BORN 1567, DIED 1625.
By Miereveldt.
[1]. ERRATUM: for “In armour” read “In fuller dress than usual.”
THE second son of William, Prince of Orange, surnamed ‘the Silent’ by Anne of Saxony, who was repudiated on account of her misconduct. Maurice was born at the Castle of Dillenbourg; his elder brother, Philip, had been kidnapped from school, and carried to Spain, where he became (says Motley) so completely Hispaniolised, both in appearance and inclinations, as to lose all feeling of patriotism. But his filial love was never eradicated, and on one occasion, when a Spanish officer presumed to speak slightly of his illustrious father, Philip flung the offender headlong from the window of the palace, and killed him on the spot. It was on the 10th of July 1584 that the hand of a hired assassin cut short the career of one of the greatest and best men that had ever illuminated the page of history; Maurice was at that time pursuing his education at Leyden; and the boy’s tutors had received strict orders not to allow him to stray by the sea-shore, lest his brother’s fate should befall him, as it was from that place Philip had been stolen. William had died deeply in debt; he had spent his revenues in the service of his beloved country, and at his death there was no ready money for his widow (Louisa de Coligny), the step-children to whom she was fondly attached, or her own infant son. The Prince’s effects were sold for the good of his creditors,—plate, furniture, tapestries, his very clothes; but this done, the States-General came forward liberally, and settled a good allowance on the Princess and her charges. For Maurice (whom they selected as his father’s successor) they provided most generously, and, impressed by his promising qualities, and the earnestness and decision of purpose which he early evinced, they offered to place him at the head of the States Council, a provisional executive board, for the government of those Provinces comprised in the union. He was doubtless a remarkable youth. A letter to Queen Elizabeth extols ‘this flaxen-haired, gentle boy of seventeen years, his towardness, good presence, courage, singular wit, and learning,’ while another account describes ‘his chiselled features, full red lips, dark blue eyes (elsewhere they are called hazel) with a concentration above his years.’ He was universally pronounced to resemble his maternal grandfather, the celebrated Maurice of Saxony, both in appearance and character, and in nowise to favour his mother, who had been pale and deformed. When offered the important post Maurice took two days to consider; but he was not one to shrink from responsibility, and his acceptance was dignified and modest. He had already selected a device and motto, and nobly did he redeem the pledge in its wider sense: a fallen oak, with a young sapling springing from it, ‘Tandem fit surculus arbor.’ And verily the twig soon became a tree, and a noble one.
The country so lately, and now only partially, emancipated from the detested yoke of Spain, looked anxiously round for alliance with some foreign power, to assist in opposing King Philip and his formidable generals.
Negotiations were commenced, and carried on at great length, with France, to whose king the sovereignty of the Provinces was offered. Against this measure Maurice made a most spirited and eloquent appeal to the Council: he dwelt on all the evils which would accrue from such a step, reminding his hearers of the services which his family had rendered, and the misfortunes they had undergone in the cause of patriotism; furthermore, how nearly they had bestowed the sovereignty on his late father,—beseeching them not to forget the interests of the house of Nassau; and he concluded by assuring them, that, young and inexperienced as he was, he trusted that his zeal and devotion might be of some avail to his country. His speech was much applauded for its eloquence; but the negotiations with France were not discontinued, although after a time they were transferred to England. It seems certain that the youthful ruler indulged in early hopes of securing the title of King for himself, but, in default of this, he appears to have leaned to the notion of the government of Elizabeth, in preference to that of any other alien. She had always been a staunch upholder of Protestantism, had been generous to his family in financial matters, and had always expressed herself in friendly terms towards the house of Orange; besides, England was a powerful and desirable ally. Notwithstanding all these considerations, Maurice did not, as he pithily expressed himself, ‘wish to be strangled in the great Queen’s embrace.’
Bess was a coquette in politics as well as love, and for a time seemed inclined to listen to the overtures made her by the States-General, but she finally refused. Desirous, however, of exercising some influence in the country, she sent over her prime favourite, the Earl of Leicester (with his gallant nephew, Sir Philip Sidney), at the head of a large contingent of British troops. He had stringent rules laid down for his conduct, most of which he infringed. Not long after his arrival he was inaugurated in the post of Governor-General of the United Provinces, with supreme military command by land and sea, and authority in matters civil and political. In these capacities the States proffered him an oath of fidelity, a step in which Maurice himself was reluctantly compelled to join. Leicester’s whole conduct in the Netherlands was actuated by overweening ambition and the basest covetousness; while in accepting such high-sounding titles he incurred the Queen’s anger,—‘acting in direct opposition,’ says Motley, ‘to the commands of the most imperious woman in the world.’
A courtier at home, no way friendly to the arrogant favourite, told Elizabeth how Leicester’s head was turned by the honours heaped on him, and how he had sent over to England to bid his Countess join him, with a suite, and all appliances, in order to form a Court equal in splendour to her own. ‘Indeed!’ was the angry reply; ‘we will teach the upstarts that there is but one Queen, and her name is Elizabeth; and they shall have no other Court but hers!’
To return to Maurice: John Barneveldt (who had constituted himself the youth’s political guardian), although opposed to the idea of his elevation to a throne, stoutly advocated his nomination to the post of Stadtholder, a measure that was carried after a severe struggle. It was by the side of this trusty friend that the young Prince first went into action; but his first military achievement was planned and carried into execution jointly with Sir Philip Sidney, namely, the taking of Axel, an important stronghold, which they carried without the loss of a single man in the combined forces of the English and Dutch troops.