Van der Bergh, Hoogstraaten, and others, provided with similar powers, were also actively engaged in levying troops; but the right hand of the revolt was Count Louis, as his illustrious brother was its head and heart.  Two hundred thousand crowns was the sum which the Prince considered absolutely necessary for organizing the army with which he contemplated making an entrance into the Netherlands.  Half this amount had been produced by the cities of Antwerp, Amsterdam, Leyden, Harlem, Middelburg, Flushing, and other towns, as well as by refugee merchants in England.  The other half was subscribed by individuals.  The Prince himself contributed 50,000 florins, Hoogstraaten 30,000, Louis of Nassau 10,000, Culemberg 30,000, Van der Bergh 30,000, the Dowager-countess Horn 10,000, and other persons in less proportion.  Count John of Nassau also pledged his estates to raise a large sum for the cause.  The Prince himself sold all his jewels, plate, tapestry, and other furniture, which were of almost regal magnificence.  Not an enthusiast, but a deliberate, cautious man, he now staked his all upon the hazard, seemingly so desperate.  The splendor of his station has been sufficiently depicted.  His luxury, his fortune, his family, his life, his children, his honor, all were now ventured, not with the recklessness of a gambler, but with the calm conviction of a statesman.

A private and most audacious attempt to secure the person:  of Alva and the possession of Brussels had failed.  He was soon, however, called upon to employ all his energies against the open warfare which was now commenced.

According to the plan of the Prince, the provinces were to be attacked simultaneously, in three places, by his lieutenants, while he himself was waiting in the neighborhood of Cleves, ready for a fourth assault.  An army of Huguenots and refugees was to enter Artois upon the frontier of France; a second, under Hoogstraaten, was to operate between the Rhine and the Meuse; while Louis of Nassau was to raise the standard of revolt in Friesland.

The two first adventures were destined to be signally unsuccessful.  A force under Seigneur de Cocqueville, latest of all, took the field towards the end of June.  It entered the bailiwick of Hesdin in Artois, was immediately driven across the frontier by the Count de Roeulx, and cut to pieces at St. Valery by Marechal de Cossis, governor of Picardy.  This action was upon the 18th July.  Of the 2500 men who composed the expedition, scarce 300 escaped.  The few Netherlanders who were taken prisoners were given to the Spanish government, and, of course, hanged.

The force under the Seigneur de Villars was earlier under arms, and the sooner defeated.  This luckless gentleman, who had replaced the Count of Hoogstraaten, crossed the frontier of Juliers; in the neighborhood of Maestricht, by the 20th April.  His force, infantry and cavalry, amounted to nearly three thousand men.  The object of the enterprise was to, raise the country; and, if possible, to obtain a foothold by securing an important city.  Roermonde was the first point of attack, but the attempts, both by stratagem and by force, to secure the town, were fruitless.  The citizens were not ripe for revolt, and refused the army admittance.  While the invaders were, therefore, endeavoring to fire the gates, they were driven off by the approach of a Spanish force.