mistress martin was much troubled in her mind by what seemed to her the unaccountable favour with which her husband had received ned's proposal. she did not, however, allow any trace of this feeling to escape her, nor did she mention to ned that she had as yet spoken as to his wishes to his father. the next day captain martin himself renewed the subject.
"i told you yesterday, sophie, why in my opinion ned would at present be of little aid to me in the matter of the brig, and may even go further in that respect and say that i think for a time it will be just as well that he were not on board. having no established position there would be no special duties for him to perform. now, i have made a point of telling him all about the consignments and the rates of freight, and have encouraged him always to express his opinion freely on these matters in order that his intelligence might thereby be quickened; but if he so expressed himself to the supercargo the latter might well take offence and difficulties arise, therefore before you spoke to me i had quite resolved that it would be best he should sail no more in the good venture until old enough to come in and take the place of second mate and supercargo, but that i would place him with some captain of my acquaintance, under whom he would continue to learn his duty for the next three or four years."
"that is a good reason, doubtless, husband, why ned should not sail in the venture, but surely no reason at all why he should carry out this mad fancy of his."
"no reason, i grant you, wife; but it simply shows that it happens at this moment we can well spare him. as to the main question, it is a weighty one. other young englishmen have come out to fight for the netherlands with far less cause than he has to mix themselves up in its affairs. moreover, and this principally, it is borne strongly upon my mind that it may be that this boy of ours is called upon to do good service to holland. it seems to me wife," he went on, in answer to the look of astonishment upon his wife's face, "that the hand of providence is in this matter.
"i have always felt with you a hatred of the spaniards and a deep horror at the cruelties they are perpetrating upon this unhappy people, and have thought that did the queen give the order for war against them i would gladly adventure my life and ship in such an enterprise; further than that i have not gone. but upon that day when i heard the news of your father and brothers' murder i took a solemn oath to heaven of vengeance against their slayers, and resolved that on my return to england i would buy out my partners in the good venture, and with her join the beggars of the sea and wage war to the death against the spaniards. it has been willed otherwise, wife. within twenty-four hours of my taking that oath i was struck down and my fighting powers were gone forever.
"my oath was not accepted. i was not to be an instrument of god's vengeance upon these murderers. now, our son, without word or consultation with me, feels called upon to take up the work i cannot perform. it happens strangely that he can for the next two or three years be well spared from his life at sea. that the boy will do great feats i do not suppose; but he is cool and courageous, for i marked his demeanour under fire the other day. and it may be that though he may do no great things in fighting he may be the means in saving some woman, some child, from the fury of the spaniards. if he saved but one, the next three years of his life will not have been misspent."
"but he may fall--he may be killed by the spaniards!" mistress martin said in great agitation.
"if it be the will of god, wife, not otherwise. he is exposed to danger every time he goes to sea. more than once since he first came on board, the venture has been in dire peril; who can say that her next voyage may not be her last. however, i decide nothing now; tomorrow i will speak to the boy myself and gather from his words whether this is a mere passing fancy, natural enough to his age and to the times, or a deep longing to venture his life in the cause of a persecuted people whose blood runs in his veins, and who have a faith which is his own and ours."
mrs. martin said no more; her husband's will had, since she married, been in all matters of importance law to her, and was more so than ever now that he lay weak and helpless. his words and manner too had much impressed her. her whole sympathies were passionately with her countrymen, and the heavy losses she had so recently sustained had added vastly to her hatred of the spaniards. the suggestion, too, of her husband that though ned might do no great deeds as a soldier he might be the means of saving some woman or child's life, appealed to her womanly feelings.
she had girls of her own, and the thought that one of like age might possibly be saved from the horrors of the sack of a city by ned's assistance appealed to her with great force. she went about the house for the rest of the day subdued and quiet. ned was puzzled at her demeanour, and had he not seen for himself that his father was progressing satisfactorily he would have thought that some relapse had taken place, some unfavourable symptom appeared. but this was clearly not the reason, and he could only fancy that now his mother's anxiety as to his father's state was in some degree abating, she was beginning to feel the loss of her father and brothers all the more.
that the request she had promised to make in his name to his father had anything to do with the matter did not enter his mind. indeed, he had begun to regret that he had made it. not that his intense longing to take service against the spaniards was in any way abated, but he felt it was selfish, now that he might for the first time be of real use to his parents, for him thus to propose to embark in adventures on his own account. he had asked his mother to put the matter before his father, but he had scarce even a hope the latter would for a moment listen to the proposal. the next morning after breakfast, as he was about to start for a stroll to the wharf to have a talk with peters, his mother said to him quietly: "put aside your cap, ned, your father wishes to speak to you."
she spoke so gravely that ned ascended the stairs in some perturbation of spirit. doubtless she had spoken to his father, and the latter was about to rate him severely for his folly in proposing to desert his duty, and to embark in so wild an adventure as that he had proposed. he was in no way reassured by the grave tone in which his father said:
"place that chair by my bedside, ned, and sit down; my voice is not strong and it fatigues me to speak loud. and now," he went on, when ned with a shamefaced expression had seated himself by the bedside, "this desire that your mother tells me of to fight against the spaniards for a time in the service of the prince of orange, how did it first come to you?"
"ever since i heard the terrible story of the persecutions here," ned replied. "i said to myself then that when i came to be a man i would take revenge for these horrible murders. since then the more i have heard of the persecutions that the people here have suffered in the cause of their religion, the more i have longed to be able to give them such aid as i could. i have spoken of it over and over again to my sisters; but i do not think that i should ever have ventured to put my desire into words, had it not been for the terrible news we learnt at vordwyk. now, however, that they have killed my grandfather and uncles and have wounded you, i long more than ever to join the patriots here; and of course the knowledge that many young englishmen were coming out to brill and flushing as volunteers added to my desire. i said to myself if they who are english are ready to give their lives in the cause of the hollanders, why should not i, who speak their language and am of their blood?"
"you have no desire to do great deeds or to distinguish yourself?" captain martin asked.
"no, father; i have never so much as thought of that. i could not imagine that i, as a boy, could be of any great service. i thought i might, perhaps, being so young, be able to be of use in passing among the spaniards and carrying messages where a man could not get through. i thought sometimes i might perhaps carry a warning in time to enable women to escape with their children from a town that was about to be beleaguered, and i hoped that if i did stand in the ranks to face the spaniards i should not disgrace my nation and blood. i know, father, that it was presumptuous for me to think that i could be of any real use; and if you are against it i will, of course, as i told my mother, submit myself cheerfully to your wishes."
"i am glad to see, ned, that in this matter you are actuated by right motives, and not moved by any boyish idea of adventure or of doing feats of valour. this is no ordinary war, my boy. there is none of the chivalry of past times in the struggle here. it is one of life and death--grim, earnest, and determined. on one side is philip with the hosts of spain, the greatest power in europe, determined to crush out the life of these poor provinces, to stamp out the religion of the country, to leave not one man, woman, or child alive who refuses to attend mass and to bow the knee before the papist images; on the other side you have a poor people tenanting a land snatched from the sea, and held by constant and enduring labour, equally determined that they will not abjure their religion, that they will not permit the inquisition to be established among them, and ready to give lives and homes and all in the cause of religious liberty. they have no thought of throwing off their allegiance to spain, if spain will but be tolerant. the prince of orange issues his orders and proclamations as the stadtholder and lieutenant of the king, and declares that he is warring for philip, and designs only to repel those who, by their persecution and cruelty, are dishonouring the royal cause.
"this cannot go on forever, and in time the netherlands will be driven to entreat some other foreign monarch to take them under his protection. in this war there is no talk of glory. men are fighting for their religion, their homes, their wives and families. they know that the spaniards show neither quarter nor mercy, and that it is scarce more than a question between death by the sword and death by torture and hanging. there is no mercy for prisoners. the town that yields on good conditions is sacked and destroyed as is one taken by storm, for in no case have the spaniards observed the conditions they have made, deeming oaths taken to heretics to be in no way binding on their consciences.
"thus, ned, those who embark upon this war engage in a struggle in which there is no honour nor glory, nor fame nor reward to be won, but one in which almost certain death stares them in the face, and which, so far as i can see, can end only in the annihilation of the people of this country, or in the expulsion of the spaniards. i do not say that there is no glory to be gained; but it is not personal glory. in itself, no cause was ever more glorious than that of men who struggle, not to conquer territory, not to gather spoil, not to gratify ambition, but for freedom, for religion, for hearth and home, and to revenge the countless atrocities inflicted upon them by their oppressors. after what i have said, do you still wish to embark upon this struggle?"
"i do wish it, father," ned said firmly. "i desire it above all things, if you and my mother can spare me."
captain martin then repeated to ned the reasons that he had given his wife for consenting to his carrying out his wishes: the fact that there was no place for him at present on board the good venture, the oath of vengeance upon the spaniards that he had taken, and his impression that although he himself could not carry out that oath, its weight had been transferred to his son, whose desire to take up the work he had intended to carry out, just at this moment, seemed to him to be a special design of providence.
"now ned," he concluded, "you understand the reasons that sway me in giving my consent to your desire to do what you can for the cause of religion and liberty. i do not propose that you should at present actually take up arms that i question if you are strong enough to wield. i will pray the burgomaster to give you letters of introduction to the prince, saying you are a young englishman ready and desirous of doing all that lies in your power for the cause; that you speak the language as a native, and will be ready to carry his messages wheresoever he may require them to be sent; that you can be relied upon to be absolutely faithful, and have entered the cause in no light spirit or desire for personal credit or honour, but as one who has suffered great wrong in the loss of near relatives at the hands of the spaniards, and is wishful only of giving such services as he can to the cause.
"it may be that coming with such recommendation the prince will see some way in which he can turn your services to account. and now leave me, my boy. i am wearied with all this talking; and although i deem that it is not my duty to withstand your wishes, it is no slight trial to see my only son embark in so terrible and perilous an adventure as this. but the cause i regard as a sacred one, and it seems to me that i have no right to keep you from entering upon it, as your mind lies that way."
ned left the room greatly impressed with his father's words. he was glad indeed that the permission he had asked for had been granted, and that he was free to devote himself to the cause so dear to most englishmen, and doubly so to him from his relations with the country. sailing backwards and forwards to the various ports in the netherlands, and able to hold intercourse with all he met, he had for years been listening to tales of atrocity and horror, until he had come to regard the spaniards as human monsters, and to long with all his heart and strength to be able to join the oppressed people against their tyrants.
now he had got permission to do so. but he felt more than he had done before the serious nature of the step which he was taking; and although he did not for a moment regret the choice he had made, he was conscious of its importance and of the solemn nature of the duties he took upon himself in thus engaging in the struggle between the netherlands and spain. he passed the room where his mother was sitting, went over and kissed her, and then taking his cap passed out into the street and mounted the ramparts, where he could think undisturbed. his father's words had not shaken his determination, although they had depressed his enthusiasm; but as he paced up and down, with the fresh air from the sea blowing upon his cheek, the feeling of youth and strength soon sent the blood dancing through his veins again. his cheeks flushed, and his eyes brightened.
"there is honour and glory in the struggle," he said. "did not the people, old and young, pour out to the crusades to wrest jerusalem from the hands of the infidels? this is a more glorious task. it is to save god's followers from destruction; to succour the oppressed; to fight for women and children as well as for men. it is a holier and nobler object than that for which the crusaders fought. they died in hundreds of thousands by heat, by famine, thirst, and the swords of the enemy. few of those who fought ever returned home to reap glory for their deeds; but there was honour for those who fell. and in the same spirit in which even women and children left their homes, and went in crowds to die for the holy sepulchre, so will i venture my life for religion and freedom here."
an hour later he returned home; he could see that his mother had been crying.
"mother," he said, "i trust you will not grieve over this. i have been thinking how the women of the early days sent their husbands and sons and lovers to fight for the holy sepulchre. i think that this cause is an even greater and more noble one; and feel sure that though you may be anxious, you will not grudge me to do my best for our religion and country people."
"truly i think it is a holy cause, my boy; and after what your father has said, i would not if i could say nay. i can only pray that heaven will bless and keep you, and one day restore you to me. but you will not be always fighting, ned. there is no saying how long the struggle may last; and if i let you go, it is with the promise that at one-and-twenty at the latest you will return to us, and take your place again as your father's right hand and mine."
"i promise you, mother, that then, or if at any time before that you write and say to me come home, i will come."
"i am content with that," his mother said.
that afternoon ned told peters what had been decided, and the following morning the latter had a long talk with captain martin, who directed him to apply to the other owners of the ship to appoint him an able first mate, and also to choose one of their clerks in whom they had confidence to sail in the vessel as supercargo.
"the doctors tell me, peters, that in two or three months i may be able to return home and to get about on crutches; but they advise me that it will be at least another four months before i can strap on a wooden leg and trust my weight to it. when i can do that, i shall see how i can get about. you heard from ned last night that he is going to enter as a sort of volunteer under the prince of orange?"
"yes, he told me, captain martin. he is a lad of spirit; and if i were fifteen years younger i would go with him."
"he is young for such work yet," captain martin said doubtfully.
"he is a strong youth, captain martin, and can do a man's work. his training at sea has made him steady and cool; and i warrant me, if he gets into danger, he will get out again if there is a chance. i only hope, captain martin, that the brush we have had with the spaniards will not be our last, and that we too may be in the way of striking a blow at the spaniards."
"i hope that we may, peters," captain martin said earnestly. "my mind is as much bent upon it as is ned's; and i will tell you what must at present be known only to yourself, that i have made up my mind that if i recover, and can take command of the good venture again, i will buy up the other shares, so that i can do what i like with her without accounting to any man. i need not do so much on board as i used to do, but will get you a good second mate, and will myself only direct. then we will, as at present, trade between london and the netherlands; but if, as is likely enough, the spaniards and hollanders come to blows at sea, or the prince needs ships to carry troops to beleaguered towns, then for a time we will quit trading and will join with the good venture, and strike a blow at sea."
"that is good hearing, captain martin," peters said, rubbing his hands. "i warrant me you will not find one of the crew backward at that work, and for my part i should like nothing better than to tackle a spaniard who does not carry more than two or three times our own strength. the last fellow was a good deal too big for us, but i believe if we had stuck to him we should have beaten him in the end, big as he was."
"perhaps we might, peters; but the ship was not mine to risk then, and we had cargo on board. if, in the future, we meet a spaniard when the ship is mine to venture, and our hold is clear, the good venture shall not show him her stern i warrant you, unless he be big enough to eat us."
on the following day the good venture set sail for england, and the burgomaster having received a message from captain martin, praying him to call upon him, paid him a visit. captain martin unfolded his son's plans to him, and prayed him to furnish him with a letter to the prince recommending him as one who might be trusted, and who was willing to risk his life upon any enterprise with which he might intrust him. this the burgomaster at once consented to do.
"younger lads than he," he said, "have fought stoutly on the walls of some of our towns against the spaniards; and since such is his wish, i doubt not he will be able to do good service. all holland has heard how your ship beat off the don pedro; and the fact that the lad is your son, and took part in the fight, will at once commend him to the prince. all englishmen are gladly received; not only because they come to fight as volunteers on our side, but as a pledge that the heart of england is with us, and that sooner or later she will join us in our struggle against spain. and doubtless, as you say, the fact that the lad is by his mother's side one of us, and that he can converse in both our language and yours with equal ease, is greatly in his favour. tomorrow i will furnish him with letters to the prince, and also to two or three gentlemen of my acquaintances, who are in the prince's councils."
when the burgomaster had left, captain martin called ned in.
"now, you are going as a volunteer, ned, and for a time, at any rate, there must be no question of pay; you are giving your services and not selling them. in the first place you must procure proper attire, in which to present yourself to the prince; you must also purchase a helmet, breast and back pieces, with sword and pistols. as for money, i shall give you a purse with sufficient for your present needs, and a letter which you can present to any of the merchants in the seaports with whom we have trade, authorizing you to draw upon me, and praying them to honour your drafts. do not stint yourself of money, and do not be extravagant. your needs will be small, and when serving in a garrison or in the field you will, of course, draw rations like others. i need not give you a list of the merchants in the various towns, since you already know them, and have been with me at many of their places of business.
"in regard to your actions, i say to you do not court danger, but do not avoid it. the cause is a good one, and you are risking your life for it; but remember also that you are an only son, and there are none to fill your place if you fall. therefore be not rash; keep always cool in danger, and if there is a prospect of escape seize it promptly. remember that your death can in no way benefit holland, while your life may do so; therefore do not from any mistaken sense of heroism throw away your life in vain defence, when all hope of success is over, but rather seek some means of escape by which, when all is lost, you can manage to avoid the vengeance of the spaniards. i fear that there will be many defeats before success can be obtained, for there is no union among the various states or cities.
"holland and zeeland alone seem in earnest in the cause, though friesland and guelderland will perhaps join heartily; but these provinces alone are really protestant, in the other the catholics predominate, and i fear they will never join heartily in resistance to spain. how this narrow strip of land by the sea is to resist all the power of spain i cannot see; but i believe in the people and in their spirit, and am convinced that sooner than fall again into the grasp of the inquisition they will open the sluices and let the sea in over the country they have so hardly won from it, and will embark on board ship and seek in some other country that liberty to worship god in their own way that is denied them here."
it was not necessary to purchase many articles of clothing, for the dress of the people of holland differed little from that of the english. ned bought a thick buff jerkin to wear under his armour, and had little difficulty in buying steel cap, breast and back piece, sword and pistols; for the people of holland had not as yet begun to arm generally, and many of the walls were defended by burghers in their citizen dress, against the mail clad pikemen of spain.
three days later ned took a tearful farewell of his family, and set sail in a small vessel bound for rotterdam, where the prince of orange at present was. the voyage was made without adventure, and upon landing ned at once made his way to the house occupied by the prince. there were no guards at the gate, or any sign of martial pomp. the door stood open, and when ned entered a page accosted him and asked his business.
"i have letters for the prince," he said, "which i pray you to hand to him when he is at leisure."
"in that case you would have to wait long," the page replied, "for the prince is at work from early morning until late at night. however, he is always open of access to those who desire to see him, therefore if you will give me the name of the writer of the letter you bear i will inform him, and you can then deliver it yourself." a minute later ned was shown into the presence of the man who was undoubtedly the foremost of his age.
born of a distinguished family, william of orange had been brought up by a pious mother, and at the age of twelve had become a page in the family of the emperor charles. so great was the boy's ability, that at fifteen he had become the intimate and almost confidential friend of the emperor, who was a keen judge of merit.
before he reached the age of twenty-one he was named commander in chief of the army on the french frontier. when the emperor charles resigned, the prince was appointed by philip to negotiate a treaty with france, and had conducted these negotiations with extreme ability. the prince and the duke of alva remained in france as hostages for the execution of the treaty. alva was secretly engaged in arranging an agreement between philip and henry for the extirpation of protestantism, and the general destruction of all those who held that faith. the french king, believing that the prince of orange was also in the secret, spoke to him one day when out hunting freely on the subject, and gave him all the details of the understanding that had been entered into for a general massacre of the protestants throughout the dominions of france and spain.
the prince of orange neither by word or look indicated that all this was new to him, and the king remained in ignorance of how completely he had betrayed the plans of himself and philip. it was his presence of mind and reticence, while listening to this astounding relation, that gained for the prince of orange the title of william the silent. horror struck at the plot he had discovered, the prince from that moment threw himself into the cause of the protestants of the netherlands, and speedily became the head of the movement, devoting his whole property and his life to the object. so far it had brought him only trials and troubles.
his estate and that of his brothers had been spent in the service; he had incurred enormous debts; the armies of german mercenaries he had raised had met with defeat and ruin; the people of the netherlands, crushed down with the apathy of despair, had not lifted a finger to assist the forces that had marched to their aid. it was only when, almost by an accident, brill had been captured by the sea beggars, that the spark he had for so many years been trying to fan, burst into flame in the provinces of holland and zeeland.
the prince had been sustained through his long and hitherto fruitless struggle by a deep sense of religion. he believed that god was with him, and would eventually save the people of the netherlands from the fate to which philip had doomed them. and yet though an ardent protestant, and in an age when protestants were well nigh as bigoted as catholics, and when the idea of religious freedom had scarce entered into the minds of men, the prince was perfectly tolerant, and from the first insisted that in all the provinces over which he exercised authority, the same perfect freedom of worship should be granted to the catholics that he claimed for the protestants in the catholic states of the netherlands.
he had not always been a protestant. when appointed by philip stadtholder of holland, friesland, and utrecht he had been a moderate catholic. but his thoughts were but little turned to religious subjects, and it was as a patriot and a man of humane nature that he had been shocked at the discovery that he had made, of the determination of the kings of france and spain to extirpate the protestants. he used this knowledge first to secretly urge the people of the netherlands to agitate for the removal of the spanish troops from the country; and although he had secret instructions from philip to enforce the edicts against all heretics with vigour, he avoided doing so as much as was in his power, and sent private warnings to many whom he knew to be in danger of arrest.
as governor of the netherlands at the age of twenty-six, he was rich, powerful, and of sovereign rank. he exercised a splendid hospitality, and was universally beloved by the whole community for the charm of his manner and his courtesy to people of all ranks. even at this period the property which he had inherited from his father, and that he had received with his first wife, anne of egmont, the richest heiress of the netherlands, had been seriously affected by his open handed hospitality and lavish expenditure. his intellect was acknowledged to be of the highest class. he had extraordinary adroitness and capacity for conducting state affairs. his knowledge of human nature was profound. he had studied deeply, and spoke and wrote with facility latin, french, german, flemish, and spanish.
the epithet silent was in no way applicable to his general character. he could be silent when speech was dangerous, but at other times he was a most cheerful and charming companion, and in public the most eloquent orator and the most brilliant controversialist of his age. thirteen years had passed since then, thirteen years spent in incessant troubles and struggles. the brilliant governor of philip in the netherlands had for years been an exile; the careless catholic had become an earnest and sincere protestant; the wealthy noble had been harassed with the pecuniary burdens he had undertaken in order to raise troops for the rescue of his countrymen.
he had seen his armies defeated, his plans overthrown, his countrymen massacred by tens of thousands, his co-religionists burnt, hung, and tortured, and it was only now that the spirit of resistance was awakening among his countrymen. but misfortune and trial had not soured his temper; his faith that sooner or later the cause would triumph had never wavered. his patience was inexhaustible, his temper beyond proof. the incapacity of many in whom he had trusted, the jealousies and religious differences which prevented anything like union between the various states, the narrowness and jealousy even of those most faithful to the cause, would have driven most men to despair.
upon his shoulders alone rested the whole weight of the struggle. it was for him to plan and carry out, to negotiate with princes, to organize troops, to raise money, to compose jealousies, to rouse the lukewarm and appeal to the waverers. every detail, great and small, had to be elaborated by him. so far it was not the netherlands, it was william of orange alone who opposed himself to the might of the greatest power in europe.
such was the prince to whom ned martin was now introduced, and it was with a sense of the deepest reverence that he entered the chamber. he saw before him a man looking ten years older than he really was; whose hair was grizzled and thin from thought and care, whose narrow face was deeply marked by the lines of anxiety and trouble, but whose smile was as kindly, whose manner as kind and gracious as that which had distinguished it when william was the brilliant young stadtholder of the emperor philip.
