The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-04-06
THE NETHERLANDS.
Another Chapter OF the Early History, by
Henry Wolf.

LunlSa auu hequeSenSe, VINO en-
deavored to bring about better
condition of affairs. but failed, as
he could not reduce taxes, high
as they were for he could not
raise sufficient funds to pay off
the soldiers, who had not recelv-
ed their wages for long time.
This caused great iusubordina.
tion among them /; and they be-
came so troublesome that the IN
surgents would not consent TO
lay down their arms. Emperor
Maximilian ii also offered his
services as peacemaker, but to
no avail. Although the governor
gained a victory over the union
army at Nymvegen where two
brothers of Orange gave their
lives Tor the cause Of freedom, he
nevertheless was defeated at Lei
den, where, after being besieged
into starvation, the heroic popu-
lation of that city cut the great
dlkes, flooding thereby immense
bodies of their best farm lands,
which deprived them OF many a
harvest and caused other great
losses-but 1t also flooded away
the Spanish army. A Protestant
university was the reward for
this heroic sacrifice of Leiden
for IN the same year the north
ern provinces at the synod of
Dertrecht had accepted the cate
chlsm of Heidelberg and estab-
lished Calvlnism as the state re-
ligion and by secularizing all ex-
listing church property had in
creased their fighting force.
Soon after this Governor Re-
quesense died, and until new
governor would arrive the states
council had charge Of the mill
tary affairs but as the Spanish
troops were still unpaid they
plundered Mastricht and Ant
werp, and no one was safe where
they were. Under these condi-
tlons Prince William, who had
been invested with great authori-
ty by the northern confedera-
tion, succeeded in bringing to-
gether all of the provinces in a
convention at Ghent where was
passed what is known as the
"Pacification of Ghent," in which
agreement all the provinces
promised each other mutual aid
IN funds or men 10 rid the land of
all Spanish troops, and TO carry
out no more sentences OF the
courts for religious offences until
a meeting Of new general coun-
Gil Of all the states could be call
ed.
The new Spanish Governor Don
Juan being very desirous of peace
entered into treaty with all the
states; but as the article on re-
hgiOus liberty was not very clear
ly defined, the states of Holland
and Zealand withdrew, and kept
up hOstllities. Soon the rest of
the states suspecting the Insin-
cerlty Of Juan withdrew also, the
state of Brabant, electlng Orange
their stakeholder. So the enemies
of the crown increased daily,
which fact weighed so heavily on
Governor Juan that he died. The
next governor, Duke Alexander
Farnese of Parma (son of Mar.
garetta) succeeded in bringing
about mistrust between the Cath
olic population of Brabant and
the Protestant stakeholder Prince
William, in fact, most of the
southern Catholic districts, were
suspicious toward Protestant Hol.
land. This induced Orange to
bring about the union OF Utrecht,
in which the states of Holland,
Zealand. Geldern, Utrecht, Fries.
land and Groningen. This agree
ment was In fact the base of the
United States of the Protestant
Netherlands, 1879. While the
north was now in fair way to
hold its own against Duke Parena
IT was not so in the south where
Dy hls tact and bravery gained