-32. Holland paid spies in England in 1661: Min. Res. St. Holl., June 8, 1661, ARA StH 440; Sec. Res. St. Holl.,June 9, 1661, SR, II, 291. 1 !l De Witt to Beverweert, Dec. 3, 10, 1660, ARA StH 2651; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Dec. 9, 16, 1660, Feb. 15, Mar. 8, 1662, BR, I, 333, 335, 498, 507; Wimmenum to De Witt, Dec. 26, 1660, ΒΑ, II, 25; De Witt to burgomasters of Amsterdam, Ian. 7, 1661, BJ, 11,273. 8 0 Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 129; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 366-67. Cf. H.S.M. van Wickevoort Crommelin, "Abraham de Wicquefort (20 Nov. 1606-23 Febr. 1682)," BVGO, 4th ser., I (1900), 256-57. Wicquefort reported at the beginning of the second Anglo-Dutch war that the States General urged De Witt to offer a huge bribe to Clarendon in order to prevent a break. De Witt replied, however, that it had in fact been done: the Dutch ambassador had offered him 700,000 pounds, 800,000 and even much more, but he had refused. Wicquefort to Frederick III of Denmark, Jan. 13, 17, 1665, BNZt I.· 'SO, 152. There is, unfortunately, no independent confirmation of this report. 81 De Groot to Wicquefort, Mar. 13, 1671, De Groot, Leltres a Wicquefort, 33-34. «2 Burnet, History of My Own Time, I, 394. 83 Vondel, Gijsbrecht van Amstel, act V, in Werken, 203. The phrase is adapted for statesmen by Simons, De Witt en zijn tijd, I, 223.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

AS ENGLAND GOES . . . (1654-1660)

THE WAR WITH ENGLAND had been a harsh lesson for De Witt in the

fundamentals of foreign policy. It taught him that for the Dutch a war with England—and the same held true for war with France—meant risking disaster, while victory could not bring positive gains but only avert losses. The Treaty of Westminster had restored peace, to be sure, if by peace is meant the absence of war. Although similarity of religion and form of government brought some measure of good will between the two states, the embers of hostility still glowed. English merchants watched with furious jealousy as their Dutch competitors quickly reestablished their primacy upon the seas and in the marts of Europe, little deterred by the obstacle of the Navigation Act. The revolutionary regime at Whitehall seethed with the assurance of God-given truth and the arrogance of victory, and was more than ready to do battle again. De Witt therefore made peace with England the sheet anchor of his policy. It was this aim which was evident even before the peace treaty was ratified, when an arbitration commission was named to settle the disputes between the English and Dutch East India companies. De Witt took seriously the appointment of "neutral merchants" who were not share­ holders in either the East or West India Companies and hence not judges in their own cause. 1 Eager for an accord, he worked with Bicker van Swieten to prepare Amsterdam's support for an eventual agreement, and urged the Rotterdam admiralty to put aside an enquiry into "ticklish" matters that might endanger ratification. 2 The arbiters were rushed off to England in June in such haste that the representatives of the Dutch East India Company came without credentials, to the wonder of the English, who were ready with their proofs and testimony, "everything written as it in metal." 3 Within little more than a month the arbiters had come to an agreement. It provided for payment of 85,000 pounds sterling by the Dutch East India Company to its English opposite number and various

1 De Witt to Van Beverningk and Nieupoort, May 9, 13, 1654, ARA StH 2645; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 917. 2 De Witt to Bicker van Swieten, Apr. 23, to Cornelius de Witt, May 11, 1654, ARA StH 2645; Cornelius to John de Witt, May 10, 1654, ARA StH D3. 3 Adrian van Almonde and Lewis Houwen to De Witt, June 9/19, BA, 1654, I, 121-23.

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sums to relatives of victims in the decades-old Amboina "massacre." De Witt saw to rapid shipment of Holland's quota in the payments, as well as to immediate compliance with an award of almost 100,000 guilders to English owners of ships and cargoes seized by Denmark in the Sound. But he stood firmly behind Zeeland's refusal to allow English ships to sail up the Schelde to Antwerp without transshipment. 4 Van Beverningk, considering that his mission had been successfully completed, was eager to return home, but De Witt asked him to remain as ambassador extraordinary while Nieupoort returned for a visit. When Van Beverningk pleaded at least to be allowed to come back for six weeks, De Witt arranged approval by the States of Holland and the States General, and his friend arrived in The Hague on December 14, reentering the arena of political controversy at home. 5 Nieupoort had to sacrifice his own wish to come home to Van Beverningk's impatience. De Witt firmly told him there had to be a "competent minister" in England. It was demanding too much of "a willing man," groaned Nieupoort in reply, but he did as asked. He was a good choice as the Dutch man in London: he was on terms of easy familiarity with Cromwell, yet was not taken in by pleasant words and looks. He likened the English to wolves who ate the Dutch when they played the sheep, and he urged building up the Dutch navy, on which not only the reputation but the very existence of the United Provinces de­ pended. 6 This was the attitude of De Witt and his party, too. They might play at being English-lovers but they were mere Dutchmen. Such words as Nieupoort's told not of affection but of cold political judgment. So long as the Protector could attack and not be defeated, it was vital not to offend him. If he believed Dutchmen when they spoke tongue in cheek, so much the better. It soon became obvious that Cromwell was not taken in by his own good words either. When he hinted to Nieupoort that he was willing to dare much for the sake of the States General, Thurloe immediately gave his words a hard meaning: De Witt must secretly persuade the Dutch East India Company to make payments which the English company still demanded in connection with the Amboina affair; then he, Thurloe, would speak of things which could be done. De Witt did not like this diplomatic pig in the poke: not only would the directors of the Dutch

4 De Witt to Van Beverningk and Nieupoort, July 24, 1654, BJ, I, 203-4; De Witt to Brederode, Aug. 17, 1654, ARA StH 2645; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 396, 1069, 1080, 1085. 5 De Witt to Van Beverningk, Aug. 21, Sept. 25, Oct. 2, 9, 30, Nov. 27, 1654, BJ, I, 220-21, 238, 240-41, 243, 248, 251-52; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 1097. β De Witt to Nieupoort, Dec. 18, 1654, BJ, I, 255; Nieupoort to De Witt, Dec. 25, 1654, BR, III, 5-6; Wicquefort, Histoire, I, 432.

AS ENGLAND GOES

company have to make up their own minds, but he was disturbed to see the Amboina business revived. 7 Nieupoort sought to come home for a brief visit in order to make a confidential oral report on the negotiation for a maritime treaty, which became his main task, and to tell about events in England in "these mysterious times," but the leaders of Holland insisted that he stay on until the maritime treaty was concluded. 8 The mysterious events to which he alluded turned out to be an expected rising of Royalists. English fears that the rebels would receive thesupport of the United Provinces were heightened when reports came that Charles 11 had secretly entered Holland in disguise and that a deputy of the States General had conferred with the exiled monarch in Cologne. These were only untrue rumors, De Witt replied. Princess Mary had denied that her brother had visited her in violation of the peace treaty, and in any case Holland would not allow any assistance to go to rebels in England. Nieupoort found it an opportune time to remind Thurloe that failure to make a good maritime treaty with the Dutch would mean risking "a bitter war." Thurloe answered with reassurances of good intentions. 9 What lay behind Thurloe's unwonted friendliness was a bad turn in the negotiations between the English and the French for an alliance, with danger of an outright break. De Witt was concerned that a separate Anglo-French treaty, although directed in the first instance against the Spaniards, might be turned against the Dutch; hence he did not want the English and the French to fight either. A triple league in which the United Provinces would be included would be better. 10 Now it was De Witt and Nieupoort who were courted. Cromwell sug­ gested that De Witt visit him in England, and Nieupoort, by reminding him that the councilor pensionary was needed at The Hague to direct affairs, softened the inevitable refusal. Aware that Cromwell's action in raising money without Parliamentary consent (shades of shipmoney!) was causing grave difficulties for the Protector, now "more outwardly obeyed than inwardly applauded," Nieupoort played up to Cromwell. They were "bosom friends," he assured De Witt. But it didn't mean much, he knew., A Protector in difficulty with Parliament was not likely to make financial concessions. 11 De Witt was not taken in by an assurance from Cromwell that he was ready at any time to help the Dutch against oppres7 Nieupoort to De Witt, Jan. 15, 1655, BR, III, 10-11; De Witt to Nieupoort, Feb. 26, 1655, BR, III, 17. 8 Nieupoort to De Witt, Feb. 26, De Witt to Nieupoort, Mar. 5, 1655, BR, III, 18-20. 9 Nieupoort to De Witt, Mar. 19, Apr. 2, De Witt to Nieupoort, Mar. 26, 1655, BR, III, 27-28, 30, 32-33, 35-36; States General to Princess Mary, Mar. 18, 1655, copy for DeWitt- ARA StGen 2718. 10 De Witt to Nieupoort, Jan. 8, Apr. 9, 1655, BR, III, 4—5, 37-38. 11 Nieupoort to De Witt, Apr. 16, Apr. 30, June 11, 1655, BR, III, 42-44, 52, 68-70.

AS ENGLAND GOES

sion or harm. Such solicitude was a fine thing, he told Nieupoort. Why then did Cromwell not agree to common action to keep trade to the Baltic unimpaired? 1 2 The Protector had no reason, in fact, to think that he was deceiving De Witt. Thurloe heard from his informant at The Hague that the Dutch "really . . . love" the Protector as little as they did Spain. And with good reason, for the English continued to seize Dutch ships and rejected Dutch protests out of hand. 13 De Witt was less interested in assurances from Cromwell that he esteemed his person and wanted to prove it in deeds, than in English acceptance of the principle that the two great trading nations should "never" quarrel. He would not concede the English proposal that they be given the right to examine cargoes at sea, instead of only passports and sea letters. 1 4 By November 1655 Nieupoort though the situation had improved enough to talk of resigning and obtaining a house for his successor. Al­ though De Witt agreed to discuss the request, he preferred to have Nieu­ poort remain as ordinary ambassador, especially when the situation worsened again with renewed English ship seizures. Nieupoort protested so sharply that Cromwell chided him and urged that he show as much con­ fidence in him as he himself did in "Milord De Witt." It was a less than perfect confidence, though, for it was easily turned to suspicion when he heard reports that the Dutch might name Count William Frederick as field marshal, or that the Princess Royal went a-traveling during the winter months—a season when no one journeyed for pleasure! 1 5 Cromwell's continuing distrust of the Orange interest in the United Provinces did not worry De Witt as much as the Protector's long-feared action in making a treaty of alliance with France, without Dutch partici­ pation, in January 1656. In April the States of Holland decided to favor expansion of the Anglo-French league into a triple alliance, but when the English queried Nieupoort as to Dutch willingness to participate as well in war against the Spaniards, De Witt found the price too high. 16 Signs that Cromwell's regime was in difficulties made the Dutch even less ready to swallow English arrogance. De Witt thought that the Protector ought to make the Dutch his "solid" friends by concluding the maritime treaty. He told Nieupoort to warn the English that in the absence of a maritime treaty the States General would have the right under both natural and ι 2 De Witt to Nieupoort, July 30, 1655, BR, III, 88-89. 1 3 Intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], Nov. 19, 1655, Thurloe, State Papers, 174; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, III, 1165. 1 4 Nieupoort to De Witt, Oct. 29, 1655, De Witt to Nieupoort, Mar. 31, May 5, 1656, BR, III, 136, 207, 221-22. 1 5 De Witt to Nieupoort, Dec. 3, 10, 17, Nieupoort to De Witt, Nov. 26, Dec. 17, 1655, Jan. 14, Mar. 3, 1656, BR, III, 147-48, 151, 155, 157-58, 170-72, 193-94. De Witt to Nieupoort, Jan. 21, Apr. 7, 1656, BR, III, 169, 208-9; De Witt to Delegated Councilors, May 6, 1656, ARA StH 2647.

AS ENGLAND GOES

international law, "and, it may be added, a duty it will assume," to use its power to protect Dutch citizens from interference with their trade. 1 7 Nieupoort meanwhile became more and more desperate to be allowed to come home for a visit, to give his wife a last chance to see her ailing mother before she died and to seek medical treatment himself for his depression, but to no avail. De Witt could not persuade a majority of the States of Holland to give their assent. Nieupoort bowed his head in obedi­ ence to what he called a "very hard" decision.' 8 De Witt reassured him of their "intrinsic friendship and confidence," but rebuked him for writing almost verbatim the "general expressions" used by Cromwell and Thurloe about the Protector's esteem for the United Provinces and his readiness to risk his own person for their welfare. Did Nieupoort really believe such words, the members of the States of Holland asked, when English deeds so often contradicted them? Nieupoort countered that he did not believe them but was only reporting what he heard, as was his duty. If there were misunderstandings, he could come back to speak in his own defense. Why not send someone more effective in his place? This was not possible, De Witt answered, ifit left the embassy unoccupied. 1 9 Relations between England and the United Provinces, and between Cromwell and De Witt, turned harsher because of disagreements about the Baltic situation. Cromwell not only favored the Swedes in their war with the Danes but also wanted the Dutch to do the same, or at least to remain neutral. Reports circulated in The Hague that he had hinted that if he were rebuffed he might send to the other provinces the Act of Exclu­ sion given to him by Holland, so that the prince of Orange might be restored to his forebears' offices. The French charge d'affaires at The Hague, Georges Courtin, learned that De Witt replied that Cromwell could do as he threatened; the Dutch would reply by electing the prince as captain and admiral general themselves, but with the Stales as his lieutenants. This will show Cromwell that his name no longer causes us fear, as it used to do. 20 Did De Witt actually mean what he said? We cannot know, for we have only Courtin's report. But there seems to be little reason to doubt the well-informed Courtin. What is apparent is that De Witt knew how to bluff as well as Cromwell. Something else may have also been present, however, which would have been even more significant. Did De Witt al-

17 Intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], June 22, 1656, Thurloe, State Papers, V, 111-12; Nieupoort to De Witt, Sept. 29, 1656, ARA StH D6; De Witt to Nieupoort, July 4, Aug. 11, 1656, BR, III, 248, 261. 18 Nieupoort, to De Witt, Mar. 17, 24, 31, Aug. 18, De Witt to Nieupoort, Aug. 11, 1656, BR, III, 201, 204-5, 207-8, 261, 266. 19 De Witt to Nieupoort, Sept. 1, 22, Nieupoort to De Witt, Sept. 8, 1656, BR, III, 271, 274-75, 277. 20 Courtin to Mazarin, Sept. 21, 1656, AMON, V, 167-68.

AS ENGLAND GOES

ready anticipate in 1656 the policy later adopted by Holland when cir­ cumstances permitted—giving the military command to the prince of Orange while excluding him from the stadholderate, which gave political leadership? On December 15 Nieupoort sent the draft of a maritime treaty. It was well into 1657 before the States of Holland (which in the usual course of such matters debated them and made proposals to the States General) heard De Witt report on it for the committee on naval affairs. He favored acceptance with amendments. De Witt conveyed the arguments in his report to Nieupoort to be used on behalf of repeal of the Navigation Act of 1651 when he thought the mood in England permitted.2 1 Such a mood, it was obvious, would have to be one of English discouragement and weak­ ness—Englishmen were not going to abandon the Navigation Act for the love of Dutchmen's blue eyes. But they might do so, it was hoped, to prevent a rapprochement between the United Provinces and France, portended by the arrival of a new French ambassador in The Hague, De Thou.2 2 De Witt was no longer willing to conciliate English interests. When four English ships were taken by two Dutch vessels off the Guinea coast, De Witt informed Nieupoort that the ships had already been sold to Spaniards and added the dry reminder that the Dutch government could not act in such cases unless the English government concluded the maritime treaty. Nieupoort saw the results of such Dutch resoluteness in England. "The envy and hatred of most of the merchants of this Nation against ours are incredible," he told De Witt. It was an antipathy shared by the "sectaries" (which he attributed to their "extraordinary passion and turbulent spirit which delights in bloodletting and confusion"). At the moment, however, from what he heard, "those who are at the rudder and have power in their hands" did not want estrangement from the United Provinces.23 Nieupoort followed closely the change in the form of government in England. Early in February he heard rumors that it would be made "hereditary or successorial, under a title of greater prestige." Early in March he told De Witt of the final appearance of the New Model of Government. The French ambassador expected a kingship to emerge and was ready to attend coronation cermonies. Nieupoort supposed he would have to do the same, but asked De Witt for his judgment. The time had not yet come for official notification to the States General.24 Recognize Cromwell in whatever titles, dignity, and authority are conferred upon him, was De Witt's reply. The States General had already recognized that 2 ' Sec. Res. St. Holl., Jan. 19, 1657, SR, I, 387; De Witt to Nieupoort, Jan. 26, 1657, BR, III, 323-24. 2 2 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, IV, 46. 2 3 De Witt to Nieupoort, Mar. 2, Nieupoort to De Witt, Mar. 2, 1657, BR, III, 335-37. 24 Nieupoort to De Witt, Feb. 2, Mar. 9, 1657, BR, III, 327, 338-39.

AS ENGLAND GOES

the sovereignty of the three realms of England, Scotland, and Ireland resided in his person. Indeed, if Thurloe's hint that a quasi-royal Oliver, with or without what Nieupoort called the "invidious title of King," would be readier to conclude the maritime treaty, De Witt could only applaud. No restraint of republican ideology hampered De Witt's interest in concrete advantage for his own country.25 And Thurloe soon read reminders from Aitzema in The Hague that the States of Holland, no matter what face they put on, "hate the Protector like the plague."26 A sign of the changed situation was the acceptance by the English government and Parliament of the resolution of a dispute between the United Provinces and France over Dutch seizure of two French warships.2 7 A motley collection of Englishmen, identified by Nieupoort as "the bitter Royalists, the Papists, the violent Sectaries and some selfish and envious merchants," had hoped for a violent break.28 Instead, a "very important" member of Parliament came to the Dutch envoy with a tale obviously intended to reassure him. Cromwell, so it went, on hearing the name of certain persons who had formerly had great authority in the government, had singled one out for special obloquy. Cromwell had objected to him as one who had promoted the war between England and the United Pro­ vinces, and the Protector had no good opinion of those who had such passions. De Witt's response to such news was to suggest again that the time had come to bring the maritime treaty to conclusion, now that Cromwell had put his domestic situation in order. Otherwise, "great inconveniences and difficulties" could result. The improvement in the situation was such, indeed, that De Witt finally was able to obtain per­ mission for Nieupoort, whose aged father-in-law was rapidly failing, to return home for a half month's visit.30 But it was an improvement in words, not deeds. Nieupoort's efforts to obtain repeal of the Navigation Act and a new maritime treaty got nowhere all during the summer of 1657. 31 Little of importance ensued for many months. Zeeland and Friesland thwarted a proposal in October to change Nieupoort's status from extra­ ordinary to ordinary ambassador. The Frieslanders in particular demanded that he still had to give an account of his part in negotiating the Act of

25 De Witt to Nieupoort, Mar. 16, Apr. 6, May 18, Nieupoort to De Witt, Mar. 30, 1657, BR, III, 340, 343-44, 367. On De Witt as a political thinker see pp. 000-000. 26 Intelligences from The Hague [Aitzema], Apr. 27, May 18, 1657, Thurloe, State Papers, VI, 206, 271. π See pp.276-79. 28 Nieupoort to De Witt, June 29, 1657, BR, III, 391. 29 Nieupoort to De Witt July 20, 1657, BR, III, 398-99. j 30 Nieupoort to De Witt, July 20, July 27, Aug. 10, 1657, BR, III, 399-402, 406. 31 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, IV, 136.

AS ENGLAND GOES

Exclusion. 3 2 It was not until the following January that Van Beverningk, Nieupoort (who had come back again on a visit), and Jongestal, the survivors of the tortured embassy of 1653 and 1654, presented their account to the States General. It was only a "succinct" report which they submitted, not the lengthy "Relation" which had been in preparation for some years. 3 3 They were thanked by the States General and each was given a gold medal with the motto, Virtutis praemium ("the reward of virtue"), but Zeeland, Groningen, and Friesland approved the thanks reluctantly and protested the award of the medal. 3 4 De Witt gave no special attention to the decision by Cromwell in December 1657 to send George Downing to The Hague as resident. All he knew about Downing was that he was a member of Parliament. What De Witt would soon find out was that Downing was a fanatic in the cause of England's triumph over the Dutch in their commercial rivalry and was utterly unprincipled about who ruled in London. 3 5 De Witt met many diplomats in his two decades at the helm of Dutch foreign policy, but none upon whom he could get so little grip as Cromwell's onetime scoutmaster general. De Witt, for whom all this was in the future, found Downing, who had his audience of arrival with the States General late in January, con­ ciliatory. 36 His "great equanimity" of manner, neither flattering nor insulting but very frank, was accepted by the Dutch without anxiety— unless their impatience for Nieupoort, who lingered at home, to return without further delay to his post in England betrays suspicions of Downing's true attitude. 3 7 Negotiations on the maritime treaty crawled forward even after Down­ ing's arrival. One urgent matter which De Witt pressed upon him was the alignment of Dutch and English policy in the Baltic. 38 Like the Dutch, the English could not possibly want a single power to dominate in the north, as Sweden threatened to do, De Witt argued. But Downing replied that it was the Dutch who created the threat by preventing peace between the two northern powers. Even more pressing was the turn in the diplomatic and

3 2 Ibid. 3 3 De Witt to Nieupoort, Sept. 1, 1656, BR, III, 271. The "Relation" was published early the next century; see Van Beverningk, VerbaeL 3 4 De Witt to Van Beuningen s Jan. 11, 1658, BJ31,447-50; De Witt to absent members of States of Holland, Jan. 7, 1658, ARA StH 2649. 35 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Dec. 21, 1657, BJy I, 446-47; J. Beresford, The Godfather of Downing Street: Sir George Downing, 1623-1684 (London, 1925), 110. See also C. Riekwel, "George Downing (1623-1684)," Histona: Maandschnft voor Geschiedenxs en Kunstgeschiedenis3 XV (1950), 177. *b De Witt to Frederick van Dorp, lord of Maasdam, Feb. 18, 1656, BR, V, 538. 3 7 Intelligence from The Hague [Aitzema], Apr. 19, 1658, Thurloe, State Papers, VII, 61; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, IV, 298; De Witt to Van Beuningen5June 7, 1658, BJ, I, 457. 3 β Sec. Res. St. HolI., May 15, 1658, SR, I, 594-95. See Weiman to Frederick William, Jan. 29, 1658, UA i VII, 120-21.

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strategic situation resulting from the combined Anglo-French conquest of Dunkirk in June. De Witt did not conceal from Downing his belief that France had been foolish to give England "a footing upon the continent" and that Dunkirk in English hands would endanger the very foundations of the Dutch Republic. Downing replied that if the Dutch would "quit their new maxime of ballancing all the world, with whom they have thriven very ill, and keepe to their old maxime, which their first prince of Orange left them, of continuing well with and depending upon England, that instead of all these fears, they would find nothing but matter of rejoyceing and strength against their old enemy the Spanyard, by Dunkerk being in those hands it now is." Although De Witt suggested that Crom­ well, by diverting the Swedes from Danzig, could "by little and little have [his] mind of this state," Downing remained skeptical and within a few days warned De Witt and Nieupoort that Dutch failure to release seized English ships would bring English retaliation upon Dutch ships returning from Spain and the West Indies. De Witt, he reported to Thurloe, gave him "very good words" but he no longer believed "any thing but deeds." 3 9 Downing had been in Holland six months when he wrote those words. He had learned something about the true character of Holland's councilor pensionary, as De Witt had about his. Although De Witt was willing to consider having Dutch merchantmen bound for the Mediterranean and Spain run north around Scotland to avoid search by English men-of-war lying off the Dutch coast, he did not take lightly inspection of Dutch warships by the English squadron. The Dutch could accept search of their merchantmen, but "evil may come" if the English continued these efforts against Dutch warships for any reason whatever. 40 De Witt also rebuffed Downing's complaint against Dutch seizure of three English ships trying to enter the besieged harbor of Bantam in the East Indies. Downing was so angered that he almost came to blows with De Witt. 41 This is what the Englishman recorded in his journal; there is no confirmation from De Witt's side of such an undiplomatic spat, but the episode shows just how Downing felt about the councilor pen­ sionary. Interpreting De Witt's emotions on the pattern of his own, Downing was not satisfied with the measures taken by the States of Holland for his pro­ tection and kept up his private hunt for dangerous Royalists. When he discovered that Colonel Walter Whitford, assassin of the Dutch-born Parliamentary emissary Dr. Isaac Doreslaar (or Doreslaus, as he called 3 9 Downing to Thurloe, July 17, 21, 1658, Thurloe, State Papers, VII, 247, 257. 40 De Witt, memorandum of report by admiralty of Amsterdam, July 21, 1658, ARA StH D37; Downing to Thurloe, July 23, 1658, Thurloe, State Papers, VII, 268. 41 Sec. Res. St. Holl., Aug. 3, 1658, SR, I, 603-4; Downing to Thurloe, Aug. 17, 1658, Thurloe, State Papers, VII, 315-16; Beresford, Godfather of Downing Street, 98.

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himself in England) in 1649, had entered Holland, he informed De Witt where he was and how he might be taken. But he expected, quite rightly, that the culprit would be warned "and flye." After two months of getting warrants for his arrest, always too late, Downing had to watch while Whitford sailed off to a safer Russia with an ammunition ship. 42 When the Swedes invaded Denmark in August in what De Witt called a "faithless" attack, one of his most pressing concerns became the attitude which Cromwell would adopt. Downing gave him an evasive answer, 43 so he asked Nieupoort, who had finally returned to England, to see what he could find out. The answer that came on September 19 was news of Cromwell's death six days before. It was not an utter surprise, for Nieupoort had sent word four days earlier that the Protector was gravely ill. But it was news whose consequences would be many and grave. Nieupoort, voicing his admiration for Cromwell's "wisdom, prudence and extra­ ordinary vigilance," worried about those consequences in England and in the Baltic war, seeing new chances for the enemies of the Dutch. The news of Oliver's death and Richard Cromwell's succession as Protector was debated by the States of Holland the next day, and Nieupoort was in­ structed to reaffirm to Richard that the Dutch still sought English support of Dutch policy in the Baltic. 44 De Witt had not waited out the night to go to see Downing "to condole and congratulate" with him in his own name. He was overjoyed that the succession crisis had been "so happily and quickly settled," to the disappointment of "wicked men" who were enemies of both countries. 45 He was more explicit in writing to Nieupoort. Fearful that the Holland-haters would gain new influence, he hoped the suddenness of Oliver's death had caught the disaffected unready. It was a good time to press for conclusion of the maritime treaty, still being dis­ cussed after four years of negotiation, for Richard would no doubt want the benefit of close ties with "a state of such standing as ours." 46 For the moment it seemed that things would go as De Witt hoped. The Royalists were cast into gloom by the calmness and silence with which Richard's succession was received and wondered if they would ever regain power. But good-natured Richard opened the floodgates of political un­ certainty by recalling Parliament "to confirm what they had already given 4 2 Beresford, Godfather of Downing Street, 97; Downing to Thurloe, [late July], Aug. 23, 29, Oct. 18, 1658, Thurloe, State Papers, VII, 272, 334-35, 429. Downing identified the assassin as "Major Whitefield," but this is undoubtedly the same person as the "Colonel Whitford" who, Clarendon reports, was taken in 1650 with Montrose and had his life spared. Clarendon, History of the Rebellion and Civil War, V, 121. "3 Downing to Thurloe, Aug. 29, 1658, Thurloe, State Papers, VII, 345. 44 De Witt to Nieupoort, Sept. 13, Nieupoort to De Witt, Sept. 9, 13, 1658, BR, III, 457-59; Sec. Res. St. Holl., Sept. 19, 20, 1658, SR, I, 614-15. 45 Downing to Thurloe, Sept. 20, 1658, Thurloe, State Papers, VII, 379-81. 408. >5 De Witt to De Ruyter, Aug. 2, 1666, ARA StH 2658 and BJ, III, 197. 8 6 D e Witt to Van Beuningen, Aug. 5, 1666, BR, II, 316; Jacob Quacq to De Witt, Aug. 5, 1666, BNZ, I, 427. " De Witt to Ysbrandts, Aug. 6, 1666, BR, VI, 589; Oudendijk, De Witt en de Z ee machl, 160. «8 De Witt to Van Beverningk, June 25, 1667, BJ, III, 340-41. 8« De Witt to States of Holland, Aug. 8, 1666, BJ, III, 199-201; news report from Middelburg, Aug. 9, Janot to Lionne, Aug. 10, Wicquefort to Frederick III, Aug. 14, 1666, BNZ, I, 440 > 443, 455.

KING CHARLES'S WAR

great—only two ships lost, one less, in fact, than the English had suffered. De Witt thought that the fleet was ready to go back to sea at once, because Tromp had brought in his squadron after a vain pursuit of a fleeing English squadron, but the war council would not be stirred, not even by an appeal to "honor and reputation, everything that can spur and animate a warrior." The officers felt that the big ships, which would have to bear the brunt of the fighting, had been too badly damaged. There was a general mood of despondency, made worse by a clash between the admiral and his second-in-command; De Ruyter accused Tromp of not coming to his aid in the main action. De Witt tried to assuage the controversy and felt indeed that De Ruyter had been too hard on Tromp's officers, who had only followed their admiral's flag. He extorted a "settlement" from the two admirals and felt able to return to The Hague on August 14. 90 But Tromp refused to let the matter lie and wrote a letter to the States General, accusing De Ruyter of himself having failed to come to the aid of fellow admirals in distress. Although De Witt continued his efforts to gain a compromise that would enable both admirals to serve the country, the States of Holland, sterner than their councilor pensionary, insisted that Tromp be held to strict obedience. 91 Not even Tromp's personal declaration to De Witt, whom he came to The Hague to see, that he would apologize to the States General and De Ruyter and serve under him as his "second" or even simply as a ship captain, nor De Ruyter's willingness to accept such terms, which De Witt supported, could persuade the States of Holland to change its mind about dismissing the "changeable and quarrelsome" Tromp. He thereupon also resigned the commission as a captain given him by the States General. Despite fears of widespread disturbances on behalf of the immensely popular Tromp, there was only some brief rioting among sailors in Zeeland, and then all was quiet. 92 On August 24 the States of Holland named Colonel William Joseph Baron van Gendt of the marine regiment to replace Tromp as lieutenant admiral in the squadron under the Amsterdam admiralty. Although a novice at sea, Van Gendt had served well as De Ruyter's second during

9 0 De Witt to Vivien, Aug. 8, 9, 11, 1666, BJ, III, 202-4; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Aug. 12, 1666, BR, III, 319-21; BJ, III, 204n.2; D'Estrades to Louis XIV, Aug. 15, 1666, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negotiations, IV, 415; Oudendijk, De Witt en de Zeemacht, 163. De Witt to De Ruyter, Aug. 18, to deputies of the States General at Flushing, Aug. 18, to Van Vnjbergen and Van der Hoolck, Aug. 18, 1666, BJ, III, 205-7; Wicquefort to Lionne, Aug. 19, 1666, BJVZ, I, 466-68. 9 2 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Aug. 26, 1666, BR, II, 326-27; Van der Hoeven, Cornells en Johan de Witt, II, 57; Leven en Bedryf van den vermaarden Zeeheld Cornells Tromp (Amsterdam, 1692), 347-48; Blok, De Ruyter, 280-81; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, V, 730-31.

the Two Days' Battle (the function which Tromp had offered to take). 93 De Witt went back to Zeeland at once, reaching Flushing after noon on August 26. The next day he arranged the shift of Tromp's command to Van Gendt. De Witt was so amazed that it went off without difficulties that, as he wrote to Van Beuningen, he believed it only because he had seen it with his own eyes. 94 This done, he turned to repair and resupply of the fleet, in order to have it quickly ready for the sea, especially after word came on August 31 that Beaufort had come up as far as La Rochelle the week before. 9 5 He urged D'Estrades to have Beaufort move without delay because, with the English reported in harbor at Harwich, it was a good time for the fleets to join up. But he insisted that the Dutch would not wait to do battle until the French arrived, as they sought. 96 For it was battle that he wanted. After returning to The Hague on September 7 he wrote to De Ruyter to urge an attack upon the English in Solebay, where they were refitting their ships. The expected battle did not come about. De Ruyter had fallen very ill, as had large numbers of his men, and the fleet had to be called back, with only a squadron left at sea. 97 The decision was reversed almost at once, when news reached The Hague during the afternoon of September 25 of a "miraculous accident" that could change the course of the war—the Great Fire that had ravaged London from Septembei 12 to 16. De Witt wrote to De Ruyter at once, ordering him to keep his fleet together, and he obtained from the States of Holland and the States General, which met in emergency session the next day, a Sunday, a decision to keep De Ruyter at sea and to send De Witt and two other deputies to the fleet with full powers. But De Witt left alone the next morning because Zeeland and Friesland refused to name deputies to go with him. (Nonetheless, because they had been named, he signed his letters in the plural, as "the deputies.") He left early the next morning, going out to seek De Ruyter aboard a little yacht, De Jonge Prins te Paerdt, whose captain assured him he could outrun any English

93

Oudendijk, De Witt en de Zeemacht, 165. 94 De Witt to Delegated Councilors, Aug. 26, to States of Holland, Sept. 1, 1666, ARA StH 2658; De Witt to Delegated Councilors, Sept. 3, 1666, BJ, III, 211; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Sept. 3, 1666, BR, II, 340; news report from Haarlem to Williamson, Aug. 30, 1666, ΒΛ'Ζ, I, 483. 95 De Witt to Delegated Councilors, Aug. 28, to States of Holland, Sept. 1, 1666, ARA StH 2658; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Aug. 31, 1666, BR, I, 335; Van Beuningen to De Witt, Aug. 28, 1666, BR, II, 338. 9 6 De Witt to D'Estrades, Sept. 3, 1666, ARA StH 2658; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Sept. 16, 1666, BR, II, 353-54; Oudendijk, De Witt en de Zeemacht, 167. 9 7 De Witt to De Ruyter, Sept. 9, 1666, ARA StH 2658; De Witt to De Ruyter, Sept. 17, to Van Beuningen, Sept. 20, 23, 1666, BJ, III, 239, 355, 358; D'Estrades to Louis XIV, Sept. 23, 1666, D'Estrades, Leltres, Memoires et Negociations, IV, 486.

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ships they might meet. 9 8 They found the admiral two days later, still so sick with fever that De Witt had to take over effective command of the operations for a junction with Beaufort." But he could not persuade the war council to attack the English fleet in the Downs, not at least until they had positive word that the French fleet had come out of Brest. The crews, too, were very homesick, "drawn by the sea gates," as he put it, even though he preached to them that the "awful" fire of London gave the chance to inflict a "bit of mischief" (maer een halve neep). 1 0 0 It soon became evident that De Ruyter was not only in no condition to serve, but that his recovery from tertian (as it was now diagnosed) was hampered by the movement of his ship and the anxiety caused by the knowledge that could not be kept from him. De Witt and the doctors persuaded the admiral to return to shore, leaving Vice Admiral Aert van Nes as his replacement, but with De Witt in real charge. 1 0 1 Although his activity in leadership was even greater than it had been in 1665, De Witt no longer affected the pompous attire which had drawn such scorn upon him. 1 0 2 De Ruyter, indeed had been willing to leave De Witt alone aboard the flagship with only the ship's captain to help him in command, but De Witt thought this would be too audacious on his part and not in conformity with the decisions of the States General. De Ruyter left on October 3, 1 0 3 and De Witt decided to sail toward the Downs in the hope of tempting the English out, but when the enemy was met on October 5, near the entrance to the Channel from the north, they backed off toward their own coast. De Witt's continued hope to force a battle were thwarted by rising winds, and the Dutch had to return to Zeeland. Yet he would not give up his hope for action this easily. To come in without a visible success would give the English a chance to boast that they had driven the Dutch from the seas and weaken the inclination to peace created by the Great Fire. 1 0 4 Rear Admiral Adrian Banckert, who came up with his own squadron, was given the command

«8 De Witt to De Ruyter, Sept. 25, 1666, BJ, III, 240-41; Oudendijk, De Witt en de Zeemacht, 170, 172; BJ, III, 241, 245n.l; De Witt to Vivien, Sept. 27, 1666, ARA StH 2658 and BJ, III, 242. 9 9 De Witt to Cornelius de Montigny De Glarges, Sept. 29, 1666, BJ, III, 243-44; De Witt to Beaufort, to Count of Charost and Marshal D'Aumont, Sept. 29, 1666, CF, 280-82; Oudendijk, De Witt en de £eemacht, 172-73. ι»» De Witt to States General and States of Holland, Sept. 29, to Vivien, Sept. 30, 1666, BJ, III, 245-53. 1 0 1 D e W i t t to Vivien, O c t . 1, to States General, O c t . 2, 1666, A R A S t H 2658; D e Witt to N. Ruysch and Vivien, Oct. 2, 1666, BJ, III, 254-56; Van der Hoeven, Cornells en Johan de Witt, II, 63. ι »2 Oudendijk, De Witt en de ^eemacht, 173. i o 3 D e W i t t t o V i v i e n , O c t . 3 , 1 6 6 6 , BJ, III, 256-57. 10 4 D e Witt to States General, Oct. 4, 5, 6, to Vivien, Oct. 8, 1666, BJ, III, 257-60, 262-67.

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in place of De Ruyter, and a decision taken to make one last effort to find the English and bring them to action; if no battle resulted within two days, the fleet would sail in. 105 But the English stayed within the safety of the Thames, and the fleet returned to its various ports on October 13. De Witt went in at Goeree and was at The Hague the next day, "in good health, thank God." But he took the opportunity of the recess of the States of Holland to rest. 106 But only briefly, for he was determined to make 1667 the year of final victory and definitive peace. He worked out an agreement with the French ambassador that both allies should send out fleets as strong as the year before, but he would not make Dutch plans dependent upon French good faith or performance. The Dutch fleet would be as large as possible, able to fight without the French if need be. He persuaded the States General to keep the crews in service over the winter and to continue recruiting. 107 He was not stirred into activity on behalf of the Dutch merchant seamen who had been arrested and jailed in England at the beginning of the war and were living in great wretchedness, despite repeated pleas by the Dutch ambassadors in London and Paris. De Witt's reason was brutally realistic. It would be a mistake to treat the English prisoners in Dutch hands as "barbarously" as the English treated their Dutch prisoners, as Van Beuningen had suggested. Dutch sailors should not be encouraged to surrender by the knowledge that they would be clothed and fed, but the English should be. 108 His opinion was not changed by a report that his traitorous former clerk, Van Messem, was in England trying to debauch the imprisoned Dutch sailors with a promise of freedom if they agreed to support the prince of Orange. 109 De Ruyter meanwhile recovered slowly from his fever, but De Witt continued to count upon him to take command of the fleet in the spring. He repeatedly invited him to stay with him when he came to The Hague, instead of putting up at an inn. 11 0 The councilor pensionary had not abandoned his plan for a raid into the Thames as the most "powerful argument" for peace. Spies informed !«J De Witt to Vivien, Oct. 10, 1666, ARA StH 2658; De Witt to States General, Oct. 10, 1666, ARA StH 2658 and BJ, III, 267. io6 De Witt to States General, Oct. 13, 1666, ARA StH 2658; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Oct. 14, 1666, BJ, III, 268. Ό 7 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Oct. 21, 28, 1666, BR, II, 372, 376. 108 Van Goch to De Witt, Jan. 16, Feb. 6, July 31, 1665, BR, IV, 434, 440, 476-77; Van Beuningen to De Witt, Jan. 7, De Witt to Van Beuningen, Jan. 13, 1667, BR, II, 420, 423. 109 Vivien to De Witt, Aug. 7, 1665, ARA StH D19. ι io De Witt to Van Beuningen, Oct. 28, 1666, BR, II, 378; De Witt to De Ruyter, Nov. 9, 15, 30, Dec. 8, 1666, Jan. 13, 29, Feb. 14, Mar. 17, 1667, BJ, III, 271-73, 282; ΒΑ, II, 313n.3.

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him of the weaknesses of the English defenses, but he kept the plan a close secret among himself, his brother, and a few others, lest the British be alerted. 111 Although the English soon got wind of preparations for a landing somewhere on their coast, they did not know its location, so that De Witt's precaution worked in what really mattered. 11 2 The news that the dispute between king and Parliament would make it difficult for the English to put out a fleet, and that mutinous sailors were publicly proclaiming that they would rather serve the States or even the Turk than their own king, only heightened his confidence. 113 He carefully avoided letting Charles know that there was no chance of the Dutch accepting an armistice; it would be better to have him think there was and thus neglect his fleet preparations. Dutch naval preparations, on the other hand, went with unusual smoothness. 114 De Witt worked at the same time to have plenipotentiary deputies sent with De Ruyter. 115 Although the impending French invasion of the Spanish Netherlands meant that he himself would have to stay in The Hague, he obtained the appointment of his brother Cornelius in his place on May 15.' 1 6 No other deputy to the fleet was named, so that Cornelius became a one-man delegation, as John had been the previous autumn. He came as close to representing the councilor pensionary as was possible; although two years his brother's senior, Cornelius was his happy follower, and his energy and forthrightness were well known. 11 7 Act with boldness and resolution, John urged him. "I think that if I were in your place, I could scarcely avoid being present in person during the assault." 1 1 8 John kept the threads of decision in his own hands as long as possible. He went to Texel on June 2 with Cornelius and the Utrecht deputy Van der Hoolck, who was a member of the naval affairs committee of the States General, to help bring out the ships and to give De Ruyter, who had come up from the Maas ten days before, his final orders. While passing through Amsterdam, De Witt arranged to see ship captains who had recently brought prisoners back from England and others who might have information about the situation of the English fleet at Chatham and other places on the "river of London"; he also had pilots recruited who 1 1 1 De Jonge, Nederlandsche ^eewesen, II, 166-69; Wicquefort to Frederick III, Mar. 26, 1667, BNZ, I, 528; De Witt to Van Beverningk, May 29, 1667, ARA StH 2659. ι 1 2 P. G. Rogers, The Dutch m the Medway (London, 1970), 70. 1 1 3 Dolman to [De Witt], [c. Feb. 7, 1667], ARA StH D22. 1 1 4 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Mar. 3, 1667, BR, II, 447-48; Wicquefort to Frederick III, Apr. 30, 1667, B.\\~, I, 530. 1 1 5 De Witt to Fagel, Apr. 4, 1667, ARA StH 2659. 1 1 6 Meerman to De Witt, May 1, Cornelius to John de Witt, May 10, 1667, ΒΑ, II, 312-13, 313n.l; John to Cornelius de Witt, May 15, 1667, BJ, III, 292-93. 1 1 7 Oudendijk, De Witt en de £eemacht, 182-83. 1 1 8 John to Cornelius de Witt June 8, 1667, BJ, III, 299. j

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could help Dutch helmsmen guide their ships through the twisting channels and numerous shallows of the Thames estuary, some being brought over from England by way of the Spanish Netherlands and others being drawn from the ranks of English prisoners in Dutch hands. Hc arrived at Texel on June 4, and the fleet sailed out two days later, without waiting for the squadrons from Friesland and Zeeland. 119 It was not a large force, compared to the huge fleets of the previous years, only sixty-four warships and fifteen fireships in addition to the usual small craft, but it was very strong in new ships of unusually large charter, with six eighty-gun vessels instead of the two there had been in the previous June. 120 John was aboard the J?even Provincien as it went out, but came ashore after giving Cornelius detailed instructions for the operations in the Thames. Cornelius then assembled the war council, which heard the fleet's mission: to go to the mouth of the Maas to take on troops and stores and then head for the Thames. There it would make its way into the Medway, a small tributary on the right bank, and destroy the ships lying in the stream and go ashore to burn and blow up the great dock­ yards at Chatham. 1 21 After waiting in vain more than a week for the laggard squadrons, De Ruyter took his force across the North Sea, reached North Foreland on June 15, and sailed into the King's Channel two days later. The great raid had begun. 122 On June 20 Sheerness Fort, which commanded the entrance to the Medway, was taken by a combined land and sea attack. The next day a small force went on reconnoissance up the Medway, followed on June 22 by the main fleet. The great chain above Gillingham was broken by the bold attack of Captain Jan van Brakel with two ships. Once past the barrier, the Dutch captured the Royal Charles, the very ship which had carried the king home from Scheveningen in 1660; it lay now in the Medway, half rigged and with only thirty-two of its guns on board. In another attack on ships in the Thames above Upnor Castle, the Royal Oak, Loyal London, and Royal James were burned. But, although John urged that the fleet "pay a visit to the friends at Chatham," hasty English defense measures and the indiscipline of the Dutch forces when they went ashore kept the dockyards safe from Dutch torches. 123 The councilor pensionary was overjoyed at what had been achieved: ι 1 » De Witt to De Wildt, May 31, to Cornelius de Witt, June 6, 1667, BJ, III, 294-95, 297; Rogers, The Dutch in the Medway, 63-64, 67. 12 0 Oudendijk, De Wilt en de £eemacht, 179-80. 111 Rogers, The Dutch in the Medway, 68. 122 ibtd., 69-73. 1 2 J C o r n e l i u s t o J o h n d e W i t t , J u n e 1 7 , 2 1 , 2 3 , 2 5 , 1 6 6 7 , ΒΑ, II, 319-26, 328-29; John to Cornelius de Witt, June 24, 1667, BJ, III, 304; Rogers, The Dutch in the Medway, 78-109.

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"Praise be to the Lord God and thanks for such a great grace and bounty, by which the arrogance of the enemy may be curbed somewhat, and the present bloody war may be changed into an honorable and assured peace." But he was no less eager to see the victory multiplied by further triumphs, even by inciting rebellion among discontented Englishmen whose disaffection was reported by a Dutch spy, and he was indignant that the admirals' "irresolution" thwarted the will of the country to risk its ships. 124 The country? That may be doubted, but not that De Witt was passionately determined to crack the English will to resist making peace upon any terms but their own. He even berated De Ruyter for writing directly to the States General in the name of the war council to defend his caution: Weren't Their High Mightinesses present aboard the fleet in the person of their plenipotentiary deputy, Cornelius de Witt? 1 2 5 Early on July 6 De Witt reported to his brother that the naval affairs committee of the States General had decided not to override the resistance of the flag officers to further action in The Thames (although he himself continued to think it was quite feasible), and instead to seek another way of putting the fleet to effective use. Later in the day, sending Cornelius letters which had just arrived from England, he added a resigned judgment that if Cornelius could not move the admirals to act resolutely enough, "then we must accept it as fated, the absolute providence of God Almighty, who sets limits to all things which men may not cross." 126 What was undertaken—an amphibious attack upon Harwich—was hardly what De Witt had in mind. The English easily beat it off, and a raid into Torbay on July 18 resulted in only two English merchant vessels burned. The Dutch refrained from burning the little port itself, lest they turn the ordinary Englishman away from the sympathy to the Dutch won by their civility. De Witt continued to believe that more could be done. Sailors, he wrote to his brother, say that so many things are impossible, for example, to sail in and out of the King's Channel, and yet it had been done. 127 But the navy had done its work, for on July 31 peace was signed at Breda; Cornelius had been the "best plenipotentiary" of all, his brother boasted. 128 Cornelius received the first word of the peace on August 11 from an 1 2 4 John to Cornelius de Witt June 27, 29, July 3, 4, 1667, BJ, III, 306-11; newsletter 1 from London, June 24, 1667, ARA StH D229. ι » De Witt to De Ruyter, July 9, BJ, III, 313-14; John to Cornelius de Witt, July 9, 1667, BJ, III, 314, July 12, 1667, ARA StH 2660. 1 2 6 John to Cornelius de Witt, July 6, 1667, BJ, III, 312, July 6, 1667, holograph, ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 4. 1 2 7 John to Cornelius de Witt, July 3, 12, 27, 1667, BJ, III, 310, 314—17; Cornelius to John de Witt j July 9, 1667, ΒΑ, II, 344—46; Rogers, The Dutch in the Medway, 120-22. I 2 8 John to Cornelius de Witt 1 June 22, Aug. 3, 1667, BJ, III, 302, 317.

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English nobleman who had sailed out to the Dutch fleet off Plymouth; but he found the news incredible and still planned on naval action against the enemy if they could be brought to battle. 1 2 9 The Englishman's report was soon confirmed, and on August 25 Cornelius was recalled from his great mission. He reached The Hague on the night of September 12/13 and reported to the States General the next day. 1 3 0 The raid into the Thames and Medway became one of the greatest achievements in the annals of naval warfare, and De Witt was proud that his brother had been its "only instrument.'" 31 He sent him, along with his own con­ gratulations, a volume of panegyric poems in Latin and Dutch from the pens of many authors, Vondel not the least among them. 132 But the achievement was in truth more the councilor pensionary's than any other man's, for he had conceived, planned, and prepared it, and his spirit had been aboard the ships and in the men who carried it out. Cornelius to John de Witt, Aug. 12, 1667, ΒΑ, II, 346-47. no BJ, III, 319. 1 3 1 De Witt to Van Beverningk, June 25, 1667, BJ, III, 340-41; Oudendijk, De Witt en de ^eemacht, 187. De Witt crossed out the phrase before the letter was actually sent. 1 3 2 John to Cornelius de Witt, Sept. 20, 1667, BJ, III, 319; 't Verheerhckt Nederlandt. 129

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

THE MOUSE THAT BIT A LION (1665-1666) T H E O U T B R E A K of war in 1665 between the United Provinces and Great Britain, the two great Protestant sea powers, gave to Bishop von Galen of Munster1 a churchman whose love of weapons clashed with his ecclesiastical virtues, in the words of an astute observer, the opportunity to attempt what he had long dreamed of, the establishment of a strong Catholic state on the lower Rhine.1 Galen was encouraged in the early months of the Anglo-Dutch war by the apparent readiness of Brandenburg and Mainz to join him in seizing the opportunity to regain rights withheld from them by the United Provinces. At Cleves his envoys worked out the draft of a treaty with Lucas Blaspeil, whose usual station as an envoy of the elector of Branden­ burg was at The Hague. But Galen mistakenly saw France as either a friend or, at worst, a neutral, failing to observe that someone known as a supporter of the emperor could hardly be seen by the French as on their side.2 When Galen gave clear signs that he would make the invasion a Catholic crusade, Frederick William allowed the treaty to become a dead letter almost as soon as it had been concluded, and Mainz amounted to little.3 Worse, the Mainz minister of state, Franz Egon von Fiirstenberg, was actually a French agent, who came back from a visit to the United Provinces in May to warn of the inexhaustible wealth of the Dutch and the great risks Galen would be taking if he joined with Charles II, who was sending the fledgling diplomat Sir William Temple to treat with him. But Galen was not to be dissuaded, and a treaty was concluded in June.4 The Spanish governor general at Brussels, Castel Rodrigo, allowed Galen to recruit troops in the Spanish Netherlands. He was moved in part

1 J. Mavidal, ed., Memoires du marquis de Pomponne, ministre et secretaire d'etat au Departement des Affaires Etrangeres (hereafter cited as Pomponne, Memoires), 2 vols. (Paris, 1868), I, 10; Marquardt, Christoph Bernhard von Galen, 5, 47. Marquardt defends the bishop as merely acting like other princes (p. 47). 2 Kohl, Galen, 191-93; Blaspeil to Frederick William, Dec. 27/Jan. 6, 1664/5, UA, II, 520-21. 3 Aitzema (Saken van Staet, V, 1032) denied that a war in which Galen was supported by England and Sweden and the Dutch by France was a religious war, but the bishop's policy toward Catholic populations in the invaded provinces was that of an emancipator. 4 Kohl, Galen, 196-98; Der Kinderen, De Nederlandsche Repubhek en Munster, 1650-1666, 279-81.

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by reasons of religious sympathy, but perhaps even more by a subtler purpose: to have troops and officers whom for the time being he could not pay in the service of a fellow Catholic, yet available for the day when they could return to serve their own country against the Gallic foe. 5 France, which worked in Germany to counter the bishop's plans, sent word to De Witt of English subsidies going to Galen. De Witt was not surprised: Galen's "bizarre" behavior had been duly noted, he informed Van Beuningen in Paris. 6 The threat from the "priest in armor," which in January had seemed so great that near panic ruled in Overijssel (although an informant of De Witt's who rode out into the bishopric found country­ side and towns almost bare of troops), 7 now became a reality. The army, upon which fell the responsibility of a trial of arms with little Miinster, had not faced a major challenge since well before the peace with Spain in 1648, yet the ruling party in Holland was confident in its strength. The army had always been a stepchild for De Witt, however; land warfare was an instrument of politics that he found more difficult to comprehend than combat at sea. Field Marshal Brederode, until his death in 1655, had been his mentor in military affairs. He gave De Witt simple lessons in the principles of land war. One of the most important was to demonstrate the error in the civilian habit of trying to defend all threat­ ened positions by dividing the army among them. He was appalled when De Witt told him during the difficult autumn days of 1653, when the English fleet was off the Dutch coast, that several companies of cavalry and a thousand infantry were being held ready at Maastricht, in the southeast. To divide the cavalry, "which is half the real military power of the country on land," by sending half to Maastricht, was not wise. The force would be inadequate for its purpose and could not prevent an enemy who took up a station between Maastricht and Den Bosch from compelling abandonment of both. "Prince [Frederick] Henryofimmortal memory, who was such a good and experienced soldier, warned and taught us a good hundred times that we must not divide our life or our forces." To try to defend everything was to lose everything. If a gamble had to be taken, it was better to take it with one's full force than with just a part of it. 8

5 Der Kinderen, De Nederlandsche Republiek en Munster, 1650-1666, 283-84; Guiche, Memoires 1 91; Hubert, Les Pays-Bas Espagnols et la Republique, 276-77. 6 Van Beuningen to De Witt July 3, 17, De Witt to Van Beuningen July 23, 1665, BR, 1 j II, 105-8. ? Aitzema, Saken van Staet, V, 407; Jan van Wesel to De Witt, Jan. 26, 1665, ARA StH D18. See also Maurice de Solms to De Witt, Feb. 27, 1665, ARA StH D15 (misplaced among the letters of 1663), reporting rumors in Frankfurt that Catholic princes were sending troops to Galen "for some design." 8 Brederode to De Witt, Oct. 29, 1653, ARA StH D2.

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After Brederode's death the army was left without a supreme comman­ der. Its administration was in the hands of the Council of State, where Van Beverningk, De Witt's close friend, played a predominant role as treasurer general. But that did not remedy the faults which were strongly brought to De Witt's attention. At the time of Brederode's fatal illness a deputy of the States General sharply criticized the cavalry arm, for which he was responsible, as the worst branch of the army, so bad that if the king of Sweden came to the Dutch frontiers with five or six thousand men, mostly cavalry, the Dutch would be in utter confusion. But De Witt was confident the Dutch troopers could handle whatever danger the Swedes represented. 9 He saw fortifications and siegecraft as still the principal forms of land war, advising a young cousin to study these and not the "wild and savage" war in the open in Poland. 10 He was shocked, however, by the dire conditions described by Rhinegrave Frederick Magnus von Salm, the commander at Maastricht, in a report of November 1657. Most of the cavalrymen were new and spent their time chiefly in their work as farmers or tradesmen; they served only to eke out their earnings. It could be imagined how poor their discipline was, and their training was appalling. Most of the infantrymen neglected their weapons, so that they would be useless in event of combat. Many in both horse and foot com­ panies did not even know who their commanders were. Prince John Maurice had used more poetic language for the situation. The army was invisibly "going to ruin," he warned De Witt, "as the snow melts away." 11 A few reforms were instituted in the years before the Miinster war. In particular, the States of Holland barred appointment of officers too young to serve on active duty, whose only service was to draw their pay, and the sale of military offices was also forbidden. But the renewal five years later of the ban on under-age officers indicates that the practice had not ceased. 12 That officers, particularly those of foreign nationality, were permitted to remain away for personal affairs, despite regulations to the contrary, did not help either. 1 3 Nonetheless, De Witt and his party were confident that the army would meet the needs of the state. Were not soldiery at all ranks to be found for money at any time in the international marketplace of mercenary troops?

' Aitzema. "Journal," Aug. 6, 1655, UA1 V, 814; De Witt to Brederode, Aug. 9, 1655, ARA StH 2646. 10 De Witt to J. van Sypesteyn June 23, 1656, BJ, I, 327. j 11 Aitzema, Saken van Staet IV; 91-92; John Maurice of Nassau, "Consideration . . . op 1 de Militie," Nov. 15, 1655, ARA StH 2718. Res. St. Holl., Dec. 19, 1657, Apr. 5, 6, 1658, Sept. 14, 1662, RC, 424, 429, 435, 609-10. is Prince of Tarente to De Witt, Aug. 3, 1662, ARA StH D12; De Witt to Prince of Tarente, July 27, 1662, CF, 220-21.

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The United Provinces, and especially the States of Holland, were notori­ ously good paymasters, and it seemed obvious that a capably functioning army could be built up rapidly in wartime. What the councilor pensionary failed to see was the importance of a specific army esprit developed over time; for him an army was a relatively simple apparatus, something to be bought, used, and dismissed, as the occasion required. States party writers argued that there was no need for a standing army in peacetime, and even less for a captain general to command it; the country was better protected by a small army than a large one. 14 Such statements, as well as the squabbles with the Orangist provinces over the high command, left the army with the feeling that it was a neglected child. But the leaders of Holland, although they were sure that they could thwart any repetition of the episodes of 1619-19 and 1650, 15 did not forget that the army longed for a prince of Orange to command over it. They were concerned, therefore, not only to reduce the size of the armed forces as soon as possible, as at the conclusion of the First Northern War, but also to make the troops in the province's pay obedient primarily to it. The States of Holland was able, in October 1660, to reduce the forces on its "repartition," despite the protest of the Council of State that it was a decision of "very great and perilous consequence" that could lead to each province going its own way in military matters. 16 However, a settlement was reached when the Council of State proposed a propor­ tionate reduction of the troops in the pay of all the provinces. 17 The importance of Holland's part in supporting the army can be seen in the military budget of the Union for 1662. Out of a total of 51 companies of cavalry and 387 of infantry, numbering respectively 2,605 and 21,390 authorized men, Holland paid for 27 cavalry companies with 1,410 men and 207 infantry and 11,530 men. Friesland, the next largest in its forces, supported 7 cavalry companies with 314 men and 55 infantry with 3,170. Gelderland, which was usually the most outspoken in demanding that the size of the army be kept large, maintained 2 cavalry companies of 90 men and 22 infantry companies of 1,100. 18 The cost of such a force can be seen 14 Aesopus Defensor Sig erbarmende over de diepe sugten van Klagende Veen-boer (The Hague, 1662) (Kn. 8658b), 26; [J. Uytenhage de Mist], De Stadthouderlijke Regeeringe in Hollandt en West-Vrieslant (Amsterdam, 1662) (Kn. 8655a), 57. Aesopus Defensor is attributed to both Uytenhage de Mist and Peter de la Court. 15 Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 120. 16 De Witt, memorandum of army reduction debate in States General, Nov. 6, 10, 11, 1660, ARA StH D38; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, IV, 680; Ten Raa and Bas, Het Staatsche Leger1 V, 118. ι 7 De Witt to Van Beverweert and Van Hoorn, Nov. 26, 1660, BR, IV, 46; De Witt to A. Veth, Dec. 5, 1660, Jan. 12, 1661, BJ, II, 264-66, 274—75; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, IV, 683, 815-16. 18 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, IV, 984—85.

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from De Witt's estimate (probably from 1663) that it took almost 2,000,000 guilders to recruit and pay 36 companies of cavalry and 60 companies ofinfantry; of this, 378,000 guilders went to recruitment money and 1,618,756 guilders to pay. 1 9 During February and March 1665 there was extended debate in the States General over expansion of the army. The usual difficulty arose: a dispute over the quotas assigned to each province. Not until Holland offered to raise most of the reinforcements on its own did the proposal win approval. But only the cavalry was brought up to authorized strength; the infantry remained short. Holland alone lived up to its promise. 20 Its suggestion that it take on the complete financing of the navy (1,399,425 guilders in the current budget of 1665), while the other provinces between them would pay for the army (1,024,574 guilders), fell flat. De Witt was not surprised: the landward provinces knew that when it went beyond talk, they were dependent upon Holland for their defenses. 2 1 He remained confident in the ability of the Dutch to meet their military requirements on their own. To the suggestion of the Dutch ambassador in Paris that they accept a French auxiliary force under a distinguished commander, he replied that both the States of Holland and the States General had been informed and neither had wanted to bring in troops from abroad. 2 2 De Witt reaffirmed Holland's position that the command of the army should be given only for a single campaign, a "salutary order and arrange­ ment" that should be adhered to. 23 With the actual onset of war in July, John Maurice was given the command as "general and commander"; but he would serve, as Holland insisted, only for a single campaign, and with deputies from the States General accompanying him as the representatives of the sovereign power. 24 However, unlike the deputies with the fleet, they received only the right to advise the army commanders, not to give them orders. This drew the criticism of De la Court, a States party extremist, as too little, on the one side, and of the Count de Guiche, the French nobleman serving with the Dutch forces, as subjecting the generals to incompetence, on the other. 2 5 Guiche admitted, however, that the lack of adequate candidates for the military high command was due not to the initiative of the dominant party, but resulted from the decision of Prince 19 D e Witt, memorandum on cost of army, [c. 1663?], ARA StH D217. 20 Ten Raa and Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, V, 141-42. Ibid., V, 140-41; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 12, 1665, BR, II, 39. 22 De Witt to W. Boreel, Feb. 19, 1665, BR, II, 46. 2 3 De Witt to Vivien, Apr. 27, 1665, BJ, III, 28. 24 Ten Raa and Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, V, 149—52. 23 J. H. Kernkamp, "Twee Geschriften van Pieter de la Court," 185-86; Guiche, Memoires, 129.

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Frederick Henry decades before to have no subalterns with any authority at all close to his own, a mistaken policy which the States had merely continued. 26 But, in any event, the campaign that was to begin was not to be one that brought laurels to Dutch arms, and it was a Dutch pamph­ leteer who sarcastically compared the ineffectual Dutch troops with the superb Croatian troops in the emperor's service. 27 And Guiche, who scorned De Witt, reported that the councilor pensionary put blame for the Dutch failures on John Maurice and his principal subordinate, Rhinegrave von Salm, while he had been busy with the navy. 2 8 Whatever the dubious military qualities of the aging "Brazilian," John Maurice was the most pliable member of the Nassau family. In October he had asked De Witt to be made general of artillery, after the death of Prince William Frederick, the stadholder of Friesland and Groningen. When De Witt replied that the post had been abolished, he had not taken offense but merely explained that he was the only member of his house now fit for service. 2 9 When several provinces proposed that a field marshal be named as supreme commander, John Maurice carefully explained to Vivien, who was acting in De Witt's stead in The Hague while the coun­ cilor pensionary was away preparing to bring out the fleet, that he had taken no part, directly or indirectly, in this affair. He would not accept the post without the express approval of Holland, even if the other six pro­ vinces named him to it. 3 0 John Maurice faced a difficult task in building up Dutch military strength to meet the danger from Galen. An inspection team sent to the so-called "New Works" (Nieuwe Werk), fortifications built years before along the IJssel River and the principal defensive barrier facing Munster, found that the river was badly sanded and the fortifications neglected (only the peasants had paid them any attention, and then to steal anything that could be moved). 31 There was a shortage of troops. Although four regiments of German cavalry and six of infantry dismissed by the bishop of Osnabriick were taken into Dutch service, it was more difficult to persuade the dukes of Brunswick to transfer some of their troops, recruited during a squabble between them just settled, to the States' service; they insisted that the Dutch enter into a league of mutual defense with them 2 6 Guiche, Memoiresi 85-86. 27 Vervolgh Verkeer Groot Verkeeri Tusschen een Neerlans Batavier Ende een Munsters PapenKnecht i Cum sociis (n.p., 1665) (Kn. 9184), 4. 2 8 Guiche, Memoiresi 120. 29 John Maurice to De Witt, Nov. 6, 1664, ARA StH D18, Jan. 10/20, 1665, BAi II, 267-68; De Witt to John Maurice, Dec. 19, 1664, BJ i II, 525n.2. Vivien to De Witt, Aug. 12, 1665, BAi II, 241. Thom[as] J. de Vries, Collaborateurs 1672 (Zwolle, 1947), 17.

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first. 3 2 Early in August, after De Witt had left to join the fleet, 3 3 there was consideration of sending a force of a thousand cavalry into Miinster to attack the bishop's levies and perhaps deter him from outright war. But the operation was made conditional upon the approval of Louis XIV, lest he treat the States General as aggressors and refuse his assistance. A spy was sent into Miinster to report on the bishop's troop levies and, if possible, on his intentions. 34 These remained obscure, and there was a brief period of uncertainty at the end of August, when rumors spread that Galen was actually recruiting troops for the house of Austria. But a week later Vivien, De Witt's stand-in at The Hague, was urging him to return from the fleet because an invasion was expected by an army of thirtythousand men. The States of Holland were called into special session to discuss a league with the Brunswick dukes, and it was concluded within two weeks. They agreed to provide twelve thousand men to attack Galen on his flank. On September 20, the same day the alliance was concluded, a trumpeter from Galen reached The Hague with an ultimatum of demands, notably, restitution of Borculo, to be met under threat of war. 3 5 The invasion came almost at once, even before the bishop received the refusal of the States General to accept his terms. 36 De Witt, aboard the flagship Delffland, hurriedly sent Vivien a long letter discussing how the Dutch army should be used. But soon bleak news, which Vivien and Fagel had been unable to bring while the fleet was off Scheveningen on September 26, reached him: the invasion by "very formidable" forces was meeting weak resistance. 37 The first successes carried the invaders well into Twente and Overijssel, but they were in trouble within two weeks, unable to undertake the siege of larger towns or to capture a bridgehead on the Ems River that would enable the English to land an army in Groningen. The Dutch army, depleted for troops to serve aboard the fleet, was able to hold out on the west bank of the IJssel river, but not to take the counteroffensive. 3 8 The Republic of the United Provinces, once so mighty, 3 2 Sec. Res. St. Holl., July 21, Aug. 8, 14, 1665, SR, II, 484-87; De Witt to Van Beuningen j July 23, 1665, BR, II, 108; Haersolte to [De Witt], Aug. [9?], 1665, ARA StH D19. 3 3 See pp. 580-81. 3 4 Sec. Res. St. Holl., Aug. 4, 15, 1665, 57?, II, 485, 487; [?] to Van Beuningen, Aug. 6, 1665, draft, ARA StH D40. This draft, which is in De Witt's papers, is in a secretary's hand but has no signature. 3 5 Vivien to De Witt, Aug. 31, 1665, ARA StH D19, Sept. 8, 1665, ΒΑ, II, 247-48; Sept. 8, 20, 1665, ARA StH D20. 3 6 Ten Raa and Bas give the date of invasion as Sept, 21, Kohl as Sept. 23. Ten Raa and Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, V, 164; Kohl, Galen, 205. 3 7 De Witt to Vivien, Sept. 26, 1665, ARA StH 2656; Vivien to De Witt, Sept. 27, 1665, ARA StH D20. 3 » Kohl, Galen, 209-10; Hollantse Mercurius, XVI (1665), 121; Van der Hoeven, Cornells en Johan de Witt, II, 2-3; Ten Raa and Bas, Het Staatsehe Leger, 164.

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had been "bitten by a mouse," was the bitter comment of the chronicler Aitzema. 39 Although stunned by the defeats suffered by the Dutch army, De Witt, still with the fleet at the end of October, consulted the chief naval and land officers with him and then decided against stripping the navy of its troops in order to strengthen John Maurice's force. De Witt relied strongly upon the judgment of his brother, who was with John Maurice as one of the deputies in the field. 40 A flood of natives and foreigners came to The Hague to offer their services, 41 but the Dutch turned with preference to the friendly German princes. The dukes of Brunswick recruited troops with subsidies contri­ buted by the States General. 42 The main Dutch hope of defeating Galen came to rest, however, upon what could be done in combination with a French auxiliary force sent under the command of General FranQois de Vilanders et Pradel. It reached Dutch territory early in November, although the final detachments did not come until November 22. The news of the French troops' coming was greeted with joy by the government and the people. 43 With late autumn bringing an end to the season for naval campaigning, De Witt decided to go ashore. He wrote to John Maurice to encourage him, hoping that he would be more successful in his operations on land than De Witt had been at sea. Then we can soon welcome you and em­ brace you not only in health but also in joy and victory. He did not attempt to take over direction of military operations, and he wrote his brother that the deputies in the field and John Maurice should make the decisions as to what should be done after the enemy left the country or was driven out. Yet he encouraged them to move more vigorously and quickly, so that the war would be shifted from Dutch territory to the bishop's. 45 He was dis­ turbed by private reports of the extremely bad conduct of the French troops. It was a bitter shock that Pradel's army spent more time plunder­ ing Dutch peasants than fighting Galen's soldiers. 46 It was a disappoint-

3 9 Aitzema, Saken van Staeti V, 517. De Witt to Vivien, Oct. 29, 1665, ARA StH 2656 and BJ, III, 146; John to Cornelius de Witt, Nov. 11, 1665, ARA StH 2656. 41 Ten Raa and Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, V, 154. 42 George Frederick, count of W'aldeck, to De Witt, Oct. 12, 1665, ΒΑ, II, 260. 43 Ten Raa and Bas, Het Staatsche Leger3 V, 168-70; D'Estrades to Louis XIV, Oct. 8, to Lionne, Oct. 8, 1665, D'Estrades, Lettres s Memoires et Negociations i III, 437-38. 4 4 De Witt to John Maurice, Nov. 17, 1665, ARA StH 2656. 45 John to Cornelius de Witt, Nov. 23, 26, 1665, ARA StH 2656. 4< 5 De W r itt to Van Beuningen, Dec. 3, 1665, BR II, 125; Van der Hoeven, Cornells en i Johan de Witt, II, 8-9; Aitzema, Saken van Staet i V, 665. 4 0

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ment, too, that the generals, with their usual scruples, refused to attempt active winter campaigning. The army would have to go into garrison, at the cost, as Cornelius de Witt remarked, of damaging the Dutch military reputation and leaving the foe able to take winter quarters in Dutch territory. But it was impossible to overcome the "great sluggishness" of the generals, especially of John Maurice. 47 "You know how difficult it is for the government to decree anything on military operations which the military consider to be impossible," De Witt wrote in obvious exasperation to the Dutch envoy at the court of the Brunswick dukes. 48 John Maurice was offended by the criticism of him, and Van Beuningen warned the councilor pensionary not to pull the bow too tight with him. 49 Galen nonetheless withdrew his forces back across the frontier in December, but the reason was neither the military pressure of the Dutch and their French ally nor the diplomatic urgings of the elector of Branden­ burg, who offered his mediation; the bishop simply lacked the funds to pay his troops when English subsidies failed to arrive on time. 50 De Witt was overjoyed when the Dutch forces were finally able to cross back over the IJssel early in December, but his hopes of an invasion of Miinster itself by a combined Dutch-French force were overly optimistic, for the allies were suffering badly from lack of supplies. 51 He wanted the campaign against Miinster ended as quickly as possible, so that the country could devote its complete efforts to the war at sea, difficult enough as it was all by itself.5 2 De Witt, disappointed because the generals still insisted that the troops go into garrison instead of pressing on against the retreating Miinster army, had to face the fact that the Dutch army had become the scorn of its colleagues in France. 53 D'Estrades, the soldier-diplomat, lectured De Witt on what was needed for an effective army: men of experience and deter­ mination to take over the commands. "I can tell you," he wrote, "that if your army does not regain its former order," everything would fall apart. It would be better to have fifteen thousand well-led and disciplined soldiers than forty thousand disorderly ones, as in the last campaign. But what he actually meant was that the Dutch should trust to the judgment

47 Cornelius to John de Witt, Dec. 18, 1665, ARA StH D20; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Dec. 31, 1665, BR, II, 152-53. 4 « De Witt to A. J. van Haersolte, Dec. 28, 1665, ARA StH 2656. 49 Fabius, Een stoere Nassauer 182. 3 so Der Kinderen, De Nederlandsche Republiek en Munsteri 1650-1666, 351; Kohl, Galen, 220; UA i XI, 652-53. 51 John to Cornelius de Witt, Dec. 9, 1665, ARA StH 2656; Cornelius tojohn de Witt, Dec. 9, 1665, ARA StH D20. 52 De Witt to Reynst, Dec. 10, 1665, ARA StH 2656. 5 3 De Witt to Waldeck, Jan. 8, 1666, CF, 262-63; Van Beuningen to De Witt, Jan. 29, 1666, BR, II, 175.

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of a good general rather than let the deputies in the field make a thousand mistakes. 54 De Witt did not need the sermonizing. Adequate leadership of the army would decide, he thought, the preservation or ruin of the provinces facing Germany. 5 5 De Witt saw the need for action without delay. He warned the States of Holland that the needs of the army and navy could not be put off.5 6 He regretted that the Dutch army had not been able to hold the field longer but could see no rebuttal to the officers' argument that no army could subsist in Westphalia in winter because of the shortage of fodder, and he accepted the necessity of limiting the expedition to whatever damage could be done to the enemy.5 7 He excused the army, too, although it had not been ready as it ought to have been, on the grounds that the attack was unexpected.5 8 Late in January a committee of the States of Holland debated who should be the army's commander in the next campaign. It was no secret that John Maurice was no longer the "experienced and vigorous" leader who was needed. The name of the great marshal Turenne, the outstanding Huguenot in France, was suggested, and De Witt wrote to Van Beuningen, who was on extraordinary embassy in France, to find out privately if he would be willing.5 9 Zeeland turned thumbs down on the proposal, and the other provinces were afraid of the power the Frenchman might gain in the country. But their opposition was beside the point. Van Beuningen reported sadly that Turenne would not take the post.60 De Witt did not abandon hope of persuading Turenne to come, perhaps by baiting his appointment with the grant of the post of general of cavalry to the prince of Orange, "to learn his trade" under the Frenchman's guidance. This was the kind of "general harmony" which he proposed so that the army could regain its ability to act with vigor and on a large scale.61 But now the reply came from Louis XIV himself that Turenne did not want the post.6 2 The other provinces now urged the reappointment of John Maurice, 5-· D'Estrades to De Witt j Jan. 17, 1666, ARA StH D20; D'Estrades to Lionne, Jan. 21, 1666, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negocialions, IV, 52. 55 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Jan. 14, 1666, BR, II, 165. 56 Fagel, notes, Jan. 20, 1666, ARA StH, ArchiefFagel (thereafter cited as A F ) 398. "De Witt to A. J. van Haersolte, Feb. 1, 1666, ARA StH 2657. 5 8 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 4, 1666, BR, II, 177. 5« De Witt to Van Beuningen, Jan. 28, 1666, BR, II, 172. '°Aitzema, Saken van Staet, V, 778; Der Kinderen, De Nederlandsche Republiek en Munster, 1650-1666, 375; Van Beuningen to De Witt, Feb. 5, 1666, BR, II, 179. 61 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 11, 18, 1666, BR, II, 180, 185; D'Estrades to Louis XIV, Feb. 11, 18, 1666, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negotiations, IV, 103, 128; De Witt to Ysbrandts, Feb. 15, 1666, BR, VI, 532. 6 2 Louis XIV to D'Estrades, Feb. 19, 1666, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociations, IV, 134; Van Beuningen to De Witt, Feb. 26, 1666, BR, II, 194.

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but Holland was reluctant to move. 63 On February 20 a committee of the States of Holland unanimously favored John Maurice's election, and it was voted five days later. But he would have with him a team of other officers, some Dutch and some French, whom D'Estrades described as all personal friends of the councilor pensionary and dependent upon him. 64 De Witt made it clear that any appointment of the prince of Orange as general of cavalry was out of the question unless he explicitly broke his English connections. 6 5 De Witt encouraged John Maurice to plan an invasion of Galen's lands from the Dutch bases in the Rhenish lands of the elector of Branden­ burg. 66 He saw too that the Dutch would need help to break and tame Galen's "obstinate humor," but he placed little hope in success for Gerard Hamel Bruynincx's mission to Regensburg to persuade the Imperial Diet that the States General had a right to assistance against Galen under the peace treaty of 1648. 6 7 In February the French king, appalled by Dutch military weakness, decided that the States General ought to make peace upon the basis of Galen's withdrawal and disarmament, without further penalty. 68 Nego­ tiations for peace were undertaken at Cleves, with Van Beverningk the principal Dutch representative. He reported on his arrival that Frederick William wanted a quick peace, while William Egon van Fiirstenberg, the Cologne diplomat who was also a notorious French agent, was urging Galen to hold out. 69 It was obvious, too, that the Spaniards in the southern Netherlands were favoring Galen, and that vigorous measures would be needed against Miinster troops marauding into States Brabant from the Spanish Netherlands. 7 0 By April De Witt was becoming confident that the Dutch could do as they wanted with Galen. Colbert de Croissy, the French representative at Cleves, brought to Van Beverningk the assurances of Louis XIV that the Dutch interests would be strongly supported, and Dutch military forces 6 3 D'Estrades to Louis XIV, Feb. 18, 1666, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Jiegociations, IV, 127. 64 D e Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 25, Mar. 25, 1666, BR1II, 192-93, 220; D'Estrades to Lionne, Mar. 25, 1666, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociations, IV, 187-88. β 5 D'Estrades to Louis XIV, Feb. 11, 1666, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociationst IV, 103; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Mar. 4, Apr. 1, 1666, BR, II, 199, 225. 6 6 De Witt to Van Hoorn and De Groot, Jan. 31, 1666, ARA StH 2657; Van Beverningk to De Witt, Mar. 27, 1666, ARA StH D162. 6 7 De Witt to Gerard Hamel Bruynincx, Mar. 11, 1666, ARA StH 2657; De Witt to A.J. van Haersolte, Feb. 1, 1666, BJ, III, 164. 6 8 Louis XIV to D'Estrades, Feb. 5, 1666, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociations, IV, 91-92. 6 5 Van Beverningk to De Witt, Feb. 14, 1666, B A II, 274-75. y 70 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 25, 1666, BR, II, 192; Der Kinderen, De Neierlandsche Republiek en Munster, 1650-1666, 379.

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were operating in States Brabant to drive out Galen's marauders and even to halt his recruiting activities across the Spanish border. 71 De Witt, although willing to listen to an offer of the elector of Mainz to mediate first with Galen and then with England, did not favor any Dutch initiative for a suspension of hostilities. He wanted the negotiation brought to an end despite Galen's attempts to protract it. 72 But he would make no concession about Borculo, the town in Gelderland which Galen claimed for Munster, in order to achieve a quick peace, desirable though it was to free Dutch arms to be used against other enemies, "as well as in many other respects" (an allusion, in all probability, to the imminent dispute with France over the Spanish Netherlands). 73 He stood firm in the face of Louis's opinion that there was no good reason for the Dutch to demand a perpetual renunciation of Borculo by Galen, as well as against the argu­ ment of Friquet, the Imperial resident, that it was desirable to give way about Borculo in view of great changes about to occur in the world—again the problem of the Spanish Netherlands. 74 Yet De Witt was eager to have the war over with, so that all energies could be directed against the English. 75 Finally, Van Beuningen in Paris persuaded Louis to instruct Croissy to abandon Galen on the issues of Borculo and the disbanding of most of his army. 7 6 Peace was concluded at Cleves on April 18. 77 The terms were not as clear as De Witt would have liked. Galen renounced Borculo, while maintaining the unspecified rights of the Empire; the provision that he might rearm if faced by danger was an open door to violation. Nonetheless De Witt was pleased with what was overall a "very satisfactory peace." 78 Although there was general joy with it in the United Provinces and praise for De Witt as its architect, not all were happy with it. Aitzema, varying his metaphor, described it as an honorable peace for the sheep, the bishop of Munster, who had dared to attack a lion, the United Provinces. 79 The war-loving prelate did not feel that he had been beaten squarely in the field and was eager to take revenge when the time came. But, for the 71 Van Beverningk to De Witt, Apr. 2, 1666, ARA StH D162; Bampfield to De Witt, Mar. 2, 1666, ARA StH D21, Mar. 21, 1666, ΒΑ, II, 271. 7 2 De Witt to Hamel Bruynincx, Apr. 4, 1666, ARA StH 2657; De Witt to Van Beverningk, Apr. 4, 1666, ARA StH 2657 and BJ, III, 160-61. 7 3 De Witt to Van Beverningk, Apr. 5, 7, 1666, ARA StH 2657. 7 4 Louis XIV to D'Estrades, Apr. 9, 1666, D'Estrades, Lettres Memoires et Negociations, i IV, 211; Friquet to De Witt, Apr. 9, 1666, ARA StH D21; De Witt to Van Beverningk, Apr. 10, 1666, ARA StH 2657. 7 5 De Witt to Van Beverningk, Apr. 10, 1666, ARA StH 2657. 7 6 Van Beuningen to De Witt, Apr. 16, 1666, BR, II, 238. 7 7 Marquardt, Christoph Bernhard van Galen, 60; Kohl, Galen, 235-36. 7 8 De Witt to Ysbrandts, Apr. 29, 1666, BR, VI, 548. 7 9 Van der Hoeven, Cornells en Johan de Witt, II, 24; Hollantse Mercurius 3 XVII (1666), 58; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, V, 1031.

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moment, he was ready to assure the Dutch that "the differences are past," and he offered to become their ally, for a subsidy. He soon became more interested in gaining France as a well-paying friend. 80 But he at least remained neutral during the year that remained of the war between the United Provinces and his abandoned ally, Great Britain. Once the war with Miinster was out of the way there was no more fighting on land, although the naval war which would bring victory over the chief foe, Britain, continued to be fought. The construction of military works in the outer provinces slowed down, but the garrisons holding them were increased; some of the inland provinces complained, however, of what they considered, once again, needless expense. 81 Early in 1667, during the winter doldrums, De Witt spent most of his time in efforts to persuade the late-paying provinces to be more prompt. To ease expenses, some newly recruited troops were dismissed. 82 By springtime, however, it was evident that there was reason for increased caution rather than relaxation. The Swedes were showing themselves to be "unreasonable and unfriendly," and Galen was arming again. Holland therefore urged the States General to put the Dutch army in a position of greater strength, so that everyone would see that the United Provinces were no less capable of acting on land than at sea. 83 It was, Van Beuningen urged, a matter of importance to keep the army strong, so that the Dutch could decide neither in heat nor in timidity on matters which might arise. 84 It became necessary to send more troops to the border garrisons in June to prevent an unforeseen attack, when the Swedes and Galen continued recruiting. 8 5

8 0 Der Kinderen. De Mederlandsche Republiek en Munster, 1650-1666, 411, 423-24, 427; Floris der Kinderen Fzn., De Mederlandsche Republiek en Munsler gedurende dejaren 1666-1679 (Leiden, 1874), 7; Kohl, Galen, 244-45, 250-51, 254-56. 8 1 Der Kinderen, De Mederlandsehe Republiek en Munster, 1666—1679, 3n.l; Ten Raa en Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, V, 429. s 2 De Witt to Van Beuningen j Jan. 27, 1667, BR, II, 429. «J Sec. Res. St. Holl., May 20, 1667, SR, II, 553. 8 4 Van Beuningen to De Witt, June 8, 1667, BR, II, 520. ssjohn to Cornelius de Witt, June 29, 1667, ARA StH 2659.

CHAPTER THIRTY

THE WAY TO BREDA (1665-1667)

A

G A I N A N D A G A I N during the second English war De Witt's battle cry —wage war to make peace!—rang out in his letters. He anticipated by almost two centuries the formula by which Clausewitz brought the two contraries into natural relationship: War is the continuation of politics by violent means; combat is a way of preventing an enemy from imposing his will upon yours while imposing your own upon him. For the Dutch to impose their will upon Charles II in this strange war they had to do no more than prevent him from imposing his will upon them; letting things be as they had been would mean victory for them and defeat for him. But the king was not easily brought to acknowledge the hard fact that he could not make them do his bidding, and it took all the resources of De Witt's diplomacy no less than the feats of the Dutch navy to accomplish it. The essential English war aim was to achieve sovereignty of the seas by bringing down the only nation able to dispute it. This was how one of the most astute diplomatic observers, the Frenchman Pomponne, saw it, for the grievances set forward by Charles were so minor, he said, that they could only be pretexts. 1 A Dutch pamphleteer said the same thing in a different way: the Dutch had the choice of defending their shipping and trade or accepting the will and judicature of England's king. 2 Yet, from the beginning, Charles paraded his avuncular affection for the prince of Orange, although he obviously already had in mind the less selfless policy which the envoy of the elector of Brandenburg urged upon him: Fight until the Dutch lose some battles and much of their trade and then announce that the war was the fault of De Witt and his adherents, who had begun it out of hatred for the prince. 3 Thus it was that the king of England was able to present himself as the man of peace and put De Witt on the defense as the lover of war. De Witt wanted peace, indeed, but upon "equitable" terms. What do the English want? he asked D'Estrades, the French ambassador. If their 1

Pomponne, Memoires3 2. Politique Aenmerckinge over den Oorloghi Tusschen Engelandt en de Vereenighde Nederlanden (n.p., 1665) (Kn. 9128), 4. 3 Christopher von Brandt to Frederick William, Dec. 30, 1664/Jan. 9, 1665, UA XII, 3 620-622. 2

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complaint is that the Dutch have gathered in all the commerce of Europe, if they say that England cannot tolerate our opulence, we reply that any sovereign country may trade and make profits. We will not concede but will defend our freedom against any breach while we have wealth and life. 4 Serious negotiations could begin when Charles made proposals that showed he was ready to "listen to reason." De Witt thought someone more skillful than Van Goch, who had stayed on in London as Dutch ambassador, would have to go there, probably Van Beuningen, whom he praised as the most able of all Dutch diplomats. 5 There seemed to be some chance that the king would turn away from war in mid-July, after his fleet's great triumph off Lowestoft in June. "I have no liking for spilling blood," he told Van Goch. "Get instructions and I will treat with you." 6 This magnanimous mood was soon shattered when Petrus Cunaeus, Van Goch's secretary, was discovered spying on the English fleet at Colchester and was arrested. 7 The Dutch retaliated by arresting not only Nicholas Oudart, who was in the service of the prince of Orange, and the military historian Roger Manley (both of whom had been active among De Witt's opponents), but also Downing's secretary, Gringham. 8 Downing, who remained in The Hague despite the declaration of war, sought the release of Oudart on the grounds that he was in his service, but this was seen only as a confirmation of his treasonous activity, since, although born in the Brabant town of Mechelen, he had come under the authority of the States of Holland as a permanent resident of the province. 9 Gringham was arrested, not only in reprisal for Cunaeus's seizure, but also because he had spread among the leaders of the Dutch towns the tale that the States General could have peace within twentyfour hours by accepting Spanish mediation. 10 Quite apart from the conflict caused by the arrests in England and Holland, De Witt suspected that the English air of readiness to talk peace 4 D'Estrades to Louis XIV, May 28, 1665, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negotiations, III, 195. 5 De Witt to Vivien, May 1, 2, 1665, ARA StH 2656. 21 Res. Vr. Haarlem, Dec. 28, 1667, GAH SH 3/4, 21, fols. 240vo-241ro.

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Geyl's explanation of FagePs role in the affair. He was, it seems, covering up his probable connections to Buat by becoming "more royalist than the king," more republican than De Witt himself. Valckenier, whose later hostility to De Witt and collaboration with William III made his sponsor­ ship a puzzle to those who knew a little of the business, was at the time in the councilor pensionary's camp; but we do not actually know why he went along with Fagel. 122 A cagy political intriguer, he was in all likelihood using the opportunity to testify to his good republican convictions. 1 23 The initiative belonged to Fagel, as Wicquefort wrote not long afterward in his History. 124 As against the strange and even mysterious origins of the edict, its reception was just what would have been expected. Perhaps the wisest comment is attributed to De Witt's cousin Nicholas Vivien. At the meeting where the edict was adopted, so the story goes, the councilor pensionary saw him poking at the leather binding of a book with the point of a knife. What are you doing, cousin? De Witt asked. I'm trying to find out how well parchment stands up to steel, was the reply. Alas, the tale can be traced back no earlier than the first part of the nineteenth century, 12 5 and an identical anecdote is told of another figure, Maurice van der Aa, on another occasion. 126 In any event, Vivien seems to have agreed with De Witt at least about the "act of harmony," 127 so that he could have been referring only to the abolition of the stadholderate. Wicquefort made the same judgment as that attributed to Vivien, when he pointed out that the leaders of the States party had earlier maintained the principle that no government could bind its successors in matters affecting the good of the state. 128 1 2 2 P. Gey], "De wording van het Eeuwig Edict van 1667," Nederlandse Historiebladen (1939). 386-92 (reprinted in his Studies en Slrydschriften [Groningen, 1958], 128-44). See also P. Scheltema, review of L. E. Lentmg, Specimen hislorico-politicum inaugurale de Casparo Fagelio s consiliario, in BVGO s 1st ser., VII (1850), 90-91, where Fagel's practice of a States party policy at this time is stressed. G. W. Kernkarap, Regeering en Histone, 218, correctly remarks that the principle of the incompatibility of the stadholderate and the captaincy general was not new but dated to the splitting of military and civil posts in 1650, after the death of William II. But he fails to note that the issue at debate is the origin of the abolition of the stadholderate in Holland. 1 2 3 H . B r u g m a n s , Opkomst en Bloei van Amsterdam, 2d ed., ed. A. Le Coquisno de Bussy and N. W. Posthumus (Amsterdam, 1944), 176-77. 1 2 4 W i c q u e f o r t , Histoire, II, 387-88. 1 2 5 Jacobus Scheltema, Geschied- en Letterkundig Mengelwerk y 6 vols. (Amsterdam, 1817-36), V, pt. ii, 107-8; and Scheltema, Staatkundig Nederland t 2 vols. (Amsterdam, 1805-06),11,418. 1 2 6 Japikse, introduction to Hop, Notulen xxxiv-xxxv. s 1 2 7 D e W i t t t o N . V i v i e n , J u l y 9 , l6dT BJ \\\, 365-66. s s 1 2 > Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 113.

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Most observers, though, saw only the obvious. 129 The attitude of the most vociferous States party adherents was expressed by De la Court. The edict would prevent "all the changes we fear," and the oath required of all officeholders in the province was the most important measure by which freedom was defended against the danger of a military coup. 130 The disgust of most Orangists at the edict, which they dared not express by refusal to take the oath required of them, was expressed openly by an old man in Edam. "I am old and deaf," he said, "and cannot hear the Oath and would rather leave." And he did. 131 De Witt went in person to the prince to urge him to swallow the "bitter pill." Everyone in the States of Holland expected him to take over command of the army one day, said the councilor pensionary, but they all shuddered at the memory of what his father had done upon the advice of evil men, who had involved him in debauchery and endangered the very existence of the state. We have observed your own excellent character but wish to make sure of your behavior before you are given the post of captain general. William should not make the mistake of thinking that Holland would trust command of the army to someone allied to a foreign dynasty that was suspect; his father's connection with the Stuarts had brought him to his ruinous policy. (De Witt seems not to have remarked that the young prince was quite old enough to understand that he was the fruit of that marriage.) When he himself married, it would have to be to someone acceptable in religion, so as not to make the preachers shout, and of birth equal to his own. The prince replied that he understood, and he asked De Witt to thank Their Noble Great Mightinesses for their care of his person and his interests. 1 32 The statement explains much both about the Eternal Edict and De Witt's policy generally. Two events dominated his thinking about the house of Orange: the fateful marriage of 1641 with Princess Mary Stuart, 129 See, for instance, the analysis of a pamphleteer who said that the edict had its origin in the naval victory at Chatham, which gave the governing party the power to do as it pleased. Copie van een Brief, Geschreuen uyl Rotterdam aen NN. Licentiaet in de Rechten tot Dantzich ... (Rotterdam, 1672) (Kn. 10479), 6. 1 3 0 J . H. Kernkamp, "Twee Geschriften Van Pieter de la Court," 190-92. The poet Oudaan described the edict of "Freedom set upon the throne": Melles, Joachim Oudaani 77-78. 131 I.V.H. Kort ende waeraehtieh Vertooq; Histonsch Verhaelj 415; Valkenier, 't Verward Europa, 153. 132 Wicquefort, Histoirei III, 375. Wicquefort, writing to the French foreign minister and the king of Denmark, described the prince as very satisfied with De Witt, who defeated the efforts of deputies of several towns who wanted to deprive him of the hope of eventually becoming either stadholder or captain general. Wicquefort to Lionne, Aug. 11, 1667, KBH MS 75C8; Wicquefort to Frederick III, Aug. 13, 1667, BN-Z, I, 585.

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Charles I's daughter; and the coup of 1650. Good character could be ruined by bad companions: hence the education of William III as "Child of State." The prince might be a dynast, but he must be under the control of the States; even his marriage must meet with their approval—and they wanted no royal princess whose allegiance remained to her homeland. Yet, De Witt took it for granted that the prince would be made captain general if he met these conditions. He forgot, apparently, what he had written to Reynst a month before, that a situation might arise where the States of Holland, and he as their leader, could no longer impose conditions.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE (August 1667-June 1668) X H E B R E D A P E A C E brought the war with England to a glorious end, but De Witt had little time to spare for savoring a triumph universally acknowledged to be his achievement. The diplomatic situation of the Dutch Republic was, if anything, more snarled than ever, more filled with puzzling complexities. The peril from England gave way to less immediate but even greater danger from the south, where it seemed that France would need only some months or at most another year to complete its conquest of the Spanish Netherlands. The obvious means for warding off the threat was a league of powers sufficiently large to overawe Louis XIV into making a settlement with Spain that would keep him at a distance from the Dutch frontier. De Witt knew full well that such a league had to have as its core an alliance of the United Provinces and England, but he did not want to pay the apparently necessary price of abandoning the French alliance and becoming wholly dependent upon the friendship of that least trustworthy of kings, Charles II. The English monarch might all too easily betray any newbaked league with the Dutch for the sake of the subsidies it was known the French king was offering him in place of the funds Parliament was reluctant to give. The republic would then be exposed to French revenge without a friend. Or, if Charles should stay loyal to the alliance, he would gain in the guise of a friend that power over Dutch domestic affairs which he had sought in vain during the recent war through Buat's conspiracy. He could then make the restoration of William III to the offices of his fathers the price of continued friendship; and there was no question in De Witt's mind that a prince of Orange put in power by the king of England would be subservient to his royal uncle. But De Witt saw a way out of his apparent dilemma: what he needed was not so much an actual and completed alliance with Charles, and with other states having an interest in halting the French advance, as the prospect of its formation. Faced with such a threat, he hoped, Louis would accept peace with Spain upon the basis of the conquests he had already made. The French-Dutch alliance would remain intact, and there would be no necessity in the end for the United Provinces to go into a league with England. It was a subtle game that De Witt was playing with partners no less subtle than himself. In pushing Louis toward the precipice of a European coalition in order to make him turn aside from his policy of

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conquest in the Low Countries, De Witt had to make sure that he himself was not pulled over the edge of the cliff by the very momentum of his own diplomatic maneuvers. For the threat was ever present that the French king would abandon the Dutch and even join with England against them. That was the nightmare outcome which De Witt had always to face as the debacle of his policy. Relations with France now became primary, as those with England had been during the war. Dutch diplomatic representation at the French court could no longer be entrusted to the ordinary ambassador, William Boreel, who was so old and feeble that he stayed in Paris although the king and his ministers resided and worked at Saint-Germain. Negotiations with the French had been in the hands of the extraordinary ambassador, Conrad van Beuningen, whose diplomatic skill was beyond question; but he was no longer a personal and political friend of the councilor pension­ ary, and he thought that De Witt failed to take full account of the true dimensions of Louis's ambitions. He did not want to stay on in France, and just before the Breda peace had been brought to a successful con­ clusion, he had requested permission to end his apparently interminable embassy and come home. Others could be sent to take the places of Boreel and himself. At first it was felt that he should remain at his post until England ratified the peace treaty. But when word came from Breda that the French representatives had sounded out their English colleagues about joint action to compel the Dutch to restore the prince of Orange, Van Beuningen, who warned that he had things to say that he did not wish to put down on paper, was finally recalled. 1 De Witt meanwhile worked on his own to persuade the French king to moderate his ambitions. Wicquefort, in his continuing news reports to Lionne, certainly spoke for the councilor pensionary when he warned the French foreign minister that it would take real concessions in the matter of the Spanish Netherlands to cure the Dutch of their fear of having France as a neighbor. 2 When D'Estrades returned to The Hague from Breda for brief visits, accompanied by his fellow negotiator Courtin, De Witt repeatedly told them that a sine qua non for Dutch support of the French terms for peace was the king's agreement to halt military opera­ tions during the period which would be given to Spain to consider them. 3 After D'Estrades's return to his regular post on September 1, De Witt assured him that he was rebuffing the efforts of Gamarra, the Spanish ambassador, to drum up support for an offensive-defensive alliance with 1 Van Beuningen to De Witt, July 29, Aug. 12, Sept. 1, De Witt to Van Beuningen, Aug. 4, 11, 1667, BR, II, 545-51, 553-55, 563; Wicquefort to Lionne, Aug. 11, 1667, KBH MS 75C8. 2 Wicquefort to Lionne, Aug. 18, 1667, KBH MS 75C8. 3 De VVitt to Van Beuningen, Aug. 18, 25, 1667, BR II, 556, 559. 1

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the Dutch, but the threat that the States General might turn to Spain was there all the same. 4 It was not an idle one, for on September 10 the States of Holland voted to support the proposal for a huge loan which Gamarra had presented as early as May 23. Castel Rodrigo, the Spanish governor general, had been outraged at the notion of giving three key towns—Bruges, Damme, and Ostend—and perhaps also the Spanish-held Upper Quarter of Gelderland as security, but the fall of Lille to the French on August 28 wilted his resistance. Fearing for the safety of Brussels and Antwerp, he sent a leading nobleman from Brabant, John Baptist Brouchoven, Baron Bergeyck, to work with the voluble but less than skillful Gamarra on achieving a solution as quickly as possible. Gamarra hurriedly sub­ mitted a formal request for a loan of 1,000,000 guilders and the dispatch of twelve thousand Dutch troops to join the Spaniards as auxiliaries, with the three towns and two forts in northern Flanders as pledges. 5 Dutch willingness even to consider such a request would hardly be in French eyes the "satisfaction according to justice and reason" which De Witt promised Courtin, on his departure from Breda for Paris, was what the Dutch were seeking to obtain for Louis. 6 But the councilor pensionary considered that he now had time for diplomatic maneuvering, for it seemed clear that the French were going into winter quarters, and there was time until next spring to forestall the resumption of active campaigning. 7 It would not be easy, for Louis put aside for the moment his dream of doing everything he had in his head, "no matter what the cost," only because it was less risky to take Turenne's advice to keep what he had already taken and accept a partition proposal from the Dutch, provided they gave him a "reasonable portion." 8 But he knew too, as Wicquefort wrote to Lionne, that the Dutch were reluctant to go into a partition plan, not only because they lacked "reason or pretext" for an invasion of the Spanish Netherlands, but also because they feared

4 D'Estrades to Lionne, Sept. 8, 1667, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociations, VI, 29-34; Wicquefort to Lionne, Sept. 5, 1667, KBH MS 75C8. 5 Wicquefort to Frederick III, Aug. 29, 1667, KBH MS 75C8; Castel Rodrigo to Gamarra, Sept. 1, 1667, CEP, V, 42-43; Gamarra to States General, Sept. 3, 1667, ARA StH D217; De Witt to N. Vivien, Sept. 4, 1667, BJ, III, 378; Sec. Res. St. Holl., Sept. 10, 1667, SR, II, 582-83; J. D. M. Cornelissen, "Onze pandonderhandelingen met Spanje en de belangstelling der Curie (1667-1669)," TvG, LVIII (1943), 164-66; Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 384. Bergeyck is incorrectly identified by Japikse as Ferdinand van Broekhoven, baron of Bergeyck (BJ, III, 430n.2): see Reginald de SchryverjJen van Bergeyck, Graaf van Bergeyck 1644-1725 (Brussels, 1965), 18. 6 De Witt to Courtin, Sept. 10, 1667, CF, 301. 7 De Witt to Epeus Glinstra, Sept. 6, 1667, ARA StH 2660; Wicquefort to Frederick III, Sept. 12, 1667, KBH MS 75C8. 8 "Memoire du Roi pour M. de Turenne," Sept. 12, Turenne to Louis XIV, Sept. 20, 1667, Louis XIV, Oeuvres1 II, 437-44; Picavet, Dernieres amies de Turenne, 207-10.

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what a change in the status of Antwerp would do to their trade. 9 De Witt even told D'Estrades, who complained that the States General were not living up to the terms of the 1662 alliance with France, that Louis was the aggressor in the war with Spain and therefore not entitled to Dutch support. They could not wait until the king was on their frontiers before they sought allies and took other precautions; they did not want to suffer the same fate as the Spaniards. But they would take sides only when they could no longer hope for acceptance of a compromise. 10 In fact, from Louis's point of view, they had already taken sides, because they refused to acknowledge the justice of his claims or his right to make them good by force of arms. If the States General made the proposed loan to Spain, he told his envoy at The Hague, he would refuse to enter any agreement with them. 11 Undeterred by D'Estrades's warnings, De Witt obtained the approval of the States of Holland for the loan agreement on September 24 and brought it to the States General. 1 2 He had counted without the queen regent of Spain, who two days later instructed Castel Rodrigo to halt the negotiations for a loan; what she wanted was not to give away Spanish possessions in the Low Countries, but to obtain an alliance between the Dutch and the English for their defense, which would be open to Spain and the empire. 1 3 Castel Rodrigo was only too glad not to have to pay the Dutch the high price they demanded, 14 , but he permitted Gamarra and Bergeyck to go on with their talks at The Hague, which resulted in a formal proposal in midOctober. Bergeyck took it to Brussels and was expected to return with authority to conclude. De Witt was confident that he could make the Spaniards do his bidding; if they balked, "more specific and important deliberations will become necessary." 15 Meerman, to whom he was writing, did not need to have explained to him that this meant turning to France with a proposal for dismemberment of the Spanish Netherlands, instead of the present policy of seeking a compromise peace. Such a possible change of course would not be a simple matter. On September 27 Louis had laid down his conditions for peace in a memoire for D'Estrades. He was willing to accept Franche-Comte and the duchy of Luxemburg, as well as a number of towns and districts along the Wicquefort to Lionne, Sept. 15, 1667, KBH MS 75C8. D'Estrades to Louis XIV, Sept. 17, 1667, D'Estrades, Lettres1 Memoires et Megociations, VI, 38-43. 11 Louis XIV to D'Estrades, Sept. 16, 1667, ibid., VI, 36-37. 12 Sec. Res. St. Holl., Sept. 24, 1667, SR, II, 583-91. 13 Queen Regent to Gamarra, Sept. 26, 1667, CEP, V, 44; Cornelissen, "Onze pandonderhandelingen met Spanje," 167-68. 14 Castel Rodrigo to Gamarra, Sept. 26, 1667, Lonchay, Rivalite de ία France et de I'Espagne aux Pays-Bas, 233. 15 De Witt to Meerman, Oct. 14, 28, 1667, BR, IV, 489-90, 493. 9

10

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southern boundary of the Spanish Netherlands, instead of keeping con­ quests he had already made in the country. He would accept a truce if the Spaniards did too, but not beyond the end of March. 16 Van Beuningen, preparing to depart from Paris, acknowledged to Lionne that the king's proposal was satisfactory as far as it went, but he continued to insist that the French monarch would also have to confirm the queen's renunciation of her rights to the Spanish monarchy and abandon all future claims to it. Through D'Estrades, Lionne angrily warned De Witt that this was a reef on which all negotiations between their countries would founder. The future of the Spanish monarchy should be left to the disposition of Heaven rather than be determined now by treaty, as De Witt desired. 17 The councilor pensionary found the royal memoire "very prudent and reasonable" but told D'Estrades that, until Van Beuningen had reported after his return, no decision would be taken about a promise to break with Spain if it refused the proffered peace terms. Ifyou share Van Beuningen's view that the king should accept the queen's renunciation as valid, D'Estrades replied, you should know that he will never do it; it would be better to go on with the war than negotiate upon such a basis. 18 Louis went even further when he learned of De Witt's reply. I am ready to go my own way if the Dutch play me false, he informed D'Estrades. I will not even discuss renunciation of the queen's rights, and I will treat a loan to Spain and the sending of auxiliary troops as a formal, open alliance against me. 19 Van Beuningen arrived in The Hague in the evening of October 11, saw De Witt the next morning, and then reported to the States General. Although pressed to speak out on what the king of France had said in his last audience, he kept to his promise of secrecy and was permitted to report to the committee on secret affairs. 20 But D'Estrades knew within hours from his friends that Van Beuningen had urged formation of a grand league of the emperor, Sweden, England and the United Provinces, to bring the French conquests to a halt. Indeed, D'Estrades heard, he had persuaded De Witt to support this plan. 21 Lionne was outraged. The king would not consent to any arrangement permitting the Dutch to negotiate leagues directed against himself. If they did, "we shall not remain with folded arms." De Witt could be told that if the Dutch continued to "play 16 Louis XIV, memoire for D'Estrades, Sept. 27, 1667, D'Estrades, Letlres Memoires et 1 Negocialions, VI, 46-52; Louis XIV to Turenne, Oct. 4, 1667, Louis XIV, Oeuvres 1 III, 85. 17 Lionne to D'Estrades, Sept. 28, 1667, D'Estrades, Lettres Memoires et Negocialions, 1 VI, 54-56. — 18 D'Estrades to Lionne, Oct. 6, 1667, ibid., VI, 62-66. " Louis XIV to D'Estrades, Oct. 14, 1667, ibid., VI, 73-78. 20 Wicquefort to Lionne, Oct. 13, 1667, KBH MS 75C8. 21 D'Estrades to Lionne, Oct. 13, 1667, D'Estrades, Letlres, Memoires et Negocialions, VI, 71-73.

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games" with Louis XIV, he would pay them back double. What was wanted was not arrangements for a settlement, but the armed support of the States General, as required by the alliance of 1662. The king himself did not rule out of hand a settlement on the basis of partition. 22 Some foundation remained therefore for De Witt's hope that a compromise peace could be worked out. But he realized that France would first have to be deprived of its ability to conquer the rest of the Spanish Netherlands, which meant, in the first place, forming a league with England. 23 Such a measure might well stiffen French recalcitrance, however, and turn Louis implacably against the United Provinces and against De Witt personally. In any event, an alliance with the recent foe would not be easy to achieve. Its chances improved, however, after Clarendon, who was the principal advocate of English friendship with France, fell from power and fled into exile. De Witt was encouraged. "Nothing but good" could result, for the earl of Arlington, who succeeded Clarendon as Charles's chief minister, was "absolutely inclined toward the Spaniards." 24 At the same time, De Witt could count upon a competent negotiator in London in the person of his friend from Leiden j John Meerman, who went to England as extraordinary ambassador, to be followed in November by John Boreel of Zeeland. Unfortunately, as Wicquefort observed, Meerman brought only "good reasons and considerations of common interest," while his French colleague, Henry de Massue, marquis de Ruvigny, came with money. 2 5 But Arlington took the initiative for reconciliation with De Witt. He let it be known that he would like to have a private correspondence with him, 2 6 and in October he sent the young Sir William Temple, the English resident at Brussels, on an unofficial visit to The Hague to discuss the problem of the French invasion with De Witt. Temple, who had become a fiery advocate of resistance to the ambitions of Louis, found De Witt ready to overcome the dissidence that remained from the "snarling peace" of Breda. 2 7 De Witt warned Meerman to stay on good terms with Ruvigny, how­ ever, because the French king was showing signs of moderation. It was wise prudence. Arlington told Meerman that past events still stuck in English throats and that it would take time for the new friends to become sure of each other. Charles, in his first audience granted to Meerman, 2 2 Lionne to D'Estrades, Nov. 4, 18, Louis XIV to D'Estrades, Nov. 25, 1667, ibid., VI, 101-3, 117-18, 146. 2 3 De Witt to Meerman, Oct. 14, 1667, BR, IV, 490. 2 4 De Witt to N. Vivien, Sept. 17, 1667, ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Gevaerts)," no. 10. 2 5 Wicquefort to Frederick III, Sept. 12, 1667, KBH MS 75C8; Sec. Res. St. Holl., Sept. 24, 1667, SR 3 II, 591-94. 2 6 Letter from London, Oct. 7, [1667], copy for De Witt, ARA StH D229. 2 7 Sir William to SirJohn Temple, Oct. 10/20, 1667, Temple, Works, I, 307, 310-11.

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acknowledged that England and the United Provinces had a common interest in Flanders but was frankly distrustful of the Dutch suggestion that ways be explored to halt the French advance. In later meetings the king tried to coax from Meerman a written declaration of Dutch inten­ tions toward France, but the wary envoy suspected he really wanted to paint the Dutch black with Louis and involve them in a war without cost to himself. 2 8 Spain's balkiness now became the key problem. Instructions were sent to the Dutch ambassador in Madrid, Reede van Renswoude, to urge "peaceful thoughts" upon the government there. 29 Bergeyck came back on October 31, not to conclude the loan agreement, but to complain that his government was being "boxed in" by the Dutch, who looked only to their own advantage and did not realize that they might be enjoying the dubious advantage granted by the Cyclops to be eaten last. 30 Gamarra then put forward the Land of Waas, the agricultural district between Ghent and Antwerp, as a pledge for the loan, instead of the three towns, but De Witt rejected it because the land had been partly ruined by French troops and was not defensible. 31 (A French ambassador coming to the United Provinces only a year and a half later found the Waas country an "enchanted land," so quickly did it recover.) 32 Gamarra then insisted that the towns given as pledge remain under the civil authority of the king of Spain; Dutch troops to be put into them would have only military powers. 3 3 De Witt visited Gamarra and Bergeyck on November 17 to find out whether they had any new instructions. They did not, and he warned them that the government at Brussels was courting almost certain ruin the next spring. We expect, they replied, that emperor Leopold will send thirty or even forty thousand men to our aid, that many German princes will also do their part, and that Sweden, England, and the States General will also help. You will get nothing from Sweden and the German princes, De Witt retorted. There is no point in treating with you any more, and your government can seek other friends. Writing to Meerman, he admitted seeing no signs of Spanish readiness to act in its own defense. In consultation with the French affairs committee of the States General, however, he could come up only with a repetition of the policy of seeking 28 De Witt to Meerman, Oct. 21, Meerman to De Witt, Oct. 27, 28, Nov. 4, 6, 19, 26, 1667, BR, IV, 492, 496-98, 513-14, 518-19, 537, 545. " Sec. Res. St. Holl., Oct. 28, 1667, SR, II, 598. 3 0 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, VI, 326. J ι De Witt to Meerman, Nov. 18, 1667, BR, IV, 534; Cornelissen, "Onze pandonderhandelingen met Spanje," 168, 170. 3 2 Rowen, The Ambassador Prepares for War, 42. 3 3 Gamarra, memorandum, [c. Nov. 1667], ARA StH D217.

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a compromise between the two crowns and finding out England's inten­ tions. Long debates in the States of Holland and its committees produced nothing better. 34 A solution would have to come from relations with France or England, not with Spain. The French card, however, was becoming more difficult to play. D'Estrades gave De Witt a copy of a dispatch from the French court warning sharply against any effort by the States General to use force against France, as they had done successfully against Sweden during the Baltic war. Louis would "rather hazard his kingdom than take the slightest step which would seem like weakness." 35 But De Witt was insistent upon a French commitment to undertake no more military operations in the Low Countries, remaining on the defensive there but with the option of action against Spain elsewhere, which the Dutch would not criticize. This was "the only thing that could remove the States' mistrust." The French ambassador thought De Witt's hand was being forced, that he was personally acting in good faith in seeking peace terms satisfactory to Louis—he "knows very well that his own interest and that of the States are not separate from that of France"—but that he had to go in a different direction in order to retain control of the government. De Witt, in fact, had been at odds with Van Beverningk and Van Beuningen: "the plurality of Caesars cannot exist together," was D'Estrades's com­ ment. Yet the king could gain control of the situation by adopting the Dutch terms in Flanders and putting them under the necessity of breaking with Spain if she did not accept the terms. 36 A week later D'Estrades thought De Witt was winning support for his own plans against Van Beuningen and Van Beverningk, who were outspoken in seeing only France as the foe. Lionne was angered and exasperated. He had "fought a hundred times" with Van Beuningen over the suggestion that the king carry the war against Spain elsewhere. It was only a means of escaping the obligation of the Dutch to aid the king against Spain, and there was no reason to trust them if the king shifted the battleground. 3 7 On December 10 the States of Holland unanimously made De Witt's diplomatic strategy its formal policy: a league would be sought with the Scandinavian states, Brandenburg, and the dukes of Brunswick on behalf of a compromise peace in the Low Countries—but with a special 3 4 De Witt to Meerman 5 Nov. 18, Dec. 2, 1667, BR,IV, 534-35, 545-46; Wicqueiort to Frederick III, Nov. 21, to Lionne 5 Nov. 23, Dec. 1, 1667, KBH MS 75C8. 3 5 [? apparently not Lionne] to [D'Estrades], [early Dec. 1667J, copy in D'Estrades's hand, ARA StH D217. 3 6 D'Estrades to Louis XIV, Dec. 1, to Lionne, Dec. 1, 1667, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negotiations, VI, 147-54, 157-59. 37 D'Estrades to Lionne, Dec. 8, Lionne to D'Estrades, Dec. 9, 1667, ibid., VI, 166-68, 172-76

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effort to keep it secret and to avoid offense to France. With Zeeland already on the record in favor of an even more vigorous policy, De Witt expected the other provinces to come along without difficulty.38 He explained the significance of the resolution to Meerman in London. The worst policy in the present situation would be to stand by and watch events happen. The choice lay only between giving Spain armed support, along with other concerned powers, in the hope of forcing France to restore all or some of its conquests of the past summer; or seeking a com­ promise peace between the belligerents upon the basis of France's reten­ tion of its present conquests or an equivalent. The former policy could be followed only as an extreme necessity, because it meant abandoning France's friendship and alliance. The Spaniards were not trustworthy, and other states which might help would do so only if given financial support, which the States General would have to carry alone, in view of Spain's penury and its unwillingness to borrow money upon acceptable terms. In any event, it was more than likely that the French armies could not be halted by allied forces without united leadership. There was more to be said for the second policy. France might halt its military operations during negotiation of a peace upon these terms, especially if Charles joined in a league to make the king keep his promises. But no consideration should be given to any suggestion that England be recompensed with places in the Low Countries, for Charles would be no more welcome as a neighbor than Louis.3 9 D'Estrades, for his part, put the situation plainly in a dispatch to Lionne on December 15. The time had come for Louis to decide whether his interest lay in completing the conquest of Flanders, putting aside all further negotiations with the Dutch, or in bending to their demands to use the French army elsewhere. Even before he received this letter, Lionne wrote to inform D'Estrades of a turn in favor of De Witt at the French court. Reports that the Spaniards were trying to build up a party hostile to De Witt was "certain proof" that he was truly acting in France's interest, and Lionne lauded his "enlightenment" and "good judgment." If he wished, the councilor pensionary could be given "marks" of the king's friendship and protection.40 To strengthen D'Estrades's position in the negotiations with De Witt, Lionne sent to The Hague one of his most trusted agents, Count William Egon von Fiirstenberg; although he was the principal minister of the elector of Cologne, Fiirstenberg was known everywhere as a confidant and 38 Sec. Res. St. Holl., Dec. 10, 1667, SR 3 II, 614-15; De Witt to P. de Huybert, Dec. 11, 1667, ARA StH 2660. 3 9 De Witt to Meerman, Dec. 16, 1667, BR3 IV, 562-64. 40 D'Estrades to Lionne, Dec. 15, Lionne to D'Estrades, Dec. 16, 1667, D'Estrades, Lettres 3 Memoires et Negociations 3 VI, 182-85, 187-89.

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spokesman of the French court. He had left Saint-Germain before the arrival of D'Estrades's letter of December 15, but he arrived in The Hague on December 18 with what was in effect an answer. Louis would not bind himself to halt military operations in Flanders unless the Spaniards first accepted the set terms; he did not want to give the Dutch and their friends time to prepare their armies to assist Spain. De Witt now saw that it was France rather than Spain which was balking at the stipulated terms and that the States General would have to press harder than ever for the proposed league—and include England in it. No time could be lost by the Dutch in getting their own forces ready for action, and it was decided to rush Van Beuningen back to Paris, for negotiations in France could no longer be safely left on the "weak shoulders" of the time-worn Boreel. 41 D'Estrades remained optimistic when the States of Holland recessed on December 24, expecting a decision favorable to France, at least in part, when they returned on January IO. 42 Lionne, however, was unhappy when he received the dispatch of December 15. The situation was almost equivalent to that of 1648, when the Dutch betrayed France by making a separate peace treaty with Spain. Yet the king was willing to use his army elsewhere if the Dutch gave firm assurances that they would protect his conquests in Flanders against all attackers. It was for the Dutch to decide whether they wanted to support Spain (which had made what Lionne called a preposterous proposal to put the conquered territory under papal sequestration while peace negotiations were undertaken at Rome, Venice, or the Pyrenees) or stand by their old friend and ally, the king of France. 43 De Witt still kept his grip upon D'Estrades's confidence. The ambassador was reassured by the firmness with which the councilor pensionary spoke to Gamarra, warning that the United Provinces would compel his government to accept the French terms for peace if that became necessary. The French court, in its turn, had already been given new confidence in De Witt by D'Estrades's dispatch reporting the recess of the State of Holland. 44 A possible break in the diplomatic impasse occurred on December 28, when De Witt had a long private conference with William von Fiirstenberg, whom he treated "just as if he were a minister of France," on the eve of his departure. He named for Furstenberg what he considered the three essential difficulties in the way of a settlement: the Dutch desire to have 4 I De Witt to P. de Huybert, Dec. 11, to Glinstra, Dec. 20, 1667, ARA StH 2660; D'Estrades to Lionne, Dec. 22, 1667, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociations, VI, 190-96; De Witt to Meerman, Dec. 23, 1667, BR, IV, 572-73. 4 2 D'Estrades to Lionne, Dec. 25, 1667, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negotiations, VI, 203-4. The date of Nov. 25 in the text is an obvious misprint. 4 3 Lionne to D'Estrades, Dec. 23, 1667, ibid., VI, 197-201. 4 4 D'Estrades to Lionne, Dec. 29, Lionne to D'Estrades, Dec. 30, 1667, ibid., VI, 208-9.

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Louis not use his own army to achieve the conditions upon which he had said he was willing to make peace, but rely upon his allies, that is, the Dutch, to obtain them for him; the Dutch demand that the king renounce his claims on the Low Countries, even in the event that Carlos II of Spain died without direct heirs; and the French demand that Spain's acceptance of direct negotiations with Portugal in the still sputtering war of independence be written into the peace treaty. Furstenberg, impressed by De Witt's air of sincerity and good will, finally suggested possible terms for a reasonable compromise. De Witt asked him to set these down in writing, which he did, but he left before the councilor pensionary could discuss them with him. De Witt noted that the written declaration differed somewhat from what Fiirstenberg had said at their meeting. 45 This declaration is apparently preserved as an undated memoire in D'Estrades's hand in De Witt's papers, although it makes no mention of the problem of Portugal. Its basic provision was that the king of France would accept, as an alternative to the territory that was rightfully his in the Low Countries under the devolution law, both Franche-Comte and the duchy of Luxemburg, as well as a half dozen towns along the southern boundary of the Spanish Netherlands, well away from the Dutch frontier. But the States General would have to provide him within three months with a promise to obtain these places "in full ownership" (that is, sovereignty) from the queen regent of Spain. If she refused, the Dutch would join their arms to those of France to make good the French queen's rights, as required by the treaty of 1662. If the Dutch did not make this declaration, Louis would be released from his promise and could reinstate his full claims. But he would not accept any provision requiring him to renounce his queen's rights if the reigning king of Spain died without a legitimate heir. 46 There was a willingness at the French court to stay away from a Dutch safety zone, provided it was not interpreted to include Luxemburg or Franche-Comte, which the French king felt free to attack at will. Indeed, Louis sent official word to the States General on January 22 that he would lead a campaign against Franche-Comte in person during February, on the ground that this was not only a measure of security against aggression by the emperor but also a way of helping the Dutch to compel Spain to make peace. 47 De Witt was perplexed and unhappy over a diplomatic situation in which he saw no good way out. He confessed to the new Imperial resident, 45 De Witt to Meerman and J. Boreel, Jan. 6, 1668, BR, IV, 607-8; Lionne to D'Estrades, Jan. 6, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociations, VI, 216. 46 Memoire to De Witt, in D'Estrades's hand [by William Egon von Furstenberg?], [c.Jan. 1668], ARA StH D229. 47 Lionne to D'Estrades, Jan. 13, Louis XIV to States General, Jan. 22, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociatious, VI, 218-19, 239-42.

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Daniel Kramprich (Friquet had died the previous August), that he had been able to see from the beginning what needed to be done during the Northern war and in the war with England in 1665, and thus to persuade others to adopt his policy. But he did not see clearly what needed to be done now and his arguments to others lacked force. Kramprich observed that he considered any tie with Spain to be dangerous and was unsure of the English, yet it was a maxim of Dutch policy to have an alliance either with France against England or England against France. 48 To Kramprich's argument that the Dutch must help Spain because everything would be lost otherwise and the Dutch would be left with a dangerous neighbor at their door, De Witt replied that they could meet that situation if need be by going on the attack (the envoy thought he meant a joint partition of the Spanish Netherlands with France). 49 In any event, the States of Holland decided on January 14 to support a policy along the lines of Furstenberg's memorandum, but added a provision for the use of military force against Louis if he refused to accept his own stated terms for peace or continued military operations in Flanders. If such force had to be used, then the goal would be restoration of the prewar frontiers. 50 D'Estrades, unaware of these crucial additions to Fiirstenberg's formulations, was worried only by indications of a rapprochement between the United Provinces and England, and he accepted De Witt's reassurance that Meerman was seeking only Charles's promise to join in compelling Spain to make peace upon the agreed terms. De Witt was so confident that he was in control of the situation that he warned Lionne against hurrying the Dutch, lest they take decisions which could not be reversed. 51 Such trust would have been merited if only the Dutch attitude toward Spain had been involved. De Witt took a hard line toward the Spaniards. They would have to do what they would be compelled to do. "Temerari­ ous stubbornness," a gambling upon the worst, would only create a situation beyond repair. But patience would eventually give them a chance to recover. 5 2 Although Gamarra was furious with the councilor pensionary, accusing him of preferring French to Spanish friendship for his "private interest," the situation was eased a little by the actions of the 48 Dunin Borkowski, Spinoza, II, 414-15; Srbik, Osterreichische Staatsvertrage: Niederland, 36-37. 49 A. to W. van der Goes, [c.Jan. 19, 1668], Van der Goes, Briefwisseling, I, 413; Onno Klopp, Der Fall des Houses Stuarts und die Succession des Houses Hannover in Gross-Britannien und Irland im ^usammenhange der europaischen Angelegenheiten von 1660-1714, 14 vols. (Vienna, 1875-88), I, 210. 5« Sec. Res. St. Holl., Jan. 14, 1668, BR, IV, 615-17. 51 D'Estrades to Lionne, Jan. 19, 21, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociations, VI, 225-31. 5 2 De Witt to Meerman andj. Boreel, Jan. 6, 1668, BR, IV, 604-5 and BJ, III, 392-93.

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queen mother of Spain. She decided to accept the papal offer to mediate a peace with France, although doubting that it would succeed, and she recalled Castel Rodrigo, who was beset by gout. One of her ministers instructed Gamarra to halt his game of threatening the Dutch with abandonment of the Low Countries: they were important to the fate of the whole Spanish monarchy.5 3 When it came to Dutch relations with England, D'Estrades had been taken in too easily by De Witt's reassurances. Mutual suspicions between London and The Hague had been strong early in December, and as late as December 24 Meerman had written to the councilor pensionary that the Dutch position was too ambiguous for comfortable negotiation. We are trying to walk a very narrow and slippery plank, he wrote his friend, and it is hard for us to keep our balance.5 4 But he followed De Witt's line when he met Arlington and Buckingham, the two leading English ministers, the day after Christmas. They resisted the notion of using force against Spain to compel it to accept cession of the conquered territories or an equivalent to France; it would be an act of dishonor to which Charles would never consent. It might well be such, Meerman replied, but there was also the consideration of the safety of other parties; war with France would be a difficult business. The next day, Meerman was joined by Boreel, while Molina and Lisola, the envoys of Spain and Austria, accompanied the Englishmen, and it was they who took the initiative in argument with the Dutchmen. Although they admitted that they wanted a return to the prewar situation, they asked whether the States General would join England and Austria in supporting Spain in the event that it accepted the proposed conditions and France rejected them. Meerman gave it as his opinion that they would but he could not give a promise on their behalf, and the English suspicions were roused again.55 But the center of negotiations was shifting from London to The Hague. During the late evening of December 30 De Witt was surprised by a visit from Temple, who had come to the Dutch capital en route from Brussels to England on orders of Charles. They conversed until an hour before midnight, as Temple explored what the Dutch would or would not do in collaboration with the English. De Witt told him that the States General would not make an offensive and defensive alliance with Charles against all and sundry, or even one to help Spain stop France. A general 53 Cornelissen, "Onze pandonderhandelingen met Spanje," 170; Queen Regent to Gamarra, Jan. 8, to Belgian provinces, Jan. 1668, Pedro Fernandez del Campo to Gamarra j Jan. 19, 1668, CEP, V, 47-48. 54 Meerman to De Witt, Dec. 5, 24, De Witt to Meerman, Dec. 9, 1667, BR, IV, 554-55, 559, 585-86. 55 Meerman and J. Boreel to De Witt, Dec. 31, 1667, BR, IV, 595-602; Pribram, Lisola und die Politik seiner £eit, 397-99.

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offensive alliance would be incompatible with their defensive alliances with other states, and a league specifically against France would be the "gravest injustice" so long as Louis gave the States General no legitimate and palpable cause for such an action. He then drew out Temple on the matter of English intentions regarding the Spanish Netherlands. Temple did not give a firm reply in the name of the king but indicated his own belief in the necessity of military and naval action against France if Louis refused to disgorge his conquests. He warned De Witt that Charles had to choose one side or the other and would choose the French if the Dutch remained irresolute; he would certainly receive Dunkirk, Nieupoort, and Ostend and, if he collaborated in conquest of the Dutch Republic, the whole province of Zeeland as well. You cannot mean that, De Witt replied, for the king your master could not be so unjust. The discussion broke up on this note of necessity to make an immensely fateful choice. The tone was less implacable when De Witt went to see Temple the next day, and he reported to the committee on French affairs of the States General an impression that the English king's immediate interest lay in giving assistance to Spain. IfTemple, who had gone on to London, found this in fact to be Charles's policy, then De Witt thought the Dutch should support the moves to keep France, an "all too formidable neighbor," at a distance from their own frontiers by preserving what remained of the Spanish Netherlands from French conquest. But the States General would make no agreement until it was known what decision had been taken upon Temple's reports. 56 Temple, who had fallen under the sway of De Witt's personality, reported that he had found him "a very able and faithful Minister to his State, and, I thought, a sincere dealer, very different from what Sir George Downing had given of him at Court, who would have him pass for such another as himself, but only a craftier man in the trade than he." When he went to see Meerman at his lodgings, he grew eloquent about how mistrust was giving way to trust and affection—but he did not speak of the matter itself! De Witt, for all Temple's charm and simplicity, remained suspicious. Why are the English still so reticent and reserved? he asked the ambassadors in London. The time has passed for questions and objections; the need is to get down to work now. But the English should be left in no doubt that the States General would not act against France unless England did so too, and meanwhile they sought no private advantage by a separate agreement with France. 57 56 De Witt to Meerman andj. Boreel j Jan. 6, 1668, BR, IV, 609-12. The printed date of Jan. 8 is incorrect; see ARA StH 2661 and Japikse, Johan de Witt, 262. 5 Sir William to SirJohn Temple,Jan. 2/12, 1668, Temple, Woiks, 1, 312-13; De Witt to Meerman and J. Boreel 5 Jan. 6, Meerman to De Witt, Jan. 13, 1668, BR, IV, 605-8, 629-30.

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By this time, however, Charles II, confronted by Louis's unwillingness to pay the price he wanted for an Anglo-French alliance, especially to break with the Dutch unless they first violated the alliance of 1662, 58 decided to mold events more forcefully and sent Temple back to The Hague. Meerman warned De Witt that the Dutch would have to come to a decision quickly on what Temple would propose, for it was the monarch himself who was pushing the affair. 59 Temple arrived on January 17 with the status of an extraordinary envoy and declarations of his master's intentions so compulsive that a surprised De Witt knew that there could be no holding off of an agreement. Yet he tried to blunt the direct menace against France. Even though the agreement drafted on January 20 provided for use of arms against either of the belligerents rejecting the proffered terms of peace, he had the words "force and constraint" replaced by the less explicit "harder means." He also had the "little threat" that might be needed to move Castel Rodrigo, the Spanish governor general, made more explicit. And he wrote Meerman to warn Charles that it was an "indispensable necessity" to reassure Louis that the agreement followed the terms of the draft worked out with Furstenberg. 60 When Temple triumphantly told the councilor pensionary that the Dutch had no choice but to join with the English, because if Flanders went under the United Provinces would be the next French target, De Witt replied with cool candor that the English alliance was scarcely any better. Spain was weak and untrustworthy; the German princes, however willing to aid the common cause against France, could be tied down by Sweden at their back; and, worst of all, England's monarch and his ministers were notoriously fickle and might well abandon the Dutch, whose situation would become disastrous. He spoke these thoughts, Temple observed, with "some melancholy" and an indecisive tone. The Englishman replied with the assurance that if the king and his ministers changed sides, which he did not expect, he would have no part of it. Was De Witt really "much satisfied," as Temple thought, with this promise, as ingenuous probably as any ever given by a diplomat? Surely not. But he knew that he had to go ahead with the treaty, making the best of a bad situation. 61 The draft treaty was presented by De Witt to the States of Holland the next day. The obligation to act against Louis if he rejected the terms or 58

Mignet, Negociations relatives a la succession d'Espagne, IV, 539. Meerman to De Witt, Jan. 14, 1668, BR, IV, 624. 60 Hollantse Mercurius, XIX (1668), 13; diploma of powers for the Dutch negotiators, Jan. 19, 1668, ARA StH D229; De Witt, "Project d'alliance defensive," [Jan. 20, 1668], ARA StH D41; De Witt, "Conference met Tempel," Jan. 20, 1668, ARA StH D41; De Witt to Meerman, Jan. 20, De Witt to Meerman and J. Boreel, Jan. 26, 1668, BR, IV, 622, 626-27; Temple to Bridgman, Jan. 27, 1668, Temple, Works, I, 330-32. 61 Temple to Arlington, Jan. 24, to Bridgman, Jan. 27, 1668, Temple, Works, I, 315-16, 332-34. 59

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continued the campaign in Flanders was made even sharper. Although De Witt permitted his trusted chief clerk, Van den Bosch, to enter the text of the treaty in the secret registers of Their Noble Great Mightinesses, he wrote down himself the separate articles appended to the treaty, particularly the prickly and dangerous one which provided for action against France. 62 During the afternoon, while De Witt and his chief colleague in the negotiations, John Ysbrandts of Groningen, conferred again with Temple, the proposed treaty was guided through the States General by Alexander Tengnagel tot Gellicom, a deputy from Gelderland. The resolution, which he sent to De Witt (presumably because he was working at his home and not in the Binnenhof), provided that the treaty, when presented in final form, would be approved by Their High Mighti­ nesses without the usual second reading. 63 Upon this basis the treaty and its secret articles were signed on January 23 and presented the next day to the States General, which sent them on to the provinces for post facto confirmation and de facto indemnification for the unconstitutional failure to get the requisite prior approval. Indeed, the secret articles were given only to the first deputy of each province in person, with instructions to obtain approval from his principals with the necessary secrecy. The next day, Their High Mightinesses approved extension of the new league to include Sweden, so that it has come down in history as the Triple Alliance of 1668. 64 The inclusion of Sweden, which only days before De Witt had feared might impede German participation in support of the Low Countries, was nonetheless not a complete surprise. The end of the war with England had been accompanied, after all, by a treaty between Sweden and the United Provinces bringing to an end the old disputes lingering on from the days of the Elbing and Oliva treaties. 65 But De Witt had worked for more, to bring Sweden into the "work of the Spanish Netherlands"; he considered its participation essential in a front to restrain France. 66 Count Christopher von Dohna, the Swedish extraordinary envoy who had been the chief architect of the agreement terminating the elucidations, spoke very positively about Sweden's willingness to join in such a league, but he did not receive formal powers to negotiate until November. It was England's participation in the league which was its key, not Sweden's, and Dohna " Sec. Res. St. Holl., Jan. 21, 1668, SR, II, 619-26; Min. Res. St. Holl., Jan. 21, 1668, ARA StH 471. 63 Tengnagel tot Gellicom to De Witt, Jan. 11/21, 1668, ΒΑ, II, 388-89; Sec. Res. St. Gen., Jan. 21, 1668, ARA StGen 2320. 64 Sec. Res. St. Gen., Jan. 24, 25, 1668, ARA StGen 2320; States General to States of Holland, Jan. 24, 1668, ARA StH 2691. 65 See chs. 15, 16. 66 De Witt to P. de Huybert, Aug. 21, 1667, BJ, III, 377; De Witt to Meerman, Dec. 30, 1667, BR, IV, 588.

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had little to do until Temple arrived in January with the king's offer.67 Even while the negotiations between Temple and the Dutch were under way, Dohna offered Sweden's entry, although only if subsidies were given. He added his signature to the new treaty on January 20, and then left at once for London, where he would continue his diplomatic activity.6 8 Sweden took the place that De Witt had contemplated for Brandenburg. After the conclusion of the Breda peace, Frederick William had moved to the point where he was almost ready to enter a league against France of the United Provinces, the emperor, Sweden, and other German princes.69 De Witt had then urged that the elector join with the States General and other powers in obliging the belligerents to make an armistice of some months, during which peace could be sought; if either refused, the other would be aided until a Christian peace had been achieved. But no direct break with France was desired. (This was, of course, a variant upon the policy that resulted in the Triple Alliance the following January.) The proposal was spiced with indications that Frederick William's participation would be rewarded with subsidies.70 The chief Brandenburg envoy, Matthew Romswinckel, responded favorably at once, and the elector himself a few days later.71 It was easier, however, to arrange specific military terms, such as the provision of at least twelve thousand troops by the elector, along with a Dutch army of eighteen thousand, to be placed on the borders of the Spanish Netherlands during the winter, than the amount of a subsidy to be paid for their support.72 Two treaties were prepared in draft, one to be shown to the provinces and to France if need be, the other to be kept secret because it provided for the use of force against the unwilling side. De Witt made it clear, however, that the Dutch expected the subsidy to be paid by Spain, not by the States General.7 3 The ever-wary elector smelled something wrong. Not only were there reports that Louis and the United Provinces had made a treaty favorable to France, but De Witt, who had wanted to involve him and others in a league against France, now seemed too eager to compel Spain to make peace on France's terms. Nor did he like the idea of having to wait upon

67 Wicquefort to Frederick III, Sept. 19, Oct. 29, Nov. 7, 12, 1667, KBH MS 75C8; De Witt to Meerman Jan. 20, 1668, BR, IV, 623. 68 Aitzema, Saken van Staet VI, 393; Van Dijk, Geschiedenis der Nederlandsehe Diplomatie, 1 281-82; Wicquefort to Lionne, Jan. 30, 1668, KBH MS 75C8. 69 Pages, Le Grand Electeur, 173. 70 Romswinckel and Copes to Frederick William, Sept. 7/17, Blaspeil to Frederick William, Sept. 10/20, 1667, UA, XII, 735-36. 71 De Witt to N. Vivien, Sept. 17, 1667, ARA StH 2660; Frederick William to Blaspeil and others, Sept. 15/25, 1667, UA, XII, 736. 72 Blaspeil and others to Frederick William, Sept. 17/27, 1667, UA, XII, 737. 73 Frederick William to Blaspeil and others, Oct. 1/11, Blaspeil to Frederick William, Oct. 1, 11, 5/15, 1667, UA, XII, 740-43.

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Spain, with its empty purse, for his subsidy, instead of the States, with their ample treasure. 74 He therefore made a treaty with France in December in which Louis promised to make peace on reasonable terms and the elector agreed to remain neutral in the Spanish Netherlands, as well as to support the French candidate in the Polish royal election. But Frederick William boasted that the treaty did not bind his hands. 75 He was surprised by the conclusion of the Triple Alliance on January 23, not because its essential terms had been kept from him, but because he had moved cautiously, while Sweden's more impetuous Dohna had gone ahead and taken for his country the role which Brandenburg might have played as the major continental member of the league.

To the wide world, the Triple Alliance was another triumph of De Witt's diplomacy, and he so treated it when he gave a gala banquet and ball on February 3 for Temple, its other author. 76 But the new league was in fact a bomb that threatened to explode the grand pensionary's whole diplo­ matic strategy. From the moment of its conclusion he sought to keep it from destroying the already battered structure of the alliance with France while at the same time permitting it to do its work of stopping Louis in his tracks in the Low Countries. His first step was to write that very same day, January 23, to William von Furstenberg, whose views carried so much weight at Saint-Germain, to paint the Triple Alliance as no more than Fiirstenberg's draft proposal of December 29, touched up a little. 77 He was being craftily disingenuous, for the "little" difference consisted in the explosive secret article threatening war against Louis if he did not accept the proffered peace. Then, the next day, De Witt went with Temple to see the icily angry D'Estrades, who had been kept in the dark while they had negotiated the alliance. A proud king with a powerful army will find it difficult to accept what you propose, he told them. Louis would not flinch if they "thought to prescribe him laws and force him to compliance," and "it would come to a war of forty years." (He was more prescient than he knew: the Peace of Utrecht was made forty-five years later!) De Witt defended the intentions of the alliance "with great phlegm, but great steddiness," as Temple put it, and after they left he told the Englishman that their countries had to prepare quickly "to make good what we have

7 4 Frederick William to Lorenz Georg von Crockow, Nov. 29/Dec. 9, 1667, UA, XII, 202; Goess to Leopold I, Dec. 12, 1667, UA, XIV, pt. i, 362. 75 Frederick William to Blaspeil and others, Dec. 17/27, 1667, UA XII, 752-53; i Mignet, Negociations relatives a la succession d'Espagne, II, 296; De Witt to Meerman,Jan. 13, 1668, BR, IV, 618; Goess to Leopold I, Jan. 2, 1668, UA, XIV, pt. i, 366-67. 7 6 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, VI, 646. 7 7 De Witt to William Egon von Furstenberg Jan. 23, 1668, BJ, III, 388-91. j

THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE

said." 78 He also used Wicquefort to mollify Lionne, telling him that it was recognized that "softer and more courteous terms" could have been used but that Temple had forced precipitous conclusion of the alliance, which was, in any case, to the king's advantage. 79 De Witt's hope of blunting the anti-French point in the alliance was not empty. D'Estrades wrote to Lionne of the meeting of January 24 and of another to which De Witt came with Van Beuningen in words calmer than those he had used to the councilor pensionary. He was reassured by Gamarra's angry denunciation of the new treaty and expected that Louis could still get what he wanted from Van Beuningen when he returned to France to resume his negotiations. 80 There was a readiness at the French court to accept these reassurances, especially since Louis was already com­ mitted to an invasion of Franche-Comte on February 1 and had so in­ formed the States General on January 27. 81 Lionne overcame his surprise to admit that the Triple Alliance seemed good at the core, although discourteous in its terms; but Van Beuningen would show what its true intentions were by what he proposed. 82 De Witt drew a breath of relief and thought that all that was now necessary was "a little courtesy and amiability in the externals." Just as he wrote these words to Meerman, his attempt to keep France a friend was crumbling at Saint-Germain. 8 3 A copy of the treaty was given to the French ambassador in London, along with word of the secret articles, 84 and at The Hague D'Estrades also heard of the secret articles, although he could not get his hands on a copy. De Witt, pressed for an explanation, made light of them. They had been adopted at Temple's insistence and anyway did not matter, for the provi­ sion for action against France would not come into force if the king accepted the "alternative" as a basis for peace, as he had just promised the States. But he did not deny either that the Dutch aim was to keep Louis from conquering all Flanders, which could "carry them to extremities which they will attempt to avoid as much as they can." He argued for leaving a barrier between France and the United Provinces and hence for 78 Templc to Arlington, Jan. 24, 1668, Temple, Works, I, 323-24; Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 441. 79 Wicquefort to [Lionne], Jan. 30, 1668, Wicquefort, Histoire III, 387n.5. 3 80 D 5 Estrades to Lionne, Jan. 26, to Louis XIV, Feb. 2, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres 3 Memoires et Negociations 3 VI, 248-53, 257-60; D'Estrades to De Witt, [c. Feb. 3], 1668, ARA StH D24. 81 Louis XIV to D'Estrades, Jan. 27, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres Memoires et Negociations 3 3 VI, 253-54; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, VI, 465. 82 Lionne to D'Estrades, Feb. 3, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres Memoires et Negoctations VI, 3 3 263-65. Cf. Gerhard Bernard, Baron von Pollnitz and Franz Meinders to Frederick William, Jan. 24/Feb. 3, 1668, UA 3 XII, 859. 8 3 De Witt to Meerman, Feb. 10, 1668, BR, IV, 649-50; Lionne to D'Estrades, Feb. 10, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres 3 Memoires et Negociations 3 VI, 266-68. 8 " Meerman to De Witt, Feb. 11, 15, 1668, BR, IV, 656-58, 668.

THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE

Louis's keeping Franche-Comt e, which had been conquered in a cam­ paign of days, instead of the towns of Cambrai, Aire3 and Saint-Omer in the Spanish Netherlands. D'Estrades advised his masters at Saint-Germain that it would be better to make peace on this basis at the moment, leaving for a later, safer time to make the Dutch pay double for their betrayal.85 Temple, when he returned to his post at Brussels after conclusion of the treaty on January 23, looked back at what he had helped to father a week before and found his success "strange." It was "altogether extraordinary, not to say extravagant," how the Dutch had responded to his overtures.86 He himself had been behind the decision to complete the treaty without first having recourse to the provinces' approval in order to foil the "foreign ministers" (primarily D'Estrades, of course) who sought to undo his negotiation.8 7 Wicquefort, explaining these events to the French foreign minister, stressed the sudden upsurge of Dutch hope that the French might be halted and kept away from their doors, which they knew they could not do by themselves.8 8 The fact of the matter was that De Witt had had the initiative snatched from him by the king of England. Charles had pulled De Witt off balance by suddenly bending under his pressure to join in resistance to France and accepting even more than the councilor pensionary wanted. Thus he not only put a spoke in the complicated diplomatic mechanism of wheedling and threatening by which the Dutch statesman had hoped to pull and push Louis into making peace; he also curried the favor of English public opinion, which had swung over to the Dutch side as the threat from France had risen during the last year; and, not least, he had opened up the United Provinces, and especially De Witt, to the resentment of a thwarted French ally.89 It had been political necessity that compelled De Witt to go into the new league, with the reluctant sad smile that Temple had seen but not understood. Temple's pleasant, infor­ mal ways, his flaunted honesty and almost disconcerting candor, however attractive they made the man, did not outweigh his political simplemindedness and his too great readiness to judge men in politics on personal

85 D'Estrades to Lionne, Feb. 16, 23, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Xegociations, VI, 271-77, 284-89; De Witt to Meerman, Feb. 17, 1668, BR, IV, 651. 86 Temple to Charles II, Jan. 29, 1668, Temple, Works, I, 342. Cf. Wicquefort, L'ambassadeur, II, 125. 87 Temple, "Observations upon the United Provinces," m his Works, I, 128-29. 88 Wicquefort to Lionne, Jan. 30, 1668, KBH MS 75C8 (extracted in Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 387n.5). 89 This was how William von Furstenberg saw Temple's negotiation, even before he learned of the conclusion of the treaty. See Furstenberg to D'Estrades, Jan. 27, 1668, ropy for De Witt, ARA StH D229. For a more elaborate analysis of the Triple Alliance as it affected De Witt, see Herbert H. Rowen, "John de Witt and the Triple Alliance," Journal of Modern History, XXVI (1954), 1-14, and The Ambassador Prepares for War, 21-29.

THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE

grounds. 90 But in these matters De Witt was moved by considerations of high policy, not personality. Whatever may have been the confidence of the Dutch in the new treaty, they began to take naval precautions. The States General decided on February 18 to arm forty-eight warships of thirty to seventy pieces, twelve frigates, and twelve fireboats, with eleven thousand men under De Ruyter's command, to be able to operate jointly with the English fleet.91 Van Beuningen returned to France with instructions that had been stiffened to include a warning to the king that any attempt to continue military operations would open the door to "a war of greater pain and hurt." 92 But Saint-Germain no longer expected anything good from him. The king was in no mood "to let anyone shave him the wrong way" and predicted that half an hour after he began to talk with Van Beuningen he would know whether there would be war or peace. 93 In fact, he had been ready to smash the new league at once when he had first received word of it, as his military chiefs had suggested, and it had taken warnings from Lionne and Colbert that France was not prepared to wage a general war to deter him. 94 Van Beuningen's first meeting with Lionne on February 26 did not live up to De Witt's hope that the Amsterdammer's "customary dexterity" would enable him to persuade the French that Dutch intentions were honest, even though the revelation of the secret articles made it obvious that the peace terms were proffered at the end of a spear. 95 The French

50 Jonathan Swift, who began his career as Temple's secretary and who obviously reflected his opinions, believed that the trust and confidence between Temple and De Witt eased their diplomatic relationships, and Temple's modern biographer repeats this view: [Jonathan Swift], "Life," in Temple, Works, I, xiii; Homer E. Woodbridge, Sir William Temple: The Man and His Work (New York, 1940), 94. In general, historians of diplomacy have given Temple a good press: see, for example, Henry de Bonneval, Etudes diplomatiques (Paris, 1857), 16; Friedrich Brommel, VertheidigungskampfderniederlandischenRepublikgegen England von 1664 bis 1667 undgegeti Frankreich und England von 1672 bis 1674 (Basel, 1848), 16; Wolfgang Windelband, Die auswartige Politik der Grossmachte in der Neuzeit (1494-1919), 2d ed. (Stuttgart, 1925), 149. My own views accord best, however, with those of L. Brummel, "William Temple als schrijver, denker en historicus," Verslag van de Algemene Vergadering van het Historisch Genootschap gehouden te Utrecht op 31 October 1955, LXX (1956), 38, 51, and the skepticism toward Temple expressed by SirJohn R. Seeley, The Growth of British Policy: An Historical Essay, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1895), II, 158-59, and Feiling, British Foreign Policy, 153. ®i Blok, De Ruyter, 313-14; De Witt to Temple, Mar. 16, 1668, ARA StH 2661. «2 Wicquefort correspondence, Feb. 16, 1668, KBH MS 75C8; Sec. Res. St. Gen., Feb. 11, 1668, ARA StGen 2320. 9 3 Lionne to D'Estrades, Feb. 17, 24, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociations, VI, 278-80, 291-92; Lionne to Millet, Feb. 24, 1668, UA, XX, pt. i, 39. 94 Rousset, Histoire de Louvois, I, 158-59; Picavet, Dernieres annees de Turenne, 226; Journal d'Olivier Lefevre d'Ormesson, et extraits des memoires d'Andre Lefivre d'Ormesson, ed. P. Cheruel, 2 vols. (Paris, 1860-61), II, 540. 95 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Mar. 1, 1668, BJ, III, 397-99.

THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE

minister introduced a new complication into an already much tangled diplomatic situation. The Triple Alliance, he told Van Beuningen, would delay peace by making it seem that the king would be acting out of fear of the league if he made peace on these terms. (This was a wry reversal of Machiavelli's dictum that a prince need not be good if he seemed so; the peace had not only to be advantageous to France but seem so!) Yet Lionne still thought that something might be worked out with De Witt, whose "reasonable" attitude and readiness with expedients he contrasted in a letter to D'Estrades with Van Beuningen's "outbursts and threats." If he could talk face to face with the councilor pensionary for just two hours (an admitted impossibility), they could certainly work out everything for peace, and De Witt could be told so. But he also told Van Beuningen that the king no longer was willing to keep Franche-Comte and return the conquered towns from Courtrai to Charleroi which were "in the heart of [your] entrails." 96 To make the Triple Alliance do what De Witt wanted it to do required, however, not only persuading the French that it was to their advantage, but, contradictorily, also the Spanish. Two days after it was concluded, a day after they had seen D'Estrades, De Witt and Temple went to give Gamarra official notice of the event. He plied them with "descants upon the hardship of it," but Temple thought he detected a secret satisfaction on Gamarra's part that it could be used to involve the allies against France in the Spanish interest. 97 But De Witt bluntly told Bergeyck, who returned from Brussels to offer the Upper Quarter of Gelderland as security for a loan, that Spain would have to accept cession of either what Louis had conquered in Flanders or an equivalent. The States General and Charles were now bound to compel Spain to do so if it refused. De Witt counted upon Temple, who was returning to his regular post at Brussels, to give the same message, and it was conveyed to the queen regent in Madrid by Van Reede van Renswoude, who was going to Spain as the ordinary ambassador (although whether, as a strong partisan of Spain, he would be as forceful as De Witt was doubtful). 9 8 But Maria Anna was not easily budged, and she warned Castel Rodrigo not to accept any peace proposals without her prior permission. She would not give it, either, unless the French acknowledged that the renunciation of the French

96 Lionne to D'Estrades, Mar. 2, 9, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres Memoires et Negociations i i VI, 303-5, 312. 9 7 Temple to Arlington, Jan. 26, 1668, N.S., Temple, Works, I, 326. 9 8 Wicquefort to Lionne, Jan. 30, 1668, KBH MS 75C8; Cornelissen, "Onze pandonderhandelingen met Spanje," 170; De Witt to Peter Burgersdijk and Van der Tocht, Feb. 2,1668, ARA StH 2661; DeWitt to Meerman, Feb. 4, 1668, BR, IV, 645; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 55.

THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE

queen to the Spanish heritage was valid." De Witt, however, expected the lightning French campaign in Franche-Comte, so different from the "incredible lethargy" of the Spanish efforts, to open Castel Rodrigo's eyes to the danger. 100 But if the governor general should be so blind or stubborn as to refuse the proffered alternative, De Witt envisaged the necessity for Dutch-English operations against the Spanish Netherlands, and even to seize those towns where there was reason to fear that the inhabitants would be readier to bring in the French than put on the "yoke" of Protestant heretics. Nor would he approve making any agree­ ment with Spain for the event of a French refusal, as Charles suggested, lest the French king treat this as sufficient reason for continuing the war. 101 In this campaign to break Castel Rodrigo's staunch refusal to do as the Dutch wanted, De Witt depended upon the collaboration of Temple. He hoped he was as sincere a friend of the United Provinces as he seemed, and he soon decided in the Englishman's favor. 102 He quickly realized, however, that the friendship of Charles and Arlington was far more dubious when, early in February, the secret articles were leaked to the French ambassador in London. The English minister denied responsibility for it, but Wicquefort later heard that the articles had been sent "at once" to France, and Charles's biographer places the responsibility squarely upon him. 103 De Witt was encouraged when Arlingtonjoined in warning Castel Rodrigo late in February that no artifices would spare the Spaniards the simple and plain necessity to accept the alternative. 1 04 De Witt's hopes for peace rose when Castel Rodrigo, without waiting for the queen regent's permission, accepted the principle of the alternative on March 4. News also came that Spain and Portugal had ended their long, desultory war, thus taking from Louis a pretext for continuing to fight Spain on behalf of his Portuguese ally. 1 0 5 But this was only a begin­ ning, and a quite unsure one, for Temple's position became uncertain and ambiguous. He wrote bravely to De Witt that the time had come for the Dutch and English to prepare to "speak to France in the same tone that 99

Queen Regent to Castel Rodrigo j Feb. 18, 1668, CEP3 V, 49. Witt to Burgersdijk and Van der Tocht, Feb. 21, Mar. 1, 1668 ARA StH 2661. ι ο ί O e W i t t t o M e e r m a n , F e b . 2 4 , 2 5 , 1 6 6 8 , BR3 IV, 672, 681; De Witt to Temple, Feb. 25, 1668, CF 3 305-7. ι ® 2 D e W i t t t o M e e r m a n , F e b . 1 0 , 1 6 6 8 , BR3 IV, 649; De Witt to Burgersdijk and Van der Tocht, Mar. 1, 1668, ARA StH 2661. ι ° 3 Meerman to De Witt, Feb. 5, 11, 15, De Witt to Meerman, Mar. 2, 1668, BR, IV, 647-48, 656-59, 668, 685-86; Wicquefort, Histoire3 III, 451; Wagenaar, Vaderlandsche Historie 3 XIII, 311-12; Osmund Airy, Charles II (London, 1901), 153. 1 0 4 D e W i t t t o M e e r m a n , F e b . 2 4 , 1 6 6 8 , BR3 IV, 671-72. 1 0 5 B u x g e r s d i j k a n d V a n d e r T o c h t , M a r . 5 , 1 6 6 8 , BA3 II, 391-92. 100 De

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she will use to us," but the Dutch residents at Brussels reported that the Englishman grew faint-hearted when it came to putting pressure on Castel Rodrigo to carry through the negotiations with the Dutch for a loan mortgaged by towns in the Spanish Netherlands. De Witt could only reply that he thought Temple had no sinister purpose and that they should continue to work with him in confidence. 106 (Actually, Temple was concerned that the Spaniards would be giving away so much to the Dutch that they would have nothing of their own to defend.) 10 7 Louis's decision to enter peace negotiations at Aachen (Aix-laChapelle), in western Germany, undercut Castel Rodrigo's position of recalcitrance. He tried to throw up new conditions for negotiation, but a French military success, the capture of Genappe, frightened him into sending authority to Gamarra to conclude the mortgage loan on the terms laid down by De Witt. In two days, March 27 and 28, it was worked out, providing for the loan of 2,000,000 guilders at 5 percent, with six of the lesser towns and fortresses as security. The States of Holland gave their approval on April 5, and it was concluded by the States General four days later. 10 8 While these negotiations were under way, the States General went ahead and sent Meerman authority to consolidate the agreements of January 23 in a formal treaty among England, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic (the "Triple Alliance" proper). De Witt hoped that when France saw that it was "impossible" to arouse differences between the Dutch and the English, it would accept a good peace; but if not, it would come to "a well-fought war." 109 The immediate problem was to keep Louis from taking too great offense at the mortgage loan agreement. All the Dutch were doing, De Witt carefully explained to D'Estrades, was to make the Spanish governor general accept what Louis had said he wanted. But that was where the rub was. The French king's appetite had grown during the feast of triumphant conquests in 1667. D'Estrades did not put it as baldly as that, but he ceased to treat De Witt with the unctuous courtesy of former years. If you do not tell me what you are discussing with a delegate from the bishop of Munster, he told De Witt in a io6 Temple to De Witt, Mar. 11, 1668, ARA StH D24; Burgersdijk and Van der Tocht to De Witt, Mar. 13, 1668, BA, II, 132; De Witt to Burgersdijk and Van der Tocht, Mar. 16, 1668, ARA StH 2661. 1 O 1 Temple to Arlington, Mar. 16, 1668, Temple, Works, I, 409. 108 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Mar. 22, 1668, BJ, III, 401-2; De Witt to Meerman and J. Boreel, Mar. 23, 1668, BR, IV, 712-13; De Witt to Burgersdijk and Van der Tocht, Mar. 26, 1668, ARA StH 2661, Mar. 29, 1668, BJ, III, 431-32; Cornelissen, "Onze pandonderhandelingen met Spanje," 170-71; Sec. Res. St. Holl., Apr. 5, 7, 1668, SR, II, 639-64; CEP, V, 53. 109 Sec. Res. St. Gen., Mar. 26, 30, 1668, ARA StGen 2320; De Witt to Meerman and J. Boreel, Mar. 27, 1668, BR, IV, 724-25.

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curt note, "I will know it soon enough."110 When a deputation came to him from the States General to urge that the king refrain from taking the offensive while the peace talks were under way, he was moved only to urge Louis to undertake his "grand design." He was not perturbed by the thought that De Witt would lose his political influence, although he expected that he would remain councilor pensionary even during war, but only until his foes found that they could do without him.111 The decision at Saint-Germain did not run at the moment to taking the great chance, even though Lionne hinted of a time when "a great king who prefers his honor and glory to any other consideration" would be less patient with the Dutch.112 Louis agreed to give the Spaniards the choice of what they would cede him, either the conquests of 1667, together with Franche-Comte and Cambrai, or the proposed "equivalent," together with either Luxemburg or Tournai and Lille. If this was accepted, he would hold off military operations until the end of May. 113 It was a decision which Louis later attributed not only to his desire to avoid an "eternal war" without allies but also to other opportunities which opened up to him, notably the treaty of partition of the Spanish monarchy which had just been signed in deepest secrecy with Emperor Leopold.114 Quite unaware of that potentially portentous agreement, De Witt hastened to gain approval of the king's proposal.115 He then set down a careful appraisal of the situation for the envoys in London. IfSpain balked now, it would have to be driven out of the Low Countries, which would either be partitioned among the United Provinces, England, and France, or organized as a free republic (the famous "cantonment" conception). The former alternative was not acceptable because it would make France an immediate neighbor of the Dutch and give England a foothold on the continent. Cantonment was the only satisfactory solution. But he did not think it would come to that; Spain would give in first, and the problem would be to prevent French evasions.116 But Castel Rodrigo continued to hold out, in the expectation, as De Witt saw, that Louis would resume the offensive and the Triple Alliance be drawn into war on Spain's side. The States General thereupon gave him the assurance he demanded for such a contingency, but with the

ι 10 D'Estrades to Lionne, Mar. 28, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negotiations, VI, 356-62; D'Estrades to De Witt, Mar. 30, 1668, ARA StH D24. 111 D'Estrades to Lionne, Mar. 29, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negotiations, VI, 362-67. 112 Lionne to D'Estrades, Apr. 13, 1668, ibid., VI, 402. 113 Lionne to D'Estrades, Mar. 30, 1668, ibid., VI, 368-71. 114 Louis XIV, Oeuvres, 11, 364-71. 115 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Apr. 5, 1668, BJ, III, 403-5. 11 515-16; Auerbach, La diplomatie fran$aise et la Cour de Saxe, 352. 92 De Witt to De Groot, Jan. 22, toj. Boreel, Jan. 23, 1671, BJ, IV, 153, 185-86. 93 Sec. Res. St. Holl., Feb. 6, 7, 1671, ARA StH 301; De Witt to De Groot, Feb. 12, 1671, BJ, IV, 157; Pribram, Lisola und die Politik seiner Z.eit, 514-15. 94 Lisola to De Witt, July 31, Aug. 1, 8, 1671, ARA StH D178; Klopp, Der Fall des Hauses Stuarts, I, 279; Pribram, Lisola und die Politik seiner Zeit, 523. 95 A. Legrelle, La diplomatie frangaise et la succession d'Espagne, 4 vols. (Paris, 1888-92), I. 196-97; Pribram, Lisola und die Politik seiner £eit, 529; Hamel Bruynincx to Fagel, Nov. 26, 1671, WG,1,22. 96 Pomponne, Me'moires, II, 178. 97 Grossmann, Der Kaiserliche Gesandte Lisola, 10; Pribram, Lisola und die Politik seiner Zeit, 542.

QUEST FOR NEW ALLIES

he was ready to sacrifice his authority and crown in the empire. It would be better to keep the war at a distance from his hereditary lands and let the Spanish and Dutch wage it at their own expense and peril. 98 Despite his orders he kept at his diplomatic activities, ceaselessly importuning De Witt with matters of "the greatest importance." 99 As the actual assault by France against the Dutch came near, Lisola's masters swung to his views. On March 4, 1672, Leopold instructed his envoy to Brandenburg to tell the elector that if he helped the Dutch he would be given freedom of movement within the laws of the empire. 100 Although, as De Witt told Lisola and Kramprich, the Dutch would be satisfied at least with "sideways" help from the emperor, they sought more active efforts to halt the French allies, Cologne and Miinster, and to send troops to the Rhineland. De Witt also asked permission for the Dutch to make a surprise attack upon the French magazines at Neuss. This was more than the emperor was willing to risk, since it meant fighting the war on imperial territory. 101 Thus, when the war began, the pendulum of Austrian policy was swinging strongly toward the Dutch, but the results would not be seen for months.

In addition to the great ally, England, France also gained several lesser allies in Germany whose territories became the avenue of entry into the United Provinces in 1672. One of these was the bishop of Munster, Galen, who had fought the States savagely during the second Anglo-Dutch war and lost to his mighty adversary only when the French sent an expedition­ ary force to its aid. After his defeat he began to dream of renewing his assault, proudly telling Pope Clement IX in 1668 that he sought the destruction of the republic. Once it was clear that the friendship of the French king and the United Provinces was crumbling, Galen looked to Louis as an ally able to help him attain his goal. He even conceived a strategy in which the principal invasion, by French troops operating with forces from Miinster and the German Catholic princes in the lower Rhineland, would drive across Overijssel to Amsterdam and The Hague, while a secondary operation would be mounted by France against the Spanish Netherlands. 10 2 Amerongen, who was sent to negotiate with Galen in the spring of 1668

9 8

Grossmann, Der Kaiserliche Gesandte Lisolat 11-16. 9» Lisola to De Witt, Jan. 18, 19, 24, 27, Feb. 28, 1672, ARA StH D30. 100 Instruction for Goess, Mar. 4, 1672, UA, XIX 7 , pt. i, 519. 101 Muller, Nederlands Eerste Betrekkingen met Oostenrijk, 24-25. 10 2 J.D.M. Cornelissen, "Brief van Christoffel Bernard van Galen aan Paus Clemens IX over de door de katholieke mogendheden te volgen politiek in het voorjaar van 1668," BMHG, LI (1930), 133-34, 142-43.

QUEST FOR NEW ALLIES

for a settlement of a dispute over the right of passage of troops from Brunswick-Luneburg, a Dutch ally, had the danger of such an operation in mind when he urged De Witt to consider seeking to win the bishop over to the Dutch side. De Witt's own ideas ran instead to the use of force against Galen, since he was too obviously relying on French support. 103 But nothing was done, and the dispute itself was soon settled. Dutch suspicions remained on the alert, however. Early the next year there were reports that Galen had resumed recruiting troops, and John Maurice of Nassau was asked to check into the situation. After visiting various capitals in the Rhineland he concluded that France was planning an eventual break with the United Provinces with Galen's help. 104 Late in the year there was a scare rumor that Galen was about to attack Borculo, despite the intense cold. In De Witt's absence troops were sent from Holland to Gelderland and Overijssel. But when De Witt returned he faulted the hasty action, which depleted the province's own defenses and needlessly exposed the soldiery to the fierceness of winter, and most of the troops were brought back. 10 5 The tension with Galen became more serious in 1670, when a conflict arose over the Lutheran city of Hoxter; both Galen and duke Rudolf August of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel claimed to be its suzerain. Galen, worried that Dutch hostility would sway the struggle against him, tried to bribe them off with a secret offer of a defensive league, but De Witt threw up his hands at the notion of giving subsidies to the warlike bishop, and the strange alliance never was concluded. Instead, the Dutch offered their mediation, with a threat to support the duke of Wolfenbuttel if Galen refused to accept it. He caved in, especially after the cardinal-elector of Mainz added his persuasions, and a settlement was reached in April 1671 1 0 6 During the controversy De Witt had not been troubled by reports of a planned combined attack by France and Munster against the United Provinces, and he continued not to rule out the possibility of an alliance with Galen if he gave proof of his sincerity, since it would obviously contribute to the maintenance of peace. He did not respond to a suggestion from one of his friends in Overijssel that the bishop of Paderborn, an opponent of Galen's, be encouraged to undertake an in Ibill.. 139-40; Kohl, Galen, 292-93; De Witt to Van Beuningen, Apr. 17, 1668, BJ, III, 407. ι ο « John Maurice to De Witt, Apr. 3, 1669, ARA StH D27, July 3, 1669, ΒΑ, II, 437-38. ι 0 5 Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 179. 106 Bohmer, "Forschung zur franzosischen Biindnispolitik," 249-52; Der Kinderen, De Mederlandsche Republiek en Munster, 1666-1679, 100-15; De Witt to Renswoude, Dec. 4, 1670, ARA StH 2663; De Witt to De Groot, Dec. 18, 1670, BJ, IV, 126-27; Res. St. Holl., Dec. 16, 1670, ARA StH 103; Sec. Res. St. Holl., Dec. 19, 20, 1670, Feb. 6, 7, 1671, ARA StH 301; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 255n.l, 264.

QUEST FOR NEW ALLIES

expedition against him. 107 De Witt's readiness to come to terms with Galen was increased when reports came that the bishop was on the outs with the Fiirstenbergs, the steadfast friends of France in Germany. 108 But all this talk of a rapprochement came to naught, and when war began in April 1672, Galen was on the French side, although he sent his troops principally against Groningen, the northernmost Dutch province. 109 ' ο' De Witt to De Groot, Apr. 2, 1671, ΒΑ, IV, 163; De Witt to Amerongen, Apr. 27, 1671, ARA StH 2664; Van Raesfelt to De Witt, Nov. 1671, ARA StH D148. ι ο# News letter from Paris, Dec. 11, 1671, ARA StH D178. 1 0 9 Kohl, Galen, 312-13.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

THE PRINCE STARTS BACK (1667-1670) "\^V H A T E V E R equivocations and uncertainties lay behind the Eternal Edict, it marked for the general public, which knew only what it saw, the triumph of De Witt and the States party over the cause of Prince William. The enactment of the edict was linked by a pamphleteer "who loves the freedom ofHolland" with the victory of Cornelius de Witt in the Medway. 1 But where the naval triumph had brought an end to the war, the passage of the edict did not assure the solidity of De Witt's authority. On the contrary, it required his constant attention, as the French ambassador observed. Within half a year, in fact, D'Estrades warned his court that the councilor pensionary did not have the power to do what was reasonable and what he could have done earlier. 2 It was De Witt who had to court the renewal of political friendship with his balky former friend Van Beverningk. He urged him to accept election as a deputy from the States of Holland to the States General; it was a duty he owed to the "common fatherland." 3 In the midst of the glorification of the De Witt brothers for their achievements, there was an undertone of resentment which came out when Cornelius asked for the grant of the manor of Spijkenisse as the reward promised him by the States ofHolland. Despite John's best efforts on his behalf, it was refused, and by December 1668 Cornelius had to be satisfied with a grant of 30,000 guilders. 4 Meanwhile, John himself had been reelected councilor pensionary for a third term. His own willingness to carry on in the post was briefly affected by grief over his wife's death at the beginning of July 1668. 5 He asked the leaders of the States ofHolland to be allowed to step down as councilor pensionary and to return to the less demanding post of pensionary of Dordrecht, but he was told he was still needed. 6 He was duly reelected at the end of the month, with a salary

ι't Verheerlickt Nederlandty 22. 2 D'Estrades to Louis XIV, June 21, 1667, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negociations, V, 358; D'Estrades to Lionne, Nov. 3, Dec. 1, 1667, ibid., VI, 99, 157-58. 3 De Witt to Van Beverningk, Oct. 13, 1667, ARA StH 2660. 4 Vivien to De Witt, Jan. 2, Cornelius van der Geest to De Witt Jan. 8, 1668, BA, II, 3 402-3; De Witt to Van der Geest, Jan. 8, 1668, BJ, III, 460-62; ΒΑ, II, 403n.l; BJ, III, 462n.5. 5 See pp. 498-500. 6 Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 322. We have no other source for this episode, but there seems to be no reason not to believe that De Witt made the request, informally and orally, so that only Wicquefort recorded it.

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doubled to 6,000 guilders a year, retroactive to his first election a decade and a half earlier, so that he received 45,000 guilders in bonds, to which the Nobles added 15,000 of their own for his service as their pensionary. It had been proposed to make the award a round 100,000 guilders, but De Witt persuaded the Dordrecht deputies to hold off the higher sum.7 (Count Dohna, who tells in his memoirs so many things that might have been true and, if not, were ben trovato, informs us that De Witt declined a life salary of 30,000 guilders a year. When told that this was only an extraordinary compensation for extraordinary services, he replied with a mocking smile: "Repay my services, gentlemen! Even if you gave all your wealth and sold yourselves for slaves with your wives and children, it would not be enough, for freedom is worth more than all of it." The rhetoric is out of character, but the episode itself may have happened, although reported here with a twist because of Dohna's combined admiration and antipathy for De Witt.)8 De Witt drew up the declaration of the States of Holland making the award, although he toned down the florid praise in the first draft by the delegated councilors. It noted his "immense labors, unusual services, and extraordinary burdens" in the States assemblies and their committees, in the guidance of foreign and fiscal affairs, and in the leadership of the naval effort during the war with England.9 He wrote to various leaders in the towns to thank them for their "unmerited favor" to him but admitted how deeply moved he had been by the unanimity of Their Noble Great Mightinesses' gratitude to him for his "small services." 10 His special thanks went to Valckenier, who had taken the first initiative in the matter in the council of Amsterdam almost a year before. But he went beyond the personal to the political meaning of the award. Even those who had earlier publicly expressed their displeasure with his conduct and maxims, "which I am confident I share with you," had finally been convinced of his good will and intentions, while overlooking his shortcomings.11 The key to De Witt's political effectiveness always lay in his influence in the towns of Holland, but he depended less than before upon his home city of Dordrecht and he tended to stay neutral in its conflicts with other towns. In a conflict in 1670 between Dordrecht and an army court

I Hollantse Mercurius, XIX (1668), 130; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, VI, 581-82; Houtzager, Hollands Lijf- en Losrenteleningen, 181. 8 Dohna, Memoires, 258n. 9 Draft declarations of States of Holland, Aug. 3, 1668, ARA StH D41. The statement is repeated in the five bonds issued to De Witt: copy in papers of De Witt family, Aug. 3, 1668, ARA StH 1 Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 1. 10 De Witt to Van Thilt and Cant, Aug. 3, 1668, ARA StH 2661 and BJ, III, 458; De Witt to Reynst, Aug. 4, 1668, ARA StH 2661. II De Witt to Valckenier, Aug. 5, 1668, BJ, III, 458-60.

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martial concerning jurisdiction over an army captain dismissed from the service for crimes while on garrison duty, some of the delegated councilors who discussed the case had argued one way and some the other; De Witt reported their opinions to the States of Holland "very much without taking sides," as a deputy present observed. But in another conflict between the States General and the province of Holland over transit duties on the Maas river, Vivien turned to him, in view of his "well-known affection," to help the cause of Dordrecht, which was the principal town involved. 12 De Witt continued to court the favor of Amsterdam, but the increasing independence of Gillis Valckenier, who dominated its government and policies, made it more and more difficult to win it. Lambertus Reynst continued his close ties with De Witt and did what he could to keep the city firm against the advancement of the prince of Orange, which Valckenier was favoring but with little success. 13 Amsterdam did not yet see fit to snub De Witt when he came there for the Christmas vacation. He was the guest of honor at a banquet of the aldermen the day after Christmas, although there was a visible lack of enthusiasm on the part of some of his hosts and a reluctance to seat him, a "servant of the state," at the head of the table, as was finally done. De Witt, disregarding the contretemps, played the merry guest to the best of his ability, chatting and dancing, playing the violin, and doing card tricks and other mathematical games at the invitation of alderman John Hudde, a fellow mathematician. 14 He thanked Valckenier for helping him to attain the "unmerited honor." 1 5 De Witt used the opportunity of a visit by Valckenier the morning before his departure for The Hague to urge upon him a compromise of the competing interests of the Reynst-De GraefT and Valckenier factions in the municipal elections to be held on February 1, so that De Witt's brother-in-law, Bicker van Swieten, could be named an alderman. He declared that Reynst was willing even to go to Valckenier in person to give him the necessary assurances, and he thought he had won his visitor over. Reynst, who went to Valckenier that same afternoon, found him far less conciliatory, complaining bitterly of various indignities suffered by his side, especially by Van Beuningen. 16 He was openly angry when, on the eve of the election, the sitting burgomasters met to consider the Bontemantel, Notulen, 215-16; Vivien to De Witt j June 30, 1670, ARA StH D29. Reynst to De Witt, Sept. 20, 1668, ΒΑ, II, 416-18. 14 Bontemantel, Regeeringe van Amsterdam, I, xlvi, 16-18; Knoop, "Oordeel van Lodewijk XIV," 133-35. 15 De Witt to Valckenier, Jan. 1, 1669, BJ, III, 463-64. 16 D e Witt to Reynst, Jan. 4, 1669, BJ, III, 490-91; Reynst to De Witt 1 Jan. 6, 1669, ΒΑ, II, 451-52. 12

11

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candidates they would propose the next day, and Reynst, in accepting Van Beuningen's nomination as burgomaster, remarked that it was an unusual procedure because he had been an alderman the year before. As a result, Valckenier and his friends refused to support Bicker van Swieten, on the grounds that he was being groomed for election as burgomaster in subsequent years. 17 Van Beuningen was one of those elected burgo­ master, but none of De Witt's allies received office, except Andrew de Graeff, who was named to the Exchange Bank. Nonetheless, De Witt sent Van Beuningen his congratulations and received a courteous if not wholly truthful reply that he imputed his election to De Witt's "old inclination toward myself." 18 More significant was the action of Amsterdam in seeking to strip De Witt of his guidance of the country's foreign policy by proposing the establishment of an office of Secretary of State of the republic—a post destined for Van Beuningen himself. But De Witt managed to hold off the threat, and the proposal was dropped. 19 Nonetheless, Valckenier and Van Beuningen continued to work with De Witt on matters of inter­ national relations, the former expressing his concern that the country should not be drawn into a labyrinth and the latter giving a special eye to the interests of the East India Company. 20 De Witt urged them in November to come to The Hague for a meeting specifically about the Surinam question, but which he wished to extend to "the grounds and foundation upon which the freedom of the country can be preserved and maintained with the most unity," as well as to other matters of domestic and foreign policy. In such affairs, he wrote, he preferred to collaborate with Amsterdam and most of all with Van Beuningen himself. 2 1 De Witt was pretty much whistling in the dark, for Valckenier was reelected burgomaster again in 1670, in order to take over leadership once more in an official as well as a personal capacity. 22 Valckenier became more balky than ever, overriding De Witt's efforts to gain a compromise in the matter of a seat in the Council of State for the prince of Orange, and eventually obtaining a conclusive vote for him. Valckenier made it 17 Reynst to De Witt, Jan. 31, Bicker van Swieten to De Witt, Feb. 1, 1669, BA, II, 453-54. 18 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Feb. 2, 1669, BJ, III, 491; Van Beuningen to De Witt, Feb. 3, 1669, BA, II, 432; Bicker van Swieten to De Witt, Feb. 4, 1669, ARA StH D26; Elias, Geschiedenis van het Amsterdamsehe Regentenpatriciaat, 160-61. 19 G. W. Kernkamp, Regeering en Historie, 220. 20 Valckenier and D. Tulp to De Witt, Mar. 9, 1669, ARA StH D26; Van Beuningen to De Witt, June 21, 1669, ARA StH D27; De Witt to Van Beuningen, June 27, 1669, ARA StH 2662. 21 De Witt to Van Beuningen, Nov. 14, 1669, ARA StH 2662. 22 Van Beuningen to De Witt, Dec. 28, 1669, BA, II, 499.

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clear that it was De Witt's dominance of Dutch politics that he was after: once the prince took charge, he boasted, the councilor pensionary "would come a cropper." One of his political friends, pensionary Hop, even pro­ claimed over a dinner table that he would prefer to see the prince rule Holland rather than one who was only a servant of the province. 2 3 De Witt did not dare a direct confrontation with Valckenier, even when John Munter, who he thought was "favorably inclined" to him, was named in March to replace one of the burgomasters, Van Waveren, who had died a few weeks after his election from a fall in icy weather. He was surprised, though pleased, because Munter and Valckenier had not always been on the best of terms. Peter de Graeff explained that the two men had quarreled over family matters in 1665, but thereafter Munter had not only been "submissive and humble" to Valckenier, but had married his daughter to alderman John Corver, an ally of Valckenier. De Witt soon discovered that Munter was no longer a good friend, but joined with Valckenier and another of his partisans in turning down De Witt's recommendations to them for directorships of the East India Company. 24 During the spring of 1670 De Witt became involved in a bitter dispute between Amsterdam and Leiden over the right of the residents of Rijnland to build sluices in the dikes of the Drecht and Aar rivers, with the former opposing and the latter supporting them. When the Amsterdam deputies in the States of Holland asked that a decision be put off until they had consulted their principals, the Leiden deputies replied with an accusation that the great port was "only out to ruin Leiden." De Witt urged them not to use "such hard words." 25 The matter went before the High Council, which found on behalf of the Rijnlanders. The Amsterdammers were indignant and blamed the councilor pensionary. As soon as he received word of their reaction, De Witt spoke to the Amsterdam deputies to defend himself. Let them make their accusations and he would refute the charges. He admitted that he thought that the Rijnlanders were in the right, provided that they did not interfere with traffic. He claimed, how­ ever, that he had exercised absolute neutrality, although he had spoken to several members of the High Council. In the matter of personal attach­ ment he asserted that his was stronger for the present governors of 23 Wicquefort, Hisioire, IV, 143; De Witt Io Langewaegen, Apr. 30, 1670, BJ, IV, 42; G. W. Kernkamp, Regeering en Historie, 64, 200, 220; Temple, Works, III, 441; Bontemantel, Notulen, 96. 2 4 A . t o W . v a n d e r G o e s , F e b . 2 0 , 1 6 7 0 , V a n d e r G o e s , Briefwisseling, II, 110; P. de Graeff to De Witt, Mar. 3, 11, 1670, ARA StH D29; De Witt to P. de Graeff, Mar. 5, to Munter, Mar. 5, to Deutz, Apr. 22, 1670, BJ, IV, 24-25, 47. 2 5 Bontemantel, Notulen, 97-98.

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Amsterdam than for those who held sway in Leiden—he did not have to mention that Leiden was the most vehemently Orangist of all the cities ofHolland. 26 But his relations with the Amsterdammers remained strained, and even his uncle by marriage, burgomaster Andrew de Graeff, spoke very bitterly against him, reiterating the charge that he had swayed the High Council in its decision. De Witt responded with a sharp warning: "Things are not going well in your city!" 27 That was late in May. As passions cooled, he decided to repair the damage done to his ties with the great city. He took the opportunity of a brief stay in mid-June, while returning from a mediating mission to Groningen, to speak to Valckenier about new instructions for the Court of Holland, although he did not have time to see De Graeff. On his return to The Hague he reiterated his desire to see Valckenier again with Fagel for a more extended conference on this and other important matters. 2 8 Valckenier begged off from such a confer­ ence on the grounds that it would be subject to misinterpretation as a private meeting on a matter which the whole government ought to decide, and told De Witt to rewrite the instructions himself in terms at which no one could take umbrage. 2 9 Temple, a more percipient observer than skillful negotiator, saw more to the quarrel than a clash only over the Rijnland. He noted how the Amsterdammers felt that the councilor pensionary was "growing too far into the sway of all affairs in this State by so long a ministry" and com­ plained that he used his patronage too much on behalf of his own clique. It was therefore a conflict between those "who have been long out" and those who had been "in" too long. Yet Temple foresaw no swift success for De Witt's foes in any effort to displace him; even his principal enemies acknowledged his great ability and his importance to the state. 3 0 His relations with Rotterdam were in general smoother than with Amsterdam. They were so important to him that when the government of the city chose Peter de Groot, who had been dropped as Amsterdam's pensionary in 1667, to serve it in the same capacity, De Witt urged his friend, then ambassador at Stockholm, to take the post rather than go to Paris as ambassador, as planned. He appealed to De Groot's sense of family honor: it would be an "honorable restoration" in the city where his 26 De Witt to De Witt, May 13, 1670, ΒΑ, II, 505—10; Bontemantel, Nolulen, 111; BJ, IV, 51; D. T. Gevers van Endegeest, Het Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1871), I, 6-7; De Witt to De Wit, May 15, 1670, BJ, IV, 51-54. 27 Bontemantel, Notulen, 130; Knoop, "Oordeel van Lodewijk XIV," 144. 2 8 De Witt to Valckenier j July 6, 1670, BJ, IV, 49-50; De Witt to Andrew de Graeff, July 6, to Fagel 5 July 6, 1670, ARA StH 2663. 19 Valckenier to De Witt July 8, 1670, ΒΑ, II, 510-11. j 3 0 Temple to Arlington June 17, 1670, Temple, Works, II, 119-20. j

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father had been "indecently kicked out." De Groot did not leap to the bait. His first response had been to admit that the new office would be "very advantageous" to him, but then he shifted to "great repugnance" for it. He did not like the subservience the pensionary had to show to the regents in Rotterdam, "where the least gentleman is a sovereign and the youngest councilman has as much to say as a burgomaster in Amsterdam"; there was too much political division in the city and the pensionary would be made the butt of resentments; and he had personal enemies in the town. "And who is there," he wrote De Witt, "who in such cases will gird his armor for someone who is neither friend nor relative?" He would rather be an ambassador than a pensionary, he confided, for he saw the diplomatic post as one for which he was better adapted. He did not reject the appointment absolutely, but preferred to decide at home rather than at Stockholm. De Witt obtained permission for him to return, and he took the pensionary's post.31 Soon he was given leave, however, to go to Paris anyway, because the need for a competent ambassador in France was so much greater.3 2 Relations with other towns during the period from the Breda peace to the Dover treaty, even with his "father city" of Dordrecht, took little of De Witt's attention. He was more concerned about the order of the Nobility, which became his tactical base even more than Dordrecht. Even in the months immediately after the formation of the Triple Alliance, when catering to English friendship was so important, he put the special interests of the Nobility ahead of the desirability of pleasing Arlington, the chief English minister. He was willing to promote the candidacy of Maurice of Nassau, lord of De Leek, the eldest son of his late friend Beverweert and hence Arlington's brother-in-law, only until it came into conflict with the intention of Noordwijk, the leading member, to bring in his own son-in-law. He defended the order's right to choose its own members as promoting "the preservation of freedom." But had to look on without interfering when Gijsbert van Mathenesse, well known for his Orangist commitments, was elected to the seat made vacant by the death of Wimmenum.3 3

The central issue in Dutch political life remained the place of the prince 31 De Witt to De Groot, May 14, 28, 1669, BR, II, 647, 650—51; De Groot to De Witt, May 19/29, 1669, BR, II, 654, June 1/11, 9/19, De Witt to De Groot, June 26, 1669, ΒΑ, II, 440-44, 446n.l. 32 See p. 719. 33 De Witt to Meerman, May 18, 1668, to De Wit and others, Sept. 30, 1669, BJ, III, 393-95, 492-93; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 87-88.

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of Orange. The Eternal Edict and the proposed "Harmony" for the election of high military officers, which De Witt called "measures of precaution for the preservation of freedom," 34 did not bring the calm De Witt hoped for, but rather a new period of contention. For the moment, the advocates of the prince's cause did not seek to overturn the edict and gain the election of their idol as stadholder in Holland, Zeeland, Gelderland, or Overijssel (his younger cousin Henry Casimir II was stadholder in Friesland and Groningen); their immediate target was to hasten his election to the military offices which remained open to him under Holland's decisions of 1667. They admitted that William was still too young to take the command which they felt properly belonged to him, but nonetheless wanted him "designated" for the post at once. De Witt did not want such "designation"; he saw no middle ground between it and an "absolutely free choice" for the States in the election of a captain general. He was delighted by Utrecht's support of the "Harmony" and sought to win over the recalcitrant provinces by per­ suading them that they had no other option, that Holland would not budge on the provision making the stadholdership and the captaincy general incompatible. He warned Epeus Glinstra, Friesland's regular deputy to the States General, that the "great work" of the army com­ mand, which could not be neglected without putting the state in gravest peril, could not be separated from the other points. He also asked Meer­ man, already in Friesland and Groningen on other business, to carry the message to their leaders. 35 The deputies of the other provinces were warned that Holland might go ahead on its own in naming officers over its own troops, and De Witt urged the States of Holland to make this warning formal. This was an effective threat, for, as Wicquefort explained to the king of Denmark, the other provinces did not have the funds to pay the higher officers themselves. 36 The "Harmony" was worked out in final form by a committee of the States General and formally presented to the assembly on September 22. It provided that the prince would be named at once to the Council of State and be given "high charges" when he reached his twenty-third birthday late in 1673. 37 But the provinces favorable to the prince con­ tinued to reject the "Harmony." At first they were encouraged by reports

3 4 De Witt to Vivien, Sept. 20, 1667, ARA StH 2660. 3 5 De Witt to Meerman, Aug. 15, 1667, BJ, III, 372, Aug. 16, 1667, ARA StH 2660; De Witt to Everard van Weede van Dijkveld, Aug. 22, 1667, BJ, III, 374; De Witt to Glinstra, Sept. 6, 1667, ARA StH 2660. 36 Wicquefort to Frederick III, Sept. 19, 1667, KBH MS 75C8; Sec. Res. St. Holl., Oct. 28, 1667, SR, II, 598. 57 De Witt to Vivien, Sept. 20, 1667, ARA StH 2660; Res. St. Gen., Sept. 22, 1667, ARA StGen 4568; Ten Raa and Bas, Het Staatsche Leger i V, 197—98.

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that Wirtz was not in good health and that he no longer wanted the high command; but De Witt continued to press his candidacy. He made Wirtz's very lack of intimacy in the republic a virtue. So far as I know, De Witt wrote to influential Zeelanders, he has no friends or even corres­ pondents here; we do not even know what he looks like. His only recom­ mendation is the high regard in which his abilities are held by those who know him and have served with him. 3 8 On November 1 the Holland deputies in the States General warned that the "Harmony" would have to be adopted and the army given its high commanders, or their province would go ahead on its own and name someone to lead the troops in its pay. 39 It was to no avail, and the States of Holland appeared as a body in the assembly of Their High Mightinesses on December 1 to urge a decision without delay. De Witt presented their arguments for a decision before Christmas with vehemence, warning especially of the peril from heavy French arming, but got only an agree­ ment to write to the provinces urging them to act or at least to permit their deputies to do so. Only Utrecht did what he wanted, 40 De Witt reiterated Holland's threat and warned the councilor pensionary of Zeeland, De Huybert, that the threats from abroad made giving the army a comman­ der an "absolute and indispensable necessity." 41 On December 21 the States of Holland went ahead on its own to order enforcement of the requirement in the Eternal Edict that members of the town councils—the ultimate source of authority in the province—and all others in the provincial and city governments take an oath to support the abolition of the stadholderate. 42 There was reluctance even among many deputies to the States of Holland to swearing the oath, but they were compelled to go along with the others lest they lose their seats. 43 De Witt wrote to officials in each of the voting towns to ask how the oath-taking went in their councils, and he explained to one of them, Hoorn's pensionary Van Neck, that it would not do for those who had sworn it in the States of Holland not to repeat it in the town councils of which they were members. It was obligatory for each capacity in which anyone served, and they would have to follow the example of Fagel, who had J 8 Wicquefort to Lionne, Sept. 22, 29, 1667, KBH MS 75C8; De Witt to P. de Huybert, Oct. 2, 1667, BJ, III, 385; De Witt to Thibault and Van Vrijbergen, Nov. 5, 1667, ARA StH 2660. 3» Aitzema, Saken van Staet, VI, 326. 40 Ibid., VI, 164; Wicquefort to Frederick III, Dec. 5, 1667, KBH MS 75C8; De Witt to Fagel, Dec. 2, 1667, ARA StH 2660. "i De Witt to Van Raesfelt and Thibault, Dec. 6, to P. de Huybert, Dec. 11, 1667, BJ, III, 376-77, 386. 42 Res. St. Holl., Dec. 21, 1667, RC, 805-6; Van Beaumont to burgomasters and government of Dordrecht, Dec. 21, 1667, ARA StH 2679. "3 Aitzema, Saken van Staet, VI, 168; Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 377-78.

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taken it both in The Hague and Haarlem. 44 (Fagel was still careful to be identified with the States party and not the Prince's supporters. While in Friesland in 1668 as a member of a deputation of the States General, he had argued forcefully against joining political authority and army command in a single person, warning that someone who was both stadholder and captain general could carry his ambitions to the point of sovereignty itself.) 45 By mid-January Gelderland, Utrecht, and Overijssel had joined Holland in agreeing to the "Harmony," and it was accepted by a majority vote of the States General on January 17 (just before Temple came over and swept the country into the Triple Alliance). John Maurice was named first field marshal and Wirtz second. De Witt hoped that the affair was coming to an end. It seemed so for a time. Wirtz became the effectual commander of the army, although below John Maurice in rank, because the "Brazilian" was sent as a special envoy to the emperor. 46 Not all went easily for Wirtz. There were objections to his raising a regiment of infantry on his own outside the country because its officers would not have first sworn the Eternal Edict, but it was decided that this applied only to troops raised at home. 47 Noordwijk, one of the leading Nobles of Holland and governor of Bergen-op-Zoom, threatened to quit the army if Wirtz came there. De Witt informed his brother, who reported this episode, that Wirtz had actually been sent to Zutphen. Nonetheless, if he were ordered to Bergen-op-Zoom, as was probable, Cornelius should make clear to Noordwijk the necessity to maintain good relations with the field marshal. Cornelius and the other deputies in the field had the right and even the duty to call Noordwijk to account in this matter. It would be all right for Noordwijk to stay in The Hague in order to attend the States of Holland, at least until the army went into action; but he had no right whatsoever to leave the army in order to avoid obeying Wirtz. 48 The new field marshal, for his part, found fault with the military qualifications of the old officers, and berated them when they took hours to get their troops into battle formation. And the officers responded in kind. There was outrage when Wirtz threatened to hang army trumpeters 4 4 John to Cornelius de Witt, Fagel, Van der Dussen, and others, Dec. 26, 1667, ARA StH 2660; De Witt to L. van Neck, Dec. 31, 1667, Jan. 6, 1668, BJ, III, 387-88; Van Neck to De Witt, Jan. 5, 1668, ΒΑ, II, 401—2. 45 Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 290. 46 De Witt to Meerman, Jan. 20, 1668, BR, IV, 623; Wicquefort to Lionne, Jan. 21, 1668, KBH MS 75C8; Ten Raa and Bas, Het Staatsehe Leger, V, 201, 205; Aitzema, Saken van Staet, VI, 454. 4 7 Res. St. Holl., Apr. 6, 1668, RC, 808-9. 4 » Cornelius to John de Witt, May 4, 1668, ΒΑ, II, 415; John to Cornelius de Witt, May 23, 1668, BJ, IV, 481-82.

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who blew a welcome for the prince of Orange without first obtaining permission from him. 49 When the field marshal sought the title of "Excellency," the question arose whether the deputies in the field should use it in addressing him. This was opposed in the States General, and it was decided, after past practices had been checked, that it should not be given to those who represented the state, like ambassadors and generals, nor to those who had a right to such a title by birth, like the prince of Tarente, when official matters were involved, although it could be used in a letter of courtesy. De Witt informed his brother of the finding but avoided having a formal decision made. 50 With his fellow members of the committee for the prince's education De Witt opened up the matter of the young man's future, especially after Princess Amalia informed the States of Holland and the States General in late October that she was putting down all her rights of guardianship. Such an act, disregarding the sole authority of the States of Holland to declare a subject of legal age before he turned twenty-five, might be offensive, but even more important was to assert at once limitations upon the powers of an eventual captain general (and who could he be but the prince?) to take actions that might imperil his masters, notably in moving troops and in naming officers.5 1 Amalia's action had been taken in view of his assumption of the post of First Noble of Zeeland, in defiance of Holland's authority over him. The post belonged traditionally to the prince of Orange as marquis of Veere and Flushing, and it had been reaffirmed as his by the States of Zeeland on August 7, 1660, although he was not to exercise its powers until he reached his eighteenth birthday. 52 On September 12 William went on a secretive journey to Zeeland by way of Bergen-op-Zoom on the pretext of a hunting trip, and showed up in Middelburg on September 18 to assume his post. 53 De Witt was not taken in by Amalia's effusive excuses that she had not known of the expedition before her grandson wrote of his intentions from Bergen, for it was known that she had brought John Maurice of Nassau from Cleves to accompany William and hold in check the young scatterbrains who made up the prince's suite. ButJohn Maurice

4 « A. to W. van der Goes, May 11, 25, June 19, 1668, Van der Goes, Briefwisseline, I, 461, 464, 475. 50 John to Cornelius de Witt June 11, 1668, BJ, III, 539. 1 5 1 De Witt to Valckenier, Oct. 28, 1668, BJ, III, 440-41; Bontemantel, Notulen, In.4. 52 Bampfield to De Witt, Mar. 10, Apr. 19, 1668, CF, 372-74; Wicquefort to Lionne, May 10, to Frederick III, May 17,1668, KBH MS 75C8; D'Estrades to Lionne, May 10, 1668, D'Estrades, Lettres, Memoires et Negotiations, VI, 438; G. W. Kernkamp, De Regeering, 36. 5 3 Constantine Huygens to William III, Sept. 12, 1668, Huygens, Briefwisseling, VI, 235-36; J. A. Worp, "Het plan voor de reis van den Prins van Oranje naar Zeeland in 1668," BVGO, 4th ser., I (1900), 413.

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had stayed at Bergen because of illness—although it was suspected at The Hague that it was a politic malady to divert Holland's resentment from himself. Amalia therefore admitted to De Witt that it had been a long planned operation which had been kept secret so that he could not thwart it in collaboration with De Huybert's foes. The States of Holland was furious, especially at the deception of its education committee, and worried by the outpouring of political passions among the common people of Zeeland, led by their preachers, which had carried along the regents, whatever their prior commitments. 5 4 An anxious Huygens wrote his master not to overdo his triumph, but to little effect, for William named as his deputy to exercise his powers as First Noble perhaps the most headstrong of all his friends, the reckless and corrupt son of Beverweert, William Adrian of Nassau, lord of Odijk. De Witt profoundly mistrusted Odijk and refused to take seriously his November offer of friendship and collaboration among the two provinces. 55 While these controversies raged, De Witt continued his educational work with the prince. He came every Monday to examine him on what he had learned in history, political science, and mathematics and to instruct him in affairs of state. One visitor thought that De Witt taught the youth more than he really wanted to. The councilor pensionary's mood was probably reflected in a poem written by Jacob de Witt during the year, which condemned eagerness for revenge and urged letting patience reduce wrath. 56 De Witt thought it unwise, in any case, to give any impression of passion against the house of Orange. 57 But even Orangists who saw this lack of passion on De Witt's part would not abandon their belief that he was moved by a desire to take revenge for what had been done to his father in 1650. 5 8 Were these not their own feelings—a desire to avenge the Exclusion Act of 1654, the execution of Buat, the Eternal Edict? Princess Amalia may have spoken only in jest when, early in 1668 in the presence of the visiting Count Dohna, she suggested to the Spanish ambassador that assassination would be the way to remove the threat of Louis XIV. 59 But there can be little doubt that hotheads in her party S 4 Wicquefortj Histoire, III j 411-13; Aitzema, Saken van Staeti VI, 619; Geyl, Oranje en Stuart 3 382. 5 5 Constantine Huygens to William III, Sept. 20, 1668, Huygens, Briefwisseling, VI, 237; Wicquefort, Histoire, III, 413-14. 36 Aitzema, Saken van Staet 3 VI, 607; Dohna, Memoires3 271n.l; Jacob de Witt, Eenvoudige uytdrucksels van Godt-vruchtige gedachten (Dordrecht, 1674), 35. 5 7 See De Witt, memorandum, [c. Oct. 1669], ARA StH D41, in which he suggests that a passage in an unnamed document, speaking of the religion of the prince of Orange, be left out completely or at least softened, lest such an impression be given. 5 8 De Bosch Kemper, De staatkundige partijen in Noord-Nederland, 184. 59 Dohna, Memoires 25In. 3

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were ready to remove the councilor pensionary of Holland in that way. One pamphleteer on the other side responded with a warning that if "Buatists and other Boris amis" tried to put the prince in power, all lovers of the country's freedom would resist with their words and pens, and if need be with their hands, goods, and blood. 60 Disdainful of such threats and menaces alike, 61 De Witt went his way, hopeful that somehow the prince of Orange could be kept in line, as his elderly cousin, PrinceJohn Maurice of Nassau, had been. Indeed, when it came to a celebration of the Peace of Breda, which had been concluded half a year before, it was William and John Maurice who were the guests of honor at the banquet of February 3. 62 William danced the part of Mercury in a ballet a few days later. There were hints of even greater things to come, and De Witt could have had no illusion that his pupil had lost his ambitions. 6 3 William was no hothead, however, unlike so many of his companions. He sought his high goals with a cool self-control that did not have to be taught him by the French memorialist Gourville, who later boasted of telling the prince during a visit in April that he should "pay his regards to De Witt . . . until the time came when he would be able to act in a different way." 64 He could bide his time or move swiftly as the occasion required. InJuly he wrote to his uncle, the elector of Branden­ burg, to warn of the precautions necessary in pressing for the interests of his house, so that adversaries could not thwart what was being sought. 6 5 Yet he acted with secrecy and alacrity when he went to Middelburg in September to take over the post of First Noble of Zeeland, sweeping away with the fire of popular enthusiasm the resistance of De Witt's friends. De Witt was only stiffened in his policy. He urged adoption by Holland of the principle that the posts of stadholder and membership in the Council of State—promised to the prince in the "Harmony"—were incompatible. This was done on December 19, when Their Noble Great Mightinesses resolved that no province could name its stadholder to the Council of State without the consent of the others. 6 6 De Witt persuaded Van Beverningk not to accept the request made to him by the prince to take

6 o Den Zeeuwsen Buatist3 of Binnenlandsen Venader3 Ontdekt in een Oproeng en Landverdervend Pasquils genaamt Consideratien van de Heeren Gecommitteerde Raden van Z ee Iand i &c. (Rotterdam,

1668) (Ku. 9662), 4. See Dohna, Memoiress 243n.2. 62 Hollantse Mercurius3 XIX (1668), 34. 6 3 Kernkamp, "De reis van Prins Willem III naar Engeland," 184; Geyl, Oranje en Stuarts 376. 64 Felix R. Freudmann, UEtonnant Gourville (1625-1703) (Geneva, 1960), 109-10. 65 William III to Frederick III, July 22, 1668, CWB II, pt. i, 8. 3 ^ Res. St. Holl., Dec. 19, 1668, RC3 827-28.

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charge of his financial affairs, as he had promised the elector of Branden­ burg he would do in 1665. 67 The controversy over the prince subsided during 1669 as Holland stood fast on the principles of the Eternal Edict and the other provinces could not budge its determination. Not until 1670 did the struggle resume, after the prince of Orange decided to acquiesce in having only military office open to him for the time being. At first Amalia balked at abandoning dearly held aspirations of her house, but she gave way when it was explained to her that for the prince to mount his horse again, he had first to put his foot into the saddle. Equally important was the shift of Amsterdam from De Witt's camp to the prince's under the leadership of burgomaster Valckenier. 68 De Witt, faced now with the certainty that the prince would be elected, sought only to limit William's influence in the Council of State by restricting him to an advisory vote, instead of a conclusive vote, which would enable him to dominate its decisions and outweigh Holland's three members (he already commanded the two Zeelanders). It was necessary therefore to rely upon the majority in the States of Holland which favored the advisory vote to withstand the majority in the States General which wished to grant the conclusive vote. 69 Although a minority in the States of Holland, led by Amsterdam and Haarlem, argued for the conclusive voice, so that the prince would not be "a paper lord or a picture, but a man," De Witt was able to hold the majority with him. 70 But he recognized that he would have to split Amsterdam from Haarlem in the claim that the Eternal Edict included the promise of a conclusive vote, 71 and he called upon Fagel to support the majority position with the burgomasters and council of Haarlem, in response to his "native modesty and love of unity." The minority—in the States of Holland only!— should follow the majority when there was a difference of interpretation and no neutral judge to decide the issue. The members of the States of Holland had to stand together so that the other provinces would fall into line (no majority principle in the States General!). 72 He also sought to Van Kinschot, "Moord der De Witten," 369; Huneken to Lubeck council, Aug. 22, Hildebrandt to Williamson, Aug. 23, 1672, BNZ, II, 185-86; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 525n.l; Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 299. Kopmoijer here gives a different version: De Witt arrived between seven and seven-thirty, and on entering asked why he had been called. Cornelius said he had not sent for him, which startled John. Kopmoijer, diary, [Aug. 20, 1672], Haijer, "Moord op de gebroeders De Witt,' 421.

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have put down, Cornelius asked, since I had done nothing? He added that he was confronted with Tichelaer only once, in the Kastelnij, and the barber had contradicted himself twice. If he had only had a whole day with Tichelaer, he would have made him come out with the truth (door de mande doen vallen). John commented, "If I had only a half hour with him, he would come out with it." 65 Cornelius said that he wanted to appeal the sentence, but John replied that this could only be done by the prosecuting attorney, who came to say that he had indeed appealed to the High Council. 66 Outside, the crowd exulted. "We've got the two traitors inside. Now they won't get away from us.'' 6 7 After paying the trial costs to which Cornelius had been sentenced, John prepared to take his brother home. But when the door was opened for them at eleven o'clock, there was a shout from a woman to the civic guards, "Men! What the devil is going on? The traitors are leaving! Make them go back upstairs or kill them!" The guards ordered the bro­ thers to turn back or be fired upon. When John began to expostulate with them, reminding them how he had served the citizenry, they began to make their guns ready, and one citizen fired but missed. The brothers went back in and asked the jailer if there was another door by which to go out; he said there was none (there was one indeed), and they returned to Cornelius's room. 6 8 The carriage which had been waiting to take them to a relative's home at Loosduinen, a village to the south of The Hague, drove off. 6 9 After a while, two burghers came up to see whether the brothers were still there and were persuaded to try to find a way to get them out, but they did not return. Instead, first about a dozen and then some thirty members of the civic guard on duty entered the chamber again, and in the »5 Declaration of Van der Wissel, Sept. 23, 1672, ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 4. 66 Van der Hoeven, Cornells en Johan de Wilt, Il 412. 1 67 D3Ontroerde Leeuw 44—45; Hollanlse Mercurius XIII (1672), 138. 1 3 The role of the jailer, David Kerckringh, is equivocal m the sources. The conflict in his attitude toward Cornelius de Witt, shown in his earlier appeal to him to leave (above, p. 874) and his deception here, may reflect discrepancies in the sources, or pressures upon him to entrap Cornelius. Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa, 764-65; Domselaer, Het Ontroerde Nederlandt, 367; Van Kinschot, "Moord der De Witten," 368-69; Franse, Engelse, Keulse, Munsterse en Nederlandse Oorloge (Amsterdam, 1673), 270; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 529; Wynne, "De dood der De Witten," 272. The query about the news put to the civic guards by De Witt, and their refusal to reply, is placed by the author of Oprecht Verhael van ' t gepasseerde ontrent de Detentie van Cornells de With as occurring at this time, not at his entry into the Gevangenpoort. Other reports put the brothers' intended destination as Zwijndrecht's house at the end of the Wood (Waerlijck Verhael, 13; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV 525n.l). Wijnne (p.265) favors the version of some authors that John sought to leave alone, because his brother could not walk and the coach had left.

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presence of the two brothers displayed a courtesy they had not shown outside. 70 There was a great alarm, and all shops and houses nearby were shut up. 7 1 A cry arose that Cornelius had escaped, and two officers of the civic guard and four burghers went upstairs to check on the brothers' presence. They found Cornelius in his underclothing and a Japanese drawing gown, lying in bed, and John sitting on a chair. John spoke to them with eloquence of his brother's innocence of any crime, as well as his own; they were ready, he said, to remain in the citizens' custody until their innocence was proved. The visitors were so far persuaded that the officers accepted an invitation to lunch. 72 Some citizens armed with pistols and swords meanwhile climbed up on the roofs of nearby houses to see that the brothers did not escape. When the officers stayed too long, the crowd began to complain, throwing stones and shouting, until the officers appeared in the grates of the window to show that all was well. 73 With the crowd increasing, the whole civic guard was brought up at about one o'clock and posted before the door and at the gate, barring anyone from passing between the Buitenhof and the Square. The captain of the civic guard, fearing that he could not hold off the mob with his own forces, went to the delegated councilors to ask further orders, and they finally sent three cavalry companies on duty in the garrison to take up positions at the Gevangenpoort. However, when the troops came up, they were not permitted by the burghers to pass through the gate to their guardhouse in the Buitenhof. Their officers decided not to defy the citizens who faced them with lowered pikes and aimed muskets, and the troops remained in formation on the Square. 74 The States of Holland had already been informed by PhilipJacob van Boetselaer van Asperen, the chairman of the delegated councilors, and two of his colleagues, of the events up to this time. The councilors were instructed to take protective measures, including posting the cavalry 70

Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 529. Hildebrandt to Williamson, Aug. 23, 1672, BN^ 3 II, 185. 72 Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa 765; d'Oniroerde Leeuw, 44—45; Hollantse Mercurius, i XIII (1672), 138; u Korte Beschryvinge," in Het swart toneel-gordyn. According to Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 530, the prosecuting attorney, John Ruysch, was one of the party. 7 3 Van Kinschot, "Moord der De Witten," 369-70; Valkenier, 3t Verwerd Europa 766; 3 Fransef Engelse, Keulse3 Munsterse en Nederlandse Oorloge3 270-71; Het swart toneel-gordyn. Kopmoijer says that it was the brothers who had to show themselves in the window: Kopmoijer, diary, [Aug. 20, 1672], Haijer, "Moord op de gebroeders De Witt," 422. 74 Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa 765; Sylvius, Leven en Bedryf van Willem de Derde, I, 97; 3 Domselaer, Het Ontroerde Nederlandt 3 368; Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 295, 297-98; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 525n.l. However, Kopmoijer states that two companies were posted on the far side of the Buitenhof and one on the Square itself: Kopmoijer, diary, [Aug. 20, 1672], Haijer, "Moord op de gebroeders De Witt," 241. 71

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companies in the garrison on the Square with instructions to shoot if necessary, and calling up the most trustworthy companies of civic guards. In view of the reported peril of peasants breaking into the city, further orders were issued to raise the drawbridges and pull the canalboats to the near side of the waterways. The delegated councilors were given all further authority to act as needed. An urgent letter was sent by express courier to the prince of Orange, then at Alphen, about fifteen miles away, urging him to come in person "and by his presence and authority to restore complete calm and quiet," and to send more troops to stand guard. The assembly also moved forward toward election of Caspar Fagel, whom De Witt had recommended as his successor, as councilor pensionary. 7 5 But William declined the States' requests, even though the withdrawal of the French from their advanced positions had begun, allowing troops to be spared. 76 In the inhibiting presence of the three cavalry companies upon the Square, the crowd around the Gevangenpoort remained calm during the rest of the afternoon. The brothers were safe as long as the regulars stood their ground, although they faced armed and hostile burghers. Count Claude de Tilly, the commander of the cavalry, warned the burghers' officers that if they wanted a bloodbath, they could shoot first and take the consequences. No, they replied, we don't want that. But they found the opportunity to do what they did want to do. Reports—later discovered to be untrue—came in mid-afternoon from Delft that thousands of peasants intent on looting were moving in upon the open city, and orders were rushed to Tilly to take up positions at the bridges covering entry to the town. The orders were oral, and Tilly, his eye on the restless crowd and the burgher guards intent on the slaughter, not the safety, of the brothers, refused to accept them unless they were in writing. They were soon brought back in due form, in the hand of Simon van Beaumont, the secretary of the States of Holland (and a cousin of the De Witts), and over the signature of Van Asperen. Tilly accepted the new orders with the bitter words, "I shall obey, but now the De Witts are dead men," and marched off his troops. It was not quite four o'clock. 77 The way was open, and among the civic guards, the notoriously 7 5 Res. St. Holl., Aug. 20, 1672, ARA StH 105; G. W. Kernkamp, Regeering en Historic, 229. 7 6 Wicquefort, Histoire IV, 535; Van Wessem, Koning-Stadhouder Willem III, 67. i 7 7 Wicquefort, Histoire IV, 530; Costerus, Histonsch Verhael 426-27; A. to W. van der i i Goes, Aug. 22, 1672, Van der Goes, Briefwissehngi II, 405; Wallis 5 Willem III en de moord der gebroeders De Witt, 27-28; Wijnne, "De dood der De Witten," 267-71. Tilly showed his orders a year later to Vivien, who observed that the original was in Van Beaumont's hand, with Van Asperen's signature. Notation on copy of the orders in De Witt family papers, ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 9.

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Orangist troop of the Blue Banner was impatient to be done with the business at hand. Some were hungry, others drunk. An alderman, John van Banchem by name, who blamed his political misfortunes on the fallen councilor pensionary, and the town treasurer, who was under accusation of embezzlement, rushed to the Square by a shortcut through an alley to arouse the crowd. 78 They were intent upon forestalling any attempt by the other members of the municipal government to rescue the brothers and bring them to the town hall, where it would be easier to protect them. Van Banchem was hailed by the crowd and took the leading part in the work about to begin. 79 According to lawyer Kopmoijer, at halfpast three Odijk, Zuilestein, and Tromp had called fifteen members of the Blue Banner company to see them at Beukelaer's inn and told them that evening was coming and if they intended to do anything good for the prince, the time had arrived. Each was then given a few drinks and ran back on to the Square to take part in the attack upon the Gevangenpoort. 8 0 At about four o'clock, when a rumor reached the crowd that The Hague was about to be invaded by rabble from the nearby villages, the cry went up that if the De Wilts escaped now, there would be a bloodbath in The Hague. They should be slain at once, before the people turned to defense of the town. 81 (Since Tilly's cavalrymen had already been sent off to resist the intruders, the question arises whether this rumor too was part of a deliberate conspiracy or only the workings of a frantic popular imagination. Plotted or not, the drama continued.) A demand that the door be opened was refused, and it was shot off the hinges and the lock smashed by two smithy's sledges. 82 One of the civic guard companies actively encouraged the break-in, while another, which tried to halt it, quickly abandoned its efforts when it became evident that fighting would ensue with the crowd. 83 A group of armed burghers and officers swarmed

ι 8 Van Banchem's name heads the list of instigators and actual assassins compiled after the events of August 20 by or for members of the De Witt family. "Voornaemste aenleggers en hantdadigers van de moort der HeerenJohan & Cornells de Witt," ARA StH, Coll. "De Witt (Beyerman)," no. 4. 7 9 Wicquefort,Histoire, IV, 525n.l, 531-32; Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 298; Den Val van de Witten, 7; Wijnne, "De dood der De Witten," 268-70. « 0 Kopmoijer, diary, [Aug. 20, 1672], Haijer, "Moord op de gebroeders De Witt," 422. 81 Den Val van de Witten, 7; Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa, 766. 8 2 Wijnne asserts that the door was already opened from within by the jailer, who probably had a secret understanding with the attackers; but the jailer's own statement to Kinschot does not support this. Wijnne, "De dood der De Witten," 272; Kinschot, "Moord der De Witten," 370; Oprecht Verhael van Ί gepasseerde ontrent de Detentie van Cornelis de With; Franse, Engelse, Keulse, Munsterse en Nederlandse Oorloge, 270; Het swart toneel-gordyn; Hildebrandt to Williamson, Aug. 23, 1672, BNZ, 186. 8 3 Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 297-98.

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up the stairs to Cornelius's room, where they found him abed in his dressing gown, reading a collection of plays by Moliere, Racine, and another, now forgotten French playwright. John was sitting at the foot of the bed, reading the Bible. It was open to the pages where Jezebel's death at the teeth of dogs is forecast. 84 A goldsmith, the first to break in, struck at Cornelius's head with his mallet, but the blow was deflected by the wooden bedstead, where, only a few days before, the idling prisoner had carved little pictures of the house on the Kneuterdijk and his home in Dordrecht. Another intruder aimed at Cornelius's face but only hit his cheek. The burgher officers and the prosecutor, fearing for themselves, put up no resistance, and the room filled. John asked, "What do you want, men? Why this violence?" The reply came, "You must come downstairs." "What do you want to do with us?" he asked, and got the plainer answer, "We want to kill you." Kill us here, he pleaded. No, you must die in public. WhenJohn seemed about to begin a prayer in the face of imminent death, one of the intruders shouted at him that he was an atheist who did not believe in God, and another dragged Cornelius from his bed by his gown, snarling, "Come on, you dog, downstairs!" John then took his half-dressed brother by the hand and led him down the narrow stairway, while their captors cursed and pushed them. Halfway John put his arm over Cornelius's shoulder and said, "Adieu, brother." 8 5 He suffered a wound in his neck, his hat was knocked off, but he was driven on. When the brothers came out the door and saw the mob before them, John started to go back in but was forced into the midst of the armed burghers. He attempted to speak to them, but his captors drove him and his brother toward the scaffold, a few yards outside the gate near the Vijverberg, to be tied to the stake and slain by musket fire. But the mob was too impatient for such formalities. A marine struck down Cornelius with a cutlass blow, and he was killed near the gate by a rain of blows from pikes, swords, and musket butts. John was knocked to his knees by a blow from a musket butt (or a broadsword, according to one account), wielded by a notary named Van Soenen. He looked up as if in prayer, cried out, "Men! citizens! what are you doing?" (Wei Mannen! Wel Burgers!), and pulled his cloak over his face. These were his last words; a pistol shot in the head ended his life. The assassin, a man named Adrian 8 4 Kmschot, "Moord der De Witten," 371; G. D.J. Schotel, "De Wittiana," VLHB, 1856, 605-6. 8 5 Kinschot, "Moord der De Witten," 371-72; Valkenier, 'ί Verwerd Europa t 766—67; Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 525n.l, 531; Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 299-300; Aenmerkinge op de beschuldigmgen, 21; d'Ontroerde Leeuw, 45. The account in Frame, Englese, Munsterse en Nederlandse Oorloge t 270, differs in detail.

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van Walen, put his foot on his back and boasted, "Here lies the traitor!" Cornelius was still in his dressing gown and slippers, John in his cloak. The burghers then formed a semicircle and continued shooting into the dead bodies. There was a crowd of about a thousand looking on, among them preachers nodding approval of what they praised as the Lord's work. The town magistrates, who had come too late, watched helplessly from a room in the house next to the prison. There were spectators who were only horrified by the spectacle but too frightened even to mutter protests. 86 When the firing ceased, the corpses were dragged to the scaffold, by the rabble of the town according to some accounts, by the burghers them­ selves who had done the slaying, according to others. 87 The bleeding bodies were pulled up by the feet and hung from a rung on the gallows ladder, John just high enough so that his head touched the ground and Cornelius dragging beneath him. A member of the crowd saw an "eminent person" looking on with obvious approval and called out to ask whether the brothers were hanging as high as he wanted. Another onlooker shouted, "Hang them a little higher!" but the person to whom the question had been put pulled his hat down over his eyes and quietly left the scene. The shamefaced dignitary may have been Cornelius Tromp himself, who so hated the De Witt brothers. 88 The civic guards then lined up in formation and marched off in silence. 89 An Orangist pamphleteer marveled that "in all that confusion no one was injured or hurt but these two men." "Order," he observed, was "maintained amidst disorder." 90 An orderly riot, a disciplined massacre, is indeed a strange thing—unless planned. The rabble, who had been patient spectators during the slaying, now

86 Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 531-33; Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 300, 305; Valkenier, 't VerwerdEuropa, 767; Den Val van de Witten, 7; Oprecht Verhael van't gepasseerde ontrent de Detentie van Cornells de With; Verhael van 't schnklik omkomen Van Jan de Wit, En den Ruard van Putten, Geschreven uyt den Hage, den. 20 Aug. 1670 (The Hague, 1672) (Kn. 10189); Het swart toneel-gordyn; Costerus, Historisch Verhael, 236. The account of the slaying in Franse, Engelse, Keulse, Munsterse en JVedertandse Uorloge, 270-71, ditters in details. Kopmoijer says ihat Cornelius, on coming out the door, asked where they wanted him to go or what they wanted him to do, and was answered with blows. John then said, "Men, that is not what was intended," and was also struck. Kopmoijer to Lastingh, Aug. 20, 1672, Haijer, "Moord op de gebroeders De Witt," 423-24. 81 Valkenier,'t Verwerd Europa, 767; Aenmerkingen op de beschuldigmgen, 22;Just Hoegh to Griffenfeld, Aug. 23, 1672, ΒΝζ, II, 184. 8 8 V. Gr., "Moord der gebroeders De Witt," De Navorscher, VI (1856), 219; J.L.A.I., "Moord der gebroeders (20 Augustus 1672) de Witt," De Navorscher, VI (1856), 220. 8 f Aenmerkingen op de beschuldigingen, 22; Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa, 767; Domselaer, Het Ontroerde Nederlandt, 368. 50 Waerlyck Verhael, 14.

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changed roles with the burghers, who looked on as they fell upon the dangling corpses. The "scaffold scum," as one pamphleteer called them, tore off the clothing from the bodies and shouted that the innocent blood of Buat and Van der Graeff had been avenged. But worse came when a man cut off the two forefingers of John's right hand and shouted that these were the fingers with which he had sworn the Eternal Edict. When he came down from the gallows, he was offered money for the grim memento. Onlookers, hearing this, ran up to the corpses and cut off locks of hair, noses and ears, toes and fingers, even the nipples and genitals, then slit the bodies open and pulled out the hearts and entrails as if they were slaughtered cattle. The desecrators speared the parts each had got upon quills and ran through the streets selling them. A finger joint went for 6 stivers, a whole finger for 15 to 20, an ear for even more. Pious Dutchmen put their gory keepsakes in turpentine to preserve them. The goldsmith, Henry Verhoef, who had struck at Cornelius in his chamber, now seized John's heart and kept it as a trophy. (Not until 1675 did the Court of Holland act to take back the heart and place it in De Witt's grave along with what remained of his body.) Worse desecration followed. Parts of the cadavers were roasted by a few of the spectators and eaten—a cannibalism neither of hunger nor of ritual, but of a hatred almost unparalleled in the history of the country. 9 1 Signs were attached to the corpses, "Land Prince" for John and "Water Prince" for Cornelius. 92 It was as rivals to the prince of Orange that they had been hated and slain.

While these events ran their course, the States of Holland were assembled in their chamber in the Binnenhof. Few of Their Noble Great Mightinesses returned after the morning session for the afternoon meeting. Although, as De Witt's cousin and the acting councilor pensionary, Vivien was even more vulnerable to popular execration than most of his colleagues, he came to the chamber. He was there while the members could observe the final events of the massacre outside, and while they debated the election of a new councilor pensionary—Caspar Fagel, the prince of Orange's friend, the man De Witt had recommended for the

" 1 Valkenier, Ί Verwerd Europa, 767-68; Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 301-2; Den Val van de Witfen1 7-8; Tooneel der Wereltse Verandermg Gesein inde Persoonen van Kornelis en Iohan de Will (n.p., [1672]) (Kn. 10195); d'Ontroerde Leuw, 45; Hildebrandt to William­ son, Aug. 23, 1672, BNZi H> 186; A. to VV. van der Goes, Aug. 22, 1672, Van der Goes, Briejuiisseling, II, 405; Veegens 1 Historische Studien, I, 48. 92 Hoegh to Griffenfeld, Aug. 23, 1672, BNZ, 185.

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post. 93 There had been some discussion of splitting the office, with its immense burdens, into three parts: a treasurer general for finances, as De Witt himself had suggested; a secretary of state, with a commission from the States General, for foreign affairs; and the councilor pensionary proper, who would confine himself to the administration of the business of the province of Holland. But William had not been opposed to the power of the councilor pensionary as such, only to its role under De Witt as a force of leadership independent of his own. Since Fagel was his own man now, there was no reason to reduce his powers. 94 When the work was done—their own in electing Fagel, and the mob's in destroying his predecessor—Their Noble Great Mightinesses solemnly recorded the "unprecedented and inhuman" murder and mistreatment of the De Witts. They wrote a letter to the prince, informing him of "an affair which is not only detestable to us and the whole world," but which could also have "harmful and abominable" consequences if the necessary countermeasures were not taken at once. They pleaded with him to come to The Hague without delay and to send several companies of infantry and cavalry to prevent further rioting. Meanwhile, the delegated councilors were instructed to use the cavalry still in the town to halt the continuing disorders at the homes of De Witt and his brother-in-law Zwijndrecht, and to have the cadavers removed from the gallows and brought to a secure place. 95 Not until night fell did the crowd disperse. Then, at an hour past midnight, servants and friends (a lawyer and a cobbler who lived in the basement of the De Witt house) came in a coach to "assemble" what remained of the brothers' bodies and bring them back to the house on the Kneuterdijk. The corpses were so mangled that they could not be told apart except for the recent scars on John's body. 96 At first carpenters refused to make coffins, until money overcame their fears. The next night the bodies were quietly buried next to Wendela's grave in the Nieuwe Kerk. When word of the interment got out, there was talk of digging up the corpses, burning them and casting the ashes to the wind, so that no

93 Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa 769; Hop and Vivien, Notulen, 284; Japikse, introduc­ 1 tion to ibid., xxxvi. 9 4 Wicquefort, Histoire, IV, 421. " Res. St. Holl., Aug. 20, 1672, ARA StH 105. 9 6 Den Val van de Witten, 8; d'Ontroerde Leeuw, 45-46; Waerlijck Verhael, 14; Het swart toneel-gordyn; Hildebrandt to Williamson, Aug. 23, 1672, BNZi "i 185; Jacobus Scheltema, "lets over den schoenlapper, die, uit loutere liefde, de lijken van J. en C. de Witt van het groene zoodje hielp afnemen," in his Geschied- en Letterkundige Mengelwerk 3 IV, 356-58 (based on a note now in SS DWBR 4); Veegens, Historische Studien, II, 166; Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa, 768, says the bodies were removed at about eleven o'clock by five lackeys with a carriage, with the permission of the civic guard.

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"revolution of time and affairs" should ever provide an occasion to honor their bones and their memories as martyrs of state. But the rabble were satisfied to tear down the arms of the De Witt family, which, as was customary during funerals, were hung outside the church. 97 9 7 Yalkenier, 't Verwerd Europa, 768-69; Wicquefort, "Memoire sur la guerre," 303; Het swart toneel-gordyn, (which shows the coat of arms at an inner pillar of the church). The statement in Geddes, Administration of John de Witt, I, 30, that the place of De Witt's burial, like that of his birth, is unknown, is elaborately rebutted by Veegens, Historische Studien j I, 47—49.

EPILOGUE

T H » B O D I E S of John and Cornelius were in the ground, but the life of family and country went on. Johanna de Witt took charge of the family, because her father, now eighty-three years of age, although still sound of mind, could no longer do so. On the afternoon when the danger had risen on the Square a block to the east, she had sent Jacob and the children to the refuge provided by two Anabaptist sisters who were seamstresses for the De Witt family and aunts of John's domestic clerk, Reinier van den Ouwenaller. They stayed all night in the house on the Gedempte Gracht, a half-dozen blocks away near the edge of town. Early the next morning Johanna came with the family coach and sent them to the house of their guardian and uncle, Peter de Graeff, at Ilpendam, on the other side of the IJ River beyond Amsterdam. She took Jacob de Witt with her the same evening to Dordrecht. 1 Maria, Cornelius's widow, recorded the massacre in her diary with great calm and subjection to God's will, and hoped He would protect all men from such misfortunes. 2 She returned home to Dordrecht the next day. En route on the canalboat taking her to Rotterdam, her despair broke out when passengers began to rejoice over the slayings, and one triumphantly displayed one of Cornelius's fingers. "Is there no one to take our cause to heart?" she pleaded. Diedrich Hoeuft, Maria de Witt's husband, wrote to his sister-in-law Johanna, in a mood of horror kept under control by pious philosophy. Of the barbaric raging of the people, he asked that God forgive them, "for they know not what they have done." What should the survivors say? "Let us pray the Lord God for patience," and he hoped the result would be the repose and peace of the fatherland, a reconciliation of the nation for which the dead men would have sacrificed their lives. 3 Philosophic calm was forgotten, however, by Holland's greatest philosopher, Spinoza, who was living in The Hague. As he recalled a few years later to the visiting Leibniz, he had tried to go out that night to post a sign on the Square with the words ultimi barbarorum (You are the worst of barbarians), but his landlord locked the door to keep him in, lest he too be 1

C. A. van Sypesteyn, "Jacob de Witt," 136-38. 2 Ibid., 140. 3 Hoeuft at Rotterdam to Johanna van Beveren-de Witt, Aug. 21, 1672, Veegens, Historische Studien, II, 172-73. Wickewoort Crommelin, "Abraham de Wicquefort," 257-58, finds this "all too pious." A similar view from the Orangist side is Sylvius, Leven en Bedryf van WiUem de Derde, I, 99.

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torn apart. 4 The poet Joachim Oudaan, who had been an eyewitness of the massacre, although bleeding with pity, was afraid for himself and said nothing. Out of respect for the statesman whom he had admired and glorified in his lifetime, he bought a forefinger of John's for two shillings and an old beer tankard and paid three stivers for the brandy in which it was being kept. 5 De Ruyter, informed of the murders six days later at sea, broke into tears. He knew few of the details (he thought John as well as Cornelius had been accused of plotting the prince's assassination), but said that punishment belonged to the courts, not the mob. 6 Amalia van Solms, mellowed by years, regretted that "such a noble mind" should have died in this way. 7 In Paris Christian Huygens went beyond his first mood of horror to draw the Stoic's lesson: wise men do not take part in politics. De Witt had been imprudent, he wrote his brother, but Huygens did not believe that the former councilor pensionary had committed any crimes that merited death. 8 In The Hague the following day the massacre was all that most people spoke of. 9 The violence against the memory of the De Witts did not end. The cavalry posted around the De Witt and Zwijndrecht homes turned riotous, breaking into the cellars and drinking the wine, demanding money, and compelling the portrait of De Witt to be removed from his home. The States of Holland again appealed to the prince to bring the disorders to an end. The portrait was ordered restored. The delegated councilors then went to De Witt's home to see if all the state papers that had been in his custody were safe, and the States of Holland decided to have them removed and put under seal. A month later, after Jacob de Witt resigned as master of accounts of the domains of Holland, the States also took into its custody the former councilor pensionary's minutes of outgoing correspondence and the incoming letters, but refused the request of De Witt's children and relatives to return his personal correspondence, on the grounds that they were too much intermingled to permit effective separation. 10 The materials were sent to a committee to examine whether 4 A. Foucher de Careil, Refutation medite de Spinoza par Leibniz, precedee d'un memoire (Paris, 1854), lxiii-lxiv. Leibniz's visit was in 1676. 5 Melles, Joachim Oudaan, 85-86. De Jonge, Nederlandsche ^eewesen, 332; Blok, De Ruyter, 349. 7 Theod[ore] Jorissen, Historische Bladen, 3d ed., 4 vols. (Haailem, 1892), I, 78-79; Hallema, Amalia van Solms i 163-64; Veegens, Histonsche Studien, I, 287. 8 Christian to L. Huygens, Sept. 4, 1672, Huygens, Oeuvres i VII, 218. 9 Oprechte Haerlemse Dingsdaegse Courant Aug. 23, 1672, in SS, Familie-Archiefs, 802. i 10 Res. St. Holl., Aug. 22, 23, Sept. 27, Dec. 20, 1672, ARA StH 105. A pencilled notation in the margin of the last resolution, signed J. A. de Zwaan, indicates that all the papers were still present on July 18, 1842, and they are still there, in the national archives building on the Bleyenburg in The Hague, as the author knows by his own observation and use.

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there was any support in them for the accusations that De Witt had been a traitor in the service of France. When one of the commissioners, not a supporter of De Witt's cause, was later asked what they had found there, he replied, "Nothing but honor and virtue," adding that it would have been a good thing if many others in the government had acquitted themselves equally well in the service of the fatherland. 11 The judgment is one that does honor to the man who made it, but few others spoke and wrote in the same vein in the weeks and months aftet the massacre. 12 The pamphleteers were mainly Orange supporters, and their venom flowed to the full. The dead men were denounced as false to religion, even atheists. Parts of John's body and clothes were preserved, wrote one, as "relics or signs of God's sound vengeance." 13 Another writer exulted that the brothers had been less ready for death than Jacob van der Graeffbefore his execution, because Cornelius ordinarily used his Bible for a lullaby and had been reading French "comedies" just before he was slain. 14 Another called the De Witts culprits whom God had punished through the common folk, although "the manner was unusual and strange." 15 It might have been better had the courts ordered the execution, but "dead is dead, whether you're killed by Master Tobias [the executioner] or the Commons," affirmed the Eyeglass-Man in a follow-up to his earlier pamphlets. 1 6 The memory of the massacre became a fact of political life. The corpses dangling from the gallows were "an example for the others." 1 7 To treat someone "a la De Witt" (op zijn De Witts) became a current phrase for breaking the resistance of political foes by popular violence. 1 8 When Arlington threatened the prince a few months later with the fate of the De Witts if he did not make peace, William replied that he was not afraid of being torn to bits by the people. "I am not of a very fearful character," he ι1 Aenmerkingen op de beschuldigingen, 15. 12 G. Bidloo, in Het swart toneel-gordyn. 13 Hydra oj Monster-Dier. Dat tzedert den Jare 1650. in de Vereemghde Nederlanden gewoedt heeft, en nu van Hercules wert bestreden: en alrede eemge van sijn Hoofden verlooren, en alsoo verder staat t'onder gebracht te werden (Rotterdam, 1672) (Kn. 10601), 14 Eenvoudigh Schuyt^praetje Tusschen een Haegenaer Een [JW/] een Rotterdammer . . . (n.p., i 1672) (Kn. 10472), 4-5. See Hydra of Monster-Dier i tweede Deel for a similar view. 15 Verscheyde Aenmerckingen. See also Sententie van den generalen Hove van Nederlandt, 3-4. ι ^ Bnllen voor alderhande gesichten. 17 Leien en Doodt. 1 8 See Amerongen at Russelheim, Germany, to the Prince of Orange, Nov. 26, 1672, UA i III, 335-36, reporting the remark of an influential citizen of Cologne that if any magistrates sought to resist introduction of imperial troops, they would be handled "op sijn dewits." More than a century later the intriguing English ambassador Sir James Harris, fearful of the Patriots' taking control, wrote home: "If I am de witted, don't let me be out witted but revenge me." Alfred Cobban, Ambassadors and Secret Agents: The Diplomacy of the First Earl of Malmesbury at The Hague (London, 1954), 174.

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wrote his uncle's minister. He was more like De Witt than he knew, although he certainly would have agreed with De Groot that De Witt feared nothing. 19 Hamel Bruynincx, who continued to serve his country and the prince of Orange in the legation at Vienna, wrote to De Witt's successor, half in resignation and half in irony. May you have better luck in your office than your predecessor, was his wish to Fagel. Amerongen, in Germany, similarly wishing Fagel luck in his post, hoped God would protect him from "so unhappy a departure from the world" as De Witt had had. 20 Fagel accepted his new post three days after his election. In a speech that displayed dignity and insight, he told Their Noble Great Mighti­ nesses that he did not possess his predecessor's great qualities. De Witt had suffered disaster although he had served well; the office of councilor pensionary was too prominent and subject to excessive criticism. 2 1 Yet, sooner or later, other voices were heard too. One was that of a poet who wrote of the captains who had eaten lunch with the De Witts; he hoped they did not know of the death being prepared for the brothers who had received them in such a friendly way. 22 Another had a Frenchman say that the murderers were like the regicides in England: "You will never be able to wash away this scandal in all eternity with the waters of the sea." 23 The brothers were called "martyrs of State." 24 There were moderate voices even among the Orangists. One of them admitted that Cornelius had not been guilty of the crime of which Tichelaer accused him, but he had been sentenced to quiet the people. It was an unprecedented sentence because of the lack of proofs, and Cornelius should have been declared innocent. "Secret considerations" had obviously moved the court. 2 5 The sentence may have been a con­ cession to the people, wrote a pamphleteer bold enough to defend the aristocratic view, but justice should give the law to them, not take it from them. 26 Another said that the brothers had been sick with the "fever of vanity," but asked whether they and their "good friends" had in fact wanted to give over the country to the French. 27 ''William III to Arlington, Oct. 7, 1672, CfYB, II, pt. i, 115-16; De Groot to Wicquefort, Sept. 12, 1673, De Groot, Lettres al Wicquefort, 171. 2 0 Hamel Bruynincx to Fagel, Sept. 15, 1672, De Pater, "De eerste gezant," 96; Von Antal, WG, I, 159; Amerongen to Fagel, Sept. 4, 1672, ARA StH 2898. 2 1 Hop and Vivien, Notulen, 289. 2 2 "Aan de Capiteynen . . .," in Het swart toneel-gordyn. 23

24

D 3 Ontdeckte Ambassade van de Groot.

"Het groote Witte Moorttoncel," in Het swart toneel-gordyn; Hollants Mars-Banquet (n.p., 1672) (Kn. 10308). 2 5 Copie van een Brief, Geschreven uyt Rotterdam, 29. 2 6 Bnllerus Sondags-praelje ( Leiden, 1672) (Kn. 10490). 2 7 Discoursen, Over den tegenwoordigen Interest van het Landt, 3.

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William's own reaction was complex. On the day of the massacre he had gone to Woerden, which the PVench had just evacuated, and then returned to Alphen, where he received the express courier from the States of Holland asking that several companies of cavalry be sent; but he did nothing. He received the news of the massacre at about seven o'clock that evening. According to reports, he "turned pale," was surprised and agitated. 28 Some time later, he told one of his friends privately that if De Witt had lived, he would have preferred his cooperation to that of all the other ministers of state. 29 Gourville, not the most reliable of sources, to be sure, but often well informed, wrote later that he had asked the prince about rumors that he had used the opportunity to get rid of De Witt. William replied with absolute assurances that he had given no order to slay him, but admitted he had been somewhat relieved on learning of his death. 30 The prince came to The Hague on August 21, when the grisly work had been finished. He made sure that there were no judicial proceedings against the murderers, even though the bailiff of The Hague, a cousin of De Witt's, obtained their names. Instead he rebuked the bailiff for asking to be allowed to apprehend them, saying he would make enquiries himself among the burghers. The bailiff thereupon resigned. 31 The prince then rewarded and protected the chief perpetrators of the massacre. He gave Tichelaer a pension of 800 guilders a year, which was maintained until 1702, but was slow to give him the positions he expected. He was not named a deputy to Cornelius de Witt's successor as steward of Putten until 1675. In his old age, tortured by conscience, Tichelaer declared that he had falsely accused Cornelius. 32 John van Banchem was given a bailiffship by the prince, but his evil reputation proved to have been deserved. He was arrested in 1676 for embezzlement and died while on trial. Van Walen, who fired the first shot into John, died by execution. 33 Another beneficiary of the shift of power was Kievit, who had fled from Rotterdam in 1666 because of his complicity in the Buat affair. Now he was pardoned and restored to office as an alderman. Kievit and his brother-in-law Tromp went to the prince on August 22 to thank him for his pardon of Kievit. The sitting magistrates in Amsterdam resigned 2 8 Van Wessem, Koning-Stadhouder Willem III, 67-68; Wicquefbrt, "Memoire sur la guerre," 310-11; YVicquefort, Histoire s IV, 535-37. 2 9 Wicquefbrt, "Memoire sur ia guerre," 303-4. 3 0 Wijnne, "De dood der De Witten," 277. Robb, William of Orange 3 I, 247, suggests reserve in accepting Gourville's account.

31 Wijnne, "De dood der De Witten," 276-77. 32 Kroon, De Wittcontra Oranje, 171. 3 3 Wicquefbrt, Histoire3 IV, 532-33.

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the same day, lest they be accused of "evil intelligences." 34 Gillis Valckenier returned to power as the prince's protege (although, in subsequent years, he was often anything but an obedient servant of the prince). He rode high on the distrust felt by the burghers for De Witt's friends, while his party, having been out of office, escaped the onus of the military disaster. 35 Valckenier, indeed, had been outspoken for resistance during the hard days of late June, but the Amsterdam city council had been slower to move toward abolition of the Eternal Edict than other vroedschappen . 3 8 It was Van Beuningen, however, who was elected burgomaster in September, in the' wetsverzetting after the massacre of the De Witts; Valckenier was not elected until the next February. 37 Else­ where, the members of the De Witt party, relatives and friends, were dropped from their positions in government. Vivien resigned as pensionary of Dordrecht on September 13, having already withdrawn as a member of the town council. He does not seem to have been turned out of office but to have read the signs and acted of his own accord. 38 Once the prince was firmly in control, however, he did not carry on a vendetta against the De Witts. He retained Ascanius van Sypesteyn, De Witt's cousin, as his wagonmaster general, a post to which he had been named in April 1672. 39 He allowed the States of Holland in December 1672 to grant the request of Cornelius's widow for protection against two persons who tried to blackmail her. 40 And when Jacob de Witt died in 1674, it was possible for his family to give him a public and ceremonial burial, with the ringing of bells and with notables, as well as his grandsons, following the hearse. 41 In 1687 Bentinck, the prince's confidant, assured Count Frederick von Dohna that William bore no ill will against De Witt's relatives; it would be contrary to Christian charity to hold against children the faults of their fathers. He had never seen the prince more moved than when he learned of the brothers' massacre. William would gladly receive young John de Witt, who was on a journey to Switzerland, when he returned to The Hague, and Bentinck himself would gladly 34 Ibid., 484n.l; Hollantse Mercurius 1 XIII (1672), 141; Rotterdam Hersteldt, door het aeeorderen vande Magistraet in het versoeck der Burgeren, Tot het renuncieren van hate Ampten, en toestaen dat zijne Hoogheydi als Sladlhouder uyt het nomineren . . . (n.p., [1672]) (Kn. 10209), 3. 35 Brugmans, Opkomst en Bloei van Amsterdam, 180; G. W. Kernkamp, Regeenng en Historie, 226. 3 ^Valkenier, 't Verwerd Europa, 647; G. W. Kernkamp, Regeenng en Historie, 225; Bontemantel, Regeeringe van Amsterdam, II, 17-18. 3 7 G. W. Kernkamp, Regeering en Historie, 103. 38 Japikse, introduction to Hop and Vivien, Notulen, xxxviii. 3 » William III to C. A. Ascanius van Sypesteyn, Mar. 22, 1673, SS FA, 333; De Witt to Van Beverningk, Apr. 25, 1672, BJ, IV, 337. 4 ο Hop and Vivien, Notulen, 360. 4 1 De Groot to Wicquefort, Jan. 22, 1674, De Groot, Lettres a, Wicquefort, 286.

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present him. 42 After he ascended the English throne, William acknow­ ledged that De Witt had been "one of the greatest men of his century and had served the state loyally." 43 It was belated tribute which time the healer had permitted.

Time has not, however, taken the thorn out of the question whether there was in fact a plot to slay the De Witts. Early in the eighteenth century the historian Jacques Basnage ascribed a conspiracy to courtiers who decided to act on their own, without obtaining the prince's approval in advance. 44 J. A. Wijnne, who accepts this view, does not attempt to determine who they were, but considers the existence of a "broadly conceived and well planned conspiracy" to be very certain. This would be so even if such episodes as the possibly false message of Cornelius to his brother, the spreading of rumors about a peasant assault, or the arranging of Tilly's departure were not the work of the plotters. The assault itself was prepared, and only the opportunity had to come up. 45 H.S.M. van W'ickevoort Crommelin, in reply to Fruin's exculpation, comments in a similar vein that there was "too much order in this order, too much premeditation in this apparently spontaneous rage." 46 A. S. C. Wallis, who has studied the affair very closely, does not go so far as the poet Oudaan, who argued for William's direct complicity. 47 She rebuts Fruin's statement that the cavalry could not have prevented the massacre and his thesis that it was better that two men die than have a bloody massacre arise between cavalry and burghers. 48 But she sees William's adherents as the conspirators, not the prince himself. The only basis for the accusation of his personal involvement is his refusal to prosecute the murderers and the rewards in money and office to them, 49

42

Bentinck to Dohna, Feb. 3, 1687, CWB, II, pt. i, 744-45. Wickevoort Crommelin, Johan de Witt, 46. 44 Wijnne, "De dood der De Witten," 279; Basnage, Annates des Provinces-Unies, II, 317. 45 Wijnne, "De dood der De Witten," 279-80. 46 W'ickevoort Crommelin, Johan de Witt, 237; Fruin, "De schuld van Willem III en zijn vrienden aan den moord der begroeders De Witt," Verspreide Geschriften, IV, 357-76. 47 Oudaan, Haagsche Breeder-Moord, 19. During the debates m the Constitutional Convention in the United States of America in 1787, Benjamin Franklin, referring to the Dutch Republic as an example, made the historic memory of this accusation as specific as it could be. The prince of Orange, he declared (June 4, 1787), "excited insurrections, spilled a great deal ol blood, murdered the De Witts, and got the powers re-vested in the Stadtholder." Henry D. Gilpin, ed., The Papers oj James Madison, 3 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1840), II, 789 48 Fruin, "De schuld van Willem III," 375-76. 49 Wallis, Willem III en de moord der gebroeders De Witt, 28, 37. See also Wijnne, "Dedood der De Witten," 276. 43

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although his personal scorn for them was evident. What they had done may have met his secret desires, which his friends may have seen even when he fought them down in himself; but there is no evidence that he ever put such wishes in so many words, no proof, indeed, that he ever held them. 50 What is beyond doubt—except for one who is either blind to the evidence or sees the prince as utterly innocent in the ways of the worlfl—is that he was willing to let the mob work in order to disorganize and frighten the States party into acquiescence and flight. He almost certainly did not contemplate the final horror of the De Witts' death, but simply let things happen. 51 Others less finicky did the foul work of conspiracy and execution, and he did not disavow them. Other historians have turned from the narrow question of guilt to the wider one of the significance of the events of August 20. H. Brugmans, although seeing the massacre as an "expression of war psychosis," finds this not wholly adequate as an explanation. The idle, spectator role of the government bodies and then the impunity and rewards given to the perpetrators require explanation. 52 J. de Bosch Kemper, a nineteenthcentury historian, sees the massacre as an extraordinary event in Dutch history. It was due not to national character but to the exasperation of a people afraid of destruction and agitated by "vile murderers." He notes that party lines were crossed by family and social lines. 53 H. A. Enno van Gelder suggests that rtowhere was the situation of class conflict, of resentment of the small man against the great, as sharp as in The Hague. De Witt, although he never understood the feelings of the great mass, was "least guilty" of this in his own circle, and this was precisely his greatest tragedy. His remark to his murderers, "If you had all done what I did, the French would not have a single city yet," was the simple truth. But he "died for other men's mistakes which he had fought against and sought to make good." He was not only attacked by the burghers but deserted by the regents. 54 The De Witts died, wrote W r . G. Brill, to prevent others from suffering a like fate and to remove the point of the people's hatred, and hence to allow the government to go on. They were martyrs whose deaths helped William III to save the republic. 55 5 ο Wallis, Willem III and de moord der gebroeders De Witt, 43-46. Wijnne, "De dood der De Witten," 272, 277-79; P. L. Muller, "Willem III, de Koning-Stadhouder," in his Verspreide Geschnften, 365; Van YVessem, Koning-Stadhouder Willem III, 69; Geyl, Oranje en Stuart, 525. This is also the judgment of Baxter, William III and the Defense of European Liberty,84—85. 52 Brugmans, "Johan en Cornells de Witt," 1-2. " De Bosch Kemper, De staatkundige partijen in Noord-Nederland, 12-13. 5·· Enno van Gelder, "Johan de Witt als Hagenaar," 108-10, 5 5 Brill, Betwiste Bijzonderheden, 151-52. 51

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The Dutch Republic was indeed saved. The French invasion, had been halted. Brandenburg, the empire, Spain—all came to the aid of the beleaguered United Provinces. Within a year Louis XIV withdrew his troops from the republic in order to wage a long war against his new foes in Germany: it was no longer a Dutch war so much as a European war. 56 In 1674 Charles II withdrew from the conflict; he had been beaten at sea, and he had been beaten politically by his nephew, who used the very same strategy of appealing to the English nation over the head of its monarch that De Witt had counted upon, although it had not worked early enough to save him. When peace finally came in 1678 at Nijmegen, Louis was driven to accept an unwelcome treaty in order to keep Britain out of the war on the side of his enemies. William had been able to do what De Witt, for all his insight, diligence and zeal, could not achieve. Whether the prince would ever have come to power without the crisis of the invasion, we cannot know. The fact is that De Witt had not been able to prevent the coalition of the two most powerful monarchs in Europe against the United Provinces, not for want of ingenuity, but because neither Louis nor Charles was willing to pay the price for the Dutch alliance. The councilor pensionary's own base proved too small, the devotion of the people to the house of Orange too great, for him to be able to retain his grasp on power. Yet it must not be forgotten that until he was incapacitated by the assault on June 21 he worked steadily and hard, and in collaboration with William. There is no sign, in fact, that William sought to thrust him out of office; every sign, rather, indicates that it was the hate-filled men in his own camp who took advantage of their opportunities—who probably manufactured their opportunities—to get rid of him. They destroyed whatever chance there was for the "Child of State," grown to manhood, to work with his mentor in a common cause. That future events might have divided them, as they set Van Beuningen and Valckenier in conflict with William during the next decades, is possible, even likely; but that judgment is no longer history, but speculation. The story of De Witt's place in historical thought over the next three centuries belongs elsewhere; 57 we can close our tale with two tributes. One was official. Early in this century a statue was erected to this "perfect Hollander," as Temple called him, in the Square at The Hague 56

See Carl J. Ekberg, "From the Dutch War to European War," French Historical

Studies, VlII (1974),393-408. 5 7 It has not been done, although Pieter Geyl has given indications of its significance here and there in his work.

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where he was slain. The inscription on the base of the statue reads: Leader and servant of the Republic, Builder of her mightiest fleets, Defender of the free sea, Guardian of the country's money, Mathematician. 5 8 Perhaps the finest tribute, however, was that which came from the Dutch people themselves. In the folk language the phrase "one of De Witt's lads" ( eenjongen van De Witt) came to be used for a man of strength and thoroughness, resolution and courage, someone, in the words of the dictionary, "you can count upon." 59

5 8 "Leider en dienaar der Republiek/Vormer harer machtigste vloten/Verdediger der vrijen zee/Verzorger van 's Lands gelden/Wiskundige." L. \V. G. Schotel 5 "Johan de Witt," in his De Vrijheidsgedachte by Spinoza, Johan de Witt, Thorbecke en Groen van Prinsterer (Assen, 1948). See also T., "Bij het Monument van Johan de Witt," Eigen Haard, XLlV (1918), 405. H. Brugmans, ed., Geschiedems van Nederland i 8 vols. (Amsterdam, 1935-38), V, 80; Van Dale's Nieuw Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal, 7th ed., ed. C. Kruyskamp and F. de Tollenaere (The Hague, 1950), s.v. ''Jongen."

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XXVI (1905), 290-375. Kernkamp, J. H. "Brieven uit de correspondentie van Pieter de la Court en zijn verwanten (1661-1666)." Bijdragen en Mededeelingen van het Historisch Genootschap gevestigd te Utrecht, LXX (1956), 82-165.

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Charles Dreyss. 2 vols. Paris, 1860. . Oeuvres de Louis XIV. 4 vols. Paris, 1806. Madison, James. The Papers of James Madison. Edited by Henry D. Gilpin. 3 vols. Washington, D.C,, 1840. Mazarin, Jules. Lettres du Cardinal Mazarin pendant son ministere. Edited by Pierre Cheruel and Georges d'Avenel. 9 vols. Paris, 1872-1906. Molhuysen, P. C., ed. Bronnen tot de Geschiedenis der Leidsche Universiteit. 1 vols. Rijks Geschiedkundige Publication, Grote Ser., nos. 20, 29, 38, 45, 48, 53, 56. The Hague, 1913-24. Montbas, Jean Barton, comte de. Memoires de Mr Ie Comte de Montbas sur Ies Affaires de Hollande. Cologne, 1673. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England. The Second Dutch WarjDe Tweede Engelse Oorlog, 1665-1667. London, 1967. Newton, Sir Isaac. The Correspondence of Isaac Newton. Edited by H. C. Turnbull. 4 vols, to date. Cambridge, 1959—. Ormesson, Olivier Lefevre d'. Journal d'Olivier Lefevre d'Ormesson, et extraits des memoires d'Andre Lefevre d'Ormesson. Edited by Pierre Cheruel. 2 vols. Paris, 1860-61. Oudaan, Joachim. Gedenkwaardige Stukkens wegens den moordt der heeren

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Cornells en Johan de Witt, dienende tot opheldering van 't Treurspel, genaemt de "Haagsche Broeder-moordt," of dolle blydschap. Appended to Oudaan's Haagsche Breeder-Moord, of Dolle Blydschap. Frederikstad, n.d. . Gedichten . . . noit voor dezen in Ί licht gezien. Edited by H. K. Poot.

Delft, 1724. Parival, J. N. de. Abrege de I'histoire de ce siecle defer. Leiden, 1653. [I.N.D.P.]. Le vray L'Interet de la Hollande, Eleve sur Ies Ruines de eeluy qui voit Ie jour sous Ie nom de V.D.H. N.p., 1662. [I.N.D.P.]. Ware Interest van Holland; Gebouwt op de ruinen van den Interest van Holland, Onlangs uitgegeven Door V.D.H. Leiden, 1662. Perwich, William. The Despatches of William Perwich, English Agent in Pans, 1669-1677, preserved in the Foreign State Papers of the Public Record Office, London. Edited by M. Beryl Curran. London, 1903. Picavet, Camille-Georges. Documentsbiographiquessur Turenne (1611-1675).

Lille, 1914. Politijck Handboexken, Van de Staat van 't Nederlandt, Vertoonende Den Florisanten Staet ende veelvoudighe Middelen, tot onderhoudinge van de Selve. 3d ed.

N.p., 1650. Pomponne, Simon-Nicholas Arnauld, marquis de. Memoires du marquis de Pomponne, ministre et secretaire d'etat au Departement des Affaires Etrangeres.

Edited by J. Mavidal. 2 vols. Paris, 1868. . Pomponne's "Relation de mon ambassade en Hollande" 1669-1671.

Edited by Herbert H. Rowen. Werken uitgegeven door het Historisch Genootschap, 4th ser., no. 2. Utrecht, 1955. W. A. The Present State of the United Provinces of the Low Countries as to the Government, Laws, Forces, Riches, Manners, Customs, Revenue and Territory of the Dutch. 2d ed. London, 1671. Recueil des Instructions donnees aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France depuis Ies traites de Westphalie jusqu' a la Revolution Frangaise. Vol. XXI, Hollande, pt. i, 1648-1697. Edited by Louis Andre and Emile Bourgeois. Paris, 1922. Vol. XXV, Angleterre, pt. ii, 1666-1690. Edited byj. J. Jusserand.

Paris, 1929. Resolutien van Consideratie, der Ed. Groot Mog. Heeren Staten van Hollandt ende West-Vrieslandt genomen zedert den aenvang der bedieninge van den HEER Johan de Witt, Als Raedt-Pensionaris van haer Ed. Gr. Mog. 2d ed.

Amsterdam, 1719. Rosenthal, Nedermeier Ridder van. "Geheime Brieven van de gezanten Beverningk en Nieupoort aan den Raadpensionaris Johan de Witt." Bijdragen voor Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis en Oudheidkunde, 1st ser., X (1856), 285-315. Saint-Maurice, Thomas-Frangois Chabod, marquis de. Lettres sur la cour de Louis XIV, 1667—1670. Edited by Jean Lemoine. Paris, 1910.

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A. G. Wernham. Oxford, 1958. Srbik, Heinrich Ritter von, ed. Osterreichische Staatsvertrage: Niederlande. Vol. I [only vol. published]. Vienna, 1912. [Stoupe, J. B.] La religion des Hollandois, Representee en plusieurs lettres ecrites par un OjJicier de I'Armee du Roy, A un Pasteur & Professeur en Theologie de Berne. Cologne, 1673. Swinnas, Willem. Engelse, Nederlandse en Munsterse Krakeelen. 3 vols.

Rotterdam, 1668. Temple, Sir William. The Works of Sir William Temple Bart. 4 vols. London, 1757. Thurloe, John. A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq; Secretary, First, to the Council of State, And afterwards to The Two Protectors, Oliver and Richard Cromwell. 1 vols. London, 1742. Urkunden und Aktenstucke zur Geschichte des Kurfiirsten Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg. 23 vols. Berlin, 1864-1930. [Uytenhage de Mist, J.]. De Stadthouderlijke Regeennge in Hollandt en West-Vrieslant. Amsterdam, 1662. Valkenier, Petrus. 't Verwerd Europa, ofte Politijke en Historische Beschryvinge der Waare Fundamenten en Oorsaken en Revolutien in Europa, voornamentlijk in en omtrent de Nederlanden zedert den Jaare 1664. gecauseert door de gepretendeerde Universele Monarchie der Franschen. 3d ed. 2 vols. Amsterdam, 1688. Van Dale's Nieuw Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. 7th ed. Edited by

C. Kruyskamp and F. de Tollenaere. The Hague, 1950. Vondel, Joost van den. Volledige Dichtwerken en Oorspronkelijke Proza. Edited by Albert Verwey. Amsterdam, 1927. Wicquefort, Abraham de. L'ambassadeur et ses fonctions. New ed. 3 vols. Amsterdam, 1730. . Histoire des Provinces-Unies des Pai's-Bas, depuis Ie parfait etablissement de cet etat par la paix de Munster. Edited by E. Lenting and C. A. Chais

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PAMPHLETS AND NEWSPAPERS

Alphabetical by title. Pamphlets listed in W.P.C. Knuttel, Catalogus van de pamflettenverzameling berustende in de Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 9 vols. (The Hague, 1889-1920), are indicated by the "Kn." number, which is also the call number of the pamphlet in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague. Aenmerkingen op de beschuldigingen, raakende de Heeren Gebroederen De Witten;

BIBLIOGRAPHY

van Lambert van den Bos. in zijnen Reysenden Mercurius de selve Heeren te last gelegt. N.p., 1672. Kn. 11059. Aen-utijsinge Van de Heyloose Treken en Gebreken, van Mr. Hendnk Thybout, Voor desen Grooten Albeschik in ^eeland, en voornaamsten Aan-rader van het Belegeren van Amsterdam. . . . Flushing, 1651. Kn. 7318. Aesopus Defensor Sig erbarmende over de diepe sugten van Klagende Veen-boer. The Hague, 1662. Kn. 8658b. (Attributed to both J. Uytenhage de Mist and Pieter de la Court.) Apologie tegens de Algemeene en Onbepaalde Vryheid voor de Oude Hollandsche Regeeringe. . . . Amsterdam, [1672] (orig. pub. Middelburg, 1669). Kn. 9762. (Ascribed to Pieter de Huybert.) Bedenckingen Op de Deduetie Van de Ed. Gr. Mog. Staten van Hollandt, Noopende den Artijekel van Seelusie van den Heere Prince van Oragnien, Ingestelt door een Patriot van't Vaderlandt. N.p., 1654. Kn. 7550. Bedenekingen, Op den Staat des Geschils, Over de Cartesiaensehe Philosophie, En op de Nader Openinghe Over eenige stucken de Theologie raeckende, Door Irenaevs Philalethivas. Rotterdam, 1656. Kn. 7803. Bedenekingen Op het Boek Interest van Holland, Onlangs uit-gegeven onder de Letteren V.D.H. Ten dienste van alle Liefhebbers, die de waare Interest des Lands beminnen, vergadert door J.C. [Leiden, 1662]. Bedenekingen Over het geene door de Borgeryen van Hollandt is te weegh gebraeht, in het Avaneement van sijn Hoogheyd, den Prince van Orange, En verdedigingh, tegens soodanige, welcke de Borgeryen beschuldigen, als of sy hadden begaen Crimen lesae Majestatis; en dienthalven strafbaer voaren, aen den lijve, en goede. N.p., [1672], Bericht Van de Heer Raedt-Pensionaris Johan de Witt, Noopende de Secrete Correspondentie-Penningen; Nevens de Verklaringe van de Ed. Mog. Heeren Gecommitteerde Raden dies-wegen gedaen. The Hague, 1672. Kn. 10166. Bikkers Grillen, Drost van Muyden, Den 30. Julij, Anno 1650. N.p., [1650]. Kn. 6811. Brief Geschreven den 20. July 1672. Aen den Heere Ν. N. Door den Heere Johan de Wit, In sijn leven Advocaet, Raad Pensionaris, Groot Seegel-Bewaarder, ende Stadhouder van de Leenen van Holland ende West-Vriesland. Aengaende sijn E. ongemeen heylsame Directie omtrent de Finantien der opgemelde Landen, ende des niet jeegenstaande daaruit geraapte ende op sijn E. gepogene Laster kladde, als mede daer op gevolgde violente'dood den 20. Augusti 1672. Amsterdam, [1672]. Kn. 10169. Brief, Rakende het vangen der Ses Leden Van de Groot-mogende Heeren Staten van Hollandt en West-Vrieslandt, En 't belegeren van Amsterdam. Door Wel-hem Recht-hert van Vry-land. N.p., 1650. Kn. 6771. Brief vande Heere Protector Cromvvel Geschreven aende Heeren Staten van £eelandt, den 16/26 Junij 1654. Uyt het Latijn overgheset. N.p., 1654. Kn. 7557.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brillen voor alderhande gesichten. Utrecht, 1672. Kn. 10327. Brillerus Sondags-praetje. Leiden, 1672. Kn. 10490. Christelijcke en Politique Redenen, Waer om dat Nederlandt en Engelant tegens malcanderen niet moghen Oorloghen. Rotterdam, 1652. Kn. 7204. Copie van een Briej\ Geschreven uyt Rotterdam aen NN. Lieentiaet in de Rechten tot Dantzieh: Behelsende in 't korte 't Geene in de Vereenigde Nederlanden sedert den Jare 1648, tot den Jare 1672 voorgevallen is, raeekende de Manieren en Maximen van Regeringe en Oorspronek der tegenwoordige Onheylen, de selvige in desen Jare door de verderffelijcken Oorlogh der Koningen van Vranekrijek en Engelandt overgekomen. Rotterdam, 1672. Kn. 10479. Copye Van drye Brieven: Gesehreven van de Sweetsehe Ministers uyt Hollandt: Aen de Koninek van Sweeden. Geintereipieert in Denemareken. Van Dato den 1 en 4 Iunii, 1657. Leiden, 1657. Kn. 7837. Diseoursen, Over den tegenwoordigen Interest van het Landt. Tussehen een £eeu, Hollander en Raedsheer. Amsterdam, 1672. Kn. 10982. Diseovrs, Tussehen D. Borstius, Hugo Bastiaensen Van der Meer, Ende Jan Goedt-berieht. Ghehouden tot Dordrecht . . . den sesten Augusti 1651 . . . raeekende de beroerte binnen de voorsz. Stede, onder de Gemeente ontstaen . . . Leiden, 1651. Kn. 7058. Doeg der Edomiter. Dat is: Den Pristeren Aenklagher, Vertoont in de Wederlegginghe van 't Landt-en-Zj el-verdervende Libel, Geintituleert Noodige Aenmercking, Op het seditieus libel, &c. of Vruchteloos Bid-dagh. N.p., 1656. Kn. 7786. Dortse en Haagse Woonsdag en Saturdag, Of nader opening van de Bibliotheeeq van Mr. Jan de Witth, ^ijnde een samenspraak tussehen een Hagenaar en Dortenaar. N.p., 1672. Kn. 10443. Eenvoudigh Sehuyt-praetje, Tussehen een Haegenaer Een [sic] een Rotterdammer. Van saeeken die daer onlanghs voorgevallen zijn. N.p., 1672. Kn. 10472. Den Engelsehen Duyvel, Ontdekt door een Botte Sehelm, In twaalf Artijkelen van Cromwels geloof: Uyt-ghestrooydt teghens de Louvesteynsche Heeren en hare Adherenten; en wederleydt Door een Aertsvyandt van Muytmakers. N.p., 1652. Kn. 7301. Engelsehen Oorlog, Ontsteken door haar Brandende Gierigheyd en Rooverye ter ^ee1 Op de Onderdanen Van de Zeven ^Ve Vereenigde Provintien: ^ijnde een Vervolg, Van den Engelsehen Alarm. Rotterdam, 1652. Kn. 7246. Eutrapelus Ofte Middelburgs Praetje. Middelburg, 1652. Kn. 7311. [Lisola, Francois Paul, baron de]. La France Demasquee, Ou ses Irregularitez Dans sa Conduite, & Maximes. The Hague, 1670. Fransehe Ontrouw, Voorgesteld in een Gesprek tussehen vier Personen, Een Hollander, een ^eeuw, een Brabander en een Fransman; zijnde Koopluyden. Antwerp, 1657. Kn. 7865. Geneesmiddelen voor Hollants-qualen. Vertoonende De quade Regeeringe der Loevesteynse Factie. Antwerp, [1672]. Kn. 10378.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Geschreven Antwoord., Op eenige Vragen, Rakende de Belegering van Amsterdam, en den Heer van Sommelsdyk (27 Juli). Leiden, 1651. Kn. 7016. De gesteeurde Hollantsche Leevw. Ofte het Belegerde Amserdam [.we], Sijnde een korte beschrijving van het geene datter voorgevallen is, tusschen sijn Hoogheyt de Prince van Orangie, en de Stadt Amsterdam. Voorgesteldt in een t'samenspraeck tusschen Vier Persoonen: een Haegsche Bode, en een Gebooren Amsterdammer, met een Borger en een Waerdt. N.p., 1650. Kn. 6865. Het ghetal der Schepen, die van de . . . Staten van Holland, ^ee-Iandt, en WestVrieslandt connen in ^eeghebracht worden . . . Rotterdam, [1652], Kn. 7128. Grondigh Bericht, Nopende den lntrest van desen Staet, vermidts de doodt van Sijn Hoogheyt, met het noodtsaeckelijcke Redres van dien. Rotterdam, 1651.

Kn. 7009. Haagsch Winkel-Praatje, oft Gesprek, Voor-gevallen in den Hage, tusschen vier Personen, Een Hollander, een ZeeuJ een Vries, ende een Greuninger: Nopende de Amnestie, Dank, en Vier-dag. Leeuwarden, 1651. Kn. 7039. Haeghs Hof-Praetje, Ofte 't Samen-spraeck tusschen een Hagenaer, Amsterdammer, ende Leyenaer, Op ende tegens de valsche Calumnien, ende versierde leugenen van Pieter la Court, gestelt in sijn alsoo genoemde lntrest van Holland, ende Gronden van't Hollandts welvaren. Leiden, 1662. Kn. 8654. Helle-vreucht Over den Herbooren, Ende Nieu-regnerende Hollandtschen Cromwel Alias s' Hollandts intrest, ende Stadthouders Regeringh Beschrijver. N.p., 1662.

Kn. 8656. Herstelling van de EE. Heeren Bikkers, Burgemeesteren der Stadt Amsterdam.

N.p., [1650?]. Kn. 6885. Hoe veel den Vereenigde Provintien Gehoort gelegen te zyn, de her-stellinge van den Coninck van Groot-Britangie. Uytgegeven op de tegenwoordige gelegenheyt van Oorlog tusschen Hen, en de Engelsche Rebellen. [The Hague], 1653. Kn. 7426. Hollands Nieuw Jaar Gezonden aan den Heere Officier van Uitrecht. Over het ophalen en onderdrukking der Hollandse Vrijheid. En het toestaen en gedoogen van alderhande Pasquillen tegen de Ed. Grooten Heeren Staten van Holland &c.

The Hague, 1664. Kn. 8916. Hollands Op-komst, Oft Bedenkingen, Op de schaadelijke Schriften, genaamt Graafelyke Regeeringe, en Interest van Holland, Uit-gegeven door V.D.H. Ten dienste van alle Liefhebbers, die de waare Interest van Holland beminnen, vergadert door J.C. 2d ed. Leiden, 1662. [I.I.V.P.] Hollandt Hollende Na 't Verderf, Beklaegt, Bestraft, Getroost.

Amsterdam, 1672. Kn. 10280. Hollandts Venezoen, Verkneedt: Ende in een Oranjen Oven Herbakken. Door een Liefhebber des Vaderlandts Vryheydt, en dienvolgende van Sijn Hoogheydt, den Heere Prince van Orangien. N.p., 1672. Kn. 10612. Hollants ende Zeevws Praetjen, Op 't voorstellen van een aensienlijck ende gequalifieeert Hooft1 Tot directie van de Krychs-saecken so te water als te Lande.

Amsterdam, 1652. Kn. 7309.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hollants Mars-Banquet, Opgedischt Door L. Annaeus Florus in sijn II. Boek aen het VI. Capittel, handelende van den tweeden Punischen oorlog, dese der Nederlanders niet ongelijk. N.p., 1672. Kn. 10308. Hollants praatjen, Tusschen vier personen . . . Het Eerste Deel. Antwerp, 1650.

Kn. 6824. Hydra of Monster-Dier. Dat tzedert den Jare 1650. in de Vereenighde Nederlanden gewoedt heeft, en nu van Hercules wert bestreden: en alrede eenige van sijn Hoofden verlooren, en alsoo verder staat t'onder gebracht te werden. Rotterdam,

1672. Kn. 10601. Hydra of Monster-Dier, Dat tzedert den Jare 1650. in de Vereenigde Nederlanden gewoed heeft, en nu van Hercules is bestreeden en overwonnen. Ook speciael vervattende een Antwoort op de Laster-boekjes tegen den Prince van Oranje, genaemt het Leger-praetje, &c. . . . Het tweede Deel. Rotterdam, 1672.

Kn. 10602. I.V.H. Kort ende ivaeractich Vertoog Van al 't geen t'sedert den 5. Augusti tot den eersten December deses, over ende weder tusschen de respective Provincien gepasseert en voorgevallen is in 't benoemen ende aenstellen van een Chef ofte Chefs over 's Landts-Militie, t'introduceren van d'Heer Prins van Orange, In den Raedt van Staten t'separeren of mortificeren van Stadhouderschap, &c. Amster­

dam, [1667], Kn. 9584. Korte Aanteeckeninge, Dienende tot Antwoort op seker Libel, genoemt Bedenckingen, Op de Deductie van de . . . Staten van Hollandt, Noopende den Artijckel van Seclusie, Van den Heere Prince van Oragnien. Holland, 1655. Kn. 7660. Korte Aenmercking ende Aenwysinge Op den Brief van den Konmck van Groot Brittanien, Geschreven aen Hare Hoogh Mogentheden van den 4 October oude of den 14 Nieuwen Styl 1666. The Hague, [1666], Kn. 9382. Korte Vragen en Antwoorden, Over de Deductie ofte Declaratie van de Staten van Holland ende West-Vrieslandt . . . Amsterdam, 1654. Kn. 7552. Lauweren-Krans Gevlochten voor Syn Hoocheyt, Wilhelm, de Heer Prince van Oranjen . . . N.p., [1650], Kn. 6851. (Ascribed to Jacobus Stermont.) 't Leven en Bedrijf van Mr. Jan van O Idenbarnevelt, Overeengebraght met dat van Mr. Jan de Wit; Beyde Pensionarissen van Hollandt en Westvrieslandt. Als vogels van eenderley veeren. N.p., 1672. Kn. 10432. Leven, en Doodt, Vande Heeren en Meesters, Cornells, en Johan de Witt. I. Deel.

N.p., 1672. Kn. 10434. Minne-sang Op de Bruijloft van den Heer Mr. Johan de Witt en Juffr. Wendela Bickers. N.p., [1655]. (Broadside.) Missive Van de Heer Raedt-Pensionaris de Witt, geschreven aen de Edele Groot Heeren Staten van Hollandt en West-Vrieslandt [June 22, 1672]. [The

Hague], 1672. Kn. 10132a. [I.R-] De Mot in 't Vossevel. Of gemeene 't Zamenspraek Voorgevallen tusschen Koenraad Stuurrecht, Schipper, een Hans Klopuit, Bontwercker. The Hague, 1660. Kn. 8389.

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't Muyder-Spoockje. Ontdeckt aen haren Drost den Heer Gerard Bicker . . . N.p., 1650. Kn. 6813. De Na- Ween vande Vrede. Ofte Ontdeckinge van de kommerlijcke ghelegentheydt onses lieven Vaderlants . . . N.p., 1650. Kn. 6756. Nederlantsehe Absolutie Op de FranscheBelydenis. Amsterdam, 1648 [misprinted 1684], Kn. 5770. Nieuw Rotterdams Marekt-schuyt Praetjen. Varende van Rotterdam nae Dordrecht tusschen 7 personen . . . Dordrecht, 1647. Kn. 5596. Den Noyt Omgekeerden Rock, ofte t'Samen-spraeck, Tusschen een goedt Hollandts Patriot, Snyder en Soldaet. Amsterdam, 1660. Kn. 8380. Den Ommeganck van Amsterdam. Ofte onderrichtinge, over Het versekeren van eenighe Hollandtsche Heeren, door den Prince van Oraengien; en Blocqueren vande Stadt van Amsterdam, door Sijn Excellentie Gouverneur van Vrieslant. Breda, 1650. Kn. 6775. [Lisola, Francois Paul, baron de]. D'Ongeregeltheyt van het beleyt van Vrankrijk ende van de grondregelen van desselfs staatkunde, ontdekt ende toongestelt. N.p., 1670. ('Translation of La France Demasquee.) Onpartydige Consideratien, Over de Missive van sijn Hoogheyt. Muyden, 1672. Kn.10340. d'Onstelde Amsterdammer, Met Sijn trouwe waerschouwinghe, Raed en Antwoort Op Bickers Beroerten. Eerste Deel. Brussels, 1650. Kn. 6848. Ontdeckinghe van den Nederlandtschen Cancker. Waer mede't geheele Lichaem van onsen Staet deerlijck is gesmeet. . . . N.p., 1653. Kn. 7441. Ontdeckinghe, Van den tegenwoordigen standt onses Vader-Landts, waer het hapert, en hoe de In-ghesetenen, uyt haer groot verstel, spoedelijck souden connen veriest worden, en uyt de Enghelsche Oorlog ghereddet. Middelburg, 1653. Kn. 7462. d'Ontdeckte Ambassade van de Groot, Ambassadeur in Vranckrijck. Waer in 't geheym van sijn secrete Handelingh met sijn Complicen vertoont wert. N.p., 1672. Kn. 10466. 'T Ontdekte Vergift, gevonden in de Hollandtse Venezoen. Voorgestelt tot waarschouwing van alle Liefhebbers van Sijn Hoogheyt. N.p., 1672. Kn. 10616. d'Ontroerde Leeuw: Behelsende Een Historisch Relaes van de merkweerdigste Geschiedenisse van tijt tot tijt voorgevallen sint de beginselen van desen O orlog, tot nu toe. Amsterdam, 1672. Kn. 10526. Oogen-Salve, Voor de Blinde Hollanders. . . . Rotterdam, 1650. Kn. 6852. Oprecht Verhael van 't gepasseerde ontrent de Detentie van Cornells de With . . . Mitsgaders De Sententie daer op gevolght, als oock het Massacreren van den gemelte Cornells de With, nevens desselfs Breeder Johan de With. . . . N.p., 1672. Kn. 10191. Oprechte Haerlemse Dingsdaegse Courant. August 23, 1672. D'Oprechte Oranje Oogen-salf Opgeveylt door een Hollantse Quacksalver, Aen alle Oranje Liefhebbers. N.p., 1672. Kn. 10499. Oranje in 't Hart. N.p., 1672. Kn. 10272.

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De Penitentie Gegeven aen den Franschen Drucker Op syn Paes-biecht. Amsterdam,

1648. Kn. 5769. Politique Aenmerckinge over den Oorlogh, Tusschen Engelandt en de Vereenighde Nederlanden. N.p., 1665. Kn. 9128. Praetjen tussehen Griet Leunis ende Aeltjen Kraeex, Voor-ghevallen in 't omkeeren vande Hollandtsche Orangie-brouck, sijnde d'een een Snijders, ende d'ander een Soldaten Vrouw. N.p., 1660. Kn. 8383. Project Vande . . . Staten van Holland: Jn wat voegen deselve van meeninge zyn hare Regeeringe te formeren. N.p., [1650]. Kn. 6734. Propositie, Van de Heeren Arent Iurrien van Haersolte, tot Olden-have Liut: Colonel, Roelof van Langen Borgemeester der Stad Campen, Henrik Wiltsen [«c] . . . Gedaen ter Vergaderinge van haer Ed. Gr. Mog. de Heeren Staten van Hollandt ende West-Frieslant. Anno 1655, den Ijll May. The Hague, 1655.

Kn. 7674. Het recht der Sovverainiteit van Hollandt, Ende Daer tegens de vvel-gefundeerde redenen; by de Heeren Staten Generael, Syn Hoogheydt, ende den Raet van Staten, tot weder-legginge vande Hollantsche Souverainiteit. N.p., 1650. Kn. 6741. Het Rechte Derde Deel van 't Hollands Praatje, Aangaande De wettige Souverayniteyt van de . . . Staten van Holland, etc. N.p., 1650. Kn. 6842. De rechte ondeckinge [sic~\ Vande Hollantsche Regerende Loevesteynsche Heeren.

Dordrecht, 1652. Kn. 7302. Het Rechte Tweede Deel, van 't Hollands Praatje, Verdedigende het Recht van de . . . Staten van Hollandt en West-Vrieslandt. Antwerp, 1650. Kn. 6839. [Wicquefort, Abraham de]. Remarques Sur Ie Discours du Commandeur de Gremonvi lie, Fait au Conseil d'Estat de Sa Majeste Imperiale. The Hague,

1672. Kn. 10500. Requeste Voor De groote Vergaderinge van't gemeene Volck deses Lands Aen sijn Hoogheyt den Prince van Orange. Delft, 1672. Kn. 10595. Rotterdam Hersteldt, door het accorderen vande Magistraet in het versoeck der Burgeren, Tot het renuncierin van hare Ampten, En toestaen dat zijne Hoogheydt als Stadthouder uyt het nomineren. . . . N.p., [1672]. Kn. 10209. Rotterdamse Donderdagse Zee en Post-Tydingen. No. 58, July 21, 1667. t'Samen-spraeck, Tussehen een Hollander Ende Deen, Over dese tegenwoordighe tijdts gelegentheyt. Leiden, 1657. Kn. 7831. Sententie, Jegens Meester Johan de Vries, Ghewesene Thesaurier der Stadt Dordrecht, Gepronuncieert den 28 Januarij 1664. The Hague, 1664. Kn.

8943. Sententie van den generalen Hove van Nederlandt, Tegens Mr. Cornells de Witt, Out-burgermeester der Stadt Dordreght, &c. en Mr. Jan de Witt, Gewesen Raat-Pensionaris van Hollandt en West-Vrieslandt. Ghepronuncieert voor langh, en ge-executeert den 20. Augusti, 1672. The Hague, 1672. Sententie, Van den Hove van Hollandt en West-Vrieslandt, jegens Mr. Cornells de Wit, Oudt-Burgemeester der Stadt Dordrecht, &c. Gepronuncieert den twintighsten Augusti 1672. The Hague, 1672.

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Kn. 7534. Tooneel der Wereltse Verandering Gesien in de Persoonen van Kornelis en loan de Wit. N.p., [1672], Kn. 10195. Trits van Verstanden. Pen en Inkt, Brillaris en Pasquillus met sijn Oude Profecyen.

N.p., 1672. Kn. 10374. Het Triumpherend London Aen den Doorluchtighsten Grootmachtigsten Prins Carel de Tweede . . . Op het wettigh Proclameeren van zyne Majesteit in zyn Errifkoninck-rykken. Mitsgaders de Triumphante Inkomste van zijne Hoogst-gemelte Majesteyt in 's Graven-hage. The Hague, [1660?]. Trouwhartige Aenspraeck, Aen alle goede Patriotten Van desen Staet1 in dese gelegentheit. Leiden, 1650. Kn. 6905. Tweede Samen-spraeck, Tusschen een goedt Hollandts Patriot, Snyder, en Soldat. Dienende tot Antwoordt aen een fielachtighen Pasquil-maecker. Delft, 1660.

Kn. 8382. Tweede t' Samen-spraeck, Tusschen een Hollander ende Deen, Over dese tegenwoordighe tijts gelegentheyt. Leiden, 1657. Kn. 7832. Two Letters, One from the States-General to His Most Christian Majesty, The other from His most Christian Majesty to the States-General: Relating to the Present Conjuncture of affairs. Edinburgh, 1672. Kn. 9947. Den Val van de Witten. In een t'Samenspraek Tusschen Pieter en Klaes. N.p.,

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N.p., [1672]. Kn. 10617. Verdedigende Redenvoering Voor de Ere van den Doorlugtigen1 Getrouwen, en Doorsigtigen Grondlegger der Nederlandsche Vryheid Willem den Eersten. By

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INDEX

Aa, Maurice van der, 521, 522, 680. Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), 363, 706, 707. Aachen, Peace of, 178, 709, 711, 719, 721, 724, 743, 763, 764, 773-75, 777,811. Abbenbroek, 130. Abcoude, 34. Abjuration, Act of, 380. Ablasserwaard, 551. Admiralties (see also individual admiralties), 80, 81, 175, 177-80, 189, 267, 288,462, 584,800. Aernhout, Martin, 249, 742. Aerssen, Cornelius van, see Sommelsdijk, lord of. Aertsbergen, see Capellen, Alexander van der, lord of Aertsbergen. Aire, 652, 702. Airy, Osmund, 705. Aitzema, Lieuwe van, 47, 70, 93, 141, 147, 173, 204,245, 250, 253, 263, 332, 356, 358,351, 361, 368, 370, 373, 374, 450, 359, 605, 609,623,716. Aix-en-Provence, 18. Albertine Agnes, princess of Nassau, 666-68.

Albrantswaart, lord of, see Bye, J a n de. Alewijn family, 122. Alfonso VI, king of Portugal, 291. Algiers, 463. Alicante, 462. Alkmaar, 90, 174, 216, 224, 226, 229, 285, 324, 330,518, 805,848. Alliance, Triple, see Triple Alliance. Allin, Sir Thomas, 574. Almonde, Adrian van, 348. Alphen aan den Rijn, 871, 878, 889. Amalia van Solms, princess of Orange, 26, 33,47, 199,200, 209,220-22, 230,231, 276, 288, 296,298, 335, 361-63, 366, 370, 371, 373,449, 514, 517, 520-25,527, 530-32, 534-45, 557, 560, 564, 568-71, 615,618,619,640,668,669,671,673-75, 791, 792, 794, 846,847,850,851,886. Amboina, 65, 258, 259,452, 730. Amboise, 18. Amerongen, lord of, see Reede, Adrian Godard van. Amersfoort, 108, 438. Ameyden, 351. Amsterdam, 5, 26, 28, 30-38, 42, 45, 53, 81, 82, 100-2, 104, 106, 108', 111-13, 118, 119, 121, 122, 134, 138, 141, 142, 145,

149, 150, 152, 157, 163-65, 171, 173, 177, 179, 181, 184, 189, 194,203, 204, 213, 224, 225,227, 228,236, 257,268, 274,277,282,283,285,287,288,291-93, 296-98, 300, 301, 306, 307, 313, 314, 317-19, 321-23, 327-32, 336, 341-48, 353, 365, 368, 373, 376,378, 391, 392, 396, 398,410,428,429, 533,440,441, 449,456-59,461,478,485,494, 501,502, 505, 507-09, 511,514, 515,517,518,539, 549, 558-61,576, 578,594, 625,629, 662-64, 672, 677, 717, 723, 739, 778, 782-87, 794-96, 798-801,805, 820, 832-36, 838,846,849, 889, 890. Amsterdam, admiralty of, 81, 173, 176, 177, 193, 197, 198, 277,288, 307, 322, 342, 461,467, 574, 575, 596, 813, 814. Amsterdam, bank of, 115, 119, 124, 183, 187, 721, 784. Andel, John van, 21, 23, 43, 155. Angers, 16. Anjou, Francis, duke of, 387. Antonides, J . , 510. Antwerp, 197, 132, 258, 309, 387, 478, 511, 561,618,621,685, 686, 722, 765, 852. Apollonius of Perga, 412-15. Appelboom, Harold, 147, 153, 280, 303, 307, 309, 315-17, 319-21, 624, 625, 718. Aquilius, Tileman, 76. Argenteau, 479. Aries, 18. Arlington, Henry Bennet, earl of, 256, 563, 613, 615, 617,619-21, 688, 695, 705, 711, 713, 714, 724, 725, 727, 728, 735, 738, 757, 851,852,857, 859,887, 888. Armenvilliers, French officer, 160. Arminians, 408, 420, 556, 853. Armorer, Sir Nicholas, 542. Army, Dutch, 3, 25-27, 30-39, 41, 42, 51-53, 6 3 , 6 4 , 8 4 - 8 6 , 8 9 , 9 0 , 152-62, 175, 178,179,194,197,199-201,203,205, 209,253,255,260-62,280,287,294,299, 309-12, 322-24, 326, 335, 349, 351, 352, 354, 367, 368, 370-79,386, 387, 392,447, 514,533,561, 564,565, 571, 587,588, 595, 599-610,614,643,645,666,668-72, 675-79, 681, 689, 699, 734-45, 747, 749, 758, 767, 768, 778, 779, 788-91, 794, 795, 798, 799,801,804-14, 816-35,837,847, 854-56, 869,878,889,80. Arnauld family, 751. Arnhem, 229, 834.

929

INDEX Assembly, Great, see Great Assembly (1651). Assendelft family, 97, 102, 104. Assovedo, Francisco (Moses Cohen), 441. August, Frederick, duke of SchleswigHolstein, 544. Austria, 131, 132, 294, 295, 323, 695, 711,719, 774-78. Austria, house of, see Habsburg, house of. Auvergne, count of, 160. Ayscue, Sir George, 597. Bacherus, Wolfert, 498. Balbi, Genoese resident of Amsterdam, 149. Baltic, Baltic Sea, 260, 261, 264, 266, 267, 285, 292, 295-97, 303, 305-8, 310, 311, 315, 316, 319, 322-27, 330-33, 346, 378, 475, 558, 574, 676, 690, 691, 694, 718. Bampfield, Colonel Joseph, 160, 161, 231, 623, 659, 665, 668, 809, 812, 827. Banchem, John van, 879, 889. Banckert, Adrian, 592. Bantam, 265. Barcelona, 276, 277. Basnaee, [acques, 891. Bath, 19. Beaucaire, 18. Beaufort, Francjois de Vendome, duke of, 586, 589, 591,592,648, 650. Beaumont, Herbert van, 90, 92, 95, 340, 363, 370,454, 507, 508. Beaumont, Simon van, 878. BeeckejJohn van der, 87, 361, 364, 369, 372, 374-77. Beeckman, Isaac, 10-12. Bellarmine, Robert Cardinal, 409. Bellefonds, Bernardin Gigault de, 623. Bentinck, Hans Willem, 871, 890. Berck, John, 338, 661. Berck, Matthew, 49, 93, 338. BerckelJohn van, 102, 112, 113, 117, 165. Berckel, Maria de Witt-, see Witt-Berckel, Maria de. Berckhout, Paul, 167. Bergen, Norway, 583. Bergen-op-Zoom, 158, 630, 766, 790-92, 827. Bergeyck, John Baptist Brouchoven, baron, 685,686,689, 704. Bergues, 652. Beringen, equerry of Louis XIV, 160. Berlin, 362, 370, 770-72. Bernart, Peter, 147. Bernarts, Miss, 100. Besson, innkeeper at Angers, 16.

Betuwe, 831, 834. Beukelaer, innkeeper at The Hague, 879. Beuningen, Conrad van, 71, 92, 95, 100, 111, 145, 152, 160, 162, 179, 182, 185, 199, 203, 234, 240, 243-47, 249, 275, 288, 295, 303-8, 310-15, 317-22, 327, 328, 330, 332, 346-48, 365, 411, 465-68, 470, 486-89, 498, 518, 558, 561, 563, 564, 572, 591, 593, 599, 606, 607, 609, 610, 612, 613, 625, 635-38, 640,642-49, 651, 653-57, 661,662,669,674,684,687,690, 692, 701, 703, 704, 709, 711, 712, 716, 717, 723, 725, 727, 731-35, 737-39. 742-45, 768, 776, 783, 784, 796, 797, 799-801,803, 817, 842, 852, 857, 859-61, 890,893. Beveren, Van, family, 6, 339, 340, 355. Beveren, Abraham van, lord of Barendrecht, 165, 200, 250, 300, 338-41, 367, 520, 522-28, 549-57. Beveren, Alida van, 506, 554, 555. Beveren, Cornelius van, lord of Strevelshoeck, 165, 338, 339, 550-55, 767. Beveren, Cornelius van (son of foregoing), 552, 553, 555. BeverenjJacob van, lord of Zwijndrecht, 22, 109, 339, 548,554,556, 883, 886. BeverenjJohn van, 340. Beveren, William van, 165, 167, 244, 340, 555, 557. Beveren-De Witt, Johanna van, 11, 22, 97, 102, 108, 109, 181, 339, 502, 503,507, 550, 556, 581, 885. Beverningk, Hieronymus (Jerome) van, 77-79,81,82, 103, 104, 149, 155, 156, 162, 171, 192, 197, 201-19, 221, 224-30, 233, 234, 243, 245-47, 250-52, 258, 264, 273,280,290, 319, 335, 356-62, 365, 371, 373,426,498,499, 539,600,608, 614-17, 625-33, 639, 643-47, 653, 654, 656, 657, 661,677,690, 714, 763-67, 770, 773, 774, 781, 793, 796, 797,807,808,811, 825-35, 838, 852,855, 860, 861. Beverningk-Gillon, Johanna van, 104. Beverweert, Louis of Nassau, lord of, 157, 158, 168, 194,206,207,282-84, 361,442, 443, 448, 450,452-55,458, 515, 517, 518, 520, 522,524-35, 559, 787, 792. Beverwijk, 104, 130, 285, 364, 391. Beyerland, 167, 862. Bible, 233, 398, 403, 404, 409-11, 423, 436, 887. Bicker family, 40, 46, 100, 103, 110, 112, 132,501,664. Bicker, Andrew, 36, 37, 100, 110.

INDEX Bicker, Cornelia, 106, 111, 114,492, 502, 507. Bicker, Cornelius 35-37, 100, 110. Bicker, Elizabeth, 106, 107, 508. Bicker, Geertruid, see Deutz-Bicker, Geertruid. Bicker, Gerard, bailiff of Muiden, 35, 163, 663. Bicker, Gerard, lord of Swieten, 104, 110, 357,493,496, 501, 505, 507-9,663, 783, 784. Bicker,Jacob, 111. Bicker, Jacoba, see Graeff-Bicker, Jacoba de. Bicker, John, father of Wendela de Witt-Bicker, 100, 110,511. Bicker,John ( J a n ) , 111. Bicker, Margaretha, 505. Bicker-De Graeff, Agneta de, 101, 106, 107, 112,511. Bicker van Swieten-Van Papenbroeck, Alida, 104. Bickers Island, 115, 116. Blaeuw, J a n , 391,491. Blake, Robert, 67-69, 71-73, 79, 427. Blankenburg, 479. Blaspeil, Lucas, 598. Blyenburch, Adrian van, lord of Naaldwijk, 165, 338, 339, 342, 551, 554, 673,844. Bodegraven, 852, 864. Bodin, Jean, 380. Boeckhorst, Amelis van, lord of Wimmenum, 97, 156, 165, 355, 372, 443, 445,446, 508, 518, 521, 523, 559,562, 659, 787. Boetselaer van Asperen, Philip Jacob van, 877, 878. Bonin, George von, 298. Bontemantel, Hans, 679. Bootsma, Epo van, 370. Borculo, 299,604,609, 779. Bordeaux, 17,467. Bordeaux-Neufville, Antoine, 701, 705, 713, 738. Boreel, John, ambassador to England, 244, 460,571,573,580, 582, 583, 585,688, 695,696, 710, 711, 714, 723, 725, 727, 728, 731, 732, 738, 740, 744-46, 752, 756-58,776,816. Boreel, John, son of foregoing, 621, 672. Boreel, William, 73, 243, 244, 254, 271-75, 279, 281, 286,287, 338,427.465,470, 473,484,486,487, 602,661, 684, 692, 709,710, 754. Bornholm, 328.

Borri, Franciscus Joseph, 508. Bos, Lambert van, see Sylvius, Lambert. Bosch, Den, see's Hertogenbosch. Bosch, Jacob van den, 144, 145, 391, 499, 698, 837. Bosch Kemper, J . de, 892. Brabant, Spanish, 59, 62, 420, 474, 476, 478,480,481,642,648, 763. Brabant, States, 62, 135, 608, 609, 827, 828, 834, 850. Braeckel, John van, 543. Brakel, J a n van, 595. Brandenburg, 220, 295-99, 307-11, 317, 321, 324, 329, 330, 521, 531, 533, 534, 538, 598,650, 690, 699, 700, 752, 753, 755, 768-71, 777, 778,893. Brandt, Christopher von, 611, 622. Brandt, Gerard, 440. Brasset, French resident, 158. Brazil, 96, 244, 290-93, 295, 335. Breda, 3, 89, 149, 270, 402, 424,442, 443, 451,549,625,626,629-33,653, 655,657, 676,684,685,828. Breda, Peace of, 249, 510, 596, 632, 633, 658, 683, 684, 688, 712, 733, 755, 772, 787, 793, 796,813. Brederode, Amelie de, 157, 335, 353, 354. Brederode, Amelie de, baroness de Slavatha, see Slavatha, Amelie de Brederode, baroness de. Brederode, Henry van, 157, 353, 354. Brederode, John Wolfert van, 98, 99, 157, 200, 213,215,216,220, 350-55, 363, 365, 366,562, 599,600. Brederode, Wolfert van, 353, 354. Bremen, 287, 650,718. Brest, 592, 650, 803, 818. Briel, Den, 167, 507, 550,561,580, 627, 813. Brienne, Lomenie de, 133, 134, 465, 473. Brill, W. G., 892. Bristol, 19. Broeck, Peter van den, 175. Broecke, Philip van den, 437. Broen, Marcus, 492. Bromley, Lord, 672. Bromsebro, Treaty of, 324. Bronckhorst, Cornelius van, 32. Bruce, Alexander, earl of Kincardine, 416, 417. Bruges, 479, 652, 685,689. Brugmans, H., 892. Brun, Antoine, 289, 436. Brunswick-Luneburg, 178, 603-6, 650, 690, 752, 755, 768, 771, 777, 779. Brussels, 290, 443,478, 617, 622,623, 631,

931

INDEX Brussels, 685,688, 689,695, 702, 704, 706, 720, 726, 751, 763, 766-68, 774,816,817,842, 859. Bruyn, De, 841,842. Bruyn (Brune)jJohn de, 84, 86. Bruynincx, Gerard Hamel, see Hamel Bruynincx, Gerard. Buat, Henry Fleury de Coulan, sieur de, 533, 542,613-22,624,645, 649, 664,669, 675,679, 680,683, 792, 865,873,882, 889. Buckingham, George Villiers, duke of, 695, 734, 736, 747,851,852,857. Buderich, 829, 831. Burch, Anna Hoogeveen-Van den, see Hoogeveen-Van den Burch, Anna. Burmannus, Franciscus, 410. Buysero, Laurens, 522, 529, 53 J, 543, 668. Buytendijck, Goswinus, 437. Bye1Jande, 864, 865, 869. Cabeljau, Peter, 169, 425. Cadillac, 17. Cadiz, 462. Cadzand, 850. Caesar, Julius, 386. Calais, 18, 852. Calvinism, Calvinists, see Reformed Church. Cambria, 652, 658, 702, 707. Cambresis, 658. Campen1Jan van, 463. Canterbury, 18. Cape Verde, 460-63. Capellen, Alexander van der, lord of Aertsbergen, 29-31, 33, 37. Capellen tho Rijssel, Henry van der, 372. Carlos II, king of Spain, 468, 476-80, 484, 646, 652, 689, 693, 716, 726, 733, 769, 774. Carpentier, Roeland de, 551. Castel Rodrigo, Francisco de Moura y Cortereal, marquis de, 598, 651, 685, 686, 695, 697 704-8, 719. Castille, Inigo de Velasco y Tovar, duke of Frias and Constable of, 720, 721, 774. Catholics, Roman, 51, 263, 300, 402, 436-39,510,598,599, 725, 734, 738, 778, 849, 850. Cats, Jacob, 9, 32, 33, 50, 53, 55-57, 103, 144, 145, 147, 546. Cavaliers, 45, 54-56, 209, 259, 263, 265, 266,272, 296, 359, 363,411,447. Ceulen (Colonius), Daniel van, 409. Ceylon, 293.

Champigny, 17. Chanut, Pierre, 103, 134, 207, 222, 234, 236,272-75, 336, 366, 401,436. Charisius, Peter, 305, 325, 332, 333, 621. Charlemagne, 481. Charleroi, 658, 704, 827. Charles I, king of England, 19, 443, 732. Charles II, 25, 28, 29, 55, 70, 73, 75, 88, 160, 202, 203, 206, 208, 254, 255, 259, 269-71,289,298, 299, 333, 363, 379, 389, 397, 433, 442-45, 448, 449, 451-53, 456-59, 462-65, 486, 487, 513-20, 526-40, 542, 543, 547, 548, 558, 559, 564, 566, 574, 594, 595, 598, 611-29, 635-37, 640, 642, 643, 646, 655, 657, 667, 671-73, 676, 683, 688, 689, 691, 694-97, 702, 704, 705, 711-15, 719, 721, 724, 725, 727-39, 743-49, 751, 752, 755-77, 776,802, 804, 805, 816, 832, 836, 848, 850-52, 893. Charles II, king of Spain, see Carlos II. Charles X, king of Sweden, 306, 310, 314-16, 319-23, 328, 329, 333, 574. Charles XI, king of Sweden, 743. Charles IV, duke ofLorraine, 731, 734, 735. Charles Emmanuel II, duke of Savoy, 427. Chartres, 16. Chatham, 18, 168, 460, 510, 575, 594, 595, 630-33, 656, 657, 662, 739, 781, 818. Cherasco, Treaty of, 473. Christina, queen of Sweden, 14, 304-6, 363. Clarendon, Edward Hyde, earl of, 267, 357, 445, 446, 450, 452, 455, 458, 459, 462,463,479, 532, 533, 538-40, 542, 622, 665, 688, 745. Claudius Civilis, 511. Clausewitz, Karl von, 611. Clement IX, pope, 695, 778. Clement, Esaias, 420. CletcherjThomas, 108, 109. Cleves, 245, 296, 297, 366, 524, 530-32, 538, 598, 608, 609, 614-16, 626, 643-47, 654, 674, 675, 714, 770-72, 791, 833. Cloeck, Henry, 164, 664. Clouck, Jacob, 189, 722. CoccejusjJohannes, 410, 424. Coenen,John, 102. Coenen-De Veer, Maria, 102. Colbert, Charles, marquis de Croissy, 608, 609, 623, 643, 644, 646, 647, 714-16, 725, 732. Colbert, Jean-Baptiste, 151, 152, 170, 188, 189, 467, 470, 471, 634, 644, 647, 649, 654, 703, 714, 722, 741, 750, 751, 803. Colchester, 612. Collegiants, 420, 510.

INDEX Cologne, city, 241, 259, 363, 751, 887. Cologne, electorate and archbishopric, 186, 241, 300, 302, 691, 778, 811,812,826, 850. Colvius, Andreas, 24, 401, 402, 414. Conde, Louis II de Bourbon, prince of, 16, 733, 747, 758,835. Condorcet, M.J.A., marquis de, 190. Copenhagen, 159, 246, 249, 305, 307, 308, 310, 311, 319-26, 330, 332, 333, 389, 760, 761,832. Copes, John, 297, 538. Corput, van den, family, 3., 7 Corput, Anna van den, see Witt-van den Corput, Anna. Corstenhyanse, Jan, 872. Corver,John, 785. Costa, Hieronymo Nunes da, 292. Council, High, see High Council. Council of State, Dutch, 26-28, 30, 41, 61, 83, 132, 172, 180, 186, 230, 335, 361, 366, 376, 379, 430, 557, 600, 601, 666, 668, 670, 676, 733, 737, 752, 784, 788, 793-95, 797-99, 804-6, 826,840, 858, 859. Council of State, English, 54, 65, 66, 74, 76, 80, 159, 201-5. Court, John de la, 391, 395, 396. Court, Peter de la, 153, 176, 189, 254, 255, 381, 383, 391-98, 435, 602, 681, 854. Courtin, George, 261. Courtin, Honore, 626, 627, 641, 684, 685, 750. Courtrai, 704. Coventry, Henry, 629, 632, 633. Coyet, Peter, 624. Coy mans, Joseph, 115. Coyter, Hero, 128. Coyter,Jan, 115, 128. Croissy, marquis de, see Colbert, Charles, marquis de Croissy. Cromhout, Joseph, 124. Crommon, Marinus van, 826. Cromwell, Oliver, 46, 65, 68, 75-77, 147, 159, 185, 202-10,212, 213,216,217, 220-22, 224-29, 231,233-35, 237, 258-66,269,272,273,283,286,297,298, 307, 318, 319, 321, 324, 342, 356-59, 363, 373, 384, 426,427,443,445,448,451, 453, 464,475, 513, 514, 518, 520,533, 537,575, 621,583. Cromwell, Richard, 266, 267, 326. Cruyck, Cornelius, 195. Cryn, 844. CrynszjJacob, 128. Cunaeus, Petrus, 612, 613. Cuylenburch, William, 61.

Dam, Peter van, 563, 564. Damme, 479, 685, 689. Dammert, Dirk, 554. Danzig, 14, 145, 265, 300, 307-12, 374. Dati, Carlo, 416. Davidson, Sir William, 453, 515, 619, 620, 622.

Dedel, John, 146, 349,437. Delegated Councillors of Holland, 44, 46, 60, 68,94, 107, 110, 122, 124, 125, 138, 145, 187, 197, 213, 215, 218, 220, 225, 249, 277, 341, 351, 353, 362, 370, 371, 379, 395, 428, 449, 450, 456, 457,466, 477,506,555-57, 562,569, 587,620,621, 660, 740,648, 782, 799,801,805, 818, 823,854-56, 877,883,886. Delft, 20, 89, 166, 345, 435, 443, 454, 546, 621, 795, 808, 823, 832, 841, 878. Delfzijl, 581, 850. Dendy, Edward, 454. Denmark, 14, 111, 131, 197,206,209,212, 214, 227, 243,246, 255, 258, 261, 266, 272, 275, 295, 300, 303-13, 317-33, 344, 389,444,445,475, 558, 623,650, 676, 690, 713, 755, 760, 761, 768, 832. Deodati, Jean, 18. Descartes, Rene, 12, 13, 17, 24, 141, 190, 401-6,408-16, 432. Desmier, Eleonore, dame de Harbourg, mistress and later wife of duke George William of Brunswick-Zell, 125-27, 856. Deutz, Isabella, 108. Deutz, Jean, 100, 107, 108, 112-23, 126, 127, 130-32,163, 181,318, 329,441,464, 491-95, 497, 501-3, 507, 563, 662. Deutz-Bicker, Geertruid, 100, 106, 107, 500. Deventer, 363-66, 369, 370, 372, 375-79,

666. Devolution, law of, 478-84,648,655,693. Dieren, 43. Dillen, J. G. van, 654. Does, Wigbold van der, lord of Naaldwijk, 36, 158, 520, 522-24, 527, 534-36,556, 569, 787, 790. Doesburg, 825. Dohna, Count Christophorus Delphicus von, 140, 158, 698-700, 718, 792. Dohna, Count Frederick von, 34, 199, 200, 357, 540, 782,806-8,890. Dolman, Thomas, 231, 270. Dordrecht, 3, 5, 81, 11, 20-23, 29, 38-41, 43, 46, 48-50, 53, 58-62, 66, 68, 69, 86, 88-90,92-95, 97, 98, 102, 105, 107, 710, 111, 113, 138, 143, 159, 164, 165, 167, 200, 203,220, 224,225,235, 242, 301,

INDEX Dordrecht, 318, 324, 336-44, 348, 361, 365, 370-72, 399, 430,432,436,437,443,495,501, 502,505,507, 511,518,549-58,629,645, 660-63, 673, 719, 739, 767, 781-83, 787, 795,800,802, 808,823, 837,838,844, 845,847,848,861,863,865, 866,868, 869,871,880,885,890. Dordrecht, Synod of, 8, 44, 51,404, 408, 421,425,432,433,571,572. Doreslaar (Doreslaus), Isaac, 265, 266. Dorp, Frederick van, lord of Maasdam, 621. Doubleth, Philip, 119,201. Doue-la-Fontaine, 17. Dover, 67, 68, 624, 625, 727, 728, 731-33, 736, 776,818. Dover, Treaty of, 244, 256, 728, 731-34, 737,738, 744,747,776, 787,804,850. Downing, Sir George, 149, 245, 264-70, 270, 320, 321, 323-26, 328,449,451-55, 457-59, 461,64-472, 476, 488, 513, 514, 533, 537-40, 542, 544, 545, 612, 613, 615, 624, 667,696, 713, 736, 738, 748, 756, 757. Downs, The, 592. Dunkirk, 56, 265, 281, 318,472, 696, 740, 749,750,819. Dunmore, John, 629, 630. Dussen, Cornelius van der, 374. Dutch Republic, see United Provinces. Duyck, Anthony, 239. Duynen, Gerard van, 557. Duyst van Voorhout, John, 32, 40, 41. Duyvenvoorde, Jacob van Wassenaer, see Wassanaer Duyvenvoorde, Jacob van. East India Company, Dutch, 61, 100, 114, 118, 122, 126, 176, 187, 193, 198,257, 258,293, 345,396,455-57,493,562, 563, 724, 784, 785, 801, 820, 821,823. East India Company, English, 257,258, 451,452,455, 724. East Indies, Dutch, 65, 265, 452, 452, 563, 564, 723, 746. Edam, 204,217, 229,235, 328, 670,681. Egmond, 191. Elbing, Treaty of, 145, 311-13, 315, 318-21,325,326,698. Eleman, John, 391. Elizabeth I, queen of England, 433. Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia, 54, 210, 446. Elseviers, 152, 414. Elsevier, Louis, 413. Emmerich, 832. Empire, Holy Roman, see Germany.

England (also Great Britain), 19,25,27,46, 54, 55, 58, 63-73, 78-92, 91, 122, 132, 143, 158-60, 169, 172, 176-78, 180, 182, 185, 186, 188, 191, 196, 198,201-10, 212-19,228,233,234,243, 244, 251-53, 256-71, 282-86,288-91,294-99, 302-7, 309, 310, 317, 321, 323-27, 329-31, 345, 346, 352, 361, 362,384, 389, 393, 396, 412,426,427,443,446,448-57,460,461, 464-66,468,469,472,47-3,476,481,483, 486-89,495, 513-19, 521, 526, 528,529, 531-36,538,539,541,542, 544,545, 547, 559-63,568,570, 574-77,581, 583-99, 606,608-19,621-45,648,650, 651, 655-59, 661, 664-71, 675,683-85, 668-71,686-92,694-99, 702, 703, 705-7, 709, 711-17, 721-33, 736, 738, 739, 744-50, 753-55, 757, 758, 760, 761, 764, 765,767,773,775-78,782,787,793,802, 804,805,811,813-23,827,832,841,844, 850,851,858,859,888,891,893. Enkhuizen, 86, 89, 91, 174, 204, 217, 226, 229,284, 349, 350,457, 518, 521, 536, 539,670,804,849. Enno van Gelder, H. A. 892. Estrades, Godefroy, count d', 177, 248, 463, 469-77,479-89, 542, 544, 593, 608, 611, 617-19,621,625, 626,631,634-46, 648-50,652-60, 670, 673, 674, 676,684, 686,687, 690-93,695, 700-2, 704, 706, 710-12, 715, 733, 734, 781, 797,839. Eternal Edict (1667), 678-91, 753, 781, 788-90, 792, 794, 795, 804, 844,845, 859,868,870,871,882,890. Euclid, 413,415. Evertsen, J a n , 78, 192-95, 198, 228, 580. Evertsen, Cornelius, 580. Everwijn, Samuel, 551-54. Exclusion Act (1654), 146, 147, 156, 159, 205-14,216-35,242, 245,249,250,264, 271,274,296,297,329,335, 349, 356-59, 361, 362, 364, 367, 368, 373, 376, 383, 384,445,513, 515,519, 520, 526, 529, 532, 533, 537, 539,549,669, 792. Fagel, Caspar, 167, 604, 661, 671, 673, 678-80, 740, 742, 754, 786, 789, 794, 796, 799-802, 808, 829,829,830,834-36, 844-46,849,858,860,878,882,883,888. Fairfax, Sir Thomas, 19. Fannius, Cornelius, 566, 665, 843. Fannius, Daniel, 433,434, 566-68, 572, 665, 668. Farmer, William, 417. Faro, Fernando Telles de, 292, 293. Feltrum, Michael van, 60.

934

INDEX Ferguson, J a n Jacob, 502. Fermat, Pierre de, 418. Fey, Arnold, 497, 498, 500, 501. Flanders, French, 798. Flanders, Spanish (see also Spanish Netherlands), 175, 274,277, 272, 283, 421,474-77,480,484,488,489,648,658, 685, 726, 763,818. Flanders, States, 735,827,850. Fleche, La, 16. Flushing (Vlissingen), 20, 58, 86, 87, 567, 587,591,657, 742, 791. Focanus family, 107, 506. Focanus, Francois, 498. Focanus, Jacobus, 94, 119, 120, 130. Fontainebleau, 286. Foreest, Nanning van, 520, 522, 527, 536. Fouquet, Nicholas, 466. France, 26, 45, 158, 179, 184-86, 188, 204, 206,210, 222, 227,234,238,243-45, 247,249,250,253,255-57,260,267,268, 270-81,284-90,292-95,299, 303, 306, 309, 310, 321, 323-25, 327, 329-31, 338, 345, 346, 354, 363, 380, 385, 387,416, 427,435,439,450,458,459,465-71, 473-89,497, 517,521,537,538,542,544, 560, 561, 586, 588,589, 593,594, 598, 599,602,605-7, 609,610, 613-19,622, 623, 626-28, 630, 631,633-53,655-58, 661, 665,670, 676,683-87,690-719, 724-30, 732-38, 740-61, 764-80, 787, 789, 796,698, 799,802,803,809-13,815, 817-29,833-37,840,849-53,857, 878, 887-89,892,893. Franche-Comte, 658, 686, 693, 701, 702 704, 705, 707, 708. Franklin, Benjamin, 891. Frederick I, king of Prussia, 584. Frederick III, king of Denmark, 313, 317, 322, 324—30, 332, 389,444, 788. Frederick Henry, prince of Orange, 3,9, 4 7 , 4 8 , 5 7 , 2 2 2 , 2 3 3 , 2 8 2 , 300,381,469, 511,599,603,811. Frederick Magnus von Salm, Rhinegrave, 287,296,297,600,603,810,826,828. Frederick William, elector of Brandenburg, 147, 245,275,288,298,299, 303,309, 320, 362, 372,449,520, 521, 524, 527, 529-37,540,598,599,606,608,614,616, 619, 644,645,670,699, 700, 749, 751, 768-72, 775, 793, 794. Frederixodde, 318. Friesland, 25,42,47, 51-54, 76-78,88, 146, 147, 172, 173, 176,200, 201,204, 209, 210,219-25,227-30,238,263, 264,278, 292, 309,312, 330,351,358-62, 370, 371,

374, 375,431,432,453,461,517,518, 533, 564,578,591,595,601,666-68,678, 719, 741, 762, 788, 798,819, 821, 825, 838,849,851,858. Friesland, admiralty of, 176, 198. Friesland, East, 119. Friesland, West (see also North Holland). 57, 58,426,443. Friquet, Jean, 295, 301, 302, 488, 542, 609, 653, 694. Fruin, Robert, vi, 99, 123, 154. Furnes, 652. Fiirstenberg, Franz Egon von, 598, 780. Fiirstenberg, William Egon von, 608, 646, 657, 691-94,697, 700, 749, 780. Fyn, 319. Galen, Bernard Christopher von, bishop of Munster, 250, 299-302, 439, 544, 598, 599, 603-6, 610, 616, 626, 637,639, 649, 706, 776, 778-80, 825, 829. Galenus, Abraham, 440. Gamarray Contreras, Esteban de, 242, 280, 281, 289, 290, 293, 471, 474, 475, 477, 480-86, 563, 640, 650, 651, 684-86, 689, 692, 694,695, 701, 704, 706, 720, 721, 744, 764, 765, 774, 792. Gans,John, 129, 130. Gardie, Magnus Gabriel de la, 718. Gassel, 168. Geddes, James, vi. Geer, P. van, 415. Geertruidenberg, 59, 827. Geervliet, 340, 457, 506, 507, 552, 553. Gelderland, 33,42, 43, 63, 77, 87, 88, 172, 186, 200,210,220, 221,223, 229, 231, 236,293,296,299, 309, 324, 359, 361, 364, 372-74, 376,433,443,461,514, 517, 518,601,664, 758, 779, 788, 790, 828, 829, 849,850,863. Gelderland, Upper (Spanish) Quarter, 685, 704, 769. Genappe. 706. Gendt, John van, 44, 207, 213, 223, 279, 288,289, 324, 325,443,465-68,470,673, 674, 799,836-39,851. Gendt, William Joseph, baron van, 590, 591,821. Generality, see States General. Generality Lands, 3, 7, 156, 373, 438, 624, 838, 850. Geneva, 18, 387. Gentillot, Major, 280. George William, duke of Brunswick-Zell, 125. Germany (also Holy Roman Empire), 255,

935

INDEX Germany, 272, 285, 294, 295, 300, 301, 329, 441, 454, 466, 476, 584, 598, 599, 607-9, 629, 632, 644, 646, 655, 689, 697-99, 728, 729, 735, 739, 745, 747, 749, 753, 758, 766, 768, 770-80, 811, 822, 825, 827. 830, 850,888,893. Gersdorp, Joakin, 317. Geyl, Peter (Pieter), 357, 680, 893. Ghent, 652. Ghijsen, Herman, 460, 473, 474, 575. Gillingham, 595. Glinstra, Epeus, 788. Gloucester, William, duke of, 442, 519. Goch, Michael van, 244, 457, 460, 462-64, 563, 575,593,612-15, 642. Godewijk, Peter van, 12. Golius, Jacobus, 408. Gomarians, 21,51· Gorinchem, Gorcum, 166, 174, 353, 437, 826. Gouda, 203, 371, 549, 653, 763, 805, 838. Gourville, Tean Herault de, 631, 793, 809, 889. Graeff, De, family, 132, 344, 504, 509, 783,

860. Graeff, Andrew de, 128, 164, 165, 345, 347> 348, 519, 558, 561, 663, 784, 786, 801. Graeff, Cornelius de, lord of Zuidpolsbroek, 106, 111, 157, 173, 228-85, 300, 301, 30?, 319, 321, 329-32, 344-48, 365, 368, 377. 378, 425, 451, 459, 476, 494, 508, 514-17, 520, 522-27, 532, 535, 541, 558-61, 563, 662. GraeffjJacob de, 124, 125, 509. Graeff, Peter de, 119, 120, 130, 131,494, 498, 503-5, 508, 509, 511, 578, 785, 800, 860, 885. Graeff, Agneta Bicker-de, see Bicker-De Graeff, Agneta. Graeff-Hooft, Catharina de, 509. Graeff, Christina de Trip-de, see Christina Trip-de Graeff Graeff-Bicker,Jacoba, 106, 111, 119, 495, 598, 500, 501,507. Graeff, Jacob van der, member of Court of Holland, 841, 865. Graeff, Jacob van der, son of foregoing, 841-44, 861, 865, 873, 882, 887. Graeff, Peter van der, 841, 842, 861. Graswinckel, Dirk, 62, 390. Frave, 6, 850. Gravesend, 18, 20, 69, 76. Great Assembly (1651), 44, 48, 50-56, 58, 64, 83, 86, 156,215, 367,436. Great Britain, see England. Great Wishford, 19.

Greece, 386. Grenoble, 18. Gringham, secretary of Sir George Downing, 612. Groningen, city, 115, 581, 857. Groningen, province, 47, 52, 54, 75-77, 88, 131, 172, 174, 176, 200,201,204,210, 219, 220,228-30, 232, 264, 293, 312, 330, 335, 351, 359, 361, 366, 374, 433, 461, 468, 544, 564, 586, 604, 678, 741, 742, 780, 786, 788, 798,807, 825, 851, 857. Groot (Grotius)fHugo de, 39, 346, 561, 718. Groot, Peter de, 164, 171, 241, 249, 250, 253, 256, 275,278, 280, 302, 346-48, 392, 393, 395, 396,440, 558, 560, 561, 570, 709,663, 710, 717-20, 733, 735, 736. 739-48, 750-55, 757-60, 762, 764, 786, 787, 795, 805,808, 810, 831,836-40, 846-51,857,888. Groothuysch, Pelgrum van, 565. Grotius, Hugo, see Groot, Hugo de. Gualteri, Gualterus, 304, 305. Guastalla, 286. Guch, Maximilian van der, 105, 492. Guiche, Armand de Grammont, count of, 42,602, 603. Guinea, 262, 459-63, 487, 545, 574, 635. Haarlem, 5,90,91,93, 173, 177, 194,216, 217, 220, 226, 229, 284, 285, 348, 362, 365, 457, 518, 521, 533, 536, 561, 562, 661, 669, 673, 679, 740, 794, 795, 800, 801, 832, 834, 836, 838, 848, 849, 851. Habsburg, house of, 285, 294, 295, 320, 321, 394, 476, 489, 604, 650, 719, 720, 764. Haeck, Cornelius, 521. Haersolte, Arent Jurien van, 63, 64, 323, 324, 369, 606, 666. Haersolte, Rutger van, 64, 363, 378. Hague, The, 21-23, 32, 33, 38, 62, 68, 88, 90, 94, 97-99, 102, 104-7, 111, 119, 167, 180, 219-21, 241-43, 245, 246, 248, 249, 251, 259-61,275, 280,281, 290, 295, 334, 337, 340, 346, 349, 353, 360, 362, 371, 375-78, 398, 411, 429, 430, 435-37, 443, 451, 453, 456, 468, 469, 471, 474, 491-94, 496, 497, 502-4, 506-9, 513, 514, 518, 519, 522, 524-27, 532, 533, 538, 544, 548, 550, 557, 564, 565, 569, 572, 576, 578, 580, 581, 583, 584, 586-91,593, 594, 598, 604, 605, 612, 615, 618, 624, 625, 627, 629, 632, 634, 639, 641, 463-45, 647, 648, 653, 659, 664, 668, 670, 684, 686-88, 692, 695, 697, 709, 710, 712-16, 718, 720, 721, 723, 724, 750, 751, 756, 761, 762, 764-66,

INDEX 768, 769, 773-76, 778, 783, 784, 786, 790, 792, 799-801, 803, 811, 816, 817, 819, 820, 824-26,828, 830, 831, 837, 338, 840-42, 844, 850, 861, 865-68, 874, 878-81,883, 885, 886, 990,892-94. "Hague concerts," 299, 326-29, 331-33. Hainaut, 642, 658. Hailing, John, 551, 555, 556, 662. Hailing, William, 341, 342, 550-53, 555-57, 662, 844. Hamburg, 72, 287, 308. Hamel Bruynincx, Gerard, 163, 608, 774, 776, 777, 837, 887. Hampton Court, 19. Hansa, Hanseatic towns, 206, 279, 280, 304. Haren, William van, 667, 719, 762, 815. Harris, Sir James, later earl of Malmesbury, 887. Harwich, 578, 591,595. Hassel, Andrew, 550. Hasselaer, Gerard, 165, 196, 663. Hasselt, 365. Haulbois, Cornelius, 219, 222, 223, 228. Le Havre, 15. Hebrews, 233, 376. Heemskerck, W. van, 510. Heemskerk, 115. Heenvliet, lord of, see Carl Henry van den Kerckhoven. Heereboord, Adrianus, 408, 409. Heermans, Silvester, 123, 124. Heidanus, Abraham, 403, 404, 409, 410, 424. Heide, Ter, 191. Heilersieg, John, 53. Hrin, Piet, 233. Heinsius, Nicholas, 416, 718, 762. Hekendorp, 129, 547. Helder, Den, 193, 194, 196, 579, 586, 587, 817, 825. Hellemont, J a n van, 505. Hellevoetsluis, 454,813. Helvetius, Claude-Adrien, 842. Helvetius, John Frederick (Johann Friedrich Schweitzer), 842. Henrietta Maria, queen mother of England, 497, 527, 528. Henrietta Sutart, see Orleans, Henrietta, duchess of Henry III, king of France, 152. Henry IV, king of France, 152. Henry Casimir, prince of Nassau, 666, 667, 788. 's-Hertogenbosch, Den Bosch, Bois-le-Duc, 3, 107, 158, 353,498, 506, 599, 625, 827. Heus, Barend de, 183.

Heusden, 159, 826, 844. Hevelius, John, 412. Heymans, Alida Trip-, see Trip-Heymans, Alida. High Council, 144, 340-43, 550, 565, 665, 666, 785, 786, 858-60, 868, 876. Hoeuft, Diedrich, 108, 109, 155, 859, 885. Hoeuft-de Witt, Maria, 22, 108, 112. Hoeven, Emanuel van der, 843. Hofland, 101. Holland, Court of, 20, 53, 59, 144, 146-148, 152, 164, 335, 343, 349, 398,407,420, 428,429,437,440, 529, 530, 532, 556, 557, 568, 665, 786, 800,841, 843, 855, 862, 863, 865-75, 882. Holland, province, 3, 25, 28-31, 35, 37, 51, 56,58-60, 6 2 , 6 3 , 7 1 , 7 4 , 8 8 , 9 7 , 103, 110, 119, 131, 132, 136, 139, 141, 147, 153, 156, 159, 163, 171-73, 176-78, 180, 182-87, 187, 191-95, 198, 200, 201, 204, 206, 208, 218, 222-29, 232, 235-39, 243, 245, 258, 259, 262, 266, 267, 272-74, 276-78,281,282, 287, 288,292,294,299, 305, 312-14, 322-24, 327, 328, 334-36, 341, 353, 356, 357, 359-69, 371, 373-76, 381, 383-85, 388, 389, 392, 394, 397, 428-32, 436-40,443,446,448,453, 455, 461,467-69,475,478,491, 503,506, 513-15, 518-20, 527-31, 533, 534, 539, 540, 542, 543, 546, 548, 549, 559-61, 564-70, 572, 573, 601-3, 608, 610,612, 615, 629, 631, 640, 644, 646, 647, 666, 670, 671, 678,679, 716, 720, 725, 732, 741, 744, 751, 759, 762, 763, 766, 769, 771, 773, 779, 781-83, 785, 788-95, 298, 803-7, 812, 813,818, 821, 824,826-35, 845,848, 849, 853,857, 859,865, 873, 883. Holland, States of, 28, 32, 33, 36-38,40, 41, 44,46-61,66-69, 72, 74, 75, 80-83,85, 90-95, 101, 105, 107, 108, 113, 114, 117, 122, 125-27, 134-38, 142-46, 152, 153, 155, 157, 158, 162, 165, 167, 169-75,177, 179-81, 183-87, 189, 192, 193, 195-99, 204, 206,209,211-13,215-17, 220-27, 230,231, 234,235, 239-42, 247-50, 258, 260-63, 265-68, 270, 272,274-78,280, 281,284,285,287,291-93,297, 300,301, 307-11, 315, 318-27, 330-36, 338-43, 345-47, 349-53, 355-60, 362, 364, 366-68, 371-73, 375, 376, 378, 379, 383-86, 389, 390, 395, 399,403-7,417, 420,421,423-28,430,431,434,435, 437-46,494-51,453-57,460-64,466-80, 482, 484, 485, 498, 506, 513, 515-19, 522-30, 532-36, 539-43, 546-50, 555, 557, 559, 560, 562, 665, 566, 569-71,

937

INDEX Holland, States of, 576-79, 581, 583, 586, 587, 589-91, 593, 600-2, 604, 607, 612, 613, 616-18, 620, 621,623,624, 626, 628, 632, 633,641, 646, 655, 657, 659-61, 668,670-77, 679, 681, 682, 685, 686,690, 682, 694,697, 698, 706,713, 732, 737-40, 743, 745, 748, 753, 757, 762-76, 781-83, 785, 788-96, 798-813,815-17,819,820,823,824,827, 830-32,835-38,842,843,845-49,851, 852,855-60,868,869,873, 878,882,883, 886,888-90. Holies, Denzil, 544, 631. Holmes, Robert, 460, 461, 463, 487, 574. Honert, John van den, 339-41, 556. Honiwood, Robert, 159. Honselaardijk, 28, 517. Hoochcaemer, Jacobus, 408, 409. Hooft, Catharina de Graeff-, see GraeffHooft, Catharina de. Hooft, Henry, 541, 558, 663, 799, 801. Hoogerwerff, Gijsbert, 868, 871. Hoogeveen, Cornelia van, 499. Hoogeveen, Cornelius van, 60, 61, 343. Hoogeveen-van den Burch, Anna, 502. Hoolck, Gijsbert van der, 236, 589, 594, 812, 836. Hoorn, 89, 118, 120,285, 314, 789,801, 824. Hoorn, Simon van, 293, 448, 450-53, 455-58, 527, 532,534, 535, 559-62. Hoornebeck, Johannes, 405, 426. Hop, Cornelius, 164, 785, 831. Home, Count William Adrian van, 282, 283. Horst, Ewout van der, 615, 621, 664. Hove, Nihcolas ten, 291. Hovenir, Maritge, 128, 129. Hovenier, Michael, 128, 129. Hoxter, 779. Hudde, John, 184, 411, 416-19, 783. Huguenots, 288,427, 643, 746, 769. Hulsius, A., 424,425. Huybert, Justus de, 54, 58, 59, 62, 63, 85, 236,272,288,289,460,465-68,470. Huybert, Peter de, 250, 626, 664, 665, 668, 671,789, 792,802,803,815. Huydecooper, John, lord of Marseveen, 35, 3 6 , 8 3 , 8 4 , 8 7 , 1 7 1 , 344, 345, 348. Huygens, Christian, 413, 415, 416, 497, 582. Huygens, Constantine, Sr., 53, 68, 166, 416,543, 757, 792,809, 856, 886. Huygens, Rutger, 580, 582, 583, 586. Hulck, John van der, 557. Ilpendam, 425,885.

Imkes, Homerus, 116. Indies, see East Indies, West Indies. Ireland, 263. Irgens, Joachim, 131. Isinck, Adam, 532. Italy, 386, 387. Jacobs, Dieuwertej, 497, 498. Jansz, Sievert, 115, 183. Jena, Frederick von, 538. Jews, 51,410,411,441. Jezebel, 880. Joachimi, Albert, 19, 27, 54, 55. John Maurice, count of Nassau, 147, 156,' 157,295, 297, 299, 352, 366, 367, 370, 372,378,443, 530-33,543, 600, 602, 603, 605-8, 669-71, 676, 773, 774, 779, 790. 791,793,811,833. Jongestal, Allard, 78, 79, 81, 201, 202, 204-7,209-11,216,218, 226,264, 362, 626.

Joyce, Cornet George, 732, 733. Juan, Don, of Austria, Spanish governor general, 284. Julich, 829. Kampen, 364, 375, 377, 454, 826. Kami, Antonius, 461. Karsteman, Lieve, 441. Katwijk, 192. Keppel castle, 837, 849. Kerckhoven, Carl Henry van den, lord of Heenvliet, 361. Kerckringh, David, 873-79. Kernkamp, J . H., 397. Keyser, Nanning, 32, 34, 38, 40, 41, 303, 305. Kievit, John, 615, 621,627,628,664, 733, 889. Kinschot, Roelant van, 200. Knoop, W. J . , 141. Konigsberg, 298, 308. Kool, Swedish admiral, 195. Kopmoijer, A., 875,879. Korsor, 321. Kossman, Ernst H., 390. Kramprich, Daniel, 694, 777, 778. Kronborg, 322. Labadie, J e a n de, 440. "Lands beyond the Maas," Overmaze, 290, 850. Langen, RoelofFvan, 87, 375-78, 666. Langewaegen, Reinier, 678. Lantman, Thaddeus de, 435. Lechdale, Sir Robert, 19.

938

INDEX Lelk, Maurice of Nassau, lord of De, 787. Leerdam, 180. Leeuw, C. de, 423. Leeuwarden, 228. Leeuwen, Simon van, 319. Lefevre-Pontalis, Germain Antonin, 380. Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm von, 410. 885. Leicester, Robert Dudley, earl of, 380, 387, 516. Leiden, 5, 59,85, 196, 172, 174,181, 194, 201,215-17,226,229,235, 394,395,403, 405,409,424,425,432,497, 514, 518, 520, 521,525, 536, 561, 623, 673, 745, 785-87,800,836,838,845,846,848, 849,851. Leiden, University of, 10, 13, 15, 170, 402-5,408-10,424,425,624. Leiderdorp, 507. Lemkes, J a n , 502. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, 295, 302,476,481, 598,603,650,652, 653, 655, 687,689,699, 707, 729, 735, 738, 747, 753, 772-78, 790,858. Lernac, 17. Levistoke, 19. Liege, 826. Liesfelt, 351. Lievensz, J a n , 511. Lilburn, John, 203. Lille, 685, 707, 726, 764. Line, Lijsbet van der, 97. Linschoten and Snelrewaerde, 129, 546. Lionne, Hugues de, 149, 243, 465,471, 472, 480, 500, 635-40, 644, 646, 647,650-53, 657, 684,685,687,690-92,694, 701, 703, 704, 706, 710-12,715, 717, 721, 740, 743, 749-51, 773, 797. Lira, Manuel de, 765-67. Lisbon, 291-93,463. Lisle, Philip Sidney, Viscount, 159. Lisola, Francois Paul, baron de, 187, 653, 711, 738,773-78. Locke, John, 87, 387. Loevestein House, 39-42, 46, 216,447 London, 18, 72,91,244, 258,281, 362,437, 442,448,449,469,486,515,520, 527, 530, 5371575,591-93, 612, 614, 618, 621-24,635,642,653,688,695,696,699, 707,709-15, 727,728,731,738,740,744, 757,773, 776,818,827, Loosduinen, 876. Lorraine, 735, 776,810. Loten-van den Corput, Maria, 167,403. Loudun, 17, 18. Louis XIV, king of France, vi, 16, 149, 152, 158,245, 248, 250, 255,276,277,280, 283, 286-88, 397,427,432, 465-89,500,

939

537,544,586,604, 607-9, 614, 616,618, 619,623-26,631,633-58,683-94,696, 697, 700-3, 706, 707, 711-17, 721, 722, 724, 726, 727, 729, 730, 733-35, 739-43, 746-55, 759, 762, 765, 767, 769-71, 773, 778, 798,815,826-28, 830,836-40, 842, 848-53,859,893. Louise Henriette, electress of Brandenburg, 296. Louvois, Michel le Tellier, marquis de, 747, 749,838,839,850. Low Countries, see Netherlands, Spanish. Lowestoft, 579,612,637. Lubeck, 94, 288, 304. Lucca, 387. Luther, Martin, 233. Lutzburg, Rudolf van Inn and Knyphausen, lord of, 360, 361. Luxemburg, 658, 686, 693, 706. Lydius, Jacobus, 432. Maas, admiralty of the (Rotterdam), 60, 61, 107, 155, 167, 192, 197, 198,257, 307, 339, 342, 555, 557. Maasdam, lord of, see Dorp, Frederick van. Maaseik, 828. Maaslandsluis, 191,851. Maastricht, 3,287,476, 599, 635, 735, 810, 811,826-29,833, 850, 852. Macassar, 564, 723. MacDowell, William, 621. Made, van der, goldsmith, 102. Madrid, 653, 689, 763-65. Magnus Intercursus (1495), 451. Mainz, 300, 598, 609, 735, 775, 776, 779. Maire, Jacob le, 317, 321. Malaga, 462. Mancini, Marie, 276. Manley, Roger, 160, 612, 665. Manmaker van Hoffwegen, Charles, 499. Mantua, 286. Maresius, Samuel, 435. Marets, Henry des, 435. Margaretha van Nassau, freule, see Sophie Marguerite of Nassau. Margarita, princess of Spain, wife of emperor Leopold I, 476, 481. Maria Anna, queen mother of Spain, 655, 658,686, 693,695, 704, 705, 708, 719, 720, 764-66. Marie-Therese (Maria Teresa), queen of France, 286, 287, 475, 476, 479, 484, 641, 646,648,655,687,693, 705, 716. Marienburg, Prussia, 309. Marlborough, 19. Marseilles, 18. Marselius, Selius, 313.

INDEX Mary Stuart, princess of Orange (Princess Royal), 25, 32,45,47, 58, 87, 89,91, 199, 220, 221, 230, 231, 259, 260, 270, 274, 276, 288, 296, 361-63, 368, 395, 442-46, 513-30, 533-35, 539, 540, 559, 564-67, 667, 681,682. Mathenesse, Gijsbert van, lord of Mathenesse, 350, 787. Mattingly, Garrett, 253. Mauregnault, John de, 77, 230. Maurice of Nassau, prince of Orange, 3, 6, 8, 34,47, 56, 194, 239, 381,442, 811. Mauritius, 456. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 481, 482. Mazarin1Jules Cardinal, 16, 31, 37, 45, 152, 271-73, 276-78, 280, 281, 283, 284, 286-88, 427, 465, 474, 514, 530, 674. Meadowe, Philip, 317, 319, 333. Mechelen, 62, 289, 290, 612, 772. Mecklenburg, 14. Medemblik, 37,89,90, 331, 348,349, 372, 428-30,518. Mediterranean Sea, 265, 276, 643, 713, 731. Meerman, John, 244, 250, 251, 423, 498, 523, 562, 686, 688, 689, 691, 694-97, 701, 706, 710, 711, 714, 738, 757, 758, 788, 816. Meersch, Van der, Dutch merchant, 19. Meeuwen, Cornelius van, 339, 340, 548, 551-55. Memel, 308. Mennonites, 440, 510. Merchant Adventurers, Company of, 59, 341,342,661. Merode, John, count of, baron of Houffalize, 130, 165, 521, 562. Merode, John, count of, lord of Rummen and Oudelandsambacht, son of foregoing, 129, 130. Messem, Jan van, 144—4-7, 252, 539, 593. Meteren, Adrian Cuyck van, 32, 39-41. Mexico, 131. Meyer, Otto, 116. Michaelius, Johannes, 12. Middleburg, 52, 58, 59, 63,82-85, 429,430, 440,565, 567-69, 572,573, 665, 791, 793. Middlestom, 115. "Middle party," 644, 725, 795. Mijlpolder, 128. Milan, 386. Milton, John, 148. Miranda, Enrique de Sousa de Tavares, count of, 293. Mispelhoef, Cornelius, 550, 551. Mocenigo, Pietro, 731.

Moerdijk, 443. Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, called, 880.

Molina, Antonio Francisco Mesia de Tobar count of, 695, 711. Monck, George, duke of Albermarle, 269, 270. Montagu, Sir Edward, 323-36, 328, 329. Montbas (Mombas)jJeanBarton, marquis de, 561, 562, 834, 840. Monterey, count of, 763-68, 829. Montesquieu, Charless de Secondat, baron de la Brede et de, 387. Montpellier, 17. Mont-Saint-Michel, 18. Moock, sheriff of Enkhuizen, 349, 350. Morocco, 56. Moulin, 629. Muiden, 833. Mulert, Baldwin Jacob, 370, 371, 374. Miinster, bishopric, 180, 186, 250, 299, 301, 439,598,599,603-6, 608,610,638, 639, 643, 647, 660, 662, 776, 778, 779, 802, 824, 825, 829, 850. Miinster, city, 250, 299, 300, 600. Munster, Peace of, 9, 25, 187, 253, 287, 289, 303, 401, 428, 474, 489, 538, 657, 692, 722, 754, 755. Munter,John, 508, 785. Munter, Margaretha Trip-, see TripMunter, Margaretha. Musch, Cornelius, 48. Muyge, De, 131. Muys van Holy family, 6. Muys van Holy, Arend, 551, 845, 862, 863, 866-69,871. Mye, Van der, family, 505. Naaldwijk, lord of, see Blyenburch, Adrian van. Naarden, 832. Nachtegal1Jacob, 553. Nantes, 17, 18. Napoleon I, emperor of France, 584. Naranus, gazetteer in Amsterdam, 149. Nassau, house of, 98, 99, 365, 430. Navaigne, 479. Navigation Act (1651), 70, 202, 257, 262, 263,269, 342,449,629, 722. Navigation Act (1660), 256, 449-51,519, 627-29,631,632. Navy, Dutch, 15, 25, 55, 56, 62, 64, 66-74, 78-83,85, 89, 153, 173, 175-77, 179, 189, 191-201,205, 209,258,261-63, 265, 276-81, 291, 292, 307, 310, 311, 318, 322-25, 328, 330, 331, 379, 392, 447, 460-64, 495, 496, 558, 560, 574-97, 602,

INDEX 605, 610, 612, 613,630, 631, 633, 637, 638,648-50, 657, 659, 669, 676-78, 703, 711, 731, 744, 745, 747, 752, 756-58, 781, 803, 804, 811,813-15, 822-24, 831-33, 847,856, 865, 868, 880, 894. Neck, Lucas van, 118, 119, 789. Nes, Aert van, 592,633. Netherlands, Spanish, Low Countries, 72, 73, 271, 281-87, 289, 290, 318, 352, 443, 458,459, 468-71,473-89, 560, 594, 598, 608, 609,624-27, 631,634-37, 639, 641-43, 647-52, 654-58, 676, 683-702, 704-708,711,712,714,716,717,719-22, 725-27, 729, 734, 737, 740, 743, 745, 747, 749-51, 755, 763, 764, 767-69, 773, 774, 776, 778, 812, 813, 815, 817, 857. Netherlands, United, see United Provinces. Neuburg, duchy, 300, 302. Neuss, 778. New Netherland, 636, 638. Newton, Sir Isaac, 415. Nieupoort, Flanders, 283, 657, 696, 750. Nieupoort, William, 66, 69, 69, 78, 79, 81, 101, 103, 147, 155, 159, 171, 192,201-12, 214, 215, 218,219, 221, 224-27, 229,230, 233, 234, 250, 258, 259, 262-64, 266-69, 289, 328, 329, 335, 357-61,426,437, 442,448. Nieuwerbrug, 839. Nieuwland, Henry, 377. Nieuwstadt, Jacob vander, 83. Nijmegen, 64, 229, 514, 831-35, 893. Nimes, 17. Nobility, Order of (Ridderschap), Holland, 28, 137, 165, 168,213,216, 334, 335, 350, 352-55, 365, 372,443,444, 518, 548, 549, 562, 671, 782, 787, 804, 845, 858. Noorderpolder, 128. Noordwijk, lord of, see Does, Wigbold van der. Noortdorp, 115. North Foreland, 587, 595. North Holland, admiralty of, 124, 178, 198, 817. North Quarter of Holland, North Holland, 89, 124, 166, 172, 176, 178, 180, 183, 184, 322,249,422-26,435,437,828. Norway, 312, 314, 319, 322, 584, 659 Obdam, lord of, see Wassenaer, Jacob van, lord of Obdam. Odijk, William Adrian of Nassau, lord of, 792, 793,802,826,836-39,851,871,875, 879 Oirschot, 497, 498, 500, 501.

Oldenbarnevelt, John van, 6, 7, 34, 39, 51, 56, 143,238,239,299,408,420,421,853. Oliva, 333, 698. Oneale, Father, English ecclesiastic, 623. Oniele, Daniel, 519. Orange, city, 18. Orange, house of, 45, 48, 51, 56, 77, 79, 90, 135, 139, 140, 158, 189, 194, 197, 199, 203, 218-20, 223, 231-34, 269, 271, 288, 296, 297, 350, 356, 362, 327-69, 381-83, 386-88, 393-95, 399,400,410,430, 435, 438, 442, 472, 510, 514, 515, 520, 522, 524, 530, 533, 535, 537, 543, 548, 549, 560, 615, 654, 675, 676, 681, 738, 681,738, 807,893. Orange, principality, 288, 385, 400, 525, 528,529,531. Orangist party, 44,47,56, 57,61,65, 70, 72, 75, 79, 82,88,89,110, 136,139, 140, 153, 154, 158, 204,206, 209, 210, 218, 221, 222,229, 231, 236, 260, 272, 274, 276, 296-98, 327, 337, 346, 356, 358, 361-64, 366-70, 375, 381-85, 396,410,423,446, 452, 457, 460, 471, 505, 510, 513, 514, 518,519, 521, 526, 527, 532, 533, 537, 539-41, 549, 556, 558, 564, 567, 568, 601, 613,614, 618,622, 629, 639,645, 659, 660, 662, 664-71, 674-77, 681, 723, 736, 738, 744, 753, 757, 771, 786, 787, 790, 792, 793, 796, 798,804, 805,807, 836, 841,844, 856-58, 861, 864, 869-71, 879, 881,887,888,891. Orleans, 16. Orleans, Henrietta Stuart, duchess of, 713, 727, 732-34, 736. Ormonde, James Butler, marquesls earl and duke of, 270, 448, 450, 745. Orsoy, 771,829, 831. Ossory, Thoms Butler, earl of, 738. Ostend, 476, 479, 652, 657, 685, 689, 696. Oudaan, Joachim, 510, 886, 891. Oudart, Nicholas, 517, 523, 525, 528, 530, 531,534, 541,612,613,668. Ouderkerk, 36. Oudewater, 117, 118, 23, 129, 168, 494. Oudshoorn, Cornelius de Vlaming van, 560. Ouwenaller, Reinier van den, 885. Overijssel, 42, 53, 63, 64, 77, 87, 172, 200, 204, 213, 220, 221, 228, 234, 312, 359, 361, 363-70, 372, 374, 375, 378, 379, 390,433,468,564,599,604,613,614, 664,666, 758, 778, 779, 790, 825,828, 832, 850. Oxford, 19. Paderborn, 779.

941

INDEX Paets, William, 155, 166, 420, 664. Pallandt, Elbert Anthony van, 666. Pancras, Nicholas, 799. Panhuys, Servaes van, 108, 491. Papenbroeck, Alida Bicker van Swietenvan, see Bicker van Swieten-van Papenbroeck, Alida. Parduyn, Caspar, 12. Paris, 16, 18, 73, 244,245, 247, 249,256, 275,400, 466,486,487, 561,623,624, 657, 684, 685,687, 692, 709-11, 715, 719, 724, 735,736, 740, 741,762, 786, 787. Parliament, English, 18, 19, 27, 46, 64, 69, 70, 72-76, 207, 259,263, 266, 268-70, 426,443,449-51,463, 519, 595, 627,683, 732, 735, 745, 748,827. Pascal, Blaise, 418. Pauw, Adrian, lord of Bennebroek, 112, 509,865,874. Pauw, Adrian, lord of Heemstede, 57, 64, 66,69-71, 73, 76,80, 82, 86,91-94, 108, 145, 147,212, 272, 303, 661,865. Pauw, Martin, 122-25. Pellisson-Fontainer, Paul, 654, 752, 759. Pellnitz, Captain, 38. Pen, J . van der, 103. Perceval, Peter de, 309-12. Perigueux, 17. Pernambuco, 291. Peronne, 810. Perpignan, 17. Perre, Paul van de, 59, 64, 70, 71, 78, 79, 81,201-7. Philip II, king of Spain, 380, 389. Philip IV, king of Spain, 290, 463, 468, 475-81,483,484,487,642. Piershil, 861,863, 867. Pillau, 298, 308. Pinerolo (Pignerol), 473. Plassendael, 479. Plymouth, 597. Poland, 14, 161,295, 297,299, 300, 303, 304, 307-9, 319, 321, 329, 332, 600, 700. Poll, John van de, 283, 285. Pomerania, 14, 303. Pomerelia (West Prussia), 14. Pompe van Meerdervoort, Cornelius, 554, 555. Pomponne, Simon Nicholas Arnauld, marquis de, 611, 710, 715-17, 721 -23, 726, 733, 735, 740, 742-44, 746, 748-51, 758, 759, 762, 838,839, 850. Pont-du-Gard, 18. Pont-Saint-Esprit, 18. Ponts-de-Ce, 16. Portsmouth, 73.

Portugal, 280, 291-93, 318, 441, 457, 537, 563, 693, 705. Post, Peter, 58. Pothoven, 353. Pradel, Francois de Vilanders et, 605. Protectorate, English, 77, 262, 263, 26-68. Protestants, 299, 402, 598, 626, 665, 681, 705, 734, 735, 738, 769, 770, 775, 779, 804,809,811. Prussia, duchy, 297, 298, 303, 310, 312, 313. Pufendorf, Esaias von, 724. Pulo Run, 452,625,627, 628, 638. Purmerend, 549. Purmerland, 425. Putten, district, 115, 155, 167, 340, 341, 439, 506,861,862,889. Pyrenees, Peace of the, 286, 764. Quellinus, Artus, 511,512. Raad, Gualtier de, 423. Raalte, 378. Racine, Jean, 880. Raephorst, Margaretha van, 505. Raesfelt, Adolf Henry van, 363, 369. Raesfelt, William van, 236. Ragusa (Dubrovnik), 387. Reading, 19, 20. Reael, Dutch merchant, 18, 19. Reede, Adrian Godard van, lord of Amerongen, 528, 770-72, 778, 888. Reede, John van, baron van Renswoude, 156, 361,461,689, 704, 763. Rees, 832. Reformed Church, Calvinists, 44, 50, 51, 91, 383, 394, 395, 402-6, 408-10, 420-27, 430-37, 440, 441, 516, 746, 863. Regensburg, Ratisbon, 295, 608, 774. Rembrandt Harpertszoon van Rijn, 511. Remonstrants, 8, 21, 420, 423. Renswoude, baron, see Reede, John van. Retz, J e a n Francois Paul de Gondi, cardinal de, 726. Reygersberg, Jacob van, lord of Couwerve, 573. Reynst, Lambert (Lambertus), 169, 177, 503,664,671-73, 677, 682, 783, 784. Rheinberg, 644, 752, 812,829,831. Rhenen, 838,850. Rhinegrave, see Frederick Magnus von Salm. Ribeiro, Luis Alvares de, 293. Riccen, Franco (Francis), 83. Richelieu, 17. Richelieu, Armand du Plessis, cardinal, 17. Ridderskerk, 129.

942

INDEX Rijnland, 785, 786. Rijnwijk, lord of, see Velsen, J a n Oly van Velsen. Ripperda tot Buyrse, Adolf Henry, 825. Ripperda, William, 361, 366, 442. Rochefort, 803. Rochelle, La, 17,287, 591,803,818. Rochester, 18, 575. Roermond, 769. Rome, 281,438,692. Romswinckel, Matthew, 699, 768. Roothooft, Dirk, 196. Roskilde, 319,328. Rotterdam, 20, 42, 59, 86, 90, 110, 145, 149, 165, 179, 192, 235, 288, 296, 318, 339, 341-43,436,420,436,453,454,536, 561,562,621,664,666, 712, 723, 732, 739, 786, 787, 795,801,845, 857, 885, 889. Rotterdam, admiralty of, see Maas, admiralty of the. Rouen, 15,22. Royal African Company, 460. Rudolf August, duke of BrunswickWolfenbuttel, 779. Rudolphi, Gijsbert, 293, 348. Rumpf, Christian, 709, 727, 734, 735, 759. Russia, 266. Rutgers, de Jonge, David, 189, 190. Ruvigny, Henry de Massue, marquis de, 688. Ruyl, Albert, 32,41, 7 4 , 9 1 , 8 3 , 2 1 6 , 2 2 9 . Ruysch, Conrad, 337. Ruysch, Jacob, 363. Ruysch, John, 877, 880. Ruysch, Nicholas, 48,92, 93, 155, 167, 210, 249,252,661,801. Ruysch van Wayestein, Peter, 161. Ruyter, Michael de, 79,176,192-96, 276-78, 280, 281,290, 322, 323,460-63, 496,501,545, 574,580-86,627,637,703, 712, 713,744,751, 755, 813,814,817-24, 842,865, 868,886. Ruyven Dirk van, 146-48, 575. St. Albans, Henry Jermyn, earl of, 623, 630. Saint-Cloud, 18. Saint-Evremond, Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis de, 105, 136, 140, 499. Saint-Germain, 18, 684, 692, 700-3, 707. St. John, Sir John, 19. St. John, Oliver, 54, 55. St. Kitts, 625. St. Omer, 652, 702. Sale, 441.

Salisbury, 19. Sarasin, Pierre, 353. Sas van Gent, 735. Sasburg, Thomas, 290, 337. Savoy, 427, 473. Saxony, 131,772. Scania, 312. Schade, Jaspar, 825. Schaep, Gerard, lord of Cortenhoef, 27, 55, 164, 236, 282-85, 300, 301,499, 559. Schaep-de Visscher, Johanna, 114, 115, 117. Scheie, Rabo Herman, 64, 364, 365, 368, 369, 372, 375-78, 390. Schenkenschanz, 735. Scheveningen, 78, 191, 446, 559, 579, 604, 630. Schiedam, 185, 301, 343, 374. Schomberg, Frederick von, 746, 809. Schooten, Bernard van, 13. Schooten, Frans van, Sr., 13, 43. Schooten, Frans van, Jr., 412-16. Schooten, Petrus van, 414. Schouwen, 589. Schryver, Henry, 129. Scotland, 71, 199,263,265, 440, 733. Senlis, 735. Sheerness Fort, 595. Shetland Islands, 71, 72. Sidney, Sir Algernon, 159. Sidney, Philip, see Lisle, Viscount. Sidney, Robert, 159, 426. Simonides, Simon, 435. Singendonck, John, 64, 87. Six, J a n , 104. Sjaelland, 319. Slappecoorn, 494. Slavatha, Amelie de Brederode, baroness of, 98. Slavatha, Baron of, 99. Slingelandt Barthoutsz, Damas van, 125. Slingelandt, Govert van, 113, 157,244, 246,249, 301, 311,326,329, 330,337, 339, 340, 557. Sluis, 158, 850. Sluypwijk, 131. Smient, Otto Barentsz, 149. Smit, Henry, 862, 863, 866,868, 869. Smith, Adam, 189. Smyrna, 757,758, 768,816. Socinians, 51,405, 439,440. Soenen, Van, 880. Soestdijk, 477, 497, 509. Sole Bay, 325, 585, 591,822, 833. Sommelsdijk, Cornelius van Aerssen, lord of, 34,63, 5 4 , 6 1 , 6 3 , 1 5 8 , 2 8 0 , 4 1 6 , 5 1 4 , 519,40, 567.

943

INDEX Sommelsdijk, Cornelius van Aerssen, lord States of Holland, see Holland, States of. of, son of foregoing, 675. States party, 65,88, 138, 139, 153, 158,206, Sont, Anthony de, 339. 228,269,271,274,290,296, 334, 352, Sophie Marguerite of Nassau, known as 356,370, 376,381-83, 396,410,430,442, "freule Margaretha van Nassau," 99, 446, 465, 469, 483, 510, 519, 521, 526, 351. 548, 549, 599-602, 611, 639, 640, 667, South Quarter of Holland, South Holland, 671,676,680,681, 710, 748, 749, 781, 93, 178, 183, 184, 344, 403, 422-24,432, 790, 796,836, 841,844,853, 854, 856, 434,435,437,439,828. 861,890,892. Spa, 353, 363. Stavenisse, Marinus, 85. Spain, 26,27, 57, 59,62, 131,321, 188,202, Stellingwerff, Nicholas, 32, 38, 39, 75, 284, 253, 259,260, 262,265,268,272-74,278, 331, 348, 349,423, 428-30, 447. 280-87, 289-91, 385, 393, 428, 438, 439, Stermondt, Jacobus, 44, 45, 47. 441,463, 468, 469, 471, 475-79, 482, 483, Stockholm, 244, 305-7, 315, 324, 401, 709, 543,544,1562,5563,575,599,608,635,639 710, 718,719,749, 750, 760, 762, 786, 650-52, 654-58, 676,683-97,699,700, 787. 704-7, 711, 716-23, 725, 729, 740, 743, Stone, Sir Robert, 73. 744, 747, 750, 757, 762-70, 773-75, Stonehenge, 19. 777, 778,829,831,893. Stoop, Nicholas, 144,339. Spigel, Henry Dirkszoon, 282, 284. Straeten, Dr .van der, 353, 497, 842. Spijkenisse, 168, 781. Streso, Caspar, 235. Spiljardus, Johannes, 437. Strevelshoeck, lord of, see Beveren, Spinola, Ambrogio di, 3. Cornelius van. Spinoza, Baruch (Benedict), 383, 391, 398, Strickland, Walter, 54, 55. 399, 409-11,435, 748,885. Strijen, Adrian van, 175, 340, 348. Staats, Henry, 127. Stuart, house of, 45, 47, 55, 79, 298, 514, Stampioen, J a n , 24. 681,738,852. Staphorst, Caspar, 427. Surinam, 712, 724, 735, 784. States General, 6, 7, 25, 27-29, 32, 34, 37, Sweden, 14, 62, 73, 132, 158, 160, 243, 246, 41,47,48, 51-56, 59,61,62, 69-71, 255, 261,264-66,285,292, 295, 287-300, 7 3 - 7 7 , 8 0 - 8 3 , 8 7 - 8 9 , 9 1 , 9 2 , 117, 119, 303-5, 308-15, 318-33, 346, 353, 368, 123, 125, 127, 135, 138, 141, 142, 145, 378, 445, 470, 558, 574, 600, 610, 619, 149, 150, 152, 155, 156, 162, 163, 167, 621-25, 627, 631, 650, 687, 689, 690, 170-75, 178, 185, 186, 191, 193-97, 697-700, 706, 711, 717-20, 725, 728, 729, 200-2,204-13,218-23,225-35, 238, 744, 747, 749, 755, 760-65, 767, 768, 240,241,245,246,248,249,255,258-62, 775, 777,815. 264,267, 269,272-80,283-301,304,305, Sweers, Salomon, 508. 307-9, 312, 313, 315, 317-20, 322-24, Swift, Jonathan, 703. 328, 329, 332, 334, 336, 342, 345, 348, Switzerland, 387, 474, 811, 890. 352, 353, 357-59, 361,362,364-67, Sylvius, Sir Gabriel, 613, 615-20. 371-76, 379, 382, 384,388, 390,400,417, Sylvius, Lambert, 356, 357, 510, 871. 430-33, 438, 442, 443, 445, 446, 448, Symonsz, Arien, 115, 116, 128, 129. 449, 451-63, 465 ,467-70, 475, 477, 479, Symonsz, Claes, 128. 483,485-88,498,516, 518, 526, 527, 539, Sypesteyn, Catharina van, 98. 543, 547, 553, 555-57, 559, 563, 565, Sypesteyn, Cornelius Ascanius van, 46, 98, 568, 569, 571, 576, 578-81, 586, 587, 493, 498, 507, 890. 590-93, 596, 597, 600, 602-5, 608, 610, Sypesteyn, John van, 162. 612-14,616,620,621,623-25,628, 631-33, 635, 638, 639, 641-43, 648, 650, Tacitus, Cornelius, 511, 859. 652,654-58,660,663,667,668,670,676, Tarascon, 18. 677, 685-93, 695-701, 703, 704, 706, Tarente, Charles Henri de Tremouille, 707, 711, 713, 715-19, 721, 725-27, 729, prince of, 670, 676, 734, 791. 734-37, 739, 741-45, 749-60, 764-77, Tartars, 308. 781, 783, 788-91, 794, 795, 798, 801-3, Teeling, Johannes, 153,429. 805-9,811-18,820-22,824, 825,828, Tegnejus, Tobias, 235. 830-32, 835, 836, 838,840,846-52, 868, Tellier, Michel le, French chancellor, 152, 883. 471.

944

INDEX Temple, Sir John, 714. Temple, Lady Dorothy, 755, 756. Temple, Sir William, 153, 188, 389, 390, 440,499, 563, 564, 598, 623, 626, 688, 695-97, 699-706, 713-15, 717, 720, 723-29, 732, 736, 738, 755, 768, 774, 776, 786, 790,893. Tengnagel tot Gellicom, Alexander, 698. Texel Island, 89, 194, 196, 576, 577, 579, 581,582, 587, 587, 595,659,813, 817, 825, 826,829. Thibaut, Henry, 58, 59, 568-72, 665, 668. Thiens, 492, 493. Thijssen-Schoute, C. Louise, 402, 409. Thilt, John van, 348, 562. "Third party," see 'Middle party." Thirty Years War, 14, 294, 296. Tholen, 86. Thorbecke, Johan Rudolf, vi. Thorn, Torun, 341. Thou, Jacques Auguste de, 136, 152,262, 269, 275, 276,278-81,284, 286-88, 302, 316, 323-26, 328, 346,469,472, 518-18. Thuillerie, De la, French ambassador to Sweden, 14. Thurloe, John, 203, 204, 207, 210, 211, 221,222, 224,250,258-61, 263,265, 269, 289, 368, 373, 426,520, 537. Thysius, Antonius, 236, 358. Tichelaer, William, 861-70, 873, 874, 876, 888,889. Tilburg, 155. Tilly, Count Claude de, 878, 879. 891. Tolhuis, 834, 835. Torbay, 596. Torre, Jacob de la, 438. Toulon, 18. Toulouse, 17. Tournai, 658, 707. Tours, 16. Trier, 300, 776. Trigland, Cornelius, 235,425. Trip, family, 5, 112. Trip-de Graeff, Christina, 114, 117, 123, 124,311. Trip,Jacobus, 102, 107, 111, 112, 114-16, 125, 500, 507,508. Trip, Peter, 116. Trip-Heymans, Alida, 100, 161. Trip-Munter, Margaretha, 508. Triple Alliance (1668), 169, 241, 256, 500, 698-707, 710-12, 714, 716-21, 723-25, 728, 730-32, 735, 736, 738, 739, 743-45, 747, 755, 757, 760-63, 765-69, 771, 773-77, 787, 790,815. Tromp, Cornelius, 153, 505, 576, 579-82, 585, 590, 591,875,879,881,889.

Tromp, Martin, 55, 66-73, 78, 82, 191-96, 198, 322, 323. Tulp, Margaretha, 100, 104. Tulp, Nicholas, 100, 307, 543, 558 Tunis, 463. Turenne, Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, viscount, 281-84, 286,482, 607, 643, 645, 653, 669, 671, 678, 685, 733,829. Turkey, 56, 594. Turnhout, 538. Twente, 363-65, 369, 378, 604. Ubbenius, Martinus, 425. Ulhoa, Diego Lopes de, 293. Union de la Joye, Ordre de 1', 98, 99, 110. United Provinces, Dutch Republic, United Netherlands, 25, 26, 158, 162, 176, 188-91, 197,201-3,205-7,215,230,233, 238-42, 252-59, 262,263, 265, 267, 268, 270-73,276,277, 281, 286, 287, 289-91, 294-96, 297, 299-302, 304-11, 313-15, 318-21, 323, 325, 327, 332,341, 346, 357, 367, 370, 379, 381-90, 393, 395,397, 399-402,422,426,427,431,432,438, 440-43,448,449,452,453,456,458,459, 459,465-76,479-80,483,485-89, 513, 519, 527, 531, 536,544, 545, 559, 560, 564, 575, 576, 591, 594, 598, 600-5, 609-31,634-54,656,657,668,669,671, 657-77, 683-89, 692-95, 699, 701-3, 705-7, 710-13, 715-17, 719-23, 725-31, 733-37, 739-55, 757-79, 781, 785, 787, 796-98, 800, 802-5,810-13,816,817, 822-25, 828,829,831-40,843, 847-53, 856-59, 867,870,887,888,891, 893,894. United States of America, 380, 891. Upnor Castle, 595. Utenbogaert,John, 113, 114, 117, 120, 123. Utrecht, city, 168, 405, 427-29, 561, 562, 837,839, 849. Utrecht, Peace of, 700. Utrecht, province, 35, 42, 77, 147, 156, 172, 186, 200,204, 219-21,223,225, 228, 236, 359, 361, 370, 374, 409, 410, 417, 428,433, 564, 586, 788-90, 795, 812, 825,827, 832,833,849, 850. Utrecht, Union of, 29, 34, 44, 50, 53, 134, 136,223, 232,233, 235,238, 374, 376, 380,383,284,284, 391,428,566, 572. Utrecht, university of, 403, 410. Valkenier, Petrus, 157. Vallensis, Theodorus, 497. Vane, Sir Henry, 159, 160, 268. Vane, Sir Walter, 614-16, 626, 644, 645. Vauban, Sebastien le Prestre, seigneur de, 727.

945

INDEX Veen, Otto van, 511. Veer, Quentin de, 68. Veere, 83, 86, 87, 567, 791. Velasquez, Diego, 3. Velde, Abraham van de, 427-30. Velsen,Jan Oly van, lord of Rijnwijk, 168. Veluwe, 828. Veneman, Timan, 119, 121, 122. Venice, 132, 387, 692, 840, 841. Venlo, 769. Verbies, family, 97. Verhoef, Henry, 880, 882. Vermeulen, N., 13. Vervoren, Gerlof, 867. Veth, Adrian, 62, 175, 196, 197, 200, 252, 374,431, 445, 467, 528, 540, 543, 565-72. Veth, Jacob, 568-70,572. Vianen, 180, 351-53. Vicq, Franpois de, 120, 121. Vienna, 294, 295, 773, 774, 776, 777, 888. Visconti, dukes of Milan, 386. Visscher, J o b Joosten, 128. Viviani, Vicenzo, 416. Vivien, Anthony, 23, 24, 425, 586, 661. Vivien, Nicholas, 10,95, 127, 160, 161, 167, 496, 550, 551, 557, 558, 576, 579, 581,583,584,603,604,613,659,660, 662, 680, 783,801,837,844,846,848, 855,856,860,878, 882,890. Vlie, 826. Vlooswijk, Cornelius van, 118, 119,663. Voetius, Gisbertus, 404, 409. 410, 426, 428,, 438. Vogelsangh, Peter, 326, 327, 329, 330, 332. Vondel, Joost van den, 103, 105,256,510, 597. Voorschoten, 128. Voort, Van der, family, 396. Vos, J a n , 510. Vries, J a n de, 556-58. Vrijbergen, Bonifacius van, 668, 766, 817, 819. Waas, Land of, 689. Wael, J a n de, 32,41. Waerden, Henry, 491,492. Wageningen, 215, 352. Walcheren, 589, 756. Waldenses, 427. Walen, Adrian van, 880, 881, 889. Wallis, John, 415. Warmond, lord of, see Wassenaer Duyvenvoorde, Jacob van. Wassenaer Duyvenvoorde, Jacob van, lord of Warmond, 155, 166. Wassenaer, Jacob van, lord of Obdam,

lieutenant admiral, 87, 89, 194-96, 198, 226,250, 274,291,292, 318, 322-31,355, 365, 366,464, 560, 574, 576, 579, 590, 798. Wassenaer, Jacob van, lord of Obdam, nephew of foregoing, 798. Waveren, Anthony Oetgens van, 165, 166, 304,305, 785. Waveren, John van, 165. Weerdt, Den, 547. Weiman, Daniel, 133, 270, 280, 296-99, 307, 328, 332, 333, 348, 445, 521, 522, 530-33, 536,538-40. Werkendam, lord of, see Wijngaerden, Daniel van. Wesel, 829-31. West India Companv, Dutch, 8, 131, 155, 290,291,293, 335,' 441,459-61, 563. West India Company, English, 459. West Indies, 265. Westminster, Peace of (1654), 257, 271, 274, 303, 352, 367, 475. Westphalia, Peace of, 187, 294, 729, 772, 773. Whitelocke, Bulstrode, 224, 306. Whitford, Walter, 265, 266. Wickel, Friesland deputy, 222-24. Wickevoort Crommelin, H. S. M. van, 891. Wicquefort, Abraham de, 120, 147, 240, 243-45, 247, 254, 256, 275-77, 279, 281, 286,351,444,446,461,462,466,481, 499, 500, 513, 519, 531, 533, 538, 542, 543, 561, 562, 614,621, 650,679, 680, 681, 684,685, 688, 701, 702, 705, 709, 710, 716, 731, 736, 638, 739, 746, 751, 752, 754, 755, 788, 796,802, 806-8, 810, 835, 836, 846, 859, 875. Wicquefort-Schuyt, widow of Samuel de Wicquefort, 120. Wijngaerden, Daniel van, lord of Werkendam, 178, 709. Wijnne, J . A., 891. Wildt, David de, 175, 461, 462. William I, "the Silent," prince of Orange, vi, 6,47, 232, 233, 265, 381, 383, 387, 392. William II, prince of Orange, 25-48, 53, 56,63, 70, 98, 110,134,141,164, 206, 207, 222, 239, 296, 351, 381, 387, 388, 393, 394,529,680-82,845,847,853,854, 861, 864, 865, 867, 882, 883, 890, 891. William III, prince of Orange and king of EnglAad, 45, 47, 51, 52, 68, 70, 82, 85-89,99, 139, 140,146, 187,194,200-3, 2 0 5 - 9 , 2 1 1 , 2 1 4 , 2 1 6 , 2 1 7 , 2 1 9 , 221,223, 232,242, 254,261,262,270, 296, 351,

INDEX 357, 361, 364, 365,368, 370, 373, 375, 378, 379, 384-86, 388, 399,400,421,431, 445,446,449,465,472,489,496, 513-17, 520, 521, 525, 527-29, 531-45, 557, 559, 560, 564-67,569, 507, 572,593, 607, 608, 611-19, 621-23, 626,631, 637-39, 642-47,647, 663, 666-84, 715-17, 727, 728, 732-34,736-38, 784, 785, 788, 790-99,801,802,804-II,815,825-31, 833,834,836-38,840,842,844-47, 850-52, 854,855,858-62, 864,865, 868-71,873,878,887-93. William Frederick, count of Nassau, 25, 27-30, 32, 34-36,41,43, 51, 53,61,85, 88,145,147, 162, 199-201,219,220,222, 226,229-31, 260, 274, 309, 351, 360-76, 378, 514,540, 544,564,603,666. Wimmenum, lord of, see Boeckhorst, Amelis van. Windsor, 19. Wirtz, Paulus, 421, 66, 729, 789-91, 809, 810, 831. Wissel, J a n van der, 871, 872. Wit, John de, 14, 46, 62, 98, 109, 337-40, 342, 399,400,423,424,567, 550, 556, 577,581,629, 709,761. With, Gijsbert de, 95, 96, 154, 155, 291-93. With, Witte Cornelisz de, 71, 72, 78, 81, 191-95,197. Witsen, Cornelius, 283. Witt, de, family, 3, 5-7, 11, 109,408,491, 505, 662, 890. Witt, Adrian de, 340, 552. Witt, Agneta de, 108,497, 498, 501, 503, 507. Witt, Andrew de, 6-8. Witt, Anna de, 106, 107, 495, 500-4, 875. Witt, Catharine, 108,497. Witt, Cornelius (b. 1485), 6. Witt, Cornelius, brother ofJohn, 10, II, 13, 14,20, 22,24, 30, 4 0 - 4 3 , 4 6 , 8 0 , 8 2 , 9 0 , 9 4 , 9 5 , 9 8 , 108,110, 112, 115, 144, 145, 155, 157, 161, 164-68, 192-94, 197, 236, 337, 340, 341,439, 491, 494, 504-7, 550-57, 594-97, 605, 606, 627, 633,659, 662,678, 719, 762, 766-68, 781, 790, 798,807,816-25,835,841,842,845,845, 861-77,880-89,891. Witt, Cornelius de, cousin ofjohn, 161, 162.

Witt, Elizabeth de (b. 1664-d. 1665), 494, 496. Witt, Elizabeth de (b. 1668-d. 1668), 169, 496,497. Witt, Jacob de, father ofjohn, 7-11,13, 20, 21, 29, 30, 32, 34, 38-43,46, 58,62,63,

947

8 3 , 9 0 , 9 7 , 9 9 , 100, 102, 106, 108-10, 115, 121, 155, 157, 164-66, 169, 192, 216, 270, 291, 304, 305, 337-43, 368, 447, 491,493, 506, 551, 792, 842,866, 885,886, 890. Witt, Jacob de, son ofjohn, 497, 502. Witt, Johanna de, see Beveren-de Witt, Johanna van. Witt, John de, councilor pensionary of Holland, passim. Witt, John de, son of foregoing, 31, 493, 890, 891. Witt, Maria de, daughter ofjohn, 493, 507. Witt, Maria Hoeuft-de, see Hoeuft-de Witt, Maria. Witt-Bicker, Wendela de, 100-7, 110-16, 127, 128, 130, 131, 142, 344, 345, 353, 364, 492-98, 500, 501, 504, 508, 510, 511,558, 581,883. Witt-van Berckel, Maria de, 42, 105, 494, 506,862,868, 869,872,885,890. Witt-van den Corput, Anna, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15. Witte, J a n Godschalkszoon die, 6. Woerden, 889. Wolfe, Henry, 666. Woudrichem, 501, 827. Wybrandts-Peters, Machteld, 119-22. York, James, duke of, later James II, 54, 442,463, 519, 579, 732, 757, 758, 867, 869. Ypres, 750. Ysbrandts, John, 698. Zeeland, 3, 42,44, 52, 53, 56-59, 62, 63, 76-78, 80, 82-87, 91, 140, 147, 172, 175, 176, 184, 185, 194-98, 200, 201, 204, 210, 211,219, 220, 227, 228, 230-33, 236, 238,243, 249,258, 263, 264, 271, 272,278,280,290-93, 307, 310, 312, 336, 345, 358, 359, 361, 362, 364, 367, 372, 374, 387, 392, 397, 429, 431, 433, 445, 453, 457, 459, 461, 467, 468,487, 516-20, 528, 540-42, 564-73, 576, 588-92, 595, 607,664-66, 668, 670-73, 691, 696, 710, 732, 737, 741, 742, 744, 751, 788-95, 798, 802, 803,817, 819-22, 826,827,838,845, 848, 849,851,848. Zeeland, admiralty of, 80, 192, 307, 433, 817. Zeist, 849, 852. Zevenbergen, 437. Zoet, J a n , 182,510. Zouteland, 589. Zuidland, 867.

INDEX Zuidpolsbroek, lord of, see Graeff, Cornelius de. Zuilestein, William van Nassau, lord of, 514, 524-26, 529, 536, 540, 542, 544, 618, 646, 672-74,828, 863, 864,875,879. Zutphen, 43, 229, 790, 827, 830, 834.

Zwijndrecht, lord of, see Beveren, Abraham van. Zwol, Cornelius Jansz, 1590. Zwolle, 145, 353, 363-66, 369, 370, 375-78,

666.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Rowen, Herbert Harvey. John de Witt, grand pensionary of Holland, 1625-1672. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Witt, Johan de, 1625-1672. 2. Statesmen— Netherlands—Biography. 1. Title. DJ173.W7R68 949.2'o4'o924 [B] 76-45909 ISBN 0-691-05247-6

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