Gelderland declared that the Stadtholdership in those provinces should also be hereditary.

The services of Frederick Henry to his country as general and statesman were of peculiar importance. His aim was to give to the Republic, open as it was on south and east to military attack, a more secure frontier. His capture of 's Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) in 1629 and of Breda in 1637 gave to the States the possession of North Brabant, as a glacis to cover the "water-line" of the lower Rhine (Waal) and Lower Meuse. In 1632 he took Maastricht, Venlo, and Roermond, thus obtaining control of the middle Meuse and creating a bulwark on the eastern frontier. The death of Gustavus Adolphus and the defeat of Nördlingen. led to the conclusion of an offensive and defensive alliance with France in 1635. A last attempt by the Spaniards to wrest from the Dutch the dominion of the seas was crushed in the battle of the Downs (October 21, 1639). The fact that this action had taken place in English waters led to angry recriminations on the part of the English Government; but Charles I, having quarrelled with his Parliament, had no resources for taking decisive action. On the contrary, contenting himself with a protest, he thought it more prudent in the midst of his domestic troubles to unite the interests of his family with those of the House of Orange by the marriage of Mary, the Princess Royal (aged eight) with William (aged fourteen), the heir of Frederick Henry. The children were married on May 12, 1641.

The Stadholder completed his task of creating a defensive frontier for the Republic by the capture of Sas-van-Ghent in 1644 and of Hulst in 1645, thus securing a strip of Flanders on the left bank of the Scheldt, which, with Sluis already in their possession, gave to the States the complete control of the Scheldt estuary and shut out Antwerp from access to the sea. Frederick Henry died on March 14, 1647, but some years before this the dread of French aggrandisement had led him (despite a treaty of alliance which bound each of the parties not to make a separate peace) to

In this

enter into secret negotiations with Madrid. course he had the strong support of public opinion in Holland. The treaty was finally signed at Münster on January 30, 1648.

(viii) Treaty of Münster

The treaty of Münster brought the Eighty Years' War of Dutch Independence to a successful issue, and has served as the basis of all later negotiations. Its chief terms were as follows:-The United Provinces were recognised as a free, independent, and Sovereign State. The conquests in North Brabant, Maastricht and adjoining lands, and in Flanders, henceforth known as Generality Lands," were conceded to the Dutch. Freedom to trade within the limits of their charters was granted to the East and West India Companies, which were confirmed in the possession of the territories taken from the Portuguese in Brazil and of all their other settlements and trading posts in Asia, Africa, or America. No conditions were made in regard to the Catholic population of the Generality Lands. The States-General obtained the right to close the Scheldt.' To the House of Orange most advantageous terms were offered, and all their confiscated property was restored. The shadowy feudal relations with the Empire and the Germanic Diet were finally abolished. This followed from the ratification by the Emperor Ferdinand III of a treaty which declared the United Provinces to be "a free, independent, and Sovereign State."

II. THE UNITED PROVINCES FROM THE TREATY OF MUENSTER TO THE TREATY OF UTRECHT, 1648-1713

(i) Stadholderate of William II

William II, at the age of twenty-two, succeeded his father in all his dignities and offices. Able, ambitious,

1 The question of the Scheldt is dealt with in a separate Paper, No. 28 of this Series,

and daring, he was opposed to the peace with Spain, and was no sooner in possession of power than he began to enter into secret relations with the French Government with a view to a renewal of the war. He was, however, confronted with the stubborn opposition of the Estates of Holland, where the aristocratic burgherregent party was in the ascendant. The Hollanders

were determined to carry out the disbanding of the military forces in their pay and the reduction of the navy in a drastic manner. The States-General, by the votes of six provinces to one, rejected the proposals of Holland, and the Prince of Orange was compelled (in 1650) to suppress the Hollanders by force. But his sudden death (November 6) brought about a complete change in the political situation. As he left only an infant son,' born a week after his decease, the antiOrange or States Party at once lifted up its head again.

(ii) The Great Assembly. John de Witt, Grand

Pensionary

On the proposal of Holland, the States-General called together an extraordinary assembly to consider questions concerning the Union, religion, and military defence. The Great Assembly, as it was called, met on January 18, 1651, and agreed upon a policy of decentralisation. Holland, Zeeland, Overyssel, Utrecht, and Gelderland resolved henceforth not to elect a Stadholder; Friesland, however, remained true to its Stadholder, William Frederick of Nassau-Dietz, who was also elected Stadholder of Groningen with Drenthe. This meant that the United Provinces practically ceased to be a Federal State, and became a loose confederacy of seven semi-independent provinces. This

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1 William III, Prince of Orange, and from 1688 to 1702 King of England.

Grandson of William Louis, Stadholder of Friesland, and brother-in-law of William II, Prince of Orange. He was the ancestor of the present Dutch Royal Family.

state of things was accentuated by the abolition of the offices of Captain and Admiral-General of the Union, and by all troops being required to take the oath of fidelity to the province which was their paymaster, as well as to the States-General. What the Great Assembly really effected, however, was to place the predominant province of Holland in a position of hegemony in the republic. The decisive voice in the StatesGeneral was that of the oligarchic Estates of Holland, whose spokesman was the Grand Pensionary.

This

official, nominally the paid servant of the Estates, became, when he was an able man, by his influence and the multiplicity of his duties, really the First Minister of the Republic. It was fortunate for the United Provinces, at a most critical period in their history, that John de Witt, at the age of twenty-eight, was in 1653 elected Grand Pensionary of Holland.

(iii) First Anglo-Dutch War

De Witt's election took place during the first AngloDutch War. The English had many ancient grievances against the Dutch concerning fishery rights and other matters. Further, the execution of King Charles had aroused an intense popular feeling of hostility in Holland against the English Parliament. Cromwell, however, endeavoured to form, in the interests of Protestantism, a close alliance between the two republics, and in March 1651 sent an embassy to The Hague with this object. The mission was received with scarcely disguised hostility. Annoyed at this rebuff, the Parliament passed (October 1651) the famous Navigation Act, which forbade all foreign vessels to import into English harbours any goods not produced by the soil or native industries of their country. By this Act a

1 The office of Advocate of Holland, a life appointment with judicial functions, was abolished on the death of Oldenbarneveldt. His successors were styled Council Pensionaries (Raad Pensionaris), or by English and French writers Grand Pensionaries. The Council Pensionary was elected for five years only, but could be re-elected.

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fatal blow was struck at the Dutch carrying trade to the advantage of English seaborne commerce. The first Anglo-Dutch war ensued.

Both sides fought with great courage and obstinacy, but the war found the Dutch navy in a thoroughly neglected condition, and the superior size and equipment of the English ships gave them, after a long struggle with many vicissitudes of fortune, the final victory. When De Witt in March 1653 became Grand Pensionary, the situation in the United Provinces had become desperate. The war, however, dragged on until the spring of 1654. Cromwell, who had by this time become Lord Protector, was a strong advocate of peace, but the terms he proposed were severe. The Dutch were to pay an annual subsidy for the privilege of fishing on the British coasts, to maintain a limited number of ships, to strike the flag, and to permit the right of search in the narrow seas. A demand still more unpalatable was the exclusion of the Prince of Orange or any of his race from those civil and military offices in the Republic which his ancestors had held. This last demand was subsequently dropped on condition that the Grand Pensionary would obtain from the Estates of Holland a guarantee for the exclusion of the House of Orange from the Stadholdership and the post of Captain-General. The Treaty of Peace, thus modified, was signed on April 22, 1654. This achieved, the consent of the Estates of Holland to the Exclusion Act was subsequently obtained.

(iv) De Witt's masterly policy

In the years that followed the peace De Witt's great abilities and industry gradually placed in his hands an immense and ever-growing influence in the conduct of public affairs. He reorganised the finances and placed them in a sound condition. He fostered commerce to the utmost of his power. Nor was his energy less conspicuously displayed by the way in which, through the active intervention of the Dutch fleet, he countered the ambitious efforts of Charles Gustavus of