Prince Maurice of Orange

“ Deeply mortified by his failure to relieve Breda, which was blockaded by Spinola, Maurice fell seriously ill, and died on the 23rd of April 1625. He was succeeded in his dignities by his younger brother Frederick Henry (see Frederick 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. ”

“ Two hundred officers lived daily at his table. Great nobles and scions of sovereign houses were his pupils or satellites. The splendour of military despotism and the awe inspired by his unquestioned supremacy in what was deemed the greatest of all sciences invested the person of Maurice of Nassau with a grandeur which many a crowned potentate might envy. His ample appointments united with the spoils of war provided him with almost royal revenues, even before the death of his elder brother Philip William had placed in his hands the principality and wealthy possessions of Orange. ”

“ CHAPTER XVII TO THE DEATH OF PRINCE MAURICE A.D. 1619—1625 The Parties Of Arminianism quite subdued—Emigrations—Grotius resolves to attempt an Escape from Prison—Succeeds in his Attempt—He repairs to Paris, and publishes his "Apology"—Expiration of the Twelve Years' Truce—Death of Philip III. And of the Archduke Albert—War in Germany—Campaign between Prince Maurice and Spinola—Conspiracy against the Life of Prince Maurice—Its Failure—Fifteen of the Conspirators executed—Great Unpopularity of Maurice—Death of Maurice. ”

“ The alliance of this Duke, a near neighbour of the Palatinate, was very important, and in January 1639 Lord Leicester had proposed a marriage between him and the Princess Elizabeth. Further, he had suggested to King Charles that Maurice should take a command in Bernhard's army, for which, young though the Prince was, he believed him fitted. "For," said he, "besides that he has a body well-made, strong, and able to endure hardships, he hath a mind that will not let it be idle if he can have employment. ”

“ A reformer should be exempt from the suspicion of interest, and he must possess the confidence and esteem of those whom he proposes to reclaim. The troops of Maurice might listen to the voice of a victorious leader; they disdained the admonitions [151] of statesmen and sophists; and when they received an edict which deducted from their pay the price of their arms and clothing, they execrated the avarice of a prince insensible of the dangers and fatigues from which he had escaped.
The camps both of Asia and Europe were agitated with frequent and furious seditions ”

“ You get into good society, you have a respectable living, you may marry an heiress, or become tutor to a Prime Minister or a Prince. Outside the Church men of intellect generally have taken their p. 52stand, for it is perilous to tamper with convictions in order to maintain a position.
It is easy to see how, in Maurice’s own case, what power has been thrown away in this tantalizing task. Had he started fresh, with no creed for him to conform to, with no position to maintain, he would have been a far more vigorous thinker than he has ever been. ”

“ To take a glass of Holland’s gin,
To cheer our voice, and make us sing.
The Prince of Orange shall be King.
⁠Success attend our noble Guards,
And may they meet with good rewards,
The Prince of Orange to attend;
No doubt but he will be their friend.
So wives and sweethearts cease to mourn,
No fear but they will safe return;
So let your voices loudly ring,
The prince of Orange shall be King.
FINIS.
Falkirk—T. Johnston, Printer.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. ”

“ He was a man of more quickness and acuteness than his father had been, but if possible more mischievous both to friend and foe; being subtle, restless, intriguing, fickle; ambitious, and deceitful. The Prince of Orange was considered a man of very ordinary intelligence, not more than half witted, according to Queen Elizabeth, and it was probable that the peculiar circumstances of his life would extinguish any influence that he might otherwise have attained with either party. ”

“ A Prince de Saint-Maurice, son of the Prince de Montbarey, found it impossible to resist the storm, although he had the formal support of every distinguished character, and that of the Prince himself, who deigned to employ supplication in his favour, and said, ‘Alas! gentlemen, who is there that has not faults to reproach himself with in the Revolution? ”

“ Dread of her foes, and foremost of the plain;
Bright honour, and the em’rald isle, their cry,
To fall is glory—infamy to fly.
Mean time, brave Orange, mightiest of his name,
Spreads desolation o’er the field of Fame.
Great Prince! who, midst the thickest of the strife,
Led on by native ardour, risk’d his life.
Encompass’d round, amidst the hostile lines,
Th’ heroic youth his liberty resigns:
A Belgian troop rush timely in, to save260
The gallant chieftain from an early grave. ”

“ The Prince of Orange himself, as formidable in the heat of battle, as magnanimous after victory, became the protector of a number of brave fellows, who, having learned how to esteem him on the field of battle, had nobly invoked his support. ”

“ At these words methought there was trouble in her voice, and I wondered whether she was aware of the rumours whereof Prince Maurice had made mention in his letter to Sir Francis Vere.
She spoke of her dead husband, and of her living son, who was this night on guard at the wall.
"Had his father but lived," she said, "my boy had beyond question held great place, in the field or the council chamber; but now, alack! he trails a pike among the common men." ”

“ After Leicester's departure, Prince Maurice was, by the consent of the Union, chosen their Governour, but with a reservation to Queen Elizabeth; and enter'd that Command with the hopes, which he made good in the execution of it for many years; proving the greatest Captain of his Age, famous, particularly, in the Discipline and Ordonance of his Armies, and the ways of Fortification by him first invented or perfected, and since his time imitated by all. ”

“ She believed the men before her, and those whom they represented, to be greedy, jealous self-seekers, and she despised them as mere worldly courtiers; but to the Prince of Orange's argument she was obliged to listen. She was shrewd enough to see that these men knew the Netherlanders as neither she, Philip, nor Granvelle did; and she respected the abilities of the Prince of Orange.
She stood eyeing them all; her hand on her hip, her head well up.
"We cannot obey His Majesty in both things," continued William. "We cannot enforce the edicts and raise the revenues." ”

“ Maurice protected the troublesome diplomatist. "'Tis incredible," said the French ambassador "how covertly Prince Maurice is carrying himself, contrary to his wont, in this whole affair. I don't know whether it is from simple jealousy to Barneveld, or if there is some mystery concealed below the surface."
Du Maurier had accordingly been obliged to ask his government for distinct and official instructions. "He holds to his place," said he, "by so slight and fragile a root as not to require two hands to pluck him up, the little finger being enough. ”

“ The prince of Orange, throughout his whole life, was peculiarly happy in the situations in which he was placed. He saved his own country from ruin, he restored the liberties of these kingdoms, he supported the general independency of Europe. And thus, though his virtue, it is confessed, be not the purest which we meet with in history, it will be difficult to find any person whose actions and conduct have contributed more eminently to the general interests of society and of mankind. ”

“ Moore is back. Nobody likes to lose touch of the public more than he can help, you know; and if they're always expecting you back, that's something. Good-bye!"
Maurice accompanied her down-stairs and to the door; then he returned to the sitting-room and to his private meditations. For this brief interview had been of the keenest interest to him; he had studied every expression of her face, listened to every intonation of her voice; almost forced, in spite of himself, to admire her magnificent nerve. But now, of course, in recalling all these things, he was thinking of Francie ”

“ Men feared to defend him lest they too should be accused of being stipendiaries of Spain. It was a piteous spectacle; not for the venerable statesman sitting alone there in his prison, but for the Republic in its lunacy, for human nature in its meanness and shame. He whom Count Lewis, although opposed to his politics, had so lately called one of the two columns on which the whole fabric of the States reposed, Prince Maurice being the other, now lay prostrate in the dust and reviled of all men. ”

“ They don't seem in England to understand the difference between Prince Maurice in his relations to our state and that of Marquis Spinola to his superiors. Try to make them comprehend it. A promise from the Emperor, King of Spain, and the princes of the League, such as his Majesty in his wisdom has proposed to Spinola, would be most tranquillizing for all the Protestant princes and estates of the Empire, especially for the Elector and Electress Palatine, and for ourselves. ”

“ Orange was accustomed to observe, that men of leisure might occupy themselves with philosophical pursuits and with the secrets of nature, but that it was his business to study the hearts of kings. He knew the man and the woman with whom he had to deal. We have seen enough of the policy secretly pursued by Philip and Margaret to appreciate the accuracy with which the Prince, groping as it were in the dark, had judged the whole situation. Had his friends taken his warnings, they might have lived to render services against tyranny. ”

“ A man who, in Elizabethan times, would have sailed the Spanish main and thrashed the Dons; who, in later years, would have delighted in Jacobite conspiracies; who would have fought his way to a marshal’s baton when Napoleon led the armies of France: in fact, one of those men who find no outlet for their energies in the leading-strings of civilization, but who, in a lawless life, develop those qualities whereof heroes are made. Maurice was good-looking enough in an ordinary fashion, but he had none of the power and daring in his face, such as showed so conspicuously in his uncle’s countenance. ”

“ Maurice was captain-general and admiral-general of five provinces. He appointed to governments and to all military office. He had a share of appointment to the magistracies. He had the same advantages and the same authority as had been enjoyed in the Netherlands by the ancient sovereign counts, by the dukes of Burgundy, by Emperor Charles V. himself.
Every one now was in favour of increasing his pensions, his salaries, his material splendour. Should he succeed in seizing the sovereignty, men would envy him even to the ribbands of his pages' and his lackeys' shoes. ”

“ MARY OF ORANGE (1631–1660) , eldest daughter of the English king Charles I., was born in London on the 4th of November 1631. Her father wished her to marry a son of Philip IV., king of Spain, while her cousin, the elector palatine, Charles Louis, was also a suitor for her hand, but both proposals fell through and she became the wife of a Dutch prince, William, son of Frederick Henry, prince of Orange. ”

“ Before he could conceal the treasure a man near him saw it and smote it out of his hand, at the same time striking the skryer a blow that made him stagger.
"No thieves in this company!" he shouted; "we are not thieves but avengers!"
251 CHAPTER XI
THE PRINCE RESIGNS Ever since he had, on the fall of Cardinal Granvelle, risen to prominence in the governing of the Netherlands, William of Orange had endeavoured to steer between party and party, to behave with moderation and temperance, to extend one hand to the Catholics and one to the Reformers and lead both to concord. ”

“ How exquisite and refined a piece of wit, to call the man he hated, the idol of the king of Germany! for the emperor certainly held in high estimation Maurice’s skill in literature and politics. He was, as I have said, bishop of Brague, a city of Spain: a man whom any one might highly reverence, and almost venerate, for his active and unwearied assiduity; had he not been led to make himself conspicuous by so disgraceful an act: nor would he have hesitated to purchase the holy see, if he could have found as desperate a seller as he was a buyer. ”

“ But when he in turn related the Duke's anger with him, and his commands to quit the citadel--when he told her all the destitution of his situation--and hopelessness of winning her when all his fortune on the earth was his sword and a thousand crowns, Marie de la Roche wept no more, but drying her bright eyes, she put her hand in his, saying, "St. Maurice, we will go together! We love each other, and nobody in the world cares aught about us--my uncle casts us both off--but my inheritance must sooner or later be mine, and we will take our lot together!" ”

“ March 18, 1552, Maurice published his manifesto, justifying his conduct; and his reasons were, to secure the Protestant religion, to maintain the constitution of the empire, and deliver the Landgrave of Hesse from bondage. He was powerfully supported by the French king, and, with a rapidly increasing army, marched towards Innspruck, where the emperor was quartered. Misfortunes of Charles. The emperor was thunderstruck when he heard the tidings of his desertion, and was in no condition to resist him. He endeavored to gain time by negotiations, but these were without effect. ”