HENRY

henry, prince of orange), who was appointed stadholder of holland, zeeland, utrecht, overyssel and gelderland, captain and adjutant-general of the union and head of the council of state. frederick henry was as a general scarcely inferior to maurice, and a far more able statesman. the moderation of his views and his conciliatory temper did much to heal the wounds left by civil and religious strife, and during his time the power and influence of the stadholderate attained their highest point. such was his popularity and the confidence he inspired that in 1631 his great offices of state were declared hereditary, in favour of his five-year-old son, by the _acte de survivance_. he did much to justify the trust placed in him, for the period of frederick henry is the most brilliant in the history of the dutch republic. during his time the east india company, which had founded the town of batavia in java as their administrative capital, under a succession of able governor-generals almost monopolized the trade of the entire orient, made many conquests and established a network of factories and trade posts stretching from the cape of good hope to japan (see dutch east india company). the west india company, erected in 1621, though framed on the same model, aimed rather at waging war on the enemies' commerce than in developing their own. their fleets for some years brought vast booty into the company's coffers. the mexican treasure ships fell into the hands of piet heyn, the boldest of their admirals, in 1628; and they were able to send armies across the ocean, conquer a large part of brazil, and set up a flourishing dutch dominion in south america (see dutch west india company). the operations of these two great chartered companies occupy a place among memorable events of frederick henry's stadholderate; they are therefore mentioned here, but for further details the special articles must be consulted. policy of frederick henry. when frederick henry stepped into his brother's place, he found the united provinces in a position of great danger and of critical importance. the protestants of germany were on the point of being crushed by the forces of the austrian habsburgs and the catholic league. it lay with the netherlands to create a diversion in the favour of their co-religionists by keeping the forces of the spanish habsburgs fully occupied. but to do so with their flank exposed to imperialist attack from the east, was a task involving grave risks and possible disaster. in these circumstances, frederick henry saw the necessity of securing french aid. it was secured by the skilful diplomacy of francis van aarssens (q.v.) but on hard conditions. richelieu required the assistance of the dutch fleet to enable him to overcome the resistance of the huguenot stronghold of la rochelle. the far-sighted stadholder, despite popular opposition, by his powerful personal influence induced the states-general to grant the naval aid, and thus obtain the french alliance on which the safety of the republic depended. sieges of hertogenbosch and maestricht. death of the infanta isabel. the first great military success of frederick henry was in 1629. his capture of hertogenbosch (bois-le-duc), hitherto supposed to be impregnable, after a siege of five months was a triumph of engineering skill. wesel also was taken by surprise this same year. in 1631 a large spanish fleet carrying a picked force of 6000 soldiers, for the invasion of zeeland, was completely destroyed by the dutch in the slaak and the troops made prisoners. the campaign of the following year was made memorable by the siege of maestricht. this important frontier town lying on both sides of the river meuse was taken by the prince of orange in the teeth of two relieving armies, spanish and imperialist, whose united forces were far larger than his own. this brilliant feat of arms was the prelude to peace negotiations, which led to a lengthy exchange of diplomatic notes. no agreement, however, was reached. the death of the infanta isabel in november 1633, and the reversion of the netherlands to the sovereignty of the king of spain, rendered all efforts to end the war, for the time being, fruitless. alliance with france. capture of breda. battle of the downs. at this juncture a strengthening of the french alliance seemed to the prince not merely expedient, but necessary. he had to contend against a strong peace party in holland headed by the pensionary pauw, but with the aid of the diplomatic skill of aarssens all opposition was overcome. pauw was replaced as pensionary by jacob cats, and the objections of richelieu were met and satisfied. a defensive and offensive alliance with france was concluded early in 1635 against the king of spain, and each party bound itself not to make a peace or truce without the assent of the other. a large french force was sent into the netherlands and placed under the command of the prince of orange. the military results of the alliance were during the first two campaigns inconsiderable. the cardinal infant ferdinand had been appointed governor of the netherlands, and he proved himself an excellent general, and there were dissensions in the councils of the allies. in 1637 the stadholder was able to add to his fame as an invincible besieger of cities. his failure to relieve breda had hastened the death of maurice. it fell in 1625 into the hands of spinola after a blockade of eleven months; it was now retaken by frederick henry after a siege of eleven weeks, in the face of immense difficulties. the reluctance of the states of holland, and of amsterdam in particular, to grant adequate supplies caused the campaigns of 1638 and 1639 to be in the main defensive and dilatory. an attempted attack on antwerp was foiled by the vigilance of the cardinal infant. a body of 6000 men under count william of nassau were surprised and utterly cut to pieces. the year 1639, which had begun with abortive negotiations, and in which the activity of the stadholder had been much hampered by ill-health, was not to end, however, without a signal triumph of the dutch arms, but it was to be on sea and not on land. a magnificent spanish armada consisting of 77 vessels, manned by 24,000 soldiers and sailors under the command of admiral oquendo, were sent to the channel in september with orders to drive the dutch from the narrow seas and land a large body of troops at dunkirk. attacked by a small dutch fleet under admiral marten tromp, the spaniards sheltered themselves under the english downs by the side of an english squadron. tromp kept watch over them until he had received large reinforcements, and then (21st of october) boldly attacked them as they lay in english waters. oquendo himself with seven vessels escaped under cover of a fog; all the rest of the fleet was destroyed. this crushing victory assured to the dutch the command of the sea during the rest of the war. the naval power of spain never in fact recovered from the blow. english and dutch commercial rivalry. marriage of william and mary. the triumph of tromp had, however, a bad effect on public feeling in england. the circumstances under which the battle of the downs was won were galling to the pride of the english people, and intensified the growing unfriendliness between two nations, one of whom possessed and the other claimed supremacy upon the seas. the prosperity of the world-wide dutch commerce was looked upon with eyes of jealousy across the channel. disputes had been constantly recurring between dutch and english traders in the east indies and elsewhere, and the seeds were already sown of that stern rivalry which was to issue in a series of fiercely contested wars. but in 1639-1640 civil discords in england stood in the way of a strong foreign policy, and the adroit aarssens was able so "to sweeten the bitterness of the pill" as to bring king charles not merely to "overlook the scandal of the downs," but to consent to the marriage of the princess royal with william, the only son of the stadholder. the wedding of the youthful couple (aged respectively 14 and 10 years) took place on the 12th of may 1641 (see william ii., prince of orange). this royal alliance gave added influence and position to the house of orange-nassau. changed relations of the united provinces with france and spain. about this time various causes brought about a change in the feelings which had hitherto prevented any possibility of peace between spain and the united netherlands. the revolt of portugal (december 1640) weakened the spanish power, and involved the loss to spain of the portuguese colonies. but it was in the portuguese colonies that the conquests of the dutch east and west india companies had been made, and the question of the indies as between netherlander and spaniard assumed henceforth quite a different complexion. aarssens, the strongest advocate of the french alliance, passed away in 1641, and his death was quickly followed by those of richelieu and louis xiii. the victory of conde at rocroy opened the eyes of frederick henry to the danger of a french conquest of the belgian provinces; and, feeling his health growing enfeebled, the prince became anxious before his death to obtain peace and security for his country by means of an accommodation with spain. in 1643 negotiations were opened which, after many delays and in the face of countless difficulties, were at length, four years later, to terminate successfully. death of frederick henry--his last campaigns. the course of the _pourparlers_ would doubtless have run more smoothly but for the infirm health and finally the death of the prince of orange himself. frederick henry expired on the 14th of march 1647, and was buried by the side of his father and brother in delft. in his last campaigns he had completed with signal success the task which, as a military commander, he had set himself,--of giving to the united provinces a thoroughly defensible frontier of barrier fortresses. in 1644 he captured sas de ghent; in 1645 hulst. that portion of flanders which skirts the south bank of the scheldt thus passed into the possession of the states, and with it the complete control of all the waterways to the sea. the peace of munster. complete triumph of the dutch. the death of the great stadholder did not, however, long delay the carrying out of the policy on which he had set his heart, of concluding a separate peace with spain behind the back of france, notwithstanding the compact of 1635 with that power. a provisional draft of a treaty had already been drawn up before the demise of frederick henry, and afterwards, despite the strenuous opposition of the new prince of orange (who, under the _acte de survivance_, had inherited all his father's offices and dignities) and of two of the provinces, zeeland and utrecht, the negotiations were by the powerful support of the states of holland and of the majority of the states-general, quickly brought to a successful issue. the treaty was signed at munster on the 30th of january 1648. it was a peace practically dictated by the dutch, and involved a complete surrender of everything for which spain had so long fought. the united provinces were recognized as free and independent, and spain dropped all her claims; the _uti possidetis_ basis was adopted in respect to all conquests; the scheldt was declared entirely closed--a clause which meant the ruin of antwerp for the profit of amsterdam; the right to trade in the east and west indies was granted, and all the conquests made by the dutch from the portuguese were ceded to them; the two contracting parties agreed to respect and keep clear of each other's trading grounds; each was to pay in the ports of the other only such tolls as natives paid. thus, triumphantly for the revolted provinces, the eighty years' war came to an end. at this moment the republic of the united netherlands touched, perhaps, the topmost point of its prosperity and greatness. the form of government in the united provinces. the position of holland and amsterdam. no sooner was peace concluded than bitter disputes arose between the provincial states of holland and the prince of orange, supported by the other six provinces, upon the question of the disbanding of the military forces. william was a young man (he was twenty-one at the time of his father's death) of the highest abilities and of soaring ambition. he was totally opposed to the peace with spain, and wished to bring about a speedy resumption of the war. with this view he entered into secret negotiations for a french alliance which, as far as can be gathered from extant records, had for its objects the conquest and partition by the allies of the belgic provinces, and joint action in england on behalf of charles ii. as a preliminary step william aimed at a centralization of the powers of government in the united provinces in his own person. he saw clearly the inherent defects of the existing federation, and he wished to remedy a system which was so complicated as to be at times almost unworkable. the states-general were but the delegates, the stadholders the servants, of a number of sovereign provinces, each of which had different historical traditions and a different form of government, and one of which--holland--in wealth and importance outweighed the other six taken together. between the states of holland and the states-general there was constant jealousy and friction. and yet strangely enough the states of holland themselves were not really representative of the people of that province, but only of the limited, self-coopting burgher aristocracies of certain towns, each of which with its rights and liberties had a quasi-independence of its own. foremost among these was the great commercial capital, amsterdam, whose rich burgher patriciate did not scruple on occasion to defy the authority of the states-general, the stadholder and even of the states of holland themselves. the position in 1650. the question of disbanding the forces. the prisoners of loevenstein. sudden death of william ii. the states of holland had, in the years that followed the truce of 1609, measured their strength with that of the states-general, but the issue had been decided conclusively in favour of the federal authority by the sword of maurice. the party and the principles of oldenbarneveldt, however, though crushed, were not extinguished, and though frederick henry by his personal influence and prudent statesmanship had been able to surmount the difficulties placed in his way, he had had to encounter at times strong opposition, and had been much hampered in the conduct both of his campaigns and of his policy. with the conclusion of the peace of munster and the death of the veteran stadholder the struggle for predominance in the union between the orange-federalist and the hollander states-rights parties was certain to be renewed. the moment seemed to be favourable for the assertion of provincial sovereignty because of the youth and inexperience of the new prince of orange. but william ii., though little more than a boy, was endowed with singular capacity and great strength of will, and he was intent upon ambitious projects, the scope of which has been already indicated. the collision came, which was perhaps inevitable. the states-general in the disbanding of the forces wished to retain the _cadres_ of the regiments complete in case of a renewal of the war. the states of holland objected, and, although the army was a federal force, gave orders for the general disbanding of the troops in the pay of the province. the officers refused to obey any orders but those of the council of state of the union. the provincial states, on their part, threatened them with loss of pay. at this juncture the states-general, as in 1618, appointed a commission headed by the prince of orange to visit the towns of holland, and provide for the maintenance of order and the upholding of the union. both parties put themselves in the wrong, the province by refusing its quota to the federal war-sheet, the generality by dealing with individual towns instead of with the states of the province. the visitation was a failure. the town councils, though most of them willing to receive william in his capacity as stadholder, declined to give a hearing to the commission. amsterdam refused absolutely to admit either stadholder or commission. in these circumstances william resolved upon strong measures. six leading members of the states of holland were seized (30th of july 1650) and imprisoned in loevenstein castle, and troops under the command of william frederick, stadholder of friesland, were sent to surprise amsterdam. but the town council had been warned, and the gates were shut and guarded. the _coup d'etat_ nevertheless was completely successful. the anti-orange party, remembering the fate of oldenbarneveldt, were stricken with panic at the imprisonment of their leaders. the states of holland and the town council of amsterdam gave in their submission. the prisoners were released, and public thanks were rendered to the prince by the various provincial states for "his great trouble, care and prudence." william appeared to be master of the situation but his plans for future action were never to be carried into effect. busily engaged in secret negotiations with france, he had retired to his hunting seat at dieren, when he fell ill with smallpox on the 27th of october. a few days later he expired at the hague (6th of november), aged but twenty-four years. a week after his death, his widow, the princess mary of england, gave birth to a son who, as william