met, whether on land or water.  Bossu and his men, armed in bullet-proof coats of mail, stood with shield and sword on the deck of the “Inquisition,” ready to repel all attempts to board.  The Hollander, as usual, attacked with pitch hoops, boiling oil, and molten lead.  Repeatedly they effected their entrance to the Admiral’s ship, and as often they were repulsed and slain in heaps, or hurled into the sea.  The battle began at three in the afternoon, and continued without intermission through the whole night.  The vessels, drifting together, struck on the shoal called the Nek, near Wydeness.  In the heat of the action the occurrence was hardly heeded.  In the morning twilight, John Haring, of Horn, the hero who had kept one thousand soldiers at bay upon the Diemer dyke, clambered on board the “Inquisition” and hauled her colors down.  The gallant but premature achievement cost him his life.  He was shot through the body and died on the deck of the ship, which was not quite ready to strike her flag.  In the course of the forenoon, however, it became obvious to Bossu that further resistance was idle.  The ships were aground near a hostile coast, his own fleet was hopelessly dispersed, three quarters of his crew were dead or disabled, while the vessels with which he was engaged were constantly recruited by boats from the shore, which brought fresh men and ammunition, and removed their killed and wounded.  At eleven o’clock, Admiral Bossu surrendered, and with three hundred prisoners was carried into Holland.  Bossu was himself imprisoned at Horn, in which city he was received, on his arrival, with great demonstrations of popular hatred.  The massacre of Rotterdam, due to his cruelty and treachery, had not yet been forgotten or forgiven.

This victory, following so hard upon the triumph at Alkmaar, was as gratifying to the patriots as it was galling to Alva.  As his administration drew to a close, it was marked by disaster and disgrace on land and sea.  The brilliant exploits by which he had struck terror into the heart of the Netherlanders, at Jemmingen and in Brabant, had been effaced by the valor of a handful of Hollanders, without discipline or experience.  To the patriots, the opportune capture of so considerable a personage as the Admiral and Governor of the northern province was of great advantage.  Such of the hostages from Harlem as had not yet been executed, now escaped with their lives.  Moreover, Saint Aldegonde, the eloquent patriot and confidential friend of Orange, who was taken prisoner a few weeks later, in an action at Maeslands-luis, was preserved from inevitable destruction by the same cause.  The Prince hastened to assure the Duke of Alva that the same measure would be dealt to Bossu as should be meted to Saint Aldegonde.  It was, therefore, impossible for the Governor-General to execute his prisoner, and he was obliged to submit to the vexation of seeing a leading rebel and heretic in his power, whom he dared not strike.  Both the distinguished prisoners eventually regained their liberty.