The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-06-21

we are not WOnOrOuS WISE
And sights and sounds there may be
Beyond these ears and eyes, e. l..
London Dispatch.
THE TRIAL OF JOHN OF BARNEVELD
from The Life and Death Of John of Barneveld "
by John Lothrop Motley. IL. d.
John Of 3 arneveld, tho trusted friend and
asunselor of William the Silent, of Henry
Nv, Of France; of Elizabeth Of England and
al the sages and soldiers on whom they
lied; imbued with the grand traditions and
familiar with the great personages of a most
heroic epoch; one Of the chief actors upon
Che great European theatre, where his efforts
and his achievements were foremost among
chose productive of long enduring and wide
spread results guiding the destinies of the
Republic Of the Netherlands for period of
sorty years; serving his country strenu-
sOsfy from youth to old age, with an
abiding sense of duty, steadiness of pur-
p0se, broad vision, firm grasp
and an opulence Of resource, such as not one
Of his contemporaries could even pretend to
Rival-this man, through the subtle and
Irresistible influence Of jealousy, that potent
principle which controls the regular move
ments and accounts for the alterations of
humanity in widest spheres, as well as in
nsrrOwest circles-was, in his old age, ac-
aused of the most impossible treachery and
snoason, arrested, tried, condemned and exc
suted. He was confined in dreary garnet
through the hot summer months, and
through the icy winter of Holland, with a
sentinel pacing day and night the narrow
corridor before bis door. After seven
months Of solitary confinement, deprived of
all communication with the outside world,
except such atoms Of intelligence as could
- conveyed to him on scrap of paper, in a
section Of quill concealed in pear, or simi-
M devices on the 7th Of March his trial be-
gan ut last.
He was not permitted the help of lawyer,
d.. clerk, or man of business Alone and from
.r.r tbe 'bamber Of bondage, suffering from
0'o. '- rmities and from the weakness of
ana a majority age, he was compelled to prepare
. discontnuane against q vague. heterogeneous
Tn order TO sof charges, to meet which required
.,.., ~, ), reference, not only to the statutes,
01 Aoane VI Yes and customs of the country, and
Pear tnat Woman law, but to thousand minute
rupt kneSnts, out of which the history of the
fraud o,sinces had been compounded.
was a fearful disadvantage for him day |
SendeS day to confront two dozen hostile Judges,
a0anamfortably seated at q great table piled |
and sith papers, surrounded by clerks with bags |
-, A0ll Of dOcumnts, and with library of au- |
ahOxities and presidents duly marked and |
dog cared and ready to their hands, while |
MIA only library and chronicle lay in his |
traip.
IL was a packed tribunal. Several of the |
commissioners were his personal enc mics.
Many Of them were totally ignorant of law
Come of them knew not q word of any
language but their mother tongue, although
much Of the law which they were to ad-
minister was written in Latin. Before such
\ court the first living statesman of Eu-
rope was brought day by day, during Pc
nod of aearly three months There was no
MI Of indictment, no arragnment, no cOun~
NoE K0ere WIfNeAaaA and |
no04s. The courtroom contained, as it
WASe, only prVudiced and partial jury to
pxanOnnce both kn law and fact, without
Spdge to direct them or advocates to sft
ssss;ne9X- and-contend for or against the
4ntoneFs guilt.
The process, for it c0Gl d not be called a
sxlet. consisted of vast series of rambling
and tangled interrogatories, Teaching over
a. space Of forty years, without apparent
oepresticn OF relevancy, skipping fantas- /,
Goaliy about from one period to another,
back. and forth, with apparently no other
Sntent than TO puzzle the prisoner, throw
him of his balance, and lead hiny into self
cnntradiotion. 1t was the attempt of a
multitude Of pigmies to overthrow and
He asked for list, in writing, of the i
charges against him. that he might ponder !;
his answer. The demand wa? refused; He !
Wa forbidden the nse Of pef and ink, or
AAAo R0HCAO 6uu UUUhb WoIe It1ubeu HIN
10 was allowed to consult neither with an II
advocate, nor even with q single friend. y
-a0ne in his chamber Of bondage, he was to u
noditate upon his defense. Out of his men, q
DRY and brain. and from these alone, he was
70 supply himself with the array of hstori- 9
al facts stretching over longer period than Il
the lifetime of many Of his judges; and q
with tho proper legal and historical a~gu- G
Ments upon those facts for his justification p
That memory and brain were capaciOus and Q
powerful enough for the task q
Il was we'll for the judges that they had
bound themselves by an oath never to make u
% bury all proceedings in profound secrecy d
Had that been known to the contemporary "
public, which has only been revealed after X
thA lapse of two centuries, it might have
moved the very stones in the streets to mu- IN
6ny. re
We viii not follow him through his long a.
line Of defense. Always instructive to his &C
Mdgea, - he swept ct will through the D.
record Of nearly half century of momen-
: tsns European history, expounding the laws
nA customs of the country with wealth W
An(loo0usaoE Of plustration which testified
r. tho strength of his memory, he seemed
rather Nike sage expounding law and his dc
tnsy TO Z. GLASS Of pupls than criminal
a.1sndtnG himself before bench Of COM
Alesienefs qr
1hssel was only what was to have been az
1880 His destruction had been deter
s% - - Nom the beginning. biz
tho judaes condemn the pris- We
- 80 % tho BinnenhoG there to fel