James Edwin Thorold Rogers

“ Every one who was interested in the art of war, visited during the course of the siege the fortifications of the town, or the trenches of the besieging army, and generally took part in the struggle on one side or the other. In the town at least a fourth part of the defenders were Englishmen, whom the Queen kept reinforcing. The garrison was commanded by Sir Francis Vere, one of those military adventurers of high birth, who attached himself early to the fortunes of the Dutch Republic and the service of Maurice. ”

“ The successor of Philip the Second, whose life was a long war against civil and religious liberty, was his son of the same name. No two persons could be more different than father and son. The old king insisted on transacting all the business of the vast empire over which he ruled himself. ”

“ The battle was fought on Sunday, July 2nd, on the sea-coast and sandhills. After various changes, in which the battle seemed lost or won, a final charge of the republican cavalry decided the day, and the Spanish forces fled in confusion. The Archduke escaped with difficulty, and his army was annihilated. But no other result of the victory ensued. The Dutch and their allies had proved that they could make a stand against the Spanish veterans, and defeat them in a drawn battle. They had already proved to be their masters at sea. ”

“ But these successes, and particularly the capture of Calais and certain adjacent forts, assisted in making the alliance between Elizabeth, Henry of France, and the Dutch more intimate and sincere. So important did these successes seem, that in 1596 Philip sent a second armada with a view to the invasion of England, eight years after the first had failed. Like the former, it was destroyed by a tempest. But in 1597 Maurice won the decisive battle of Turnhout, and for a time annihilated the Spanish army. ”

“ In most of the commercial cities of Europe merchants and bankers were ruined by scores. Frankfort and Genoa were impoverished, and Antwerp was despoiled of all that had been left to it, by frequent plunderings. ”