“You bore yourselves very well to-day against great odds, and for the discomforts you endure I am sorry, but I do tell you this, you shall have food soon, for if the city of Utrecht is false we will get provisions from Amsterdam, for I have sent there to raise money on my private credit, and as long as I have a guilder you shall not starve. Now for another matter. I hear some of you talk of deserting to King Louis; now any man who does that is a coward and a traitor and a fool, for the French are unjust and cruel masters, and would make slaves of you—a thing which is hateful to you.
“For love of liberty is a strong thing in this country, and ye were born free.…
“My great-grandfather made this State, rescuing it from the most bloody tyranny of Rome, and the Princes of his race have always followed his example, to the great good of this people, and while I lead you, I tell you, you shall never be slaves nor subjected to France.
“And I pray you to be of good hope and of a cheerful spirit, for certainly I will deliver you from foreign dominion.
“Alva, Don Juan, Farnese failed, and shall Turenne and Condé succeed?… Philip was a great king, but we bitterly repulsed him, with God’s grace and some valour.
“Think of these things, for they will hearten you and make you see how impossible it is that you should forsake your liberty and your religion, which are such holy things that to die for them would be a noble death, and no one but a very paltry man fears to die well.…
“Now, I ask you to ponder what I have said, and obey your officers and do your duty; and such of you as do not I will certainly hang, for he who is not repentant now is no better than a traitor.
“And as for what I have said about the provisions, you have my word on it, and therefore may rest tranquil, for I am Nassau.”
As he finished there was a murmur and a sound of many men drawing their breath.
“Ye who are obedient, lay down your arms,” said the Prince.