of the province, was summoned to take charge of the army.  He was indisposed to do so, and pleaded sickness.  The States, determined that the name of Nassau should not be used as an encouragement to disobedience, and rebellion, then directed the brother of Maurice, Frederic Henry, youngest son of William the Silent, to assume the command.  Maurice insisted that his brother was too young, and that it was unjust to allow so grave a responsibility to fall upon his shoulders.  The States, not particularly pleased with the Prince’s attitude at this alarming juncture, and made anxious by the glamour which seemed to possess him since his conferences with the revolutionary party at Utrecht, determined not to yield.

The army marched forth and laid siege to the city, Prince Frederic Henry at its head.  He was sternly instructed by the States-General, under whose orders he acted, to take possession of the city at all hazards.  He was to insist on placing there a garrison of 2000 foot and 300 horse, and to permit not another armed man within the walls.  The members of the council of state and of the States of Utrecht accompanied the army.  For a moment the party in power was disposed to resist the forces of the Union.  Dick Kanter and his friends were resolute enough; the Catholic priests turned out among the rest with their spades and worked on the entrenchments.  The impossibility of holding the city against the overwhelming power of the States was soon obvious, and the next day the gates were opened, and easy terms were granted.  The new magistracy was set aside, the old board that had been deposed by the rebels reinstated.  The revolution and the counterrevolution were alike bloodless, and it was determined that the various grievances of which the discontented party had complained should be referred to the States-General, to Prince Maurice, to the council of state, and to the ambassadors of France and England.  Amnesty was likewise decreed on submission.

The restored government was Arminian in its inclinations, the revolutionary one was singularly compounded both of Catholic and of ultra-orthodox elements.  Quiet was on the whole restored, but the resources of the city were crippled.  The event occurring exactly at the crisis of the Clove and Julich expedition angered the King of France.

“The trouble of Utrecht,” wrote Aerssens to Barneveld, “has been turned to account here marvellously, the Archdukes and Spaniards boasting that many more revolts like this may be at once expected.  I have explained to his Majesty, who has been very much alarmed about it, both its source and the hopes that it will be appeased by the prudence of his Excellency Prince Maurice and the deputies of the States.  The King desires that everything should be pacified as soon as possible, so that there may be no embarrassment to the course of public affairs.  But he fears, he tells me, that this may create some new jealousy between Prince Maurice and yourself.  I don’t comprehend what he means, although he held this language to me very expressly and without reserve.  I could only answer that you were living on the best of terms together in perfect amity and intelligence.  If you know if this talk of his has any other root, please to enlighten me, that I may put a stop to false reports, for I know nothing of affairs except what you tell me.”